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Container Gardening

Is this pine bark fine mixture OK for the 5-1-1 mix?

11 years ago

I am wondering if the composted pine bark fines mix shown sifted into different piles in the picture is alright for the 5-1-1 mix or does it have too much material that is smaller than insect screen - ie. dust?

If it has too much dust could I use it as is but mix in less peat so that I do not have too much water retaining material in my final mix?
Thanks - Connie

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Comments (4)

fireduck
11 years ago
C...nice job on the screening work. This whole 5-1-1 and 1-1-1 idea has consumed me. I think you want to get rid of dust and all sapwood (if any) and super-small material. I found my osmocote Plus today! It was a great find. As I suspected...Scott's told my retailer they are discountinuing it. I had to drive out of the county to get it. I suspect it is that good (time released/"complete" fetilizer). PS I am wondering when you transplant into the gritty...you might have to totally hose off the old organic potting mix first???
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
Wow, that looks like nice stuff. You are exactly right. Depending on how much water retention you need, adjust accordingly. I use a double ground pine bark that has plenty of fine stuff in it, and is usable, as is, without peat. I actually found out after some experience that I had to add even more fine stuff to increase my water retention......so mine is actually something like 4-2-1, or 5-2-1. Your experience will dictate how you adjust your mix.
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I just took a look, now below is what Al had posted above the pic. I think he is calling the real dark stuff "mulch" and in another thread, I think he refered to it as composted pine bark for short term plantings. Is mulch and fines the same thing, then theres the chunky stuff which is the bark? Pine bark and fir, which is on each side of the picture. Jodi, the stuff in my pic. of my mix came from a mulch at the home depot, and I sifted out the dusty, and crumbs, and such, kinda like al refers to in this , that I copied and pasted. """Pine bark doesn't shred. Look for things like pine bark 'soil conditioner,'clay buster', 'mulch', etc. It's sold under a variety of names. I've found fines at Home Depot several times, so it might be worth another look. What you see at the top is ideal for the 5:1:1 mix. The other two bark components would be just right in the gritty mix.""" JoJo
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Pine bark too fine for 5-1-1?
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Yes, it came in 2 cu. ft. plastic bags that were fairly wet inside. The bottom picture was taken yesterday just after screening, the top was taken this morning after it had aired out a bit. I'm glad to hear it looks decent, I was worried it might be too much on the dust end of the 5-1-1 spectrum. Now I have about 15 cu. ft. of the stuff, just need to mix it up and figure out what to plant in it this time of year. On a side note, huge thanks to you, Al (and all the other amazing folks here who have created such a wealth of stored gardening knowledge). I had never grown anything before I started reading these forums, but in the last month or so I've put together about 20 containers of herbs and other edibles, and they're all thriving because of what I've learned here. Add one more to your long list of grateful students :).
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Which pine bark fines (for 5-1-1)?
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Comments (1)
My recollection is that you DO NOT want composted material. I would go with the 12 mm medium pine bark fines. Per Al, his gritty mix bark recipe should include 1/8" to 3/8" pieces. After sifting them out, sift again to remove the smaller particles. It looks like the 6 mm material has a lot of very fine bark and your loss would be much higher than the 12 mm bark. It's helpful if you can actually see the material as pictures can be deceiving and each lot could be different. Keep in mind that I'm no expert but I've sifted a lot of bark (different brands, names, etc.). Good luck!
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Absolute beginner - Need help with pine bark fines for 5-1-1 mix
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Comments (9)
I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I found stuff that was specifically sold as "pine bark fines" from a landscape supply co. It just looks different from what I've seen other people post so I'm not sure if it's right. I'm pretty sure there's an orchid club around here so I'll try that. Thank you so much for the suggestions! I definitely saw a couple people comment that they had used a thrift store food processor for bark. I think they said they didn't use the kitchen one because of contamination or something. There was also someone who suggested repeatedly driving over a bag of the larger pine bark nuggets to break the pieces up. I'll probably try this if the one I have isn't good. I tried to take some better mix of the stuff I found. These are 2 different handfuls with a quarter for size reference. I'm picking out the sapwood slowly :) Does it look any more suitable for the 5-1-1 mix now?
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LIG-LifeIsGood
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for your nice comments - My husband just finished making my 1/8" screed/sieve and now I finally have the ability to sift just about any size material-very exciting!

Good point edweather. This is my first time trying the 5-1-1 mix and I have many different plants I need to accommodate in it - Tomatoes, Peppers, Lavender, Blueberries, Fig tree, etc. I want to eventually try out the gritty mix for the fig tree and blueberries, but right now I am going to start them out in the 5-1-1 mix as I have all the necessary ingredients at hand.

Any thoughts on the differences between the 5-1-1 mixtures needed for the plants listed above? I have spent a lot of time reading past posts about the 5-1-1 mix and I vaguely remember Al(tapla) saying that the fine dust should not make up more than 1/6 of the total mix. I don't remember if that was in reference to a particular plant or if that is a general rule.

One more question - After I make up a batch of the 5-1-1 mix can I use it right away or do I need to let it sit a while because of the lime?
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
I grow alot of tomatoes and they get full sun. Let me tell you, they can drink some water!! With a pure 511 mix (approx 1/6 fine stuff), they can dry out a container in a few hours during the height of the growing season, which is why I had to adjust my mix. If your tomatoes are in alot of sun I can almost tell you now that you will probably have to increase the water retention unless you want to be watering alot. And, yes, you can use the mix right away. Also it depends on the size of the containers. Obviously a 5 gal container will dry out much faster than a 15 gal.

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