Episode 157: an A to Z of potting mix ingredients, part two

Transcript

Episode 157

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Jane: Hello and welcome to On The Ledge podcast! I'm your host, Jane Perrone, and this is the place where being called 'sappy' is a compliment! It's potting mix ingredients part two this week, so we'll be finding out what the initials DE stand for, loving Leca and considering coir. Plus, I answer a question about watering a lemon, or rather a lemon tree - I mean, watering a lemon is going to do nothing! - and we have our first new-style Meet the Listener, with Theresa!

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Jane: I hope you enjoyed the mid-week bonus number six, in which I unveiled my crowdfunding campaign for Legends of the Leaf - the book that I'm hoping to publish about houseplants and the stories behind them. It's been amazing, the support that I've had already, and thank you to all of you who have already pledged. I'm a little bit over-awed. I'm going to check. I'm going to see where we're at - not like I'm not checking this every second of the day, but I'm going to see where we're at with it. Let's see. Yes, we're on 13% so thank you to all of the 87 people, so far, who have supported the book. A long way to go but it's great that within a couple of days of launching we've already got that kind of support, so thank you to everyone who has already pledged. If you haven't already pledged there's plenty of time to do so, I'm not going to bang about it too much in this show. I will include a link in the show notes if you want to find out more and if you've got any questions about how it all works then do drop me a line, because obviously crowdfunding a book is not necessarily how you expect these things to go down. Do ask if you've got any queries, but thank you to those of you who came straight in and pledged and do pass the link on to any plant-loving friends who might not listen to the podcast because I'm hoping this campaign will go far and wide, beyond the shores of On The Ledge to reach lots of other houseplant fans too.

I know you've all been getting excited about the new Meet the Listener question, so without further ado, so I thought we'd start with that this week and we're going to hear from listener Theresa.

In case this is your very first time listening to On The Ledge, I'd better explain what Meet the Listener is all about. Oh, welcome, by the way! It kind of does what it says on the tin; we meet a listener and I give them five questions to answer to the best of their ability, to give an insight into their planty lives and it's a really great way of connecting up all the different listeners to On The Ledge from around the world. So, if you'd like to be a part of this, please drop a line to On The Ledge podcast and we will send you instructions on how to take part. It is super, super easy: you just need a smartphone and who hasn't got a smartphone these days? Without any more ado, let's hear from Theresa.

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Theresa: Hi there! My name is Theresa. I'm 27 years old and I live in rural northern Wisconsin, close to Michigan. I love outdoor and indoor gardening. Houseplants really help me get through the winter and I keep plants around me constantly. I've hundreds of houseplants, nothing super-cool or exotic yet, but I just love tending to them and propagating them.

Jane: Question 1: You've been selected to travel to Mars as part of the first human colony on the Red Planet. There's only room for one houseplant from your collection on board. Which plant do you choose?

Theresa: This question is interesting. I think if I were to be going to Mars, I would want to bring something that I'm fairly confident would do pretty well. Something I could propagate quickly and just surround myself with because I think I might need that on Mars. I would bring my Marble Queen Pothos. It's a robust, beautiful plant that I think would just outshine any other plant on a new planet.

Jane: Question 2: What is your favourite episode of On The Ledge?

Theresa: My favourite episode of On The Ledge is probably episode 118, Surviving the Winter - Arctic Gardening, and selfishlessy because it really applies to my situation here in Wisconsin in the US: long winters, too-short summers and a lot of forced air in the way of heating and cooling, so that episode helped me iron out a few issues I had going on.

Jane: Question 3: Which Latin name do you say to impress people?

Theresa: I really enjoy the Latin name Hoya carnosa compacta, or even better, Hoya carnosa compacta variegata, It's like you're saying a full sentence in Latin but not really! It's just fun to say! I think Latin names are important for nailing down the idea of a plant. If someone said "What's a money tree?" that could be confused with Schefflera, Pilea. Latin names really help get around those issues.

Jane: Question 4: Crassulacean acid metabolism or guttation?

Theresa: Crassulacean acid metabolism is cool. How do plants even get to that point? It's absolutely crazy, but I'd have to pick guttation in my own life and experience because it's just cool to see and it's a really beautiful effect.

Jane: Question 5: Would you rather spend £200 on a variegated Monstera or £200 on 20 interesting cacti?

