Hi, NuG. ;o) Thanks for the confidence & kindness. I appreciate both. I don't think anyone will laugh at you. If they do, we'll remind them that it wasn't long ago they weren't exactly experts either - and may not be now. ;-) Perlite is a silicaceous rock that contains water. When it id heated it pops like popcorn into a closed-cell particle that is useful for reducing the water retention in soils. The dust can be an irritant, but so can most other types of dust. I usually wear a paper mask like a painter or drywaller might use when handling any dusty materials, and that seems to work quite well. Essentially, when you make the 5:1:1 mix, you should be thinking, "I'm going to measure out this large bark fraction and then add enough peat and perlite to adjust the water retention to something that suits me. How much of either you add will depend mostly on the size of the bark particles you're using. The finer the bark the less peat (or compost) you'll need. For my purposes, I try to always limit the o/a % of fine particulates in the 5:1:1 mix to under 1/6 (17%) of the whole. IOW, anything fine, peat coir, compost, meals, manures ....... the SUM of all these products will be less than 1/6 of the whole. Turface can be used in place of perlite, but it holds a lot more moisture than perlite, so if you do use it, you can reduce the volume of fine particulates like peat/compost and still have the same amount of water retention while increasing aeration. I hope that helps, but if that's not all you need, there are a lot of growers familiar with the mixes you asked after to help. Do take good care. Al

Honestly - it looks liker it will be really water-retentive as is (mushy), even at 50/50 with perlite. I agree that the advanced state of decomposition would almost certainly limit the soils usefulness to one growth cycle, if that. This isn't to say you wouldn't be able to bring along healthy plants in it with careful attention to watering and fertilizing. You can, it just isn't as easy, and when soils support lots of perched water, their limiting effects are inherent. The two reasons that growers appreciate well-aerated soils like the 5:1:1 and gritty mixes are, the soils are very forgiving - greatly increasing the grower's margin for error, and they provide an excellent environ for roots - one that ensures the opportunity for plants to grow at or very near their genetic potential, within the limiting effects of other cultural factors. In essence, what I just said is that in many cases, your soil choice is the most limiting factor to your plants. When you use the 5:1:1 or gritty mix, it's very unlikely that the soil would be the most significant limiting factor. It's possible that some OTHER factor might raise its head to spoil the party, but it's unlikely to be your soil choice. In your case, the fine particles of pine bark might as well be peat because they're going to be very water-retentive. You'll need to figure out a strategy to deal with/reduce the water retention if you're to avoid the negative consequences of that physical characteristic. Since you're already going to the effort of making your own soil, the easy way to do that would be to find a more suitable bark product - easiest in theory ...... application might be a different story (if you can't find the bark). Al

5:1:1 would be like a good computer motherboard, a skillful person can unlock the potential of a good motherboard. When I started learning assembled computer and overclocking I destroyed a lot of motherboards, I was not able to use the full potential of the motherboard because I was an inexperienced beginner. I spent a lot of time and money and finally somewhat I am able to do what I'd like to do with my machine, that's I enjoy now :-). So if you have skill may be you can unlock the potential of your plants, it is up to your skill of container gardening. Overclocked CPU are void warrantee we know that but to use the full potential of the machine we use a lot of difference means and methods. Just like adding lime, slow release fertilizer ....whatever you called to 5:1:1. The time changed the means and methods of overclocking as well as 5:1:1 won't remain just like the time it has been created, I think. It should be changed according to the climatic condition and the growing environment and the type of plants we grow. To unlock the potential of container plants, 5:1:1 has been created and then started to tweak it to make it works it is natural for those people who loves it, just like overclocking. One of our forum members TheMasterGardener gave his opinion last year about 5:1:1 I consider he is right. I know very well how many of our active forum members support this 5:1:1. As a hobby container gardener I have been trying to get some useful information from the different opinions to grow my plants better :-). too bad very selfish :-). I do not know how bad are those potting soil available in the markets over there but the potting soil we have here is very much acceptable. Before I am here I used it without much problems. The problems we have here is mainly cold climate and sunshine. I have been in so many different forums only here 5:1:1 is keep doing discussion so there must be a good reason, I think. The issues with Al's 5-1-1 mix should be solved by your skillful application of the advice you got here. Please do not be serious, just I share my opinion. I encourage whoever likes to try new things. Good luck Caelian

Is this a valid concern? Enough to either switch to standard pots instead, or increase the ratio of calcined products even further? I'd say it's a valid concern, given the evaporative surface is probably in the neighborhood of trebled. I can't tell you what to do because it sort of depends on how much you're willing to water. I suppose it you're willing to water daily if that's necessary, a try at upping the water retention with the added water-retaining products is a good bet. Regardless of what you try- why not also try at least one variant container type with a regular mix (if you use 1 pot) or a super soaker mix if you use the fabric bags. - And just out of curiosity, if the unscreened Turface/DE doesn't affect aeration why do you (seemingly) prefer perlite? Cost- or weight-related? I use perlite because I don't want or need the additional water retention afforded by products like Turface or calcined DE. I don't particularly like to water, but my plants appreciate me making soils that require frequent watering. I have at least 200 containers, so I have to make the watering rounds daily (unless it rains) anyway, because I have so many bonsai pots that have 1/2 cup of soil or less. Some plants only need watering every 5 days or so (like pines & junipers), but the little guys demand close attention. That's not the soil's fault - it's related almost entirely to my choices that limit soil volume. Should I water based on the volume of the media with 5-1-1, or should I water based on the size of the plant? Both of those considerations are part of what you use to decide when to water. A well made 5:1:1 is quite forgiving when it comes to the potential for over-watering, so common sense usually carries the day. After a planting is established, you might wait for a weekend when you know you can watch a plant carefully. Water on Wednesday or Thursday, then watch carefully for the first sign of wilt to give you a better idea of where the limits are. It won't take long before you'll be factoring light levels, wind, humidity ..... as a matter of course into your determination of when to water - it'll become almost reflexive. I hardly even think about what I'm doing as I water - usually thinking about something else. If you're in doubt about whether or not the plant will be ok until your next opportunity to water ..... you can usually water w/o ill effects because of the nature of the soil you're using. - Would you recommend the seedlings in an intermediate pot before they go into their final 15gal homes? Personally, I wouldn't bother, but I WOULD be mindful of making sure I keep the soil moist where I think the roots are. IOW, if all the roots are in the top 3" of soil, you better water so the top 3" is moist enough to satisfy water demands. As noted, if you run into this issue at transplant time, you can set the fabric bags on the ground (to take advantage of the earth's wicking action, or set things up so an actual wick is keeping the lower part of the container from staying soggy - say if you have to water daily immediately after transplanting. Don't worry about asking questions. That's what drives the forums. If I can't answer, there are a lot of smart folk here who can help. Once I'm a part of as thread I usually follow it until it fades away, so if you're getting replies from others (say on this thread) and I seem to have gone missing, it's just that I agree with what's being said & there's no need for me to add anything to 'their' able advice. If I think you're not getting good info, I usually offer some sort of input that will make whoever's following the thread view what was said in a light that shows it might not hold up to more than casual scrutiny. With the number of messages I get from people who actually make a point of saying they are totally confused by conflicting information, it's probably as GOOD thing for everyone if we make it more of a point to hold each other's feet to the fire so people can rely on what's being presented as good advice. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Thanks for the kind words, BTW. Al