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Member of Hong Kong Gardening Society

I don't know much about growing plants, but I want to learn. I understand about potting soil, and why you want sand, & vermiculite in it.

But you know we have Basil, Thai Basil, Lemongrass, and a BUNCH of other plants, vines, trees etc that came with our new place, and they are all just planted in this apparently horrible, hard dirt. And they look pretty good to me.

Should I go thru the trouble of repotting with and adding sand, vermiculite and organic matter to the dirt. Or just stay with what appears to be working?

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Kris Moa

If you are happy with how your plants are doing, just leave well alone. If your lemon grass looks tired, consider repotting it as it is a perennial.Likewise your vines if you really like them.
But bear in mind that herbs will not last for ever, so be ready with a few replacements. You can try taking cuttings of different types of Basil. Keep a few tough stems in water and within a couple of weeks they should produce enough roots to plant in potting mix. Or you can try sowing seeds of your existing basil in a pot of fresh mix. or even use commercial seed -- Yates seed from Australia is packaged to withstand HK's humidity for a while at least and the germination success rate is phenomenal.

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Member of Hong Kong Gardening Society