Coconut husk chips vs Pine bark fines...
jsvand5
15 years ago
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justaguy2
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
pine bark fines vs. hardwood fines
Comments (6)Thanks Al!I thought that hardwood fines were a no-go, but wanted to be sure. I think I might have actually found something that will work. It's called shredded pine mulch and I found it at a locally owned hardware store/garden center. The man even took time to look up the DynaGro Foilage Pro online since he didn't know anything about it! Turns out only one place in Indiana sells it...so I guess I'll be ordering it online...that way I won't have to figure out micro-nutrients, proper ratios, etc! This second picture shows their mini pine bark nuggets. Both samples were set out yesterday, it rained last night and they were overcast then sun today. I was amazed how much more moisture was in the first one, but it wasn't wet. So does that look like the right stuff? Thanks, Suz...See MorePine Bark, Fir Bark, Orchid Bark fines
Comments (24)esox07: Just went on the computer and read your posting. I hope that you found what you need. Please let us know if this bark product can be used to make the quick-draining, gritty-planting medium....the '"bark-fines" part. I guess the price is not that high considering the Repti-Bark is $20.00 a bag... and you can always use the leftovers in the future if you make too much potting mix. Just a bit more information....There's a product called: "Micro Bark" made by GreenAll but it's mainly found only on the West-Coast, and a few other states. This might help others who live in these locations. No distributors/retailers in NYC area! Why???? Who knows? Bruce,...Good luck with the peppers. I hope I helped you and others. In addition: Some posters on this thread chose to misquote and misrepresent some of the information which I posted ... especially about the subject regarding the gritty-mix, potting mediums. The purpose of these forums is to openly exchange opinions, information, and ideas... and to do so without invective, and snide recommendations, if you happen to disagree with that posted information....See MoreCoconut husk vs pinebark
Comments (13)Hi guys - great to get all that followup - some really useful info. Ozvon - I've just got to try some of those tubes. Bromadams and bromaloonie - interesting to see you getting good results with the rocks. I used volcanic scoria (very porous, 10-15mm bits) for quite a few years for growing Australian native orchids (tropical & temperate Dendrobiums, Sarcochilus, etc). It gave brilliant results - until around 1998 when the municipal water authority changed their water treatment practices. Water went from very soft and slightly acid (beautiful for plants!), to a bit hard and pH strongly buffered to around 7.8! It took me five years to realise what might have happened - five years spent re-formulating fertilisers, reducing or increasing shade, more or less watering, fungicides, insecticides, you name it .... all to try and deal with plants that had always been really strong and healthy, but now stayed pale, floppy and disease-ridden, no matter what I did. The answer was the pH of the water, in combination with the volcanic scoria. Because the scoria was pretty much neutral and had virtually no affect on the pH of the water, the roots of the plants were in an environment where the pH was the same as the pH of the tap water - and at 7.8, that's a pH where a lot of plants (including my orchids) just can't take up many nutrients - so they just linger and starve no matter what you do. Eventually I realised what might be the problem, so I did some tests: 2 ways - treated water with acid to get pH around 6.5, plus other plants put in pine bark(keeps pH 6-ish)and given tap water. Both lots grew well - results almost straight away - so I'd found the problem. But by then I'd pretty much given up on the orchids, and that had left a whole lot of space for ........ bromeliads! Best result I've ever got! Cheers, Paul...See Morecoconut husk chips
Comments (14)Benny, I mixed up a huge batch of soil, in a wheelbarrow, over a year ago for those trees. I had 11 bare-root Stone and Pome trees, and ran out of my coconut husk chips for the last 2. That is why I have the comparison plant. The other one has been planted in the ground. I did not measure the ingredients. I dumped 4 double bales of washed chcs in the barrow, added some coarse perlite (I think), a few buckets of horse manure and about half a big chunk of peat moss. The majority of the mix was chcs. As I used up the mix, I made more, since I was filling 15 gallon pots, it went fast. It was not precise work at all. I don't like the perlite, it runs out the drain holes and makes a big mess. I don't use it anymore. I will try coarse gravel next time, just as an experiment, in my mixes. For plants that need acid soil, I use chcs and peat alone. I have no citrus to compare roots on, since they all are in chcs or in the ground- none are in pine based mixes. I have such delicate plants as Cacao, Sealing Wax Palms, and around 30 other fruit trees in chcs. So far, all are thriving. I don't sell chcs, it doesn't matter to me if other folks don't want to use them. But, I'm lazy and dislike repotting big trees, and tend to overwater, so longlasting chcs are perfect for my situation. Lisa...See Morejsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojustaguy2
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agojsvand5
15 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)