Our bottle brush trees planted in opposite sides of the house, both died exactly 3 yrs after planting in compost. One tipped over and smelled like sewer gas. Our extension agent said that we overwatered. Now we know better. Thank you for your lecture.
Thank you so much for continuing to put these videos out and educating growers. You’ve completely opened my eyes and changed my approach to gardening in the Phoenix AZ area.
Hi Gary, so glad you are back to doing youtube! Saturday mornings just weren’t the same without you during the pandemic. I learn something every time I watch (even the topics I’ve seen before). With the ongoing drought, I would love to hear more talks about native and low water use plants, as well as butterfly and hummingbird gardens. Would’t it be wonderful to have a part of my garden that I don’t have to water (for the most part…) because it is adapted to the climate we have, so I can give the water to my fruit trees!
greetings from Arizona zone 9b. thanks again for all the valuable tips and tricks! this concept works very well here in our backyard orchard, vineyard and garden. cheers 🍷
Wish I lived in your area . I would do all my shopping at your nursery . Would love to buy that soil but I live in Southeast Coastal Georgia . I will try to make some homemade . Great info !
If you had a PhD, they probably discredited or revoke it from you with all the real info you teach us. Thanks to you I finally understand why I have fail in my past 20 years of planting plants and trees but now everything thrives. Thanks
Regarding the formulation for Top Pot - do I assume correctly that it is by volume, not weight? 1cf of peat is MUCH lighter than 1cf of pumice. Seeing as how I am going the have to mix my own, it’s important to understand whether I need to weigh the different ingredients, or measure by bucketfuls
Hi everyone. I am watching this video from Europe, in sandy Germany in fact. You might be interested that the plant, common name "Horsetail" and latin name Equisetum arvense has a high silica content, about 25% when dry. I gather, dry and pulverize.
Thank you very much Gary! I was struggling with growing citrus in the pots using regular potting soil. Ever since I learned how to mix the soil from your lessons, my trees are thriving…, and you are right “more water, more growth” Question, can you tell me what type if soil do champaca prefer? They don’t seem to do well with my soil mixture. I don’t know if I added too much osmocote or the roots are too sensitive? All the leaves turn brown even the young ones
Some plants are very sensitive to root damage and many will get a root disease from the operation or previous soil conditions. I haven't worked with many Champaca (changed the soil on about 20 successfully) so I can't tell you what to expect.
@@GarysBestGardening thank you Gary! I tried to remove most of the osmocote and replaced it with the organic fertilizer. I think the new leaves are coming back much healthier. I must have over done the osmocote 🤦♀️
How important are the worms in the soil? I was under the impression that worms are a sign of good soil; because the worms are eating all of the dead stuff, and the worm castings are good for the plants.
The larger earthworms are considered neutral because they do damage plants and do aerate the soil. I have watched earthworms cut leaves off of low lying plants. Most larger worms are not native to our area and in some regions of the U.S. have been shown to cause trouble in the native ecosystem. We have plenty of very small to microscope worms that are native and beneficial. The larger earthworms are not important and not native.
@@GarysBestGardening I have the red ones. The kind that people buy for composting. They are everywhere. Every time I dig a hole to plant something, they are in the soil. It's better than having a worm bin. The worms in the ground are consistently supplying worm castings.
Gary - you mention that you are trying to find other places that are selling a similar putting soil to your Top Pot. Where will you post the info if you are able to find it?
We are waiting for our distributor to enlighten us on where our potting soil is being sold. Our distributor recently got bought by a larger distributor so information is a bit slow to reach us. I put on information on our weekly email newsletters (you can sign up at our website). When we get the information it will be eventually posted on our website.
@@GarysBestGardening I contacted my local nursery, who checked with the distributor. It looks like there is no one locally, (SF Bay Area) who carries it. BUT my nursery is happy to make a special order for me and have it delivered to their place where I can pick it up. If I purchase an entire pallet, (70 bags), they will give me a 15% discount… I am saving my $ to make the purchase.
