Growing serpentine clay-loving plants in pots

Cody H plantboy@gmail.com
Wed, 14 Jun 2017 10:05:59 PDT
Hi Nhu,

Thanks for that info, I wondered about whether the presence on serpentine
in the wild was more about tolerance than preference.

When you say "good well-draining mix", what do you mean precisely? I have
seen suggestions involving coarse sand, clay, peat moss, leaf compost, etc.
I'm hesitant to use pest moss based on previous experience, but other than
that I'm not sure what makes a good mix. Here in western Washington we have
plenty of acidic clay-based and glacial till soils, and of course the full
array of substrates available to nursery suppliers. What did you use in
your pots in Northern California?

Regarding the Calochortus, I think another problem may have been that I had
the pot on a south facing wall in the summer here, where it got cooked.
I'll keep my new bulbs cooler during their dormancy and see how that goes.

On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 1:40 AM Nhu Nguyen <xerantheum@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Cody,
>
> I have experimented growing serpentine plants in native soils for some of
> the more difficult species. In short, the plants were much happier when not
> in serpentine. In the wild, they tolerate but aren't really that happy in
> the soil. Calochortus bulbs should not desiccate -- I let them go bone dry
> in the summer in northern California. What I would suggest is not to worry
> about native soils and use a good well-draining mix. Climate/temperature is
> more critical so pay closer attention to that.
>
> Nhu
>
> On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 9:37 AM, Cody H <codiferous@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >  Do folks grow these types of bulbs in clay soil
> > in pots? If not, what kind of soil do you use? Do you add serpentine rock
> > to the potting mix? How do you protect against dessication during the
> > summer dormancy? Any advice would be appreciated!
> >
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<div>Hi Nhu,</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for that info, I wondered about whether the presence on serpentine in the wild was more about tolerance than preference.</div><div><br></div><div>When you say &quot;good well-draining mix&quot;, what do you mean precisely? I have seen suggestions involving coarse sand, clay, peat moss, leaf compost, etc. I&#39;m hesitant to use pest moss based on previous experience, but other than that I&#39;m not sure what makes a good mix. Here in western Washington we have plenty of acidic clay-based and glacial till soils, and of course the full array of substrates available to nursery suppliers. What did you use in your pots in Northern California?</div><div><br></div><div>Regarding the Calochortus, I think another problem may have been that I had the pot on a south facing wall in the summer here, where it got cooked. I&#39;ll keep my new bulbs cooler during their dormancy and see how that goes.</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div>On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 1:40 AM Nhu Nguyen &lt;<a href="mailto:xerantheum@gmail.com">xerantheum@gmail.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:///1px/ #ccc solid;padding-left:///1ex/">Hi Cody,<br>
<br>
I have experimented growing serpentine plants in native soils for some of<br>
the more difficult species. In short, the plants were much happier when not<br>
in serpentine. In the wild, they tolerate but aren&#39;t really that happy in<br>
the soil. Calochortus bulbs should not desiccate -- I let them go bone dry<br>
in the summer in northern California. What I would suggest is not to worry<br>
about native soils and use a good well-draining mix. Climate/temperature is<br>
more critical so pay closer attention to that.<br>
<br>
Nhu<br>
<br>
On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 9:37 AM, Cody H &lt;<a href="mailto:codiferous@gmail.com" target="_blank">codiferous@gmail.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
<br>
&gt;  Do folks grow these types of bulbs in clay soil<br>
&gt; in pots? If not, what kind of soil do you use? Do you add serpentine rock<br>
&gt; to the potting mix? How do you protect against dessication during the<br>
&gt; summer dormancy? Any advice would be appreciated!<br>
&gt;<br>
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</blockquote></div></div>

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