What to do with your old propagation mix

[happypalms]

When iam finished, or at least I think I have with my old propagation medium, I usually tip it out on the potting bench and just use it as any other additive for my soil mix. And usually there are old or what I think are dead seeds in that mix. They say never give up on old seeds but sometimes you just have to move on to new seed. So it’s a wonderful surprise when they start popping up in the potted palms. Especially licualas, not sure what these varieties are it iam sure something good, and another physokentia is most welcome in the collection. The seed is one way of getting an identification. I just tip the pot upside down and simply remove the seedling! 

[Harry’s Palms]

I love those kind of surprises. Harry

[SeanK]

Seems Licuala and moss enjoy a symbiotic relationship.

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

I love those kind of surprises. Harry

I still have trackycarpus princeps popping up two years later so they take a while to germinate, even had them germinate on the potting in between potting time. The best part is more free plants.

Richard 

[happypalms]

3 hours ago, SeanK said:

Seems Licuala and moss enjoy a symbiotic relationship.

Licualas and water go together, I think the moss is a good sign of a healthy microclimate. Only problem is, licualas never mix up those seeds with other licualas, I can be practically impossible to tell what varieties they are for a long time🤣

[donpachino1983]

That awesome 

[SeanK]

5 hours ago, happypalms said:

Licualas and water go together, I think the moss is a good sign of a healthy microclimate. Only problem is, licualas never mix up those seeds with other licualas, I can be practically impossible to tell what varieties they are for a long time🤣

Sabals are equally indistinguishable between species. May have to wait 10 years if the seeds got mixed up 

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, donpachino1983 said:

That awesome 

Even better if they are a rare variety of palm.

[happypalms]

15 minutes ago, SeanK said:

Sabals are equally indistinguishable between species. May have to wait 10 years if the seeds got mixed up 

I could believe that, most likely the same for a lot of licuala varieties, ten years and even then no guarantee of figuring out what variety you have. 

[TropicsEnjoyer]

Sometimes I get old soil that has like some yellow/orangish colored fungus on the top. Like a crust. It forms a lot more on poorly ventilated pots or indoor soils for me. Is this anything harmful and does it matter if i just dump it back into some catch all pot of old soil for reuse?

[happypalms]

4 minutes ago, TropicsEnjoyer said:

Sometimes I get old soil that has like some yellow/orangish colored fungus on the top. Like a crust. It forms a lot more on poorly ventilated pots or indoor soils for me. Is this anything harmful and does it matter if i just dump it back into some catch all pot of old soil for reuse?

You can recycle your soil, sometimes just a bit lime or dolamite helps to revitalise your soil. There are a few organic additives on the market for a bit of soil zest. But by means reuse your soil to pot up established plants. 
I wouldnt use old soil for new germinated seeds especially rare and exotic ones. New soil for those ones. It’s a general rule if the plant has died in that container then avoid using it for repotting rare exotic plants. But for a golden cane or Bangalow palm you can use anything. Most soil diseases such as Phytopthera tip that one in the bin. But a bit of soli fungi is a good sign in general. If you’re that worried chuck it in the compost heap and let Mother Nature do her duty, she will repair most things. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Since I started growing everything in coir and perlite, I usually just reuse it and mix it in when I pot up with amendments. I've had issues with damping off, and I've had so many store bought mango seeds grow mold no matter how I clean them - and I just dump that in the yard. Between that and the foliage I cut off, you can tell pretty clearly where my dumping spots are. I guess after seeing how well the weeds do, I should start mixing it in with my compost bins. 

[happypalms]

1 minute ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Since I started growing everything in coir and perlite, I usually just reuse it and mix it in when I pot up with amendments. I've had issues with damping off, and I've had so many store bought mango seeds grow mold no matter how I clean them - and I just dump that in the yard. Between that and the foliage I cut off, you can tell pretty clearly where my dumping spots are. I guess after seeing how well the weeds do, I should start mixing it in with my compost bins. 

Just dump it in the compost. If you had a bit of damping off try to avoid reusing that medium. For your mango seed let them dry a little before planting or just toss them in the compost pile you will be surprised how easy they pop up, I get them all the time coming up, or just pace the seed on top of the medium with just a tiny sprinkle of soil on top of the seed, cover with a plastic bag not to wet the medium and try a bit of good quality store purchased potting mix nort coir! 

[JohnAndSancho]

Well, I learned that a lot of our mangos are irradiated before coming into the country. It's hit or miss, they either sprout or they just rot. The papayas are a whole other story, those things are such freaking divas and I haven't figured them out quite yet. They want more heat, I turn the mats up, then it's too hot, then they want their tent sealed and then it's too humid, then they get dry so I give them more humidity then they damp off, then they start to look good and I think I've figured it out then they just freaking die overnight. 

I think the first time I added too much organics to their soil, then too little (the seeds are so tiny!) and I think I've finally found a balance and a fertilizer they like but I can't fertilize until they get to a certain size, then we do the heat and humidity dance all over again. It's a pain in my ⚽ 🏈 🏀 trying to get everything just right for them, and I just can't recreate the climate of Hawaii or San Diego in here and everything else is happy. Palms I thought I killed are (slowly) recovering, the bananas that were tiny pups are taller than I am, the dragonfruit cuttings are going crazy, I'm drowning in philodendrons, the alocasias and colocasias keep coming back no matter how many times I cut them to the dirt. Everything except the papaya and hibiscus is thriving, and I probably need to chop and prop the hibiscus just to jump start it but the spider mites love it. 