Theresa: I would rather spend 200 euros, or in US dollars -- I looked it up - it's around $230, which I've never spent in one go on one plant or multiple, but I'd have to go with the Monstera. Cacti don't agree well with my climate, I've kept a couple alive for a couple of years now, but I would really love that variegated Monstera. I don't have it, it's pretty hot right now and I know I can keep it happy and growing.

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Jane: Thanks Theresa! I hope everyone liked the new question. Hopefully it keeps the spirit of the original question but perhaps takes it in a slightly different direction - to Mars actually, is the direction it's heading in! I particularly like to hear from listeners in parts of the world that haven't yet been represented on Meet the Listener. I don't think we've had any Swedish growers yet, unless I'm misremembering? What about you New Zealanders? Come on, let's hear from you!

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Jane: If you haven't heard part one of my A - Z of potting mix ingredients, then do go back and listen to episode 156, for coverage of A to C; that's Akadama to charcoal. We're actually continuing with C today because there's one other ingredient that has the letter c as its first letter and that is coir.

What on earth is coir? Well, it's made from coconut husks, it's often being touted as a sustainable alternative for things like peat moss and you'll often find that it comes stocked as hard brick which you then have to put in a bucket and add water to it so that it suddenly fluffs up and makes a much larger amount of compost, so it's really convenient if you are living in a flat or you've got small amounts of storage space, or you want to order growing media through the post because these light weight compressed bricks are a very good way of getting your coir. Is coir more sustainable than peat? I would say it's definitely more sustainable than peat but there are downsides to its production. As you'll remember from last week, helping me on these potting mix episodes is Vlad Nikolic, also known as Mr Houseplant and here he is to tell us about the pros and cons of coir.

Vlad: There are also a few issues with using coco coir and I don't know if people are generally aware of them. One is that it can potentially contain a lot of salt. So, the first thing you should do when you buy coco coir, after you rehydrate it, you need to thoroughly rinse it to get as much of that salt out. Another problem, which I suppose when you've been using it, you're aware of, is that it doesn't contain nutrients, so you have to fertilise all plants that are potted in coco coir, if you're using exclusively coco coir. So, you can either use 100% coco coir mix and fertilise your plants regularly, or you have the option to mix coco coir with a peat-based potting mix, as they contain nutrients. So, for example, you could use one third coco coir, one third peat-based potting mix and on third perlite, pumice or sand, to improve drainage and aeration. There's also an environmental issue with coco coir production because a lot of chemicals are used in the production and then a lot of water has to be used to remove these chemicals. The water used to rinse them out goes back into the water that is being used by local communities. It turns out the production of coco coir is not as environmentally friendly as people usually think.

Jane: So, if you're looking to buy coir, it really is worth checking out the company you're buying from and where they're sourcing their coir from because not all coir is created equal. So, for example, here in the UK, Fertile Fibre is a company that supplies coir and all its coir is certified by the soil association which is a UK campaigning organisation for organic food, so their quality control is excellent and you can be assured that their coir is top quality and will work well for your plants. They have full traceability, so they know exactly where their products come from. If you're in the US and looking for coir, epicgardening.com - guest of the show - does have a nice guide to different coir products on his website. I'll put a link to that in the show notes. It's also worth bearing in mind that coir does come in different gradings. There is very fine, almost dusty, coir, which is a replacement for peat compost, slightly larger particles right up to coir chips, which are about a centimetre by a centimetre. I've used this on a couple of Hoyas and this seems rather good for plants that need a really, really porous mix with lots of air in it. Then you can get the fibres which are often matted into pots or into hanging basket liners. So, again, look at the quality of the stuff you're getting and assess whether it's what you need. The gradation of the sizes of the particles will obviously affect the air holes and the water holes that are available for the roots to use.

