This is my post for #freewriters 2919 prompt the wrong formula hosted by @mariannewest
To get good soil for potted plants, we have to buy it by the dump truck load. They will not deliver any less, and it is too far for us to haul any amount back to our house. My husband said he is not buying anymore.
When the old potting soil got too old, it held a lot of water, and my pineapples were dying from being so wet. I could not afford to buy soil that pineapples like. I bought a cheap soil and added perlite to it. My husband complained about the amount of perlite I was using and told me to use one bag of perlite for every four pots of soil. I was using two bags for every four pots of soil.
His way was the wrong formula. I have been losing the pineapple plants that I used his formula with, and have not lost one from the way I was mixing it. Sometimes being cheap will cost you in the end.
Since I planned on not watering them much, I put them in partial shade, but I am still losing some of them. So today I decided to move all of them that are staying too wet to full sun, and where they will get no water.
A few months ago, I planted some of the pineapples in the ground and used banana plant leaves around them for weed control. They are working well, and the pineapples seem to be doing better when planted in the ground. I need to plant more of them. I have lost close to a dozen and have one more that I am sure is going to die.
photos are mine