You can get dry wall tape the kind to fix holes in walls and put in the inside of the pot over the drainage holes. Look at Al's posts and you can strap them down like in his pics. Hope this helps you! :)

Thanks, Christy. I've scanned a load of Al's posts. You don't happen to recall one in particular, do you?

Once the roots start growing the plants will be very secure. Until then, you have to make scafolding to support very top heavy plants.

Hi Kwie! Also wanted to say that the dry wall tape has little holes In it so the water still drains out but they're small enough the mix stays in. And if you go to page 3 right now under "Newbie Seeking Experience (snake, yucca/fiddle leaf/succulents) posting by tsouth and scroll down Al has a pic of one of his jades with the tie down strappy thingies on it. Sorry but I don't know how to post a link. Do you know how to do that? Lol cuz boy it sure would be easier when I wanna show someone something! Lol don't give up on the grit though. Before I propped things with pieces of dowel and tied some down I had the same problem with some but like nil said, once the roots take hold you shouldn't have any problems. The one I had the MOST trouble with was my grafted cactus. (Forgive me but at the moment, for the life of me, I CANNOT think of its name! Lol) but the top part is HUGE compared to the stem. I ended up barrying it deeper in the mix. I had read it on here actually, (somewhere on here) lol someone gave someone else that advice and it's working so I'm happy with it. Though I know that's not an option for EVERYTHING, it did make an easy alternative with this particular cactus. Oh the pic is a little ways down in the post. I hope I helped ya!! Good luck and have a great night!

Just copy the link from the address bar and paste it in the box next to Optional Link URL. Then type in a name for the link inthe box below that. If you don't give it a name you won't be able to see the link.

Even from this forum? And I appreciate the help :)

When sticking leaf cuttings in aggregate media, don't fill the pots up very far and just lean the cuttings against the side of the pot to keep them upright. Once they have rooted repot them in filled pots. I usually pack pots with leaf cuttings so they don't have a chance to fall over.

And the complaint about using a tremendous amount of water is because you mixed gravel with pumice. You would have been better off mixing in a little turface or DE with the pumice.

This post was edited by nil13 on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 1:35

Almost forgot the post by tsouth is under house plants

Here's Al's picture that LilBit was talking about.

{{gwi:6990}}

From this post.

-Chris

I use stones to prop the plant in place while the roots establish.

For the excess water.....try watering more slowly, using a bonsai can.

Josh

I use stones or sea shells to support a newly potted plant until the root system has a nice hold and they can be removed. Also, I use coffee filters to prevent the gritty mix from coming out. Don't know how it holds up next to the dry wall tape but it works for me.

Darn! Why didn't I ever think of drywall tape? Silly me - I was just using it for drywall. LOL

I have used chopsticks or skewers to prop up a plant. And stones have worked quite well. Bigger plant, bigger stones. Top dressing has helped on occasion with smaller plants.

Stones were the only thing I had to hold this lopsided guy up. I never thought of tying him up.

Coffee filters or a couple sheets of newspaper work just as well as drywall tape, and are usually items everyone already has on hand. By the time the paper has disintegrated, the soil has compacted enough that it will freely drain but not fall out with the water.

Nancy

Thanks, everyone. I'll try some of your suggestions and see bow it goes.
I guess for the tops of the pots, I'll try the drywall tape (kinda' ugly though) until I come no with something better. Maybe some top dressing will stick on top of the tape to bide it.

Window screen cut to fit works for (almost) forever.

Hey Crenda, what are you using for top dressing and where can I find similar? My red lava stone looks nice, and it was dirt cheap, but it has damaged some plants, and it gets too hot. I bet yours doesn't do either of those.

Thanks for the window screen idea, cactusm. I think I might even have some scraps I can use.

I have used window screen, too. It works well.

Kwie - all of my landscaping is with river rock, except for the required lawn. I have small pea gravel size, medium size and large rocks for a border. I grab some of it for top dressing.

They sell bags of it at HD and Lowes. It is very dirty - muddy, really. You have to wash it well. And it does get hot in the Florida summer sun. I've burned myself pulling weeds without a beach towel to sit on. But I have not noticed it damaging any of the plants.

If you don't want 25 lbs. of river rock, they also sell smaller bags of soil cover. Some is quite attractive. I bought some called "pearl stone" that are white, clean and look nice. I haven't noticed if they are hot in the summer. I didn't notice my lava rock feeling hot, either, tho. Maybe that's because I didn't sit on them! LOL

Kwie, sorry but I guess I didn't explain myself well enough......imagine that! Lol it seems to happen quite a bit lately lol! What meant is I use the drywall tape over the DRAINAGE hole from the inside so the mix is on top. That seems to help me keep the mix from falling out the bottom. I don't use it on the top but you know what it would work to hold the plant lol! But it would look pretty gaudy. You could use fishing line for that matter to tie the plant down to the pot. It's clear for the most part making it "not that noticable" good luck with it! ðÂÂÂ

You explained yourself just fine, Christy. I don't have trouble with the grit coming out the drain holes though. My problem is the stuff falling out of the top whenever I move a plant or tip it slightly, so I'm thinking of adapting your drain hole fix to cover the top of the most affected pots.

It will DEFINATLEY work! Glad I helped ! even if I got lost along the way lol!!

I sent you an email Kwie.

If the mix is spilling off the top, you're possibly overfilling your pots. I can give my pots a pretty steep tilt and nothing comes out.

Josh

So its when the pots tip over that you lose it. That is the beauty of the mix, that it is airy enough that it will do that. Nothing attractive will prevent that. Only grouping the pots together will give them "safety in numbers".

tj