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thominindy

Wobbly Plants

thominindy
15 years ago

Some of the plants I am repotting have long necks and are wobbly (don't stand up)after re potting. Should I tamp the dirt at all to support them? Someone in this forum said "If you don't get it the way you want it the first time, start over". Good advice.

Thank You

Thom

Comments (11)

  • fred_hill
    15 years ago

    HI Thom,
    IF your necks are still sticking out of the soil mix, bury them deeper. You may have to cut off some or all of the rootball to do this.
    Send me an email and I will send you a page I have made on rejuvinating plants.
    Fred in NJ

  • fred_hill
    15 years ago

    Thom,
    Heres a site that I have pictures posted of rejuvinating a plant.
    Fred in NJ

    Here is a link that might be useful: Operation Ness' Orange Pekoe

  • thominindy
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thank you Fred. Now that is a long neck. I'm just dealing with re potting some baby minis I just received from Rob. They might have two or three rows of leaves gone. My concern is that they won't stand up straight in the cup if I don't do a little bit of tamping and forcing the soil to settle. I'm afraid this may be a no no for AV's.

    Thom

    I thought my email was available to Garden Web members. I can't find a link to change it.

  • lilypad22
    15 years ago

    You can press the soil down some if the top of your plant is floppy. I just wouldn't tamp the soil in the entire pot too tight. Once the neck starts growing new roots, it will stabilize or you can put some plant labels or toothpicks between the leaves to hold the plant in place. Its generally more of a problem with a large violet that has a lot of top weight, than the small mini violets. tish

  • thominindy
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks Tish.

    I had no idea how meticulous potting these little guys would be. I'm lucky that I welcome and enjoy work that requires patience. I am doing so much better after some experience. I have gone back and re- repotted most of my early ones. Last nite I took a potato peeler, covered it with foil and used it as a chute and pushed soil with a dowel. When I first started It would take me all of ten minutes to repot a mini. Now I spend thirty or more minutes repotting and I am very happy with the results.

    Hope I am doing things right. I am having a lot of fun.

    Thom

  • bspofford
    15 years ago

    'Last nite I took a potato peeler, covered it with foil and used it as a chute and pushed soil with a dowel.'

    Oops, Thom, your engineer is showing! lol

    Repotting can be tedious at times. One of my 'can't do withouts' is a small baby spoon. I use it to place new soil in small amounts under the leaves without getting it all over the place.

    I'm so glad you are enjoying this journey. Do you have any AV clubs near you? If so, I encourage you to attend a meetin or two. You'll find lots of friendly people that are also very generous.

    Barbara

  • ima_digger
    15 years ago

    Barbara, thanks for the great tip about the baby spoon. I have a few leftovers from granbabies. I'll use them next time I have to re-pot. It sure would make it easier to get around in the small pots.

  • bspofford
    15 years ago

    Since I had no children, I had to buy baby spoons. They come in a 2-pak by Gerber, and they have a rubber coating that is almost impossible to remove! The spoon is too thick with the coating. I did one by cutting thru to the metal and cutting and scraping off the coating. If I need another one I'll go buy a cheap souvenir spoon.

    Barbara

  • ima_digger
    15 years ago

    The spoons I have are from when my children were babies. They are stainless steel. I used them on my grandbabies because I didn't like those plastice covered ones. They stayed at my house thru all these years in the silverware drawer. One of the spoons is over 50 years old. An antique like me. LOL

  • fred_hill
    15 years ago

    I agree with you ima digger, those spoons with the coverings are creepy. I found a very nice infant spoon with a longer handle at an Oneida outlet in PA. It was twice as expensive as the regular baby spoons but it is excellent for getting my mix into tight spaces.
    Fred in NJ

  • thominindy
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I have a selection of small spoons that I found in my Mothers silver. She would be happy that I am using them because, she would have used them for planting if she needed them.

    Thom

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