This is my post for #freewriters 2678 prompt
a new material hosted by
@mariannewestMy sister asked how many desert rose plants I had, she guessed 30. I had no idea how many I had so I counted them, I have 70 big ones in this area and I have a few small ones and without counting I guess I have 30 or 40 cuttings and seeds that I have started.
I have been experimenting with a new material to add to the old soil that has broken down. Desert roses like to have a well draining soil and the old soil has turned to muss, and it holds water and is rotting the roots.
The first new material I tried was sand. I bought new potting soil and mixed it with sand, but I am worried that the sand will stay too wet.
I bought a bag of mini pine bark and black cow potting soil and mixed them with a little sand and this looks like it will be well draining. I really like how it looks.
But I realized there is a problem with this mixture, the pine bark might turn the soil too acidic. Desert roses are not an acid loving plant. They can handle a little acid but not much, I will need to test it and see how high the pH is, they like it to be 6.0. I will keep an eye on it and if the pH gets too high, I will add some lime to the pots. Lime will lower the pH.
If using the pine bark makes the acid level too high for the desert roses I can use it to replant my pineapples, they are acid loving plants and I have some that I need to change the soil in.
photos are mine
