Need advice for SIP mix to keep soil dryer for certain herbs

Vespertino · June 27, 2013

Hi everyone!

I made a SIP out of a flowerbox for my french thyme, lemon thyme, oregano and sage. They tend to like dryer, or well-drained soil. I added extra pearlite and cedar mulch to the mix for aeration, but the plants don't seem to like it and I'm finding a lot of gradual leaf die-off where they turn brown and crumble, not due to under-watering of course. I did put black plastic lining over the top to seal in the moisture (and covered that with cedar mulch so it wouldn't look ugly), so I wouldn't get too much water evaporation in the Texas heat.

So what should I do?

My choice are:

1) Remove the plastic and let the top of the soil dry out
2) Water less often
3) Remove the plants and replace the soil with a different mix and then re-plant.

If my soil is the culprit, any ideas on what to add to the mix to make it ideal for the herbs?

Thanks!

June 27, 2013	#1
Vespertino Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Southlake, TX Posts: 743	Need advice for SIP mix to keep soil dryer for certain herbs Hi everyone! I made a SIP out of a flowerbox for my french thyme, lemon thyme, oregano and sage. They tend to like dryer, or well-drained soil. I added extra pearlite and cedar mulch to the mix for aeration, but the plants don't seem to like it and I'm finding a lot of gradual leaf die-off where they turn brown and crumble, not due to under-watering of course. I did put black plastic lining over the top to seal in the moisture (and covered that with cedar mulch so it wouldn't look ugly), so I wouldn't get too much water evaporation in the Texas heat. So what should I do? My choice are: 1) Remove the plastic and let the top of the soil dry out 2) Water less often 3) Remove the plants and replace the soil with a different mix and then re-plant. If my soil is the culprit, any ideas on what to add to the mix to make it ideal for the herbs? Thanks!