LOL. I work with a dozen PhDs and they sometimes ask me for help and I have only a BS but I have 30 yrs experience doing the same work they do. Anyway. just wanted to say that I have watched, and continue to watch every one of your "Perfect Soil" videos and I learn something new every single time. None are exactly the same because you always manage to sneak in a different little nugget of knowledge that you did not mention in previous videos. Thanks Gary!
Thanks for posting guys! Your videos are so informative. I have purchased much top pot from Laguna Nursery the last two years, and the results make the up-front extra expense of top pot well worth it. Among other plants, I bought a small passion fruit vine from you earlier this year and planted it in the ground using top pot in a large, dug, hole and now it has growing and fruiting like mad, 25 big fruits so far and this vine was quite small when we got it from you just a 7 months ago! small avocados purchased from you also growing strong just like you promised! I am sold on this stuff and have been a gardener for many years....
Wow I was just going to skip to the parts I thought I needed but the whole thing was so good. The part about the WATER plants rotting in bad soil. That taught me so much.
Well, I’ve got a few plants to go repot… It makes perfect sense that the commercial potting soils have been optimized for profit. Wood and bark are abundant waste products so they are cheap and if it lasts the growing season- that’s all that’s usually needed for the product to look good, so that’s all they care about.
This question is for Gary, do you remember Gold Cup? I assume it was distributed only on the west coast. It was made very similar to your mix and as a result it lasted forever. I'm glad to be able to buy Top Pot in San Diego. I'm very pleased with it.
In pots especially, the particle size of the substrate has an effect on the amount of water retained versus drained. I've discovered that finer particles retain more water, which sits around in the bottommost few inches/cms of the pot and does not drain away, no matter how many drainage holes there are. If this lingering water layer does not get replaced by fresh water, there is the risk of the roots submerged in that water layer being starved of oxygen. Some use the term 'perched water table'. Coarser particles enable excess water to freely wick out (or drain out) of the pot's drainge holes. Bonsai growers often use the term 'humidity' when describing the relationship between roots and water. They imply that the water uptake by the fine root hairs occurs in the gaseous phase. All that is needed, in terms of the plant root's water supply, is a thin film of water evenly coating the individual particles of the substrate. Standing water in a pot runs the risk of becoming stagnant and anaerobic- especially when lots of dead organic matter is present. The main disadvantage of larger (coarser) particles in pots is the need to water the plant much more frequently- especially in then warmer months. A small inconvenience to bear, in my opinion, if choosing larger/coarser particles minimises the risk of root rot, which (from my experience) most commonly occurs in winter, when the plant is metabolically far less active (and, therefore, the roots do not take up as much water, meaning that excess water sits around in the base of the pot for much longer, running the risk of root oxygen depletion).
When you water, do you water until it comes out of the drain holes each time you water? Also, in the hot summer, when using a coarser soil mix, do you fertilize more?
Gary, what grade (partical size) of pumice would you recommend when making a mix similar to your Top Pot. Ive sourced, 3-6 mm 6-10mm 7-20mm Cant get your Top Pot here in Sydney Australia but will be filling some large 160 litre barrels with a replica of your mix for my dragon fruit plants
I feel special now. Ive had the same cordyline/Hawaiian Ti plants in my front yard, for about 8 years now and I have clay soil. Sometimes they lose their leaves in winter but always pop back up in spring, and all 5-7 ft tall by the end of summer. They've been frozen and snowed on, I just love their resiliency. Unrelated, but what would you recommend to fill raised beds? I mix all my own potting mix but it would really expensive using that for raised beds.
Planted the Italian cypress, clay soil..a year ago.. not sure what is going on, but it is not growing. Not dying, but not growing either. I added pumice rock to break up the soil also. It has been potted for a while before I transplanted it into the ground. Maybe I should try fertilizing it? I water once a week, Santa Barbara county. Have to add it is a approx 2 foot tree. Can it be it is still adjusting to new soil conditions.
The law of limitation dictates there's always ONLY ONE limitation at a given time, keeping the plant from growing. I would guess water is deficient, given light is sufficient. (If the soil is dry on or beneath the surface). If both light, and water, is sufficient, normally carbon dioxide would be the third limitation, but it never happens on planet earth. So if you are growing in clay soil, and the soil is compacted or waterlogged, I would guess oxygen is deficient. It's not so likely, but If you have beautiful sunshine, and well watered soil, that is allowed to dry up on the surface before watering thoroughly again, and yet there's STILL no growth, I would guess nitrogen is deficient.
Does anyone know of any stores that carry them can ship to the east coast outside of trying to convince a local nursery to carry them? Also, has anyone tried buying the soil when visiting and shipping it themselves via UPS or USPS?
How about a video extolling the actual conditions found in nature, and how to build a yard as it would be in the wild? Insects and worms, with the duff layer. The nitrogen cycle. And pee. Teach us how to pee in the yard.
LOL. I work with a dozen PhDs and they sometimes ask me for help and I have only a BS but I have 30 yrs experience doing the same work they do.
Anyway. just wanted to say that I have watched, and continue to watch every one of your "Perfect Soil" videos and I learn something new every single time. None are exactly the same because you always manage to sneak in a different little nugget of knowledge that you did not mention in previous videos.
