Hi, rina. I know wood chips are different than bark, but I saw a nursery that was using these mixed with some alder saw dust. In about a year it turned to this incredible black, rich "soil". The guy as the nursery said it breaks down better and more nutritious for the soil and depletes less nitrogen in the process. The wood chips I was seeking are about the size of medium bark in nurseries. In retrospect, I am glad I didn't try that. Works great outdoors, not sure about containers! The black bark is essentially composted evergreen tree bark. I say evergreen because it could be a mix of a number of different types here in the Pacific NW --- hemlock, fir, ceder, spruce, etc. I didn't screen it, it seemed plenty loose initially; small to medium size in comparison to bagged nursery store bark. It would have been o.k. had I added the peat and perlite per the formulas given here. Screening would have left just the larger pieces, but that would be quite a chore for the volume I was using! I repotted some of the plants using the 5:1:1 formula with my black bark and those are doing much, much, better. A gardening friend said "Think of it...bark is like big saw dust. If you pack it down it gets as hard as a board". That is essentially what happened when I used the black bark alone without the the perlite and moss. ;(

Hi Al, With all the ingredients in hand, I've started the sifting process and had a few questions. I'm trying to swap out 50 containers worth of soil so I'd prefer to do this in the most efficient way. I am using a 9x9 hardware cloth (.088" openings) to filter the fines. Here are the three ingredients I was able to source: 1) Shasta: Orchid Fir Bark: (1/8" - 1/4") http://shastabark.com/products.htm 2) Turface MVP 3) 1/8" Crushed Granite (Desert Gold) http://www.lyngsogarden.com/index.cfm?event=Display.Home.Product.Group&homeCategory=STONE&categoryid=1094&productgroup=PEBCOB&groupname=Pebbles%252C%2520Cobbles%2520%2526%2520%2520Colored%2520Gravel Questions: 1) It seems like it takes a decent amount of time to screen out the fines for one container. I also have constructed two other screens to be used to filter out the larger particles (a 1/4" for the large fir bark and a 9x9 (.1387") for the larger turface/granite). I'm assuming that at the end of the day it is more important to screen out the fines then to screen out the few larger pieces which may be in the mix. Would this be correct? I'm just trying to save some time and there doesn't seem to be that many larger pieces in the mixes. 2) Do you usually rinse out the mixes before you combine them? Does this help get additional dust/fines out? 3) What do you do with all the fines/dust that you sift out? If you are screening out larger pieces what do you with them? Thanks so much in advance. Your advice and guidance have been invaluable. Best, Kernul1

Notice: I am not looking for help, simply posting something that others may empathize with or find as astounding as I do (we often assume that because someone specializes in something that they really know what they are talking about. I know that's not true, but still am surprised when it happens.) So, I'm still on the hunt for products I can use to make different soil mixes that are a bit faster than what I'm using now. I want to do some experiments both with wicking large containers and wicking small containers, like for small houseplants. I have a friend who works at a florist and I mentioned it to her. She said she works with many of the growers so maybe they would know where to find these products. Today she was over, so we called the grower she thought might help. This grower has been growing flowers in greenhouses for many years. Tracy called, explained I was looking for some things, then turned the phone over to me. The conversation went something like this. "Hi Betsy, thanks for taking time to take to me. I do mostly container gardening and am looking to change my potting mix" blah, blah. "So, I'm looking for the following things, pine bark...." "Oh, why don't you just use my mix?" Great! I think. She's got one already made with bark in it. "What's it made of?" I ask. "Well, it's all natural soil. We don't believe in soilless mixes, especially not in containers. I mean, how are plants going to get nutrients, especially the minors?" "Um, from a fertilizer that supplies the minors?" I offered. "Oh, but that's not the same. You should try our mix." "Thank you, but that's not what I want to do at this time." "But, all of our customers love it! You really should try it." I won't go through the rest of the painful call, but suffice it to say, she didn't have what I wanted, nor could she point me to someone who did. I'm sure I'll get them all eventually, but I'd much rather get them easily in one place since I mostly ride a bike and will have to borrow or rent a car to run this all down. Just hoping anyone else who's had problems with this might get a chuckle out of the story. And, also, pointing out how amazing it is that even people with a LOT of experience can know very little when it comes to science or research.

Hi Robin!!! I'm still getting notifications on the threads that I post to. You can adjust your setting by going to " your Houzz" then ' edit profile' then hit ' advanced settings' that should help fix what you need as far as notifications. If you look at the bottom of this thread where you would comment, you will see in green letters " switch off notifications about new threads". If its already off you can click it back on. Always nice to see you!!! One of my Plumeria trees is blooming inside right now. It's supposed to be a dark pink, but its yellow. Go figure!! ;-) I agree about Al reposting if they can't get it fixed. I am sure he has it saved on his computer. ( I hope so) I just worry about all of the other threads, fertilizer, intro for beginners etc. so much information that needs to be fixed for the new people. We need this great information for us to share as well as for the new people searching for the great threads. Happy Valentine's Day, Robin , Al and everyone!! Laura