Hi everyone, I was curious if anyone is or has used a 100% mineral mix for their plants, a mix with no organic substances? If so, good or bad experience.
Thanks, Joe

Hi Joe, welcome to NGA.

Sorry I can't help you here. I don't think I have ever used a 100% mineral mix. The mix I currently use is of 80% mineral elements content...the other 20% is an organic element: Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1). I use this plant starter solution for my seedlings and transplants as well as an occasional supplement for my plants. And my plants seem to be happy enough.

Joe, in my opinion, few plants grow (in nature) in 100% inorganic media. Perhaps desert plants do, since that soil is basically sand. But even then, I think there is a least a bit of organics even there.

I was thinking mineral mix as in fertilizer, as opposed to soil-less potting media.

The only thing I can think of in the use of inorganic matter is in hydroponics. Certain kinds of systems use rocks or other type of anchoring for roots. But the plants are fed organic as well as chemical fertilizers in order to produce.

Now that's a thought for experimenting. I might try it...pumice and vermiculite to anchor and provide moisture, and give adequate nutrients in a weak, daily liquid fertilizer regimen.

Go for it, Kadie. I have too many experiments going as it is.

Here is a PDF from someone who swears by this kind of planting (for Florida) which
includes his blend.....

http://labellegardenclub.org/d...

That's an interesting read, John. Thanks.

Yes, thank you for posting the link.

I had read this PDF when I first started growing from seed. And two years later (and having learned much more about growing adeniums), in re-reading this PDF I discovered so many contradictions and inconsistencies. The most conspicuous one is contained in the last paragraph:

"Personally I just start out with a permanent 12 inch 2 gallon plastic container, permanent, uncompressible media and don’t repot until the container begins to fail from old age. I want as large of a single fat caudex as possible. I’ll typically repot into a 15 inch diameter 3 gallon container. Anything larger than 3 gallons is just too heavy for my bad back to handle. If the Desert Rose gets really large and requires a large container I switch the potting media to one based on perlite."

Edited to say this is just one person's take on how to grow adeniums in Florida.

Greetings, I like to experiment, so I started two pots on 7-1, pot #8 sprouted on 7-3, it was in a covered seed tray on a heat mat, 100% pumice. Pot #9 sprouted 7-5, on the open bench, no pre soak. Pot #9 is a net pot with 1:1 pumice/#2 cherrystone, and is in a dish of water, sort of semi-hydroponic. I plan to use dilute 9-3-6 when the true leaves are out. I am curious how well they grow and mature in this substrate.
Joe

@dezroz
Ahah, Joe, now I understand your query about using 100% mineral mix...you are experimenting. That's great! Looking forward to updates on your progress.

Joe welcome to the site.

Joe and John you both like to experiment. We love to follow along.

John interesting article, My climate is a lot different from Fl . I am still playing at what works for soil for me. Right now I am 23% humidity and it was 94 today.

Marica, certainly different conditions...... In summer we may have rains every
day for a week so rot has been my biggest fear. That said, I'm using part of my old mix
(coconut husk chunks & bark) in with a larger proportion of Wigerts Bonsai Mix so the plants
will mostly flush with traces of moisture.

John, your potting mix sounds very good. My mix is nearly the same and is also airy and drains well.

During the latter part of our summers is when we get more rain...sometimes 3 days in a row. My very young seedlings love the rains and have virtually no issues with rot. It is my older seedlings (1 to 2 years) as well as some of my mature ones that are extremely susceptible to apex rot. Constant moisture sitting on the stem tips causes rotting.

Last year we had a heck of a lot of rain and many of my adeniums suffered stem rot, so I told myself that this year I will erect a canopy to keep the rain off my plants. Well...umm...haven't done it yet. The El Nino continues to cause some strange fluctuations in our climate so I'm that we won't get the unusually excessive rains like we did last year. We'll see.

Good morning, Here is a pic of pot #9, seed sprouted 7-5 and roots starting to show outside the pot.
Joe

That is interesting, Joe, that you are using an orchid mesh-pot. That's the sort of pot I grow my orchids in.

Ken, At some point when I was growing a lot of different orchids I experimented using net pots, what I grew it them I don't really remember.

Joe

Core fiber pots are also lighter. The fiber seems to last

What is a "core fiber pot", @crystalview?

I was told to try to keep the potting media slightly moist for my adenium. The reason I use mesh-pots with my orchids is so that maximum air can get to the roots. I would think that this would be completely opposite of what you would want growing adenium. But I am a novice grower when it comes to adenium. I am simply repeating what others have told me and based on that, am using common sense about the mesh-pots.

Ken, I think she means coir. Coconut fiber.

Oh, OK. I sort of figured that's what she meant but then again, it could have been an item unfamiliar to me.