Asarum maximum

[Maren]

Hi,

my Asarum maximum is showing two lovely new leaves and I feel I ought to re-pot it. It's been in the same compost for 4 years and growing very slowly, one new leaf a year on average. No roots are coming out of the bottom of the pot and it looks quite cosy. Should I or shouldn't I? and if I should, what sort of mixture does it like? is there any pH requirement other than neutral?

Thank you in advance.

[Pascal B]

Maren,

I would suggest to wait until the new leaves have toughened up a bit. In general Asarum do not mind being repotted as long as there is not too much root disturbance, I repot mine each year or every 2 years in a bark/fibrous peat mix in late summer but with the peat ban in the UK you probably need to find another humus rich alternative. The compost needs to be humus rich, airy and freedraining yet moisture retentive. A mix of 40-60 perlite-composted bark mix probably will do but all species I grow (>40) do well in a mix of PH 5-6. A lot of species in the wild grow on slopes at the edges of forests where there is never stagnant water but plenty of humus.

[Maren]

Pascal,

thank you for your advice. It looks to me as if I could use my pleione compost for the Asarum. This currently consists of:

1 part medium bark
1 part fibrous peat
1 part chopped sphagnum moss
1/2 part supercoarse perlite.

There isn't a ban on peat in the UK, but it's use is frowned upon. I use very little.

By the way, how do you check the pH of compost?

[Pascal B]

Maren,

I grow many acid loving woodlanders and because I grow so many in pots I use a ready made specialist mix from a dealer in Aalsmeer, hence the reason I know the PH of the mix. I have tried fiddling with those commercially available ph-meters but never got a good reading. And I studied bio-organic chemistry so have done many ph readings in my life. The paper strips are even worse. The best meters available in NL are the ones that can be bought at the.....homegrow shops.... But they have a hefty price tag.

But your Pleione mix indeed sounds OK to me. I know there is no official ban on peat in the UK but making it virtually unavailable is about the same thing isn't it? . Latest I heard was that a Disa nursery had (or has) to close down because of it. Glendoick on their website have a clear view on the peat debate and I can only agree (but that is off-topic...: http://www.glendoick.com/index.php?page=faq-peat).

In the wild some Asarum can even be found growing in pure spaghnum:

[Pascal B]

Maren, on this picture of a flowering Asarum delavayi you can see the soil mix a I use, it is a very coarse mix (the flower by the way is 5 cm across.....):

[Maren]

Pascal,
your comments are very helpful. I shall repot my little darling when the time is right.

I have a pH meter, which measures the acidity/alkalinity of liquids. I use this sometimes to test what comes out of a pot when watering. As I use rainwater, the results should be fairly accurate. It tells for example when to add dolomite lime to certain plants.