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toffee_el

Some thoughts about planting Michelia Alba in low humidity

toffee-el
11 years ago

This is my attend to plant m. Alba in Sunset 13, Palm Spings area California. Well, this is the desert with very dry and hot summer. Except August and September the so call monsoon, humid and hot. Today (Aug 5) is 115deg with 14% humidity.

Now we can talk about Michelia Alba. I have seem them do well in Hong Kong. So this is my thoughts:

1. My Gardenia is doing fantastic, I saw gardenia and M Alba thriving side by side in Hong Kong. So there may be hope.

2. Gardenia leaves are a bit more waxy than Michelia's so can Michelia take the dry climate?

3. Heat, lots and lots of sun. Can Michelia take that much sun under such low humidity?

4. Drainage, that seems to be super crucial. We are in the desert with very sandy soil that drains very quickly. But it's sand and Michelia needs very fertile soil to thrive?

5. Water, I am planning to water every other day with nitrate rich water from my aquarium.

6. No way I can grow it in semi shade or whatnot. It would have to be full sun. The whole area near my house are single story homes, so even if planted in the north side of the house, once it grow to 15 ft or so, it will be under full sun.

I am thinking of digging a 3ft dia by 2ft deep hole, fill with compost and HD garden top soil. Plant a 5g M alba in the middle, thinking when the root out grow the 3' garden soil and reach the sand, it will be big enough to handle the adversity?

What do you guys think?

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