LOL. I work with a dozen PhDs and they sometimes ask me for help and I have only a BS but I have 30 yrs experience doing the same work they do.

Gary is the best. Invaluable information, we owe alot to him!

Thanks for posting guys! Your videos are so informative. I have purchased much top pot from Laguna Nursery the last two years, and the results make the up-front extra expense of top pot well worth it. Among other plants, I bought a small passion fruit vine from you earlier this year and planted it in the ground using top pot in a large, dug, hole and now it has growing and fruiting like mad, 25 big fruits so far and this vine was quite small when we got it from you just a 7 months ago! small avocados purchased from you also growing strong just like you promised! I am sold on this stuff and have been a gardener for many years....

Thank you Gary for sharing your knowledge! I have learned so much from your videos.

Well, I’ve got a few plants to go repot…

I just finished watching the whole video. This is life changing. Thank you for this information.

Wow I was just going to skip to the parts I thought I needed but the whole thing was so good.

Fantastic information. I have recently switched to a mineral based soil. This confirms my thoughts.

This question is for Gary, do you remember Gold Cup? I assume it was distributed only on the west coast. It was made very similar to your mix and as a result it lasted forever. I'm glad to be able to buy Top Pot in San Diego. I'm very pleased with it.

In pots especially, the particle size of the substrate has an effect on the amount of water retained versus drained. I've discovered that finer particles retain more water, which sits around in the bottommost few inches/cms of the pot and does not drain away, no matter how many drainage holes there are. If this lingering water layer does not get replaced by fresh water, there is the risk of the roots submerged in that water layer being starved of oxygen. Some use the term 'perched water table'. Coarser particles enable excess water to freely wick out (or drain out) of the pot's drainge holes.

What do you think about DECOMPOSED GRANITE for raised bed trees.I tried it and so far so good.

Gary, what grade (partical size) of pumice would you recommend when making a mix similar to your Top Pot.

I feel special now. Ive had the same cordyline/Hawaiian Ti plants in my front yard, for about 8 years now and I have clay soil. Sometimes they lose their leaves in winter but always pop back up in spring, and all 5-7 ft tall by the end of summer. They've been frozen and snowed on, I just love their resiliency.

Does anyone know of any stores that carry them can ship to the east coast outside of trying to convince a local nursery to carry them?

(Are their ahy places in the San Fernando Valley that carry Gary's Top Pot? )

Planted the Italian cypress, clay soil..a year ago.. not sure what is going on, but it is not growing. Not dying, but not growing either. I added pumice rock to break up the soil also. It has been potted for a while before I transplanted it into the ground. Maybe I should try fertilizing it? I water once a week, Santa Barbara county. Have to add it is a approx 2 foot tree. Can it be it is still adjusting to new soil conditions.

1st! 🎉

Im in montebello ca is there any nursury in san gabriel valley that sell top pot

Your website comes back unsecure

How about a video extolling the actual conditions found in nature, and how to build a yard as it would be in the wild? Insects and worms, with the duff layer. The nitrogen cycle. And pee. Teach us how to pee in the yard.