Justaguy,
This was a great way to explain it! Thanks! I learned something new! :)

JoJo

Thanks jag. I wanted to add that it was my fines/mix in pots that I was talking about not swc's. I'm really begining to believe that it was a lack of Ca. in my mix last year.

Damon

To add to justa's good comments, please don't confuse BARK with the woody part of the plant. Outer bark tissue, especially that from conifers is not ever likely to cause N-tie up in the soil. Not even when it was on a living tree yesterday!

Wood chips, however, are a whole different story.

My property includes six acres of woods dominated by Douglas firs. As this property has never been harvested for timber I have many firs dead on the ground and standing. I can tell you that the bark is the last part of the tree to become compost. This fact is what makes it so good for a soil additive. The important thing is that the size of the bark particles are the right size as Justaguy has just explained. I run great slabs of this bark peeled from trees that have been dead 50 to 100 years, through my chipper/shredder and then screen for the size desired, depending on the the use of the mix. Al

here is an older thread that you might gain some info from..;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: about bark

Very great info, thanks dudes!

Damon

...and dudesses.... ;-)

I have alot of saw mills around me. For the last few years I have been buying fresh pine mulch by the dump truck load. I screen it my self. The larger pieces I use for a top dressing in my garden. There is always a small amount of sapwood in it. Thats why if I was going to grind some myself, I would buy pine nuggets. Because there is never any sap wood in it. Not the stuff I have seen. filix.

So - did you get your question answered, Damon?

Al

A1, yes I did and thanks! Good to see you back.

Damon

Damon,

When I buy "virgin" bark fines, I slit the bag open and let the rain in, and by sitting out in the Sun, they "age" pretty fast. I try to do this about 6 months before they go into the containers. $4.20 per 2 cu. ft. bag at Home Depot.

{{gwi:2901}}

Raybo

Raybo,

That is the same stuff I tried to grow in and make the 511 mix with last year. When I bought the stuff I asked for the oldest bags they had. Plus I let it age for another month or two. I think that this stuff has too much 'sap wood' in it if you will to be effective as a main ingredient in the 511. I called Earth Gro a few days ago and they couldn't tell me exactly what was in the Earth Grow bark fines stuff. However I'm pretty excited about some stuff that I found at Summer Winds thats called bark mulch made by Redi Grow who is out of Sacra-tomato. They were able to confirm when I talked to them a few days ago that it is 100% fir bark which is as good as pine bark. The only set back about this product is that it is 1/4"+ in size. I opened a couple bags yesterday and it seems to be very close to the size of the stuff from Earth Gro. Anyway I'm gonna give a few bags of this stuff a go in some pots and go from there. Wish me luck!

Damon

Damon,

My wicking SWC needs are different than yours, as my system relies on upward water movement, rather than top down watering in conventional containers. I can see where the 5:1:1 mix is quite influenced by the composition of the bark fines, where in my 3:2:1 mix of potting mix, bark fines, and perlite (in that order), the bark fines are a minority ingredient.

I will pick up a bag or two of the bark mulch at Summer Winds to also trial vs. the Home Depot Earth-Gro bark fines, so it should be an interesting trial.

Raybo

Raybo,

I agree that our needs are different when were talking about pots vs swc's. And I know its in your best intrest to find the best medium for your swc's which I'm very interested in as well. As much as I love growing in swc's its just a personal mission of mine to grow successfully in pots too. By the way, what is it about the Sta-Green potting mix you like over all the rest of the potting mixes? Have you thought about trying a even higher bark mix ratio to even further aerate the soil and break up that water bond even better?

Damon

Damon,

The Sta-Green appears to me, to have less Peat in its makeup. It is also 25% less expensive than the Miracle-Gro and for a SWC type of application, it just seems to work better in my comparison trials. This Season I will be running 10 EarthTainers with Sta-Green and 6 with Miracle-Gro for my tomatoes to gather further data on growth performance.

Regarding the Mix Combo, while the 3:2:1 ratio of potting mix, bark fines, and perlite worked best in my tomato trials last Fall, the 3:3:2 ratio of the above did better than 3:2:1 with my Pepper plant trials. I will do the 3:3:2 mix in 2 tomato, and all of my Pepper EarthTainers as well this season to further evaluate the performance of this ratio.

Raybo

I have been using Redi Grow redwood compost for my 5-1-1 for years (despite rumors that Redwood is not suitable) and just in the last few weeks their stock has changed from basically perfect partially composted bark fines to what look to be bark fines mixed with large amounts of shredded pine cones. It could be what they have available seasonly, however I did not come across this problem in years past. I hope they go back to the good stuff. $4.99 for 3 cu.ft. is a dream come true when you want to make a big batch of 5-1-1.