Proper Plant Drainage

[gavriel]

Has anyone had problems with drainage of Umbrella Tree's (Schefflera arboricola) or other plants? Currently I have a 18X18X36 enclosure for my 2.5 month old Ambanja Panther. Rocks sitting on top of the soil so he cannot accidentally ingest soil and particles, however the soil is so dense that it is retaining water and not draining enough. There are holes in the bottom but the soil is turning into sludge and draining out as well. I also believe the plant will die due to overwatering and was hoping there is a proper mix of rocks, sand and organic soil to allow for some water retention, but will drain fast enough to prevent my planting pot from becoming a swamp.

Anyone run into this problem before and/or come up with a fix? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Gavriel

 

[gavriel]

Re:

His duel nozzle mist king goes off for 30 seconds at 0730, 1000, 1500 and 1930, and for a minute at 1230 and 1700. This keeps his relative humidity around 40 to 50% while maintaining his 85 to 90F basking spot.

 

[Meow Kitty]

i use 1/3 perlite 1/3 cocofibers and 1/3 vermiculite makes great drainage

 

[gavriel]

Re:

Ok. I'll try that. Thanks for the quick response.

 

[deadhd5]

Line the bottom of the pot with river rocks so the plant is never sitting in water. An umbrella plant can't take being waterlogged for too long before it starts quickly going downhill

 

[GarynTampa]

take a small wooden dowel and line it up with the drainage holes in the planter. Run the dowels down through the soil and open up thesew holes. That should solfve the problem.

Rocks in the bottom of the planter (as poster earlier) shjould also do the trick.

Gary
Tampa, FL

 

[corwinlame]

take a small wooden dowel and line it up with the drainage holes in the planter. Run the dowels down through the soil and open up thesew holes. That should solfve the problem.

Rocks in the bottom of the planter (as poster earlier) shjould also do the trick.

Gary
Tampa, FL

Hi, You share here suggestion and I try this trick for solving the problem, but its not drainage plant. Can you suggest any another way so I solve my problem.Thanks in advance.