Right, moving on to D. D is for diatomaceous earth, also known as DE or diatomite. This rock is very, very rich in silicon. If you remember back to the leaf botany episode where I discussed silicon with Dr Julia Cooke, well, this is a silicon-rich potting mix ingredient. It's made from a sedimentary rock that is very rich in silicon and this in turn is actually made up of the fossilised skeletons of tiny little algae. Diatomaceous earth is used in an awful lot of different products that we use every day like toothpaste and cat litter, it's even used in the production of dynamite. It hasn't really caught on tremendously yet as a potting mix ingredient. As we heard in the silicon episode, silicon and diatomaceous earth, being a good source of it, are definitely on the up and up as an ingredient for potting mixes. You can get various grades of diatomaceous earth. The food grade DE looks really like flour. It's extremely fine. This is eaten as a supplement by some people. I have no evidence to suggest that it's at all beneficial for humans to take, so I leave that entirely up to you. I wouldn't recommend it myself. It is used by some people for worming animals. Some people use it in the dust baths of their chickens because it is meant to be good at getting rid of mites and things. It's a very fine powder so you do need to be careful if you're using food grade DE. Ideally wear a mask, because it's very easy to sneeze and blow this stuff everywhere and I do speak from experience. If you do want to mix it into a potting mix, I would highly recommend trying to get hold of some granular DE because this would be way, way easier to use. You could just pile up some of the food grade powder up on the top of the pot, but as I say, it's going to blow away. It's not the easiest way to apply it. I've also seen diatomaceous earth being sold in pellets as a slug repellent. This is a product that is interesting to keep an eye on. We're still at the early stages of its development, I would say, but do let me know if you're using DE regularly and what you've been using it for.

Okay, I couldn't think of anything for E or F, so we'll skip straight on to G, which is for grit. This is a bit of a mystery for UK versus US relations because it seems to me that horticultural grit, as it's sold here in the UK, doesn't seem to be that available in the US as a product. What do I mean by horticultural grit? It's simply rock that's been crushed to a small grade that's, well, gritty! What kind of rock is it? It's usually either crushed lime stone or crushed granite. Usually grit is anything between 1mm and 6mm is fairly standard. It comes in a variety of sizes depending on what you want to use it for. Larger sizes possibly for mulching the top of pots, particularly cacti and succulents, smaller grade for mixing in with your potting mixes. The reason you want to buy horticultural grit rather than any old grit is that this will have been specially washed to remove excess lime. You don't want your plants to get too alkaline, which can be a problem if you use regular grit. Just check the side of the packet and hopefully it'll tell you the pH level so that you know whether you can use it on your houseplants. Most houseplants are looking for a pH of about 6.5 although there are some exceptions.

Disadvantages to grit? Well, it's heavy. It's really, really heavy! If you are moving your pots around a lot, you might find that's a bit of a pain. Of course, it's a resource that's having to be taken out of the ground and processed, so it's not necessarily that sustainable. What do I use grit for? Well, I do use it as a pot topper on cacti and succulents. It just gives a neat appearance and drains any water away from the top of the plant. The downside is you can't see what's going on with the compost below that, so, it's harder to tell when your plant needs watering. I also mix it in to some of my houseplant mixes, particularly if it's my cacti and succulents which live, in the summer, out in the greenhouse. They tend to be in terracotta pots and I will use grit in those because they're heavy already and it doesn't really matter how heavy they get. I do tend to sieve that out and reuse that again and again. If you can't get hold of horticultural grit, you could just buy regular grit and give it a really thorough wash and if you want to be very careful test the pH before you use it on your plants.

Right, we're now on J, which is for John Innes. You may be wondering who John Innes is? Is he on Instagram? Well, no! He died in 1904 and he basically left a lot of his money, which was quite considerable, to establish a horticultural institution and so a charity was formed and the John Innes Centre is still going today, carrying out lots of vital research. In fact, we heard from Dr Enrico Coen from the John Innes Centre in one of our leaf botany episodes. In 1938 they published the John Innes compost formula. They did lots of trials, working out the best mix of ingredients and they came up with three different mixes. Traditionally, the basis of every John Innes compost was loam, which is basically soil, although that's not always true today. If you're looking for John Innes compost today, you can get seed compost and three different types of potting compost, number one, number two and number three. As I say, they're all soil-based composts. I'll put a link in the show notes to a great RHS page which outlines the ingredients of these various formulations which you can mix for yourself.

In terms of houseplants, you're really looking for John Innes number two, which is designed for established plants, including houseplants. I used to use John Innes number two for all my house plants but, unfortunately, most John Innes formulations still contain peat. Since I've gone peat free, I've stopped using it. I would live to find a John Innes formulation that doesn't contain peat but I haven't so far done so. The benefit of a soil-based compost is that it tends not to dry out suddenly in the way that things like peat and coir can do. They stay evenly moist and hold on to nutrients really well. You might find a lot of different compost companies marking their products as a John Innes formulation. They're not all the same so, again, always check the small print, look at the packaging, see what it says, what's inside there. It may or may not contain peat and there's no legal requirement for particular things to go into a John Innes potting mix, so basically anyone can sell something that's a John Innes potting mix and may bear very little resemblance to the actual original formulation.