@@YipTheYaper Someone said that there was one nursery that carries it. Yamagami’s in Cupertino, but they don’t show it on their website, so I would recommend calling to see if they have it. For myself, I contacted Sloat, and they brokered a deal for me with the distributor to buy it directly. They gave me a discount if I bought an entire pallet, which was delivered to the Concord Sloat. Hope that helps.
Finding large bags of pumice in San Antonio TX is non existent. Ordering via internet is getting too expensive. Can I use decomposed granite instead of pumice?
I have the same issue in the Phoenix AZ area. I've been using pavestone brand black volcanic rock instead from Home Depot; similar properties to pumice.
Pumice is our attempt to make sand lighter. I prefer sand a bit over decompoed granite but have used DG in the past as part of our soil mix with great success. In small pots DG may not drain as well as sand but that depends upon the source.
@@GarysBestGardening Similar to "Enlightenment Garden" posted above : here in Bermuda, we have a VERY similar problem, but also an exponential one - NO Pumice to be found, NO Biochar (I may have a local source soon), and NO locally occurring Silica Sand (our island has a limestone base, so ANY sand here is made from that). On top of that, our soil is thick Clay and very alkaline, so growing more acid loving fruit trees is a problem. My question is HOW would you make as close a mixture to your Top Pot/Acid Mixes with these available ingredients : - Standard Sand #18 (Only Silica Sand available and it's $42/bag) - Decomposed Granite ($15/5 gl bucket) - Peat Moss - Perlite - Vermiculite - Biochar : I have found a local source who makes it, but they're fixing their retort atm.....but I will have some. * Our Environmental Protection Department is STRINGENT so anything I import will be heavily examined and possibly confiscated. So saying that : - Pumice : I CAN get it, but the import fee for it will be heavy.....It would need to be washed, dried, and screened (to eliminate microbes/pests)...the BEST one I can find - that meets the grade - is Hess Pumice's "RUTSU" Succulent Amendment, which is $19.50/45 lb bag BUT costs $68 just to ship it to NJ where it will cost me another shipping fee to ship it here. I need to find a better option, so any suggestions you have will be GREATLY appreciated. pumicestore.com/pumice-products/pumice-soil-succulents.html - Coconut Coir : even though you don't recommend it, if push comes to shove can I use it. Hard to get but not as hard as Pumice. Also, if putting in-ground, how would you prepare a ground such as ours - Limestone base about 1-2 feet below the top soil - to accomodate trees here? Again, thank You.
@@twilitezn Hi Scott, thanks for watching. If everything is limestone it would probably be futile to create an acidic soil as it would just dissolve if exposed to acid. I would use the limestone and cover it with a thick layer of organic made from many sources. Hopefully the acid loving trees will be able to pull nutrients out of the organic layer that should be acidic as it decomposes. In theory...the pH of the soil doesn't matter if you have healthy mycorrhizal fungi in the medium. GOOD LUCK
Would using play sand (100% natural that home depot sell) mixed with charcoal and peat moss work for my raised bed garden and potted tree plants? Unfortunatly I live to far from Laguna and cant buy Gary's potting soil in our area.
If you add gypsum to the avocado tree, do you remove the inches of mulch first and replace after spreading the gypsum? or just spread the gypsum on top of the mulch and water it in?
@@GarysBestGardening thank you! By the way, I was able to get 50 lb. of rice hulls from the feed store (to substitute for perlite) here in the Sacramento valley area. I think they use it for quail bedding and such. It was only $10.50. I saw online the shipping would be exorbitant from other areas, but I was able to find it local.
Our bottle brush trees planted in opposite sides of the house, both died exactly 3 yrs after planting in compost.
One tipped over and smelled like sewer gas.
Our extension agent said that we overwatered.
Now we know better. Thank you for your lecture.
Thank you so much for continuing to put these videos out and educating growers. You’ve completely opened my eyes and changed my approach to gardening in the Phoenix AZ area.