[happypalms]

9 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Well, I learned that a lot of our mangos are irradiated before coming into the country. It's hit or miss, they either sprout or they just rot. The papayas are a whole other story, those things are such freaking divas and I haven't figured them out quite yet. They want more heat, I turn the mats up, then it's too hot, then they want their tent sealed and then it's too humid, then they get dry so I give them more humidity then they damp off, then they start to look good and I think I've figured it out then they just freaking die overnight. 

I think the first time I added too much organics to their soil, then too little (the seeds are so tiny!) and I think I've finally found a balance and a fertilizer they like but I can't fertilize until they get to a certain size, then we do the heat and humidity dance all over again. It's a pain in my ⚽ 🏈 🏀 trying to get everything just right for them, and I just can't recreate the climate of Hawaii or San Diego in here and everything else is happy. Palms I thought I killed are (slowly) recovering, the bananas that were tiny pups are taller than I am, the dragonfruit cuttings are going crazy, I'm drowning in philodendrons, the alocasias and colocasias keep coming back no matter how many times I cut them to the dirt. Everything except the papaya and hibiscus is thriving, and I probably need to chop and prop the hibiscus just to jump start it but the spider mites love it. 

Papaya are weeds in my compost heap as well, so easy to grow, maybe papaya are not an indoor plant regardless of what you do. You certainly got a lot of stuff on the grow good on you, and iam sure a bit of tutorial from happypalms has helped you a bit. But at the end of the day the best student becomes the teacher and you have done well, I have watched your grow improvement over the last few years well done.

But you gotta kill a few plants now and then it’s the best way to learn. 
Spider mites, damping off, and other insects are all part of indoor growing, you learn as grow and grow as you learn!

[JohnAndSancho]

A lot of this is grass and weeds, but some of these are my Granny's winter flowers (I have no idea the species but they bloom in Jan/Feb and are white and yellow blooms) and they're looking great. 

 

The hope for most of the papayas was for quick shade in spring and summer since my bedroom faces east and has no shade. The other end of the house is shaded by an oak and crape myrtles and James room faces west. I also wanted to get a couple dwarf versions to try for fruit, so if I can keep them alive for another month then plant them and put the ones I wanna fruit outside we're good. After they're established they can propogate from branch cuttings but keeping them alive through that tiny seedling stage is the hard part, just like palms. Once they're established they're usually ok. I've got a few that should make it and an entire tray I'm still trying to get to sprout, even though I know the ones I plant for shade are doomed. I think regrowing them from branch cuttings will be A LOT easier than seed, too. 

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

A lot of this is grass and weeds, but some of these are my Granny's winter flowers (I have no idea the species but they bloom in Jan/Feb and are white and yellow blooms) and they're looking great. 

 

The hope for most of the papayas was for quick shade in spring and summer since my bedroom faces east and has no shade. The other end of the house is shaded by an oak and crape myrtles and James room faces west. I also wanted to get a couple dwarf versions to try for fruit, so if I can keep them alive for another month then plant them and put the ones I wanna fruit outside we're good. After they're established they can propogate from branch cuttings but keeping them alive through that tiny seedling stage is the hard part, just like palms. Once they're established they're usually ok. I've got a few that should make it and an entire tray I'm still trying to get to sprout, even though I know the ones I plant for shade are doomed. I think regrowing them from branch cuttings will be A LOT easier than seed, too. 

I have a few of my grandmother’s plants in my garden and I wish I had more of them. 
Sorry to disappoint you but the papaya won’t stand a chance in your climate in winter even I have trouble with growing them in my climate. But good luck trying. 

[JohnAndSancho]

2 hours ago, happypalms said:

I have a few of my grandmother’s plants in my garden and I wish I had more of them. 
Sorry to disappoint you but the papaya won’t stand a chance in your climate in winter even I have trouble with growing them in my climate. But good luck trying. 

Oh buddy the plan is to grow them up for quick shade. I KNOW they're sacrificial. I just need to keep them alive for about 6 or 7 months. 

 

Anyway, in addition to these flowers, there's a couple old beds of her flowers, a butterfly bush, and soooo many crape myrtles.... If I felt better I'd love to go out there with a reciprocating saw and a wood chipper and clear up everything that's grown up around them

[happypalms]

22 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Oh buddy the plan is to grow them up for quick shade. I KNOW they're sacrificial. I just need to keep them alive for about 6 or 7 months. 

 

Anyway, in addition to these flowers, there's a couple old beds of her flowers, a butterfly bush, and soooo many crape myrtles.... If I felt better I'd love to go out there with a reciprocating saw and a wood chipper and clear up everything that's grown up around them

You’re neglecting your duties of looking after grandmas plants, if she knew about that, look out your on her Santa’s naughty list. 
There not rocket ships in growth papayas, try some hollyhocks or zinnias, cosmos flowers for a bit of shade even dahlias and they will pop each year as well and then you can bribe your mum with the dahlia flowers, and then you get to be mums favourite and if grandma is watching then you get to restore that Santa’s list 🤣

[JohnAndSancho]

35 minutes ago, happypalms said:

You’re neglecting your duties of looking after grandmas plants, if she knew about that, look out your on her Santa’s naughty list. 
There not rocket ships in growth papayas, try some hollyhocks or zinnias, cosmos flowers for a bit of shade even dahlias and they will pop each year as well and then you can bribe your mum with the dahlia flowers, and then you get to be mums favourite and if grandma is watching then you get to restore that Santa’s list 🤣

They've been neglected since my grandfather passed. She developed dementia shortly after. I think they'd both be happy to see what I've done with the budget I'm working with. Mom likes elephant ears and canna so guess what I'm growing tons of? Granted I'm hoping to sell most of them but they spread like weeds.