Compost mix advice pls

Hi

I have several plants that I want to grow in containers this year and am looking for some advice with regards to the compost I should use to keep them well fed.

I am attempting to " kick up" the following plants

1. Banana ensete. Only small and just bought it...
2. Alocasia calidora. Small last year but hasnt put on alot of growth, it only has one leaf! albeit a healthy one!
3. Colocasia. I grew one of these as a marginal in my pond and it did quite well, but not brilliantly last year.The others looked a sorry sight in pots of moist compost.
4. Hedychium garderanium and auranticum. These are quite small.
5. Gloriosa. This did well last year!

Last year I used multipurpose compost and fed rather irregulalry with tomato food. This year I have been advised to use 1/2 JI no3 and multpurpose mix with added miraclegro feed.

I really would like them to do well this year - can anyone advise me as to what is the best compost/feed mix to use?

Thanks!

 

wilroda - I don't know any of those plants. So I don't know exactly what mix you should use. My comments should be regarded as general.

I give most of my plants a similar mix and they seem to like it. I never use pure compost, but like to add about a third to a half by volume of sharp sand for better drainage. For plants expected to spend a long time in large pots, I mix in plenty of garden soil. This means that I end up essentially with a home made John Innes mix. This site gives some recipes. http://theseedsite.co.uk/innes.html The reason I like to incorporate garden soil is that a) its cheap, b) its heavy and helps to stop plants blowing over c) its got lots of rock based nutrients in that compost doesn't have and D) it doesn't break down - compost being organic will rot down eventually and become very fine and interfere with the drainage by clogging the drainage channels.

The recipes are fairley precise, but I usually end up with a rather imprecise mixtures. But then I suspect plants can utilise a range of soils.

As far as plant health and growth are concerned there are other factors to be observed. Watering and drainage are very important. Its better to water a lot and have good drainage than not. Then there is the temperature. Plants from warm climes need heat and may not be inclined to grow till its a bit warmer.

I feed all plants in pots regularily. Any feed there is in compost is soon exhausted. Early on, you want leaf growth and so I use Miraclegrow, which is a balanced feed. Later on you want to encourage flowering and fruiting and so I use Phostrogen, which has more Potassium (K) in. Phostrogen is essentially the same as tomatoe feed, but being solid its much cheaper. Or you could use Miraclegrow and add extra Sulphate of Potassium (pure K), which is cheaper still.

Don't worry about using expensive compost with Miraclegrow added. Why not use cheap compost and add the Miracle grow yourself. I also reuse old compost, and just add the feed needed. But I am sure some people will disagree. But then I am a cheapskate! When my car runs out of petrol I just refill it. But I am sure there are people who will think they need to buy a new car. :D