Oxboy, I agree, and wish (hope) that my local Lowes will carry something like this in the spring. Right now its still freezing cold here, with more snow and low temps on the way, so none of the big box stores have anything in their garden centers as of yet. Might be another month before they get any supplies in. I would like to make a batch of 5-1-1 before my shrubs and trees in containers come out of dormancy, but since bitter cold temps and snow keep hanging on I don't see that happening anytime soon. TYG

I'm bad at comparison unless I have a good frame of reference. Got a coin or pop can to put into a new picture? But yeah, those nuggets appear huge and would have limited benefit to create a good 511 mix. They door store & release water just like mini's, but I think the downside is obvious when they are oversized. Otherwise, yeah the mix looks good except for the excessive woody material in the mini nuggets. I personally wouldn't have used that particular mini-nugget bag with so many "matchstick woody pieces". However, I do know other people have from reviewing the bark packages they used. If I recall correctly, the risks were 1) faster compaction/breakdown of the entire mix, 2) [possible risk for] excessive high temps in the mix, albeit temporary, while it decomposes, like in a compost bin, and 3) additional tying up of even more Nitrogen (related to #2). Obviously #2 is the big risk, and the only thing I've heard Al say is at 10% or less woody material you are safe. Couldn't give you any estimate on high-end % for risk. If you only need a relatively small amount, take a look at Repti-bark pieces at your local pet store. There are no woody pieces and the small bags have perfect sized bark. http://dwni.zoomed.com/html/repti_bark.php Since you already mixed it, maybe create a new post in the Container forum and ask him to look at this one for ya. He's a good enough bloke to do such a thing. Congrats on your Ponkan. I hope you get tasty fruit from it! Chris

I just successfully re-chopped fir bark that was larger than1/4" by putting a handfull at a time into my old kitchen blender and put on the 'chop' setting for about 6-10 seconds to avoid chopping it all down to dust. Re-sift with a 1/4" screen and repeat until all the large pieces are broken down. I did this with some pre-packaged orchid bark that was WAY too large (about 1" pieces) and the large pieces of repti-bark from petco. Both were labeled as 'fir bark.' A little time consuming, depending on volume, but well worth it, if you ask me! I did lose about 1/5 of product that was reduced to dust, which was sifted out using a 1/8" screen. Much better than throwing it ALL out! :)

It was funny how he jumped on that red rubber mulch idea with so much enthusiasm. I know he was trying to help me do something once and be done with it, which is a smart way to work when you can do it. It could seem logical to someone who's never thought about building their soil into something plants can thrive in. Jo, no hostas that day. I had to get him outta there fast! Mocc, I can applaud recycling old tires, and playgrounds seem like a good use for this product. There's probably other things it might be good for. Maybe some landscapers like how it spruces up the looks of things fast. We have a new housing tract nearby, and it looks like they used that stuff along the fence line with intermittent shrubs. .....Hey, I thought you were done with your renovations and we'd see more of you here. I hope you're still enjoying your hostas and not having troubles with them.