Watering of ficus.

[Anonymous User]

I am a ficus grower. I have been growing for about 5 years now. I grow under florescent lights. I just can't get my soil trees to look as healthy as my hydroponic trees. When I move a tree from hydro to soil it seems to lose vigor. It seems to me that must mean my watering is incorrect. My soil mix is 1 part coconut husk chips to 1 part lava rock. I let my ficus get dry to about half way down in the pot. Should I be letting it go till three quarters dry maybe?

Lose the coconut husk.


I use 1/2 lava and 1/2 fir bark (uncomposted) this mix has worked wonders for my ficus inddors and out. (In Michigan, they see 6 months indoors). You can not over water with this mix and the ficus thrive in it. Jerry M originbally told me about this mix, as well as where to buy the fir bark here in Michigan.

 

[Mortalis]

Will when you say "can not overwater" do you mean just that? Or is that french for pretty hard to over water? With that mix how often do you end up watering indoors? Not that I would water on a schedule just for an idea of how it measures up to what I am using. I'll try it out soon. Never actually used fir bark.

 

[treebeard55]

No way of that.. my smallest size particle is 3/8ths if anything maybe to large?

From the results Bogan got, I'd say no necessarily too large.

 

[treebeard55]

... where to buy the fir bark here in Michigan.

OK, where do you get fir bark in Michigan? It just might be worth the drive up, if it's not too far.

 

[FrankP999]

You can order bark from an orchid supplier like this http://www.calwesttropical.com/index.php/categories/fir-bark-potting-mixes

Frank

 

[rockm]

Get rid of the coconut husk. It is crap. Period.

Even sphagnum moss isn't the greatest thing to use as an organic component in bonsai soil. Many bonsaiists have stopped using Sphagnum and opt for some kind of composted bark, or orchid bark. Sphagnum retains too much moisture when used in a soil. I suspect that coconut husk does too, as it was used by bonsaiists here in the Eastern US for a split second--until they found it stayed soggy and turned into slime within a few months when exposed to lower temps.

 

[Bill S]

Try Agway if you have one near you for the bark.

I'll second Dave Bogens article, I am using a very course mixture for my Tigerbark ficus and it is loving it, full sun too. I repotted it 3 weeks ago, including a very invasive root chop( probably 2/3rds of the root mass) and it hasn't skipped a beat.

The mix I used for it was Haydite, Turface, Lava, pine bark, and akadama equal parts. I added the lava and akadama to what is our club mix soil, the lava for drainage as well as being lighter, and the akadama for water retention, as well as roots love to grow in it. The akadama used for this tree shouldn't suffer from break down as this tree will be repotted at least every 2 years for a while, as well as obviously not going to go through freeze thaw cycles. The water pours through this mix, and on our recent hot days(mid 80's) with a steady breeze I water it once in the morning and it's good for the day, maybe a misting in the evenings if no storms come our way.

The retusas I have , like the typical mix from the club, but the benjaminas seem to like more organics in the mix for a wetter enviroment.

 

[Mortalis]

I had not thought about the coconut husk really.. but my other trees seem to like it fine. In fact my serissa, and English Ivy are in 100% coconut husk I have never seen it slime or mushy even after 2 years in the pot. I wonder if your talking about coco cori it is soggy. But I think I will pull two of my hydro trees and try them 1 in the 50/50 Lava and Fir bark, and another in 100% lava. See how that goes.