@meyermike, yes its repti-bark. LOL. So yeah, its good to use? While at the pet store I looked at the aquarium rocks. I wonder if I could use the gravel in place of the Granite-i-grit (though the aquarium rocks did not list what kind of rocks they were.) What do you think? They also had some crushed coral - wonder if that would work in place of gypsum... Like I said, I'm doing this because I don't need 50lb bags of turface or granite grit. I'm pretty sure I can buy both of those at Agway but what am I gonna do with it all??? I've learned that Schultz Aquatic Soil is the same thing as Turface - love that it comes in a smaller bag - but cannot find it for the life of me! HD nor Lowes sells it (anymore!)

Working together is a great idea, I think. I need to get to Hicksville Agway somehow as well for the gritty mix ingredients - not just in the spring, but soon. I hope people are still watching this thread. What I have: * an apartment on Coney Island, Brooklyn, spacious enough to store ingredients or the mix, including temporarily for someone else, * time, health and willingness to help lift and screen the stuff for "the cooperative" (haha, let's call ourselves that), What I need: * outdoors space to screen the ingredients. I can screen indoors for myself only, but I'd rather do it outside in a well-ventilated space. * a car. My brother has a car and works 20 minutes from Agway, actually. Asking him does not solve the outdoors screening space problem though - so I like the idea of getting some of us together. It could be as simple as you offering the screening space, me delivering the bags there and us both working together on the mix. Gas /ingredients /equipment cost gets split proportionately. I need a bag or two of each ingredient for my mix (so, 3 to 6 bags total). Do you guys think we should exchange email addresses rather than communicate here exclusively? If so, hit me with yours through this site or directly to eugsko at gmail. Tell me what you need and what you can offer. For people who read this years later :-), feel free to email me as well, and I'll be glad to tell you what I know and if we still have an active "cooperative" at that time. Eugene. The coop secretary. :-) P.S. I wish we could just buy the damn mix!

SUCCESS !! Thanks to all for advice on pine bark fines as well as on persevering to find them. Waupaca Northwoods, makers of Greensmix, have finally gone to bat for me. (Just took a little more squealing I guess.) Actually, I simply called Jane, their Wisconsin area customer service/sales rep, for the second time. I told her of my failed efforts in finding her product at any of my local stores she had previouslu suggested. I asked if anyone at Greensmix could help me locate some Soil Conditioner and she volunteered to telephone her clients and find some Soil Conditioner for me without me having to drive all the way across Wisconsin to get it. Within an hour or so she called me back with two locations, the closest being less than 100 miles away. (That's pretty good when you live in the boonies like I do.) She found two bags, which is all I need for my first batch, at Walmart in Ashland, WI, about an 80-mile drive. It's on hold. I'll pick it up tonight. By the way, Greensmix is willing to sell their Soil Conditioner to the general public by the 50-bag pallet at $2.56 per 2 cu. ft. bag, FOB Waupaca, WI. I am seriously considering the 200-mile drive to buy a pallet for next years supply. Anybody interested in splitting it with me, let me know. We could meet in Waupaca, pick it up together and split it up. I've also ordered a bag of the Ace mini-nuggets which won't be here til later this month. They are available in a 3 cu ft bag for $4.99, a bit cheaper per cu. ft. than the Greensmix. I'll compare the two and report the diferences, if any. Thanks again to all. Justaguy, we'll have to do lunch on some other occasion, looks like I won't be making the drive to Johnson Creek at this time. Thanks for all your advice. We'll get together some other time when I'm in the area. Thanks again to all. Bob

Well, I potted them up. I did add some extra perlite to the finger lime and some more drainage holes even on the sides of the pot. Instead of putting it in a nice looking pot, I just put it in a regular black nursery pot for now with extra holes, and the size that is more like a 10 inch pot than a 12 inch pot which Four Winds suggest. But I have been told they really do not like wet feet, or full sun, or even wind, so I am hoping I will get this to take. I know it is a smaller pot, but figured it should get dryer rather than wetter. I also screened the bark and the perlite through window screen, so I hope all is well. I am also going to not feed it for a long while. After reading hours online, most say their finger lime does better when ignored! The new finger lime already had its new flush all the way wilted when I got it like last time. I wonder if the finger lime is extra sensitive to bare root shipping? I just hope this new one stays alive for me. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks Mike for taking the time to come back to answer. You contribute so much here, so no worries for the late response! Still curious though because I am dumb, why we all should sift the bark, yet add peat which I would think is very fine, or does one sift his/her peat and perlite also? I know I have bought several bags of perlite that was labelled as "coarse" only for it not to be. The best perlite I have found was made by Scotts, nice big chunks, but hardly anyone carries it and it is only in small bags. Queen, did you check out the Morristown Agway? Just call to make sure they got it first. And make sure they understand what you are asking for. The last time I called my Agway, they told me up front that they only had 2 bags left, and I needed to pay over the phone to reserve it, so as I was confirming my order and CC info, she said to me "ok, so 2 bags of cedar mulch at $3 a bag", and I said "NO! I need the PINE BARK MULCH!" and then she said, "OH! We have 20 bags of that here! So make sure before you drive all the way there that they know what you are talking about, and make sure you tell the you want the PINE BARK MULCH and NOT the NUGGETS! My fig friend who has a local Agway actually told me he does not get his there anymore and drives further out to order because his local Agway would always mess up his order. Christy