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pucelle

Neem Tree Newbie

Pucelle
10 years ago

I just received a Neem tree that was shipped to me from Florida via USPS Priority Mail. It arrived pretty well intact in with it's root system in a 12" 'soil-less' pouch. I went out and bought a (12.5x9.75) pot, some Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Soil, and a storage container for the extra soil. After I got home I realized the pot I bought isn't big enough (largest size you can handle, is really vaugue) so i decided to just leave it in it's pouch for another day and do research. My research led me to a minimum 10 Gallon pot for a decent sized tree & too this site regarding potting mixture.

So now I have 16 Q of potting soil which seems to take up half of my 10 gallon storage container that I'm not sure how to make use of. I got 5 plants (Neem tree, Gotu Kola, Brahmi, Chaya, & Aloe Vera) and only one of them requires moist soil. I've never grown stuff indoors only in a yard and hadn't realized how different it was. I was planning on getting some additional plants to improve indoor air quality but I will now probably wait until I learn more.

So, with the soil that I have, what can I add to it to make it better? I know that I need to add fertilizer (6-6-6) and water when put it together in the pot for the Neem tree but what should I add to the potting soil to make it more airy/well drained? I'm was planning on buying the largest pot that I could find that would fit on moveable coaster so that it can enjoy the sun while it lasts here in the Pacific North West & bring it inside for winter. For some reason, I thought there were pots with wheels built in but I guess they were just cleverly disguised coasters.

Also, when I had a yard, I used a combination of liquid fermented fish meal (by-product of fish oil production), unsulphured black strap molasses, & raw milk diluted with water as a fertilizer. Can I still use it for potted plants?

In addition, I just moved to PNW from Northern Va so I'm also out of my element in terms of weather, water, and local resources.

I watered all the plants in their shipping containers (except the Neem Tree since it's not in a pot and the bag still seems moist) and put them outside on the window balcony so that they could get the morning sun. I hope to move them all into containers this afternoon/evening once I figure out the soil.

Thanks in advance,
'celle

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