L is for leaf mould. Now, this is fabulous stuff. If you have a lot of trees in your garden, you can collect them up with a rake, stick them in a plastic bag with a few holes stuck in it, stick them somewhere out of the way for a couple of years and, hey presto, you've got leaf mould. It's even easier to make than compost. The wonderful thing about leaf mould is it's a fantastic soil improver, it doesn't contain loads of nutrients but it is absolutely brilliant for plants that might be described as woodlanders, so if you're growing things like Ferns they would love a bit of leaf mould in their mix. The only downside to using something like leaf mould is that you might bring in with it a few things like worms and also wood lice, you have to be aware of that if you're planning to use leaf mould. What I would do if I wanted to use leaf mould is lay it out on a very thin layer on a plastic sheet or a tarp in the sunshine and then any worms or anything that are in there will move away from the sunlight and then you can scrape away the top layer and use that on your plants. Do bear in mind, as I say, you might get a few hitchhikers but that might be the price you have to pay when you're adding leaf mould to things like Ferns.

Now we come onto the subject of Leca. What is Leca? It's actually an acronym and I do love an acronym and it stands for lightweight expanded clay aggregate. In other words, its little round pebbles of clay that have been baked. They're incredibly lightweight, they've got loads of air pockets inside and they have loads of uses for houseplants. These are sold under a number of different brand names. I've seen them sold as Hydroleca here in the UK, expanded clay pebbles Leca - it's all the same thing. What do I use Leca for? Well, I use it on the top and bottom of pots, I use it as a pot topper - I guess it might be doing something to stop fungus-gnats laying their eggs on the surface - but I use it more for just making it look tidy, stopping water splashing about and also stopping the growth of little mushrooms and things like that that you sometimes get in houseplant compost. And, if I've got an inner plant pot and then a cache pot, I lay at the bottom of the cache pot with the Leca and if I'm watering from the top and a bit of water splashes down into the Leca it gets absorbed and the pot is not sat in water. So, it's handy for that.

I also do mix it into potting mixes too. It's incredibly porous, as I've already said. It's really good for adding porosity to things like Hoyas and succulents, that might need those extra air holes, epiphytic plants, they love that air around the roots.

You can in fact grow your plants entirely in pure Leca. This is not something I've experimented enormously - I'm hoping to do an upcoming episode on it - but it's a really interesting way of growing plants and lots of people absolutely swear by it. So, do report back if you've been trying this and tell me how it's working. It's quite a clean way of growing because you don't have soil slopping about and you need to make sure that the Leca is soaked in water and that you also add nutrients because, of course, Leca contains absolutely no nutrients. The other great thing about Leca is that it doesn't degrade over time, it'll look exactly the same as the day you bought it, unless you stand on it which I've occasionally done. That's really handy for techniques like hydroponics. You'll find, unlike soil, the compaction that you get with soil just won't occur. Those air holes will be there all the way along. That's quite a convincing argument really. Why am I not planting all my plants in Leca!? We're all slow to change, aren't we? But I would definitely recommend dipping your toe into the world Leca and maybe adding a handful or two to the mixes of some of your plants and seeing how you're getting on.

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Jane: I had a lovely note from Crystal who became a Patreon last week, saying: "Thank you for your marvellous work. I've managed to track down a second-hand copy of Dr Hessayon's bible. His tome and the On The Ledge pod back-catalogue see me through all my planty pursuits. What a gift! Thank you for asking and answering all the important questions." I have to say, if you don't have a copy of Dr Hessayon's House Plant Expert, I know I'm pushing my own book at the moment, but you can get yourself a second-hand copy of The House Plant Expert, ideally the gold-plated version, is my recommended one. Please do get it because it's a really great book and reading it will give you an insight into my brain, which is always fascinating, so be more like Crystal and get yourself a copy of that, as well as pledging for Legends of the Leaf if you so choose! Thanks to new Patreons this week, Hayley and Jessica, who became Ledge-ends, and to the Cole family who, after last week's question, gave me a donation on ko-fi.com which is very generous and you don't have to donate once I've answered your question but it's most welcome if you do.

