A couple of things to maybe consider Ouraka.
Your soil looks pretty much like garden soil. I tried improving mine with loads of sand and gravel, and it set like concrete while still not drying out anywhere near fast enough, particularly in winter. In the end I gave up with it, dug it all out, and replaced with a ballast/gravel mix, with about 1% loam. This worked much better and I stopped losing plants. Paul Spracklin, arids officinado, said "you can always add things, if necessary, but you can't take things out". Starting off with the mimimum worked for me
The other point is your rocks look like a dry stone wall, with each rock fitting perfectly into each other. I build higher layers by using the rocks individually next to each other allowing the gravel/chippings to spill through between, this looks more like would happen naturally.
Arid bed - the finished article!
- Dave Brown
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Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
Paul,
Yes, no doubt things will get added though I feel less is more with this kind of thing so don't want to overdo it! As for the agave at the back it's very frustrating cos when I planted it I noticed I'd lost the ID so couldn't recall the name! I've put a close up photo below, so maybe someone can help out. As for the Utahensis,it is pictured below. It is very small and I am going to keep in the pot for no and try to grown on.
Dave - I take on your points wholeheartedly. The soil I will have to see - it was designed to be a budget friendly project so my aim is to cloche in winter to keep dry with some gaps at the bottom for air movement. It will all be 'learn as I go' but I have intentionally not spent too much on plants in case of losses. As for the wall, good point well made but I am really happy with the outcome and tinkering will probably open up a major can of worms!
Yes, no doubt things will get added though I feel less is more with this kind of thing so don't want to overdo it! As for the agave at the back it's very frustrating cos when I planted it I noticed I'd lost the ID so couldn't recall the name! I've put a close up photo below, so maybe someone can help out. As for the Utahensis,it is pictured below. It is very small and I am going to keep in the pot for no and try to grown on.
Dave - I take on your points wholeheartedly. The soil I will have to see - it was designed to be a budget friendly project so my aim is to cloche in winter to keep dry with some gaps at the bottom for air movement. It will all be 'learn as I go' but I have intentionally not spent too much on plants in case of losses. As for the wall, good point well made but I am really happy with the outcome and tinkering will probably open up a major can of worms!
Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
Your big agave looks like a neomexicana, very nice too. Your utahensis looks a little bit stressed and doesn't look like there is much substrate in the pot. I have just used a standard cactus mix with mine and then covered with a few stones. Mine is doing really well inside on a sunny windowsill.
Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
Another agave to try is Deserti. I bought one from Bob Brown's Cotswold Garden Plants.
According to Bob it survived with damage at -18C but dead at -20C.... outdoors as well.- Dave Brown
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Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
Is the Cactus mix loam based or peat, Peat is fine in summer but stays too wet in winter I have found. Didn't understand why they called a peat based mix, Cactus mixpaulrm71 wrote:I have just used a standard cactus mix with mine and then covered with a few stones. Mine is doing really well inside on a sunny windowsill.
Best regards
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
It's Westland cactus mix, but it doesn't say if its peat based or not. I only use it on agaves that stay indoors anyway, all planted out ones are into gravel only.
Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
Commercial cactus mix is terrible for cactus. Most of them seem to be peat compost with a few bits of grit tossed in. It's the biggest myth/con of all time and is the surest way to kill a cactus. Agave, yuccas etc generally need some organic matter though and are more forgiving so it's not as vital. Depending on what's in the mix, for agaves I would use any sort of small stones and pebbles and mix it 50/50 minimum with the commercial mix. I personally use a mixture of pebbles, vermiculite, perlite and a little bit of compost. You want it to be free draining but also hold moisture for a short time ideally.
Re: Arid bed - the finished article!
I couldn't agree more - this article has photos of cactus in the wild and it is amazing how they grow, even thrive, with essentially no soil at all. http://www.cactiguide.com/pdf_docs/hexalog-engl.pdf Even if you don't want to read the whole thing, the photos are interesting.