Arnold, Equal parts of the following:- Garden soil, sifted quarter inch (my soil is an acid, fine alluvial clay with almost no sand component); Leaf mould, at least two years old, sifted quarter inch (OR peat if leaf mould not available); Sharp sand, Grit, 3 to 6 mm, Vermiculite, coarse, builders' merchant supplied. (A two gallon bucket of each of these gives me about two bushels of compost. A bushel is the volume of a box with internal dimensions of 10 inches by 10 inches by 22 inches) Add Hoof and Horn, Sulphate of potash, Bonemeal to John Innes 3 level, Add twice the quantity of slaked lime (ground limestone is too expensive!!) recommended for John Innes compost. This is to allow additional lime for the acid soil. Add recommended proportion of rare element frit. Add small amount Supergel (or Swellgel). This is a water retaining polymer, poly-N-acrylamide, which has appeared over here in the last three years. Much used in hanging baskets and such. About 25 gm per bushel. Throw in a small handful of iron filings. Sounds complicated writing it all down. I have a small plastic container which I have calibrated for the addition of fertilisers etc. so that I do not have to keep on weighing things out. After some of the recent comments about bonemeal on this list, you may prefer to use superphosphate, in the same proportion would be about right, but it is acid also from the residual sulphuric acid used min its manufacture, so the extra lime will definitely be needed. (Bonemeal here is sterilised and I'm too old to worry about what I might catch from it!!) I have recently found a good source of Perlite at a cheaper price than the Vermiculite that I have used for the past several years. I shall change to use of medium grade Perlite in the same proportions as above instead of the Vermiculite. Regards Hamish ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arnold Trachtenberg" <arnold@nj.rr.com> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:57 AM Subject: Re: [pbs] Clivia miniata germination > Hamish; > > Could you elaborate on the compost that you use for growing the > clivias. There are so many choices out there. I just picked up some > coir and plan to use it when I repot. > > thanks, > > Arnold > New Jersey > Five inches of snow on my C. szovitsii and C. kesselringii > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php