Mix Neem with phosphoric acid ( generally just non-neem "hort oil") 50/50.
Make sure there are holes in that container, can't tell if it has them. Let it dry out between waterings. It will go through two phases - a long 'growth phase' when it should be fertilized and will produce leaves. Let it get cool and cut back the high N fertilizer in the fall, while letting it go dry for a little longer. This will usually trigger it to produce spikes, and they will grow more spikes if they had grown more leaves during the growth period. Don't use the ice cubes.555
Alrighty, so over the winter cut back on fertilizer, noted. The room it's in drops to about 66 or so over night during the winter. Looking over a couple other tips I've seen but most seem along these lines. Thanks fam, here's hoping I can pull it off!
It doesn't have holes, but once a week I let it soak for about a minute or so with filtered water then tip the planter to drain it. Should I cut back to every other week for watering? Also I saw others say to cut back on feedings over the winter so I'll do that as well.
What kind of sapling and pot? Generally speaking when I re pot a plant, I take out the entire substrate and gently massage most of the substrate off before putting it in something new, but it really depends on what you are working with.
It's a loquat sapling, & the pot is clay I think. The pot looks like stoneware, but I think it's clay. It also has a dish attached at the bottom to drain/hold excess water. The top of the soil is covered in a layer of moss.
If you can tip it to get all of it out at once that would be ideal. But it being that large may be difficult. Are you looking to put it in a new pot or going ahead and putting it in the ground? If you are worried about deer (which is understandable, I hate the deer in my yard) you should consider getting chicken wire to put around it as a defense, at least temporarily. It worked for my little elm tree anyway. And if you don't have a dog you could also think about getting deer spray to keep them away.
Worst case you could probably break it without causing harm to the root structure. At least if it's not inherently valuable.
I was planning to move it to a large pot, but I think you're right about moving it to the ground soon. When spring hits would probably be the best time to do it. The chicken wire is a great idea! I'll definitely set that up when I move it. Thanks for the advice.
I was planning on reusing the pot, but I may have to break it if I can't get the sapling out safely. I'll keep that in mind.
Get a long knife and cut out 0.5-1" of the outside of the (It sounds rootbound*) rootbound ball. If you've got a loquat and it freezes late in spring be careful, they are sensitive to late frosts.I was planning to move it to a large pot, but I think you're right about moving it to the ground soon. When spring hits would probably be the best time to do it. The chicken wire is a great idea! I'll definitely set that up when I move it. Thanks for the advice.
Once a week should be fine if it's in bark. The main issue with having them in plastic without holes is the lack of air movement around the roots, which can lead to rot. In the summer, I tend to let the phals almost dry out in between waterings. In the winter, I let them completely dry out before watering them again.
YOU GUYS WANNA TALK ABOUT FUNGI? That shit's so cool.
Yknow I was looking into that myself and came across this. I wonder if fungi could be used for computers one day.
*hits joint*
I had no idea about biochar. Being completely real most of my info comes from watching this documenatry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH7cp1nqHLc
In "Entangled Life" we learn that fungi "feel pain" too.
Doesn't surprise me. If you watch that video I linked you'll see plants have some reactions similar to animals. Like apparently having a dormant 'sleep' state at night. It's all quite fascinating.
If you really want to fuck with them, you could use the ol' "They're more advanced than we are" argument since they have chloroplasts and we don't.