Fir bark (un-composted) doesn't break down that quickly as a medium ingredient... and the other ingredients I employ are coarse perlite, granite chips, turface... others might be lava rock chips, pumice, DE chips, cherry stone, etc... That's a more inorganic approach to building container medium. I use such a mix because it allows me a lot of leeway for error in watering... and it allows my plants of choice to remain in the same medium, undisturbed, for at least 2 years... sometimes 3... before I have to refresh the medium. I grow mainly tender amaryllids and other tropical ornamentals. Medium only serves the purposes of support for the plant, a catalyst for moisture and nutrition, and also as a catalyst for the exchange of gases and oxygen at the root zone. Therefore, a heavily organic soil is not necessary to use within the confined space of a container... which differs greatly from a garden setting, anyway. It's next to impossible to duplicate Mother Nature's methodology within a pot, and next to impossible to maintain the same balances of everything that occurs in Nature, such as the vast army of living things, microscopic and otherwise... like worms, nematodes, fungi, insects, bacterias, etc... that work in harmony to break down organic matter into usable food for plants, and help keep the soil aerated. Therefore, I save organic gardening for the gardens, and employ a more inorganic tact for container growing. Doing so allows me to control the moisture amount, the fertilizer, the micro-nutrients... and not have to worry about the fast breakdown of organic matter, imbalanced PH, perched water tables, poor drainage, an inability to properly exchange gases and fresh oxygen - which the roots require for good health, or try to maintain an exact duplicate of the masses of life underground... etc. Most of the medium I use is larger particled, highly aerated, sharp draining... closer to a bonsai or orchid type of medium. There are other slightly more organic medium mixes... such as the 511, as it's called, which contains fir bark, coarse perlite, peat, and some growers use other larger particled ingredients, as well... what a grower uses depends mainly on what's locally available, what they're growing, how long it must remain in that medium, their individual climate and environment, the amount of time devoted, their expectations of optimal plant growth, among other variables. It's not so much the exact ingredients or their ratios... it's understanding the concept of such mediums that's most important... and then adjusting it to fit your individual situation. A grower could actually go purely inorganic by using any of the inorganic items I've listed... keeping in mind the purpose a medium really serves... plant support, catalyst for food, water, and the exchange of gases and oxygen. It all depends on how much time you want to devote to watering, feeding, and caring for your plants of choice. Hydroponic growers use strictly inorganic material as the medium... so we know it can be done. The bottom line is... it's not a necessity to use organic matter to grow plants successfully... and in fact, I advise against trying to duplicate Nature in the confined space of a pot.

Fire (combustion) needs fuel, oxygen and ignition. The flower pot could have been the fuel for the original fire; the organic matter and moisture in the potting mix would have resulted in a smouldering (smoking?) but hot fire. This in turn could have caused other fuel (the deck material and finish) to catch fire and spread thereby destroying the entire house.

Hi everyone, I agree with adirondack gardener. To me, the mass of damp cellulose has to be large to get the microorganism to produce sufficient heat to start actually searing or burning the material. I worked on a sugar plantation on the north shore of Oahu in the 1980's. We used bagasse (sugar cane fiber) to feed the boiler for power generation. The boiler went down for too long once so the bagasse was trucked into a nearby gulch for temporary storage. It was very moist, new plant material. We made a pile about 15 feet tall and hundreds of feet long. The bagasse hadn't been there very long (week) before my home phone fire alarm rang and the employees(me included)on duty that week responded to a fire that had broken out in the Bagasse pile up in the gulch. We were worried about the fire spreading to the nearby drying sugar cane fields which were hundreds of acres. I drove the water truck with fire hoses and a water cannon which turned out to be useless for fighting this type of fire. We used D8 dozers to spread the bagasse out which extinguished the problem. We monitored the spread out material for the next couple of weeks until the fields adjacent were harvested. There were no more fires or smoke. The material was later loaded and trucked back to the mill and burned in the boilers. Size, moisture and density matters. I had forgotten this adventure until I read this thread. Thanks for letting me share. Aloha.

Ok, here's my official review: The "Mild" One: (heat level 1 out of 5, as written on the bottle by Jason) a bit of a kick to it, would go great with Spanish/Mexican food, perfect amount of citrus flavor with the lime juice, not overpowering. Pirate's Ghost: (heat level 2 out of 5) "heat and sweet" pretty much sums it up. Just enough of both flavors in there, with a hint of rum, and a smoky taste, very well balanced sauce. I'd use it on just about anything. Smells amazing, too. Yankee Candle should make this a flavor. Put it this way, I opened the bottle 2 days ago, and it's almost gone. Chocolate Scorpion: (heat level 3 out of 5) another excellent sauce. Just a touch of cocoa gives this sauce a very distinct flavor. Smells great, reminds me of "A1 Bold" steak sauce. The taste is hard to put into words, so I'll say it has a "dark" hot sauce flavor. Would pair well with red meat Spontaneous Combustion: (heat level 4 out of 5) I think a combination of Tim and Alison's reviews pretty much nails it. Sort of like Tabasco, not as thin and less of a vinegar taste. Definitely hot, but not overwhelming. This will definitely be my "go to" breakfast sandwich or eggs sauce. Instant Death: (heat level 5 out of 5) I've gotta admit, I was a little nervous to try this one. First bite, "Wow, that's good, but where's the heat?..." 15 seconds later: "Oh, here it comes..." 30 seconds: "Wow! Yup! Here it is!!!" 60 seconds: a little sweat under my eyes and on my brow. Even with all that heat, there's still quite a bit of flavor in there! Very hot sauce, but not "ruin the rest of your day" hot. I'm torn between a favorite. They're all very, very good, well balanced sauces. I'd have to say that Pirate's Ghost and Chocolate Scorpion are neck and neck for the crown. Overall, Jason, I'd say you hit a home run with all of these. Excellent flavor combinations, and I still cannot get over how good they smell. I wouldn't change a thing to any of them, even if I could. I can't wait for your next round of flavors (I know you've got more where these came from!). Great job, and again, congrats. Mike