Excellent video! Every farmer and gardener needs to watch it!
Farmers already have their routine. Farmers are not growing in pots, with bagged soil.
1:23:50 Gary's Top Pot
What is the best mix for citrus? What is the difference in Perlite and Pumice in the soil? Is one better than the other?
Hi Gary, so glad you are back to doing youtube! Saturday mornings just weren’t the same without you during the pandemic.
I learn something every time I watch (even the topics I’ve seen before).
With the ongoing drought, I would love to hear more talks about native and low water use plants, as well as butterfly and hummingbird gardens. Would’t it be wonderful to have a part of my garden that I don’t have to water (for the most part…) because it is adapted to the climate we have, so I can give the water to my fruit trees!
Really great. Thanks Gary.
greetings from Arizona zone 9b. thanks again for all the valuable tips and tricks! this concept works very well here in our backyard orchard, vineyard and garden. cheers 🍷
Wish I lived in your area . I would do all my shopping at your nursery . Would love to buy that soil but I live in Southeast Coastal Georgia . I will try to make some homemade . Great info !
If you had a PhD, they probably discredited or revoke it from you with all the real info you teach us. Thanks to you I finally understand why I have fail in my past 20 years of planting plants and trees but now everything thrives. Thanks
Regarding the formulation for Top Pot - do I assume correctly that it is by volume, not weight? 1cf of peat is MUCH lighter than 1cf of pumice. Seeing as how I am going the have to mix my own, it’s important to understand whether I need to weigh the different ingredients, or measure by bucketfuls
Hi everyone. I am watching this video from Europe, in sandy Germany in fact. You might be interested that the plant, common name "Horsetail" and latin name Equisetum arvense has a high silica content, about 25% when dry. I gather, dry and pulverize.
Thank you very much Gary!
I was struggling with growing citrus in the pots using regular potting soil.
Ever since I learned how to mix the soil from your lessons, my trees are thriving…, and you are right “more water, more growth”
Question, can you tell me what type if soil do champaca prefer? They don’t seem to do well with my soil mixture. I don’t know if I added too much osmocote or the roots are too sensitive? All the leaves turn brown even the young ones
Some plants are very sensitive to root damage and many will get a root disease from the operation or previous soil conditions. I haven't worked with many Champaca (changed the soil on about 20 successfully) so I can't tell you what to expect.
@@GarysBestGardening thank you Gary! I tried to remove most of the osmocote and replaced it with the organic fertilizer. I think the new leaves are coming back much healthier. I must have over done the osmocote 🤦♀️
How important are the worms in the soil? I was under the impression that worms are a sign of good soil; because the worms are eating all of the dead stuff, and the worm castings are good for the plants.
The larger earthworms are considered neutral because they do damage plants and do aerate the soil. I have watched earthworms cut leaves off of low lying plants. Most larger worms are not native to our area and in some regions of the U.S. have been shown to cause trouble in the native ecosystem. We have plenty of very small to microscope worms that are native and beneficial. The larger earthworms are not important and not native.
@@GarysBestGardening I have the red ones. The kind that people buy for composting. They are everywhere. Every time I dig a hole to plant something, they are in the soil. It's better than having a worm bin. The worms in the ground are consistently supplying worm castings.
Gary - you mention that you are trying to find other places that are selling a similar putting soil to your Top Pot. Where will you post the info if you are able to find it?
We are waiting for our distributor to enlighten us on where our potting soil is being sold. Our distributor recently got bought by a larger distributor so information is a bit slow to reach us. I put on information on our weekly email newsletters (you can sign up at our website). When we get the information it will be eventually posted on our website.
Found a nursery in San Diego that Carrie’s both of Gary’s soil. Green Thumbs Nursery in San Marcos.
@@GarysBestGardening I contacted my local nursery, who checked with the distributor. It looks like there is no one locally, (SF Bay Area) who carries it. BUT my nursery is happy to make a special order for me and have it delivered to their place where I can pick it up. If I purchase an entire pallet, (70 bags), they will give me a 15% discount… I am saving my $ to make the purchase.
