You can always change the PH with additives and like you say, "the price is right" Be sure you take your biggest truck or even borrow a bigger one. LOL
Go for it. If I could get it that cheap I would.
Pine Bark fines cost me here $3.18 per 2 cu. Ft. bag.

In Wisconsin Walmart carries Greensmix Soil conditioner. It is made in Waupaca, Wisconsin and it is pine/fir bark fines.

I had to have the manager order it at my Walmart as they didn't have it in stock when I wanted it.

The company that makes it is Waupaca Northwoods LLC

The link will take you to their page with contact info and they can help you find the nearest source. The product you want is called 'Soil Conditioner'

This is what it looks like:

{{gwi:45256}}

Thanks again for your help. Waupeca is up in my neck of the woods, but still a couple hundred miles away. Even so, it shouldn't be hard to find their products. I'll try the super Walmart. What is Walmart price on the Greensmix Soil Conditioner?

Meanwhile, what difference might I see in using the Aspen Bark Fines, perhaps just for some late-season plantings this year?

Nlight

I'd definately get a pickup load at that price. I don't know where the sawmill gets it's information, but Aspen bark is certainly not acid. Here's a snippet from a British tree site:

"The most significant feature of Aspen bark is its low acidity. Whereas Scots pine and Birch are typically around pH 3.2-3.5 (ranges respectively 3.4-3.8 and 3.2-5.0), Aspen bark is pH 5-6 (Mikko Kuusinen, Annales Botanici Fennici, 1994)."

If the stuff doesn't work as an amendment, it'll surely make a good mulch, and do just fine in your compost pile.

I do not know anything about aspen bark, but the Greensmix soil conditioner sells at my local Wal-Mart for $3-$4 per 2 cubic foot bag. I don't recall the exact price.

As I recall pine, fir and hemlock bark is considered interchangeable, but aspen I just do not know.

What makes conifer bark fines so attractive as a soil ingredient when its size is appropriate is it's durability. It contains a high concentration of a lipid called suberin. Suberin helps prevent microorganisms from cleaving hydrocarbon chains and thus breaking soil particles down to soup consistency. Hardwood barks contain much, much lower amounts of suberin and aspen is on the comparative low end of hardwood barks in suberin levels. This virtually guarantees extreme N immobilization and rapid breakdown when the product is used in container soils. It should be very good in the garden as a mulch/top-dressing though.

Al

Thanks for your input Al. If it was fairly well composted would that make a significant difference? Or by that time will it be so broken down and fine as to not be a good medium for providing air and water to the soil.

How does aspen bark compare then with peat. Does peat not continue to breakdown also and also compeat for N?

Nlight

I would go with the soil contioner, or some other conifer bark. I used a peat based potting soil that is considered one of the better ones in a container this year. I used the same size container, same plants, same fertilizer ect.. I put them right next to each other. You should see the difference. Not only is the plants in Al's mix doing way better, the ones in the peat mix look lousy. Good luck. filix.

I have a question-- what is the amount of pine bark fines do you add when mixing up a batch ??? Is it more or less then the other ingrediants? I am planning soon to do some for next year,thanks, John :)

John..it's more. I'm using 2 cubic feet of fines (~15 gallons), 3.5 gallons of Peat and 3.5 gallons of Vermiculite/Perlite.

Salt to taste. Serve cold.

I believe Al's recipe is 3-5 parts bark fines, 1 part turface or perlite and 1 part peat (would have to go look to be certain).

What I am using this year is 2 parts bark fines, 1 part turface or perlite and 1 part peat.

I do like this mix (certainly more than the mostly peat mixes from the store) and it retains water quite well (drying too quickly was my main concern since I grow a lot of water hungry plants), but overall I think the next time I make a mix I will reduce the peat as I can already see how the peat is mucking up the drainage.

The bark fines actually hold a lot more water than I thought they would and the Turface is also quite good at retaining water. The peat is as well, of course, but it breaks down to muck inside one season whereas the Turface (or perlite) never will and the bark will take a couple/few years to do so.

I do like the current ratio in self watering containers though. Probably would keep the mix the same with those.

Justaguy,

Thank for your info on bark fines.
It seems like bark fines are less expensive than peat moss. Is your use of Turface in place of Perlite cost based? or are there other more compelling reasons to use it inplace of Perlite?

Perlite is alot cheaper here in the northeast. I pay 11.00 for a fifty pound bag of turface. It's alot heavier than perlite. filix

As Filix noted, Turface is more expensive than Perlite. In my case 50lbs of Turface (1.4 cubic feet) costs $10.00 and I can get 4 cubic feet of perlite for $18.00

I prefer to use it over perlite for a couple reasons. One reason is it holds water and nutrients better. You may or may not want this for a given planting.

It's much heavier and doesn't float or blow away. The added weight may or may not be what you want.

It's not white. This last reason is of no horticultural importance, it simply reflects a personal bias in that I really dislike soils that don't look 'natural' and since the eventual resting place of container mixes is various gardens around the yard I don't want to see white pebbles all over place.

Good growing to you.