Hi Anette!!

Yes, it will be fine!!

They are both used in the Gritty Mix. I believe they are different brands, but the same Material. So, it will be fine for your mix!!!

Have fun!!

Laura

This post was edited by loveplants2 on Tue, Sep 10, 13 at 18:00

Thanks for the quick response Laura! That's just what I wanted to hear. My screen came today and I'll pick up the turface on Friday after work and then I'll spend my weekend screening and mixing and re-potting (hopefully)!

Annette,

Glad to help!!

Have a great time!!! You will love this mix!!

My plants love it too!!!

Take care,

Laura

Hello, Annette and Laura! :-)
I just did a Forum Search and, indeed, Turface MVP is packaged as Turface All-Sport at John Deere. So you're good to go!I

Josh

This post was edited by greenman28 on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 21:38

Josh,
Thank you for verifying. I called John Deere today and I'm picking up a bag on Friday. Also, the NAPA store will have some Floor Dry #8822 for me on Friday. I'd like to compare the two, especially since the Floor Dry is less expensive.

I got a bag of the repti-bark to start with, but I can also get bulk pine fines from a mulch company down the road for $11 for 1/2 cubic yard. That's all I use in my yard. The fines are really nice so I'm going to try them next.

I'm really excited to see if this improves the condition of my succulents. Based on the posts on GW, I'm sure it will!

Thanks again,
Annette

You're welcome!
Be sure to screen the bark fines to 1/4 inch. Big bark, small grit, is a recipe for disaster...especially in wet Florida.

Josh

Annette,

Adding to what Josh said, not sure what your plans for the Reptibark are, but do screen it through at least a 1/4" screen. Despite many forum posts to the contrary, I've found that Reptibark in all size bags (I've used 4, 8 and 24 quart bags) have only about 40% of their contents -daniel

Hi josh!!! ;-)

I also screen my Reptibark over my 1/4 inch screen and use what falls thought. I also use the remaining larger pieces for orchids and other things in the garden.

This mix is located in Florida.. It might help...

I will be buying from them from now on... I lose to much when sifting Reptibark, but I do use a lot. So if you need large amounts, check this place out.

One of my friends has ordered from them and they love it...

2 cf bag is 19 dollars plus shipping. ( what ever the cost to ship is what they charge..). They don't pad the price...

I just called them. They have Fir Bark Fines. 1/8 to 1/4 inch.

No screening needed

Tropical Plant Products, Inc
PO box 547754
Orlando, Florida. 32854
tel:407-293-2451

I'm sure you will be happy with this product too!,

Hope this helps...

Laura

This post was edited by loveplants2 on Thu, Sep 12, 13 at 10:23

Now I'm confused. Am I supposed to screen the bark on a screen that has 1/4" openings and KEEP what falls through? What about the stuff that's really small? I thought I had to screen it through 1/4", discard the big bark that doesn't fall through, screen it again through 1/8" and discard the bark that does fall through. Thereby the bark that I keep will be in the 1/8" - 1/4" range. Is that too much? How do you screen?

I was planning on screening the Turface 1/16" and the
Granite 1/8" - 1/4" (rinse after screening).

Laura,
I might have to make a trip over there - they're only about an hour from here. Although with the cost of gas, it would probably be cheaper for me to just have them mail me the stuff ;-)

Yes, double screening :-)
First, screen over a 1/4 inch screen, and keep what falls through. Second, screen over a 1/16 - 1/8 inch screen, and keep what doesn't fall out. I use a pond-basket for the second screening, some holes are 1/16 and some are 1/8, so my method isn't exact...but close enough. Got to get creative sometimes.

Josh

Josh,
I bought a bonsai screen from Amazon to do this. It came with 3 size screens (4, 5 & 10). I didn't measure the hole size in them, but I'm assuming the 4 is 1/4" and the 5 & 10 have smaller holes than that. If I like the results, I'll probably end up making a larger screen set using PT wood or rough cut cedar.

Thanks for all your help. I'll let you know how it turns out this weekend. I'm excited to get to repotting the girls :-)

Annette

OMG, I can't stand up straight or straighten my fingers anymore! I've been outside all day and haven't eaten a thing since breakfast.

I made one batch (6 gallons) of gritty and ran out after re-potting about 2/3 of my succulents. I made a 2nd batch of gritty, but ran out of daylight before I could pot up the rest.

I learned one thing today - sifting sucks! Maybe it's just using the small bonsai screens I have, but I think larger screens would be too heavy to shake for me. I did end up tying a bandanna around my face to keep from breathing the dust. I'm sure my neighbors really think I'm crazy now.

For the pine fines, I started with a large-sized 1/2" screen that I placed over my wheel-barrow. Then I used the 1/4" bonsai screen followed by the 1/8" screen. I kept what went thru the 1/4" but not the 1/8" screen. For the All-Sport and the Manna Pro chicken grit, I sifted using the 1/16" screen. Then I rinsed it all, mixed it up, added gypsum and started re-potting.

The re-potting took a long time because I had to remove all of the soil from the roots. After all, I didn't want to contaminate my gritty with that nasty old potting soil! I was shocked to see how much moisture was trapped in the soil, it's no wonder why the plants were struggling.

I was wondering, can I use the pine fines that were 1/4" in any mixture or will the particle size be too different from the other ingredients to make it useful? Either way it won't go to waste, I just figured it would save me on having to sift more.

I'll post pictures after I finish tomorrow.

This post was edited by ifionlyhadabrain on Sat, Sep 14, 13 at 21:44

Nice work! Yeah, sifting is laborious...but the work up front will pay off in the end. I typically begin screening bark (takes the most work) several weekends in advance, doing a little at a time.

As for the 1/4 to 1/2 inch bark, you can save it for making 5-1-1 mix. I love the 5-1-1 for my Citrus, and I also use it for my peppers.

Josh

Annette,

About your screen sizes mentioned earlier (#4, #5, and #10 mesh) - this means number of openings per inch. So #4 is close to 1/4", #5 is 1/5" and #10 is 1/10". However, the size of the wire used in the screen also makes a difference, so a #4 will usually pass particles slightly smaller than a screen with 1/4" openings would.

For what its worth I have a supposed 1/4" screen, and also a #4 mesh screen, and the #4 has slightly smaller openings. Not sure how significant any of this is (or how accurate any screens are with respect to their labels), but at least now you know what you are dealing with.

Probably, pulling out the most accurate ruler you have is the best way to figure out how big the holes are.

I linked to a wikipedia article about it, which seems to mostly be accurate based on my own observations.

-daniel

Here is a link that might be useful: mesh sizes