@@gigihenderson8567 Hi Gigi, were you able to get the soil in the Bay Area ?
@@YipTheYaper Someone said that there was one nursery that carries it. Yamagami’s in Cupertino, but they don’t show it on their website, so I would recommend calling to see if they have it. For myself, I contacted Sloat, and they brokered a deal for me with the distributor to buy it directly. They gave me a discount if I bought an entire pallet, which was delivered to the Concord Sloat. Hope that helps.
Finding large bags of pumice in San Antonio TX is non existent. Ordering via internet is getting too expensive. Can I use decomposed granite instead of pumice?
I have the same issue in the Phoenix AZ area. I've been using pavestone brand black volcanic rock instead from Home Depot; similar properties to pumice.
Pumice is our attempt to make sand lighter. I prefer sand a bit over decompoed granite but have used DG in the past as part of our soil mix with great success. In small pots DG may not drain as well as sand but that depends upon the source.
@@GarysBestGardening Similar to "Enlightenment Garden" posted above : here in Bermuda, we have a VERY similar problem, but also an exponential one - NO Pumice to be found, NO Biochar (I may have a local source soon), and NO locally occurring Silica Sand (our island has a limestone base, so ANY sand here is made from that). On top of that, our soil is thick Clay and very alkaline, so growing more acid loving fruit trees is a problem. My question is HOW would you make as close a mixture to your Top Pot/Acid Mixes with these available ingredients :
- Standard Sand #18 (Only Silica Sand available and it's $42/bag)
- Decomposed Granite ($15/5 gl bucket)
- Peat Moss
- Perlite
- Vermiculite
- Biochar : I have found a local source who makes it, but they're fixing their retort atm.....but I will have some.
* Our Environmental Protection Department is STRINGENT so anything I import will be heavily examined and possibly confiscated. So saying that :
- Pumice : I CAN get it, but the import fee for it will be heavy.....It would need to be washed, dried, and screened (to eliminate microbes/pests)...the BEST one I can find - that meets the grade - is Hess Pumice's "RUTSU" Succulent Amendment, which is $19.50/45 lb bag BUT costs $68 just to ship it to NJ where it will cost me another shipping fee to ship it here. I need to find a better option, so any suggestions you have will be GREATLY appreciated.
pumicestore.com/pumice-products/pumice-soil-succulents.html
- Coconut Coir : even though you don't recommend it, if push comes to shove can I use it. Hard to get but not as hard as Pumice.
Also, if putting in-ground, how would you prepare a ground such as ours - Limestone base about 1-2 feet below the top soil - to accomodate trees here?
Again, thank You.
@@twilitezn Hi Scott, thanks for watching. If everything is limestone it would probably be futile to create an acidic soil as it would just dissolve if exposed to acid. I would use the limestone and cover it with a thick layer of organic made from many sources. Hopefully the acid loving trees will be able to pull nutrients out of the organic layer that should be acidic as it decomposes. In theory...the pH of the soil doesn't matter if you have healthy mycorrhizal fungi in the medium. GOOD LUCK
Would using play sand (100% natural that home depot sell) mixed with charcoal and peat moss work for my raised bed garden and potted tree plants? Unfortunatly I live to far from Laguna and cant buy Gary's potting soil in our area.
i've read it should be builder's sand. i use quickcrete all purpose.
If you add gypsum to the avocado tree, do you remove the inches of mulch first and replace after spreading the gypsum? or just spread the gypsum on top of the mulch and water it in?
If the gypsum is exposed to moisture it will be effective. It will work both ways.
@@GarysBestGardening thank you! By the way, I was able to get 50 lb. of rice hulls from the feed store (to substitute for perlite) here in the Sacramento valley area. I think they use it for quail bedding and such. It was only $10.50. I saw online the shipping would be exorbitant from other areas, but I was able to find it local.
does someone know his Acid Mix ratios?
50 % peat, 50% pumice