Ed, Thanks so much for taking the time to confirm. I actually couldn't believe my luck at finding it - I bought 4 bags immediately and then got to 2nd guessing, thinking that maybe it was too small. It really is comforting to have someone in the know give their opinion. I did also come across a bag of ground pine bark mulch at Home Depot that is perfect for the gritty mix, which I am going to try for starting some seeds. I was so thrilled:) For the 5-1-1, I did get sphagnum peat moss, too (and garden lime) but do you think it would be better to go with the 1 part of the finer 4'oclock stuff from the fines rather than the sphagnum? Laura

My veggies love the 5-1-1. I have some of them in regular potting mix because I didnt know about the 511 before hand. They are slow to grow. I have to take a screw drver and stick it down in the "soil" so air can get down there and that has helped alot. I just put in a dwarf navel in the gritty mix yesterday and he is sitting on my front porch for a couple weeks. So we will see. I expect to see some leaf drop from shock. Al, your plants are just beatiful. I wish I had time to plant more.

Yes, there is a lot of dust in the bottom of the bag. Last year I screened out the dust using a huge strainer basket/bowl thing I found at the asian grocery. Didn't think about using the dust instead of peat. I'll try doing that with a few containers and see what happens. I'm going to go over and get a car load of pine fine bags this weekend - planning a big container veggie garden this year.

Comparing the gritty mix or 5:1:1 against soils such as those packaged with the Miracle-Gro label is like comparing grilled fish with raw veggies, steamed, to a double bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. Many will favor the flavor of the burger/rings over the fish and plant matter, but there's little question about which is better for the body. Extended intervals between waterings are a convenience to the grower, but a limitation to plants whenever it's perched water providing the extension. There's no judgement to be made if someone chooses the convenience over what will provide a much better home for roots, but there is no way to deny that the excessive water retention that provides those long intervals requires the plant to pay a price in the form of unrealized potential. There's a considerable margin for error built into the dosage suggested on the packages of almost all fertilizers. When temperatures allow (65-75* range), I fertilize plants in both gritty mix and 5:1:1 at 2 tsp of 9-3-6 per gallon at weekly intervals, the result being very strong growth; and, so far I have observed no indications plants are having difficulty tolerating the more concentrated solution. During the winter when my trees are under lights, I had been fertilizing at every watering with 1/4 tsp/gallon of r/o water. I got a LOT of winter growth, but it was rank growth that had no place on trees that are being worked to increase ramification (more fine branching and smaller leaves). I decided to try fertilizing every other time I water at the 1/4 tsp/gal, and that seems to work well. I'm not getting as much growth, but my trees are packed so tight the shade produced by excessive rank growth is a major problem for me. If you're using a fast draining medium, you have lots of options and near total control over what your plants get and when they get it. If you are using a medium that precludes flushing the soil when you water, the job gets much tougher and the kind of control you might want to enjoy just won't be there. It's very important that you are able to flush the soil w/o the planting remaining saturated for extended intervals because the saturation affects root function/health. Al