Thanks Gary!
Thanks for posting guys! Your videos are so informative. I have purchased much top pot from Laguna Nursery the last two years, and the results make the up-front extra expense of top pot well worth it. Among other plants, I bought a small passion fruit vine from you earlier this year and planted it in the ground using top pot in a large, dug, hole and now it has growing and fruiting like mad, 25 big fruits so far and this vine was quite small when we got it from you just a 7 months ago! small avocados purchased from you also growing strong just like you promised! I am sold on this stuff and have been a gardener for many years....
Gary is the best. Invaluable information, we owe alot to him!
Thank you Gary for sharing your knowledge! I have learned so much from your videos.
I just finished watching the whole video. This is life changing. Thank you for this information.
Fantastic information. I have recently switched to a mineral based soil. This confirms my thoughts.
Wow I was just going to skip to the parts I thought I needed but the whole thing was so good.
The part about the WATER plants rotting in bad soil. That taught me so much.
Well, I’ve got a few plants to go repot…
It makes perfect sense that the commercial potting soils have been optimized for profit. Wood and bark are abundant waste products so they are cheap and if it lasts the growing season- that’s all that’s usually needed for the product to look good, so that’s all they care about.
This question is for Gary, do you remember Gold Cup? I assume it was distributed only on the west coast. It was made very similar to your mix and as a result it lasted forever. I'm glad to be able to buy Top Pot in San Diego. I'm very pleased with it.
In pots especially, the particle size of the substrate has an effect on the amount of water retained versus drained. I've discovered that finer particles retain more water, which sits around in the bottommost few inches/cms of the pot and does not drain away, no matter how many drainage holes there are. If this lingering water layer does not get replaced by fresh water, there is the risk of the roots submerged in that water layer being starved of oxygen. Some use the term 'perched water table'. Coarser particles enable excess water to freely wick out (or drain out) of the pot's drainge holes.
Bonsai growers often use the term 'humidity' when describing the relationship between roots and water. They imply that the water uptake by the fine root hairs occurs in the gaseous phase. All that is needed, in terms of the plant root's water supply, is a thin film of water evenly coating the individual particles of the substrate. Standing water in a pot runs the risk of becoming stagnant and anaerobic- especially when lots of dead organic matter is present.
The main disadvantage of larger (coarser) particles in pots is the need to water the plant much more frequently- especially in then warmer months. A small inconvenience to bear, in my opinion, if choosing larger/coarser particles minimises the risk of root rot, which (from my experience) most commonly occurs in winter, when the plant is metabolically far less active (and, therefore, the roots do not take up as much water, meaning that excess water sits around in the base of the pot for much longer, running the risk of root oxygen depletion).
When you water, do you water until it comes out of the drain holes each time you water? Also, in the hot summer, when using a coarser soil mix, do you fertilize more?
Gary, what grade (partical size) of pumice would you recommend when making a mix similar to your Top Pot.
Ive sourced,
3-6 mm
6-10mm
7-20mm
Cant get your Top Pot here in Sydney Australia but will be filling some large 160 litre barrels with a replica of your mix for my dragon fruit plants
What do you think about DECOMPOSED GRANITE for raised bed trees.I tried it and so far so good.
I feel special now. Ive had the same cordyline/Hawaiian Ti plants in my front yard, for about 8 years now and I have clay soil. Sometimes they lose their leaves in winter but always pop back up in spring, and all 5-7 ft tall by the end of summer. They've been frozen and snowed on, I just love their resiliency.
Unrelated, but what would you recommend to fill raised beds? I mix all my own potting mix but it would really expensive using that for raised beds.
Planted the Italian cypress, clay soil..a year ago.. not sure what is going on, but it is not growing. Not dying, but not growing either. I added pumice rock to break up the soil also. It has been potted for a while before I transplanted it into the ground. Maybe I should try fertilizing it? I water once a week, Santa Barbara county. Have to add it is a approx 2 foot tree. Can it be it is still adjusting to new soil conditions.
Fertilize and water more and see what happens
The law of limitation dictates there's always ONLY ONE limitation at a given time, keeping the plant from growing.
I would guess water is deficient, given light is sufficient. (If the soil is dry on or beneath the surface).
If both light, and water, is sufficient, normally carbon dioxide would be the third limitation, but it never happens on planet earth.
So if you are growing in clay soil, and the soil is compacted or waterlogged, I would guess oxygen is deficient.
It's not so likely, but If you have beautiful sunshine, and well watered soil, that is allowed to dry up on the surface before watering thoroughly again, and yet there's STILL no growth, I would guess nitrogen is deficient.
(Are their ahy places in the San Fernando Valley that carry Gary's Top Pot? )
Does anyone know of any stores that carry them can ship to the east coast outside of trying to convince a local nursery to carry them?
Also, has anyone tried buying the soil when visiting and shipping it themselves via UPS or USPS?
1st! 🎉
Im in montebello ca is there any nursury in san gabriel valley that sell top pot
San Gabriel Nursery has it.
@@little.tokyo626 thanks
Your website comes back unsecure
How about a video extolling the actual conditions found in nature, and how to build a yard as it would be in the wild? Insects and worms, with the duff layer. The nitrogen cycle. And pee. Teach us how to pee in the yard.