Hi All,
I am still getting use to the forum but you guys certainly know your stuff – so while I obviously have no constructive advice to offer re gardening I hope you dont mind if I ask further questions as you helped so much with the snow peas – first thing I learnt was dont believe seed labels as to when to plant!!

I have a couple of blueberry plants (Vaccinium Hybrids) in 43cm pots. A local gardening expert said that pots of that size were ok in Perth. I am expecting fruit next year! They are growing slowly but I have seen other plants of the same age in pots that are much healthier in as much as they have more stems growing from the base and the leaves are more consistantly a darker green. The soil in my pots is quite alkaline when it should be more acid but rather than adding iron sulphate or equivalent can I mulch a pot or use other additives etc to a pot to make it more acidic without over doing it?. Dont forget I am a complete amateur.

I also have 2 Camerons Apples (pear melons or melon pears depending on the website) that are going gangbusters. They are in the same size pots as the blueberries and I thought they needed the same pH but they are going so much better. If all are in the same enclosure as the blueberries and all in pots is it purely the nature of the individual plant to grow better under circumstances or could the blueberry plants have fungi or bacteria that prohibit their growth whereas the pear melons are just not affected. Being a novice this is much like the first time looking after a new born baby. “what the hell is going on!” All ideas are appreciated. Cheers Pete

G’day Pete.
They like a sour soil as you suggest.
Easiest thing to do may be to repot them into some potting mix for azaleas/camellias etc.
They have similar requirements.

I agree with Longy, I’d be re-potting the blueberry using an acidic potting mix. Mulching the current arrangement would just take far too long to change the entire pH of the pot.

I concur. repot it using azalea mix, but also add some water storage crystals.

Don’t worry about asking many gardening questions Pete..you can’t ask too many, thats what we are here for. Gardening questions keep us on the straight and narrow, lol

and some tips on potting mix. Cheap potting mixes can often be little more than composted pine bark or similar and need stuff added to it to provide nutrients and water holding ability. As you go up in price these things are included. The Australian standards ticks on the pack will guide you as to the quality of the mix. No ticks means pretty much useless unless you add stuff to it and could contain some nasties like heavy metals. Ticks on a black background means a standard quality mix while ticks on a red background means a premium potting mix. These will have been tested for heavy metals etc. also.

from http://www.recycledorganics.com/infosheets/3pqc/IS3-09.pdf

Regular Potting Mix
A potting mix with properties as outlined in
AS 3743–2002 and requiring the use of a
balanced fertiliser from the time of potting.

Premium Potting Mix
A potting mix complying with the
requirements as outlined in AS 3743–2002.
Most particularly, its soluble nitrogen
content and low ability to deprive plants of
soluble nitrogen enable it to sustain good
plant growth for a least a month without
added fertilisers if the use of the mix is
commenced within 2 months of
manufacture. Its nutrient levels, water
holding capacity and wettability are
superior to those of a regular grade mix.

there is more info on that site. Note that to get best results from the premium potting mix it needs to be used within 2 months of manufacture (I’m not sure if the packs have dates on them though) and the available nutrient is only good for 1 month. After that you will need to feed yourself on a regular basis. And if you are wondering if there is really a difference, I have seen example of the same plants being grown in uncertified mix and certified mix and believe me, there is a difference.

try again…

and some tips on potting mix. Cheap potting mixes can often be little more than composted pine bark or garden waste and need stuff added to it to provide nutrients and water holding ability. As you go up in price these things are included. The Australian standards ticks on the pack will guide you as to the quality of the mix. No ticks means pretty much useless unless you add stuff to it and could contain some nasties like heavy metals. Ticks on a black background means a standard quality mix while ticks on a red background means a premium potting mix. These will have been tested for heavy metals etc. also.

have a look at http://www.recycledorganics.com/infosheets/3pqc/IS3-09.pdf

Note that to get best results from the premium potting mix it needs to be used within 2 months of manufacture (I’m not sure if the packs have dates on them though) and the available nutrient is only good for 1 month. After that you will need to feed yourself on a regular basis. And if you are wondering if there is really a difference, I have seen example of the same plants being grown in uncertified mix and certified mix and believe me, there is a difference.

Pete has been using Baileys premium potting mix on my recommendation.
I don’t believe in cheap and nasty potting mix either. :)

The issue with Pete’s garden is that it is a small courtyard on ex-market garden land and he doesn’t trust the soil not to contain who knows what chemicals hence growing in pots. To replace the potting mix he will end up with a surplus and nowhere to put it.

Pete, you could try adding pure peat or soil improver, or you could bag up the old stuff and dump it on me and do as most suggest and repot into Azalea/Camellia mix. Bearing in mind this is only for acid lovers and not a blanket approach.

THanks all again. Yep I will repot in the better suited mix or I might repot 1 and try using pure peat in the way horti suggested on the other. I have other acid liking plants so extra potting mix will be good. Mind you if I follow Horti’s suggestion and the blueberry dies there will be hell to pay LOL.

