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| Recently a friend brought me a Masdie in a 4" clay pot, growing in Sphagnum moss, which is not thriving. He waters it daily. The surface of the pot seemed wet enough but it felt lighter than similar pots I have, also in moss. I asked him if he waters until water physically runs out the bottom hole. He stated that he did not check for that as the pot sits on a bench.
We took the plant to the RO unit and slowly added 1 1/2 drinking glasses of RO water before it started dripping out of the bottom hole. By then the pot weighed twice as much as before. He was flabbergasted! SM soaks up a tremendous amount of water before it is truly wet. One must ensure that water drips out of the MIDDLE of the bottom before concluding that adequate watering has occurred. If you do not check for this, take a large plant growing in sphagnum moss in your collection and see how much water you need to add before it drips out of the bottom. You may get a surprise. One word of caution: Not all plants like to be that wet, I'm specifically talking about cloud forest plants in the Pleuro family who do thrive in this moist environment. Nick |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I like to water all my plants that much, pour the water through, pour the water through, pour the water through. For those who need to dry out some, water less often. This makes sure, as you said, that the roots are all well watered. Once sphagnum gets truly dry, it can be hard to re-wet. Even getting water to run out the bottom may not do the job because the water finds a channel around the dry middle. |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Wed, Jun 1, 11 at 9:10
| Well, that's really the message. SM has pitfalls and can be drier than appearance suggests After you rehydrate, it may not really be as wet as you think it is. Nick |
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| Yep Nick. That like I was talking about in a previous thread w/ the clear pots and a little dish detergent.gb |
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