Who remembers back to episode 99 with Lisa Eldred Steinkopf talking about houseplants for low light, in which we mention a plant called Nicodemia diversifolia, the indoor oak? Well, I had a nice message through this week regarding this plant. Melanie writes: "Saw this post today while looking for more on this plant. I have five beautiful Nicodemia diversifolia plants. The original I got from my mum after she died in 1976. I have had success with cuttings that I've started with a root hormone and then transferring to potting soil. I live in Chicago in the USA. In the summer, I keep them outside under a covered patio, in winter, down to the cellar, where they do pretty well with fluorescent light, 24/7, until spring. I hope this info helps a little." I'm glad to hear that you, Melanie, are holding up the Nicodemia as a houseplant when all around you seem to have abandoned it. Perhaps there's a whole stash of these plants growing in places that we're not aware of? So, bring out your indoor oaks people, because I'd love to see them! Thanks to Melanie for getting in touch. Thanks to Liz from PA and Richard the Liondart, who've both left reviews for On The Ledge podcast. And you know what? Despite having dozens, if not hundreds, of reviews now, my heart still sings every time I see a new one, so thank you to both of you!

Now, let's turn our attention to Question of the Week which comes from Annie in California and it concerns a lemon tree. She's been struggling with watering because she's not sure how much water she needs to soak the soil of her pot. She's finding there's a lot of excess water that drips out and leaves stains on the patio, falling down onto the neighbours downstairs. She's worried about the water stains and she wants to make sure that she's watering right. I think there's a few different issues going on here, if the water is coming straight through the root ball, and not really soaking in, I have a strong suspicion that this plant maybe suffering from a couple of different things. Firstly, the plant may well be rootbound, so if the roots are filling the pot, the soil can start to become hydrophobic, which is where it literally repels water rather than soaking it up. Once soil has become hydrophobic, particularly when there's a mass of roots in there and the soil has become very compacted, the result is the water just zips on through the pot and doesn't soak it at all. Root bound in the pot and hydrophobia come together and I think there's a few different things that Annie can do here. One thing is to stick the whole thing into a washing up bowl, or a deeper container and let it soak up water over a period of time.

I have to say, just a little pet peeve here, please don't call this technique "butt-chugging@. That's really wrong, on so many levels. I keep hearing people on Facebook asking about: "How do I butt chug?" and I'm thinking "Please don't butt chug! That's not right! You're watering from below!" It's far more dignified.

Anyway, so get your washing up bowl, stick the lemon tree pot into there and fill it half way up the side of the bowl and let it soak in there for a good while. Then, when it's been there for about an hour, tip out any water and put it back in the bowl and let any excess water drain away and finally, finally, finally, then you can put it back on the patio once that drainage has happened. You can even wipe the bottom of the pot with an old rag to make sure there really is no water left. If you find that when you take the plant out of the pot, there's really not an issue with the plant being root bound it still may be hydrophobic and you need to increase the amount of air circulation - very easy to do! Just get an old kebab stick ,or chopstick, poke, poke, poke, poke, poke - I'm miming it! In fact, I've even got the chopsticks somewhere to do this - poke those into the soil and it sounds harsh, you will break a few roots, but you will introduce a lot more porosity into that soil which will allow it to soak up the water. So, you could even do this while the pot is in the water. Poke with your chopstick and you'll find that it takes up a lot more water as a result. The reason why I can't really answer your question, how much water does your ten gallon pot take - it's so dependent on the kind of potting mix you've got, the temperature, the amount of wind there is, the air humidity. It'll be very, very difficult for me to say "Oh, yes, it needs exactly three gallons every five days!" It just doesn't work that way. You need to keep an eye on your plant and assess how much water it needs. The best thing to do, is to allow it to soak up as much water as it wants at every session, so it's never going to go thirsty and also at the same time, it's never going to be sitting in water long term. That's what I'd do, Annie. I'd stick it in the old washing up bowl, stick that chopstick in the rootball, repot it if it really is rootbound and make sure that that water really is getting a chance to soak in properly. I hope that answers your question, Annie.

If you've got a question for On The Ledge, do drop me a line. I love to hear from listeners. It's my favourite thing when a listener email drops into my inbox. That address is ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com That's all for this week's show. I will be back next Friday, where we'll hear more from Mr Houseplant, aka Vlad, and myself about potting mixes.