Another question – poinsettias I thought, and have been told, are outside plants but in the last week or so both Waldecks and Bunnings are having a very red leaved variety out and posting them as indoor? They are a beautiful plant and I don’t have any indoor at the moment so they would be nice to have inside. Are they in fact indoor plants?

Cheers all,
Pete

if you have a hot spot in the garden like against a north facing wall, you might be able to grow one outside. unless you get frost. I have one growing outside in Melbourne and it is supposed to be too cold here.

pete said:

THanks all again. Yep I will repot in the better suited mix or I might repot 1 and try using pure peat in the way horti suggested on the other. I have other acid liking plants so extra potting mix will be good. Mind you if I follow Horti’s suggestion and the blueberry dies there will be hell to pay LOL.

Another question – poinsettias I thought, and have been told, are outside plants but in the last week or so both Waldecks and Bunnings are having a very red leaved variety out and posting them as indoor? They are a beautiful plant and I don’t have any indoor at the moment so they would be nice to have inside. Are they in fact indoor plants?

Cheers all,
Pete

I’m not sure about that one. They are really outdoor plants but who can tell what they are doing to plants nowadays. Someone else might be able to tell you better than me.

bluegreen said:

if you have a hot spot in the garden like against a north facing wall, you might be able to grow one outside. unless you get frost. I have one growing outside in Melbourne and it is supposed to be too cold here.

I thought Pete was asking would they grow inside or is it just a selling gimic.

pomolo said:

bluegreen said:

if you have a hot spot in the garden like against a north facing wall, you might be able to grow one outside. unless you get frost. I have one growing outside in Melbourne and it is supposed to be too cold here.

I thought Pete was asking would they grow inside or is it just a selling gimic.

Yes Pom, that’s exactly what Pete was asking. :)

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

Longy said:

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

What can I say but I believe you. Thats great insight – I might just give the poinsettia a go! When kids try things they do so cause they don’t know whether it will work or not – hence children do and discover remarkable things. I am a new gardener and while not a child I am prepared to try stuff purely because I actually dont know anything. What a conundrum. Mind you if a poinsettia becomes a mutant and strangles me in the middle of the night my ghost will be well upset!!

Longy said:

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

Well said Longy!

pete said:

Another question – poinsettias I thought, and have been told, are outside plants but in the last week or so both Waldecks and Bunnings are having a very red leaved variety out and posting them as indoor? They are a beautiful plant and I don’t have any indoor at the moment so they would be nice to have inside. Are they in fact indoor plants?

By all means, you could keep one inside while its leaves are doing its pretty red thing, but I’d be only entertaining the indoor thing for short spells…. Like may indoor plants, they need some r and r outside.

Longy said:

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

That’s what I said…………….more or less. I just didn’t use up so much quote space. LOL.

pete said:

Longy said:

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

What can I say but I believe you. Thats great insight – I might just give the poinsettia a go! When kids try things they do so cause they don’t know whether it will work or not – hence children do and discover remarkable things. I am a new gardener and while not a child I am prepared to try stuff purely because I actually dont know anything. What a conundrum. Mind you if a poinsettia becomes a mutant and strangles me in the middle of the night my ghost will be well upset!!

If your Poinsettia goes that far I would like a cutting before you expire.

hortfurball said:

Longy said:

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

Well said Longy!

Overkill! Overkill! Hahahahahahh.

pomolo said:

pete said:

Longy said:

Pete, there is no such thing as an indoor plant.
Strangely enough, plants have evolved outdoors.
However, there have been variations of outdoor plants developed to overcome some of the traits of the plants, so they can grow in places nature never intended, like tropical apples for example.
Plants that naturally do well indoors are often species from rainforest understorey, or other plants which have adapted to low light conditions.
I’m sure you could grow pretty much anything indoors, if the situation was right.
Given that most indoor spots are at best well lit and at worst, quite dark, you’d need to hybridise a poinsettia that can handle the lower light conditions.
So it has possibly been done.
It’s just a question of whether or not you are prepared to risk trying to grow one.
If it grows, bewdy. If not, another lesson or two will be learned. You could always poke it in the ground if it looks crook!
That’s gardening!

What can I say but I believe you. Thats great insight – I might just give the poinsettia a go! When kids try things they do so cause they don’t know whether it will work or not – hence children do and discover remarkable things. I am a new gardener and while not a child I am prepared to try stuff purely because I actually dont know anything. What a conundrum. Mind you if a poinsettia becomes a mutant and strangles me in the middle of the night my ghost will be well upset!!

If your Poinsettia goes that far I would like a cutting before you expire.

Yep will send a cutting during my last minutes if the plant will let me

Yep you are right Longy.
I’ll just try it – if it doesn’t work then the plant will be happy outside. Cheers