Bad Soil? Scum?

BonifaceVIII

My soil for my Juniper was doing good about a month back. Now it takes a wile to soak up the soil; the water simply sits on top of the soild for about 30 sec. I read this could be do to a slight scum forming on the surface. Could this be true? Or is it just bad soil?

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whidn

Hay Boni.
I've heard that in this situation, If you lightly mist the soil before you water with a spray bottle the soil will be more able to let the water through.
You might consider removing about 1/4" of soil from the top and replacing it with fresh soil.

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doody

I have read that if you don't mix fertilizers like osmocote into the soil, and you just sort of spread it on top the soil, that it will cause a film of scum. I don't know the truth behind it, but thats what I read.

Tony

More likely than not it's because you have the wrong type of soil. Junipers need a coarse gritty soil mix without too much organic material. Did you pot the tree yourself? What kind of soil? Do you see scum on the surface?

Tony

ripsgreentree

This is an interesting question. I think that if you had good soil there would not be any problem with scum. In my opinion Good soil has a high enough particulate content to keep it from locking up. Here is a photo of the soil that I mix and use. It will hold moisture but water drops right out.

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soil01.jpg (22.9 KB, 56 views)

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