You repeatedly miss the point, which is to get you to the most helpful and reliable source of the info you need. Personally i don't care where you post but forum-irrelevant posts are often treated superficially or even ignored - just as I and everyone else did yours until you booted it back up again. That doesn't happen when one posts on the correct forum which is one reason why the forum use guidelines say to be sure you are posting on the most relevant forum. I suggest you consider this. The correlation between success of gardening and the amount of time invested in it is well documented. Yet you have opted to take on raised beds, growing your own seedlings from seed and now container gardening all at the same time and are essentially new to all three, Given all the demands on your time and the little you apparently have to devote to learning about how to do all these things, it will be even more difficult to find the time needed to care for all these plants once planted. Perhaps it is time to slow down, back off a bit, reconsider your priorities, and focus. Otherwise it ends up being more of your time wasted. Dave

The thread is over 2 years old but the subject is still fresh and interesting. With respect to pros and cons of 5-1-1 , there are several issues: 1) Its effectiveness, as far as plants are concerned. An I am considering annual plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. NOT house plants. 2) Cost Effectiveness: 3) Growers' convenience. I am a pro on (1) and (2) but con on (3). Since 5--1-1 does not come in ready to use form, it requires some efforts to procure the ingredients, quality check, mix, add calcium/magnesium (Lime), store your mix ... In this respect, it is not for everyone. On number (2) , cost effectiveness, It all depends where you are, what your sources are. Currently I make my own mix for under $3.00 per cf. Even if ready mixed potting soils like MG or Pro Mix cost about the same (which is unlikely) , I still prefer my own 5-1-1 mix for its EFFECTIVENESS in drainage and correct moisture retention. I have to mentioned that, I have been studying container media for the last 4 months of my gardening winter break. And with my past experience with media like MG, I have come to the belief that the bark based 5-1-1 is a better option. I might even try to modify it to some extent to better suit my application and climate. But it will remain basically BARK-BASED.

speaking of expensive but interesting looking potting soils, this is also available near me. http://urbanrootstampa.com/store/roots-organics-potting-soil-15-cf/dp/441 I'm not one for shelling out that kind of cash for 2 buckets worth of soil, but deep down I kinda wanna get a bag, and either incorporate it into the mix for all the wonderful stuff it claims to contain, or maybe do a side by side. all I know is I have 40 seedlings that I might wanna get out of plastic cups and into bigger pots soon. so I need to come up with a plan quick. I kinda like the idea of mixing pro mix with pine fines. but if I'm gonna do that, I might as well save even more money and do the 511. the issue is I'm taking 15 credits of engineering classes, and working 30 hrs per week, and trying to fit judo back in there when my most recent injury clears up. time to mix 200 gallons worth of soil is hard to come by.

I use "Natural Beginnings" seed starting mix from Gardens Alive for seed starting, then I use potting soil with perlite and sand and some of the Natural Beginnings mixed in for planting in 5gal or larger pots. We grow most of our chilis and tomatoes in pots due to space constraints and after several years of using commercial products, now I just mix my own. But I love using that Garden's Alive stuff for seed starting Here is a link that might be useful: gardens alive