Oh, I nearly forgot! Oh my gosh, I nearly forgot! This is so exciting! I have got Bantel's Sensation! It's in a box here -- look - sound effect! I haven't opened this yet. This came from a lovely listener called Kiara. Thank you, Kiara - you are my hero! I did a swap with her: she got some Hoya fungii, I got some Sansevieria Bantel's Sensation! Can you believe it? My dreams are coming true! Thank you so much, Kiara, and to everyone who does plant swaps with me. It's so much fun! Once I've unpacked this, I shall be putting this on Instagram, so do look out for my Instagram stories about my much-wanted wish list plant which is now in my possession. Cue evil laugh! Anyway, that's all from me this week, she says, putting the box down. I will see you next week. In the meantime, have a great, planty week with your collection. Bye!

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Jane: The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by The Joy Drops, An Instrument the Boy Called Happy Day, Gokarna by Samuel Corwin and After the Flames by Josh Woodward. All tracks are licensed under Creative Commons. See janeperrone.com for details.

Subscribe to On The Ledge via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player FM, Stitcher, Overcast, RadioPublic and YouTube.

In the second part of my potting mix ingredients A-Z I work through from C to L, covering leca, leaf mould and coir, plus I answer a question about watering citrus trees, and we hear from listener Theresa. Thanks to Mr Houseplant aka Vlad Nikolic for joining me again this week.

This week’s guest

Thanks so much to Vlad for joining me to talk all things potting this week!

Check the links below as you listen…

C is for COIR - Coir is made from the husk of coconuts and can be added to potting mixes, often as a replacement for peat: in fact it is often seen as a more sustainable option to peat. It often comes in lightweight compressed blocks, so transport/delivery costs are low, plus it is ideal if you lack storage for potting mateirals. It is not without its environmental costs, however, as the production process is resource-intensive and can damage local water supplies. Always check the provenance of your coir - Fertile Fibre is a responsible supplier in the UK, and check out Epic Gardening’s coir guide for suggestions for US suppliers. Coir contains no nutrients, so remember to feed plants regularly.

D is for DIATOMACEOUS EARTH - or DE as it’s known. A silicon rich substance made form a sedimentary rock created bu the bodies of millions of fossilised algae. The food grade DE is hard to work with as it’s so fine, so look for the granular form instead. Here are the DE slug pellets I mention.

G is for GRIT - crushed granite or limestone chips usually 1-6mm in diameter, washed to remove excess lime and provide a suitable pH for houseplants (which mostly enjoy a pH of 6.5-7). I use it as a pot mulch on succulents and also mix it into potting mixes for plants that like sharp drainage.

J is for JOHN INNES -A complete soil-based potting mix formulation concocted in the 1930s after extensive research at the John Innes Centre in the UK. John Innes no 2 is usually the formulation recommended for houseplants: check out this useful guide on John Innes composts from the RHS for more details. Check the small print, as there’s no established standard for John Innes, and many still contain peat.

L is for LEAF MOULD - Leaf mould is made of slowly decomposed leaves and can be added to potting mixes for woodland plants such as ferns. If you make your own (instructions for that are here) be aware you may end up importing worms, woodlice and springtails to your pots.

L is for LECA - which stands for lightweight expanded clay aggregate, a really useful addition to potting mixes that need to be airy, for instance for epiphytes. I use it at the bottom of cachepots to soak up water, and as a fungus-gnat defying mulch. You can also grow plants in pure leca: more on that in an upcoming episode!

LEGENDS OF THE LEAF

Question of the week

Annie wanted help with watering her lemon tree, which was making a mess on her decking with lots of runoff. I suggested that the plant could be potbound, and/or the soil has become hydrophobic, so that the water isn’t being properly absorbed.

I suggested checking the rootball and repotting if necessary (always use specialist citrus potting mix for lemons) and dealing with compaction by poking holes in the rootball with a chopstick. I also recommended watering from below by placing the plant in a bucket or deep bowl and letting it soak up water for an hour or so, then draining thoroughly before returning it to the deck.
Do have a listen to my watering episode for more tips on giving your plants a drink.

Want to ask me a question? Email ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. The more information you can include, the better - pictures of your plant, details of your location and how long you have had the plant are always useful to help solve your issue!

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Houseplant care basicsJane Perronesoil and compostComment