Bulbs Related Q & A desk by Heinie

[Farhan Ahmed]

@Heinie. Its a vast country, hence wind pattern varies. Coastal areas and southern deserts experience constant healthy wind daily ranging from 4-5 Kts to 10 Kts. (Sea Breeze)
However up north in Punjab and KPK, healthy wind is a rare phenomenon. We may say that 2-4 Kts of wind generally throughout the year. In Monsoon and hotter months of May/June we experience violent wind storms, in dust storms winds can reach up 50-60 Kts. However its a short lived phenomenon. Monsoon rain is also preceded with some disturbed wind in excess of 20 kts.

[Farhan Ahmed]

Regarding the soil, yes at majority places we have soils with more sandy nature but again there is vast diversity in soils also and one will find continuously changing soil after very 25-50 Km. Here are the different soil Maps of Pakistan.
http://www.gardeningpakistan.com/viewto ... =51&t=1709

Do you recommend frequent misting/Washing of plant leaves early morning to cater for stomata blockage issue?

[Hamad]

Hamad,
Your questions may still be answered in the follow up discussions in this topic or else I will reply to you soon.

looking forward
Hamad

[Syed Adnan]

@ Heine,

How much trichordima I have to use for a 8 inh pot, actually iam going to order from eBay , prior to order need your advice.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

Hello,
Heinie
Extracts from here and there
Pot environment is totally different from garden bed environment, especially in relation to growing media.

Good drainage of pot is essential.
Ideal medium should have at least 50% total porosity.
Air porosity should be at least 15% of the total porosity and field porosity 35%.
Not all the water in the pot is available to the plant, fine textured media (small pore spaces) having lot of peat moss or coconut peat may still be wet and yet have no available water for the plant.
Stones, broken clay pot pieces etc, only reduce the space in pot, drainage is not improved only perched water table is raised.
If the pots are on the ground the roots grow through the drainage hole and block it so I place fine mesh at the bottom, it also prevents the entry of ants and earth worms through the hole.
The faster the media drains and dries the better it is (a compromise is required).
Use a uniform growing media throughout the entire pot.
Ideally all components of the medium should have same size of particles (rather difficult to achieve).

Heinie,
The readily available materials are,
River sand used mostly in building.
Coarse River sand not readily available
Khasso,fine river sand
Bhall, silt of canals, It is what you call loam
Bhall is the preferred media for 99% gardeners
To it people add cow dung manure, compost, semi composted leaves and some fertiliser.

Test of pudding lies in its taste, Two friends of mine grow beautiful Hippeastrums, one uses pure Bhall and chemical fertilisers high in Nitrogen, he never changes the pot soil, the other one uses Bhall and organic compost, both have very good results both are anti sand and anti grit. I have lost many bulbs in inconclusive experiments, especially using peat moss.

There is another factor how much water?
We have a common practice to leave about an inch from rim to top of soil for water in all sizes of pots.
WE normally have semi skilled help who is responsible for watering.
I have hundreds of pots of various sizes having various plants. My help (Mali) waters them by a hose filling each pot to the brim.
I do not expect him to water more than twice a week in summer and once a week in winter.
Experience tells me that this one inch space system is not correct it, in larger pots the water does not get to the bottom so up to half the pot may always remain dry.
One has to work out the problem in totality.
Good permeability,
Good porosity
Good field capacity
Good PAW, Plant available water capacity

KEEP THE ROOTS HAPPY IN ALL SEASONS
Am I asking for too much?
Regards
Arif

[Heinie]

Guys, I will reply on your posts either tonight or tomorrow because we are goung to visit friends. My weekdays are my own but weekends I try to attend my full attention to my wife, children and grand children.

Please be patient for me and talk to you soon.