I have a Red Caribbean Habenaro and two Reaper plants in 5g pots that I wanted to amend the soil before the season starts. Just before I did this, I started to harden them off for a couple of hours a day outside. Inside they were growing under a 70w MH along with direct morning sun. Normally when I re-pot a plant I don't mess with the rootball and just amend the soil it will grow into, or I trim the roots back a little while trying not to disturb the rootball too much. After watching a lot of videos on re-potting I decided to try getting a good amount of the soil out of the roots to get as much new soil around them as possible. The new soil is a combination of 2 parts potting soil to 1 part mushroom compost, a very small amount of worm casting, and a good amount of perlite. I decided to try the mushroom compost after talking with a couple at the nursery had raved about how well their plants did after using it. I also watered the plant after I re-potted them and the pots are way heavier than I remember them being after a good watering with the last soil.
This seems to be a disaster. it's been 5 days since Ive done this and I'm losing leaves at an alarming rate. I will also add that I've re-potted my new plants along with hardening them off and they are doing fantastic. I did not mess with the rootballs of the new plants.
Is it possible that the new soil is holding too much water, and if so what would you suggest to add for better drainage? How long do I wait before I try something else, I don't want the plants to not have enough time to adapt if it just a case of shock and I don't want to lose them because i waited too long to address the situation.
There is nothing worse than being a noob at something when the poop hits the fan like this.
This seems to be a disaster. it's been 5 days since Ive done this and I'm losing leaves at an alarming rate. I will also add that I've re-potted my new plants along with hardening them off and they are doing fantastic. I did not mess with the rootballs of the new plants.
Is it possible that the new soil is holding too much water, and if so what would you suggest to add for better drainage? How long do I wait before I try something else, I don't want the plants to not have enough time to adapt if it just a case of shock and I don't want to lose them because i waited too long to address the situation.
There is nothing worse than being a noob at something when the poop hits the fan like this.