Hi Stoney!

I use Pro Mix HP with my tomatoes, it's a great medium. Someone on this forum told me to check out their website which actually has a lot of videos and articles. goo.gl/UZDCo4

I'm excited to hear how it goes for your peppers! Good luck and keep us updated!

Got it :-)

Going to Lowes tomorrow for a 10 gallon container than transplant.

{{gwi:1177242}}

Most of my plants are in Pro-Mix HP this year. If you've seen my videos, you can make your own judgement on how well it works.

Tim

Tim,
I've seen your videos ;)

I've really been wanting to try it!
My wife didn't really approve at $25 a bag but I sweet talked her..lol!

I'll keep you posted.

Stoney

I'll be curious to see if you have results like I did. I don't have any complaints so far. I hope your plants grow so well that people start calling it a pepper tree. :)

Tim

Thanks man!

Little dryer out here in So. Cal but yeah, ill let you know!
I'm going to do a video update to YouTube soon.
I'll link it here :-)

Stoney

You got a 2.2cf compressed bale for $25? Here it's $40 for 3.8cf, I haven't seen 2.2 but seems reasonable to me. Though maybe that's not compressed since it weighs exactly half what my bale does? Still not a bad price if you go by weight.

I haven't tried HP before, used BX but recently bought HP (all they had left) for container tomatoes. I was a little worried HP was going to be too quick-draining for tomatoes but so far looks good - check out my post on Tomato forum - should be perfect for peppers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomatoes HP vs BX

I'm doing a side by side comparison between pro mix hp and 511. so far the pro mix is blowing the 511 away in terms of pod production.

How does the promix compare in price to 5-1-1?
Bruce

oh my goodness it's sooooo much more expensive. at least 4x the price.

I've also been having good results with a 50/50 promix pine fine blend.

Oh, OK. I was thinking about trying a premade mix because my back just isn't in to sifting and mixing the 5-1-1. I am reusing my 511 from last year but this year I added some extra store bought potting soil. Last year it was really hot and dry and I had trouble at times keeping enough moisture in them. Ironically, we are on pace for a record spring/early summer of rainfall this year. The plants seem to be liking the extra potting mix even though I have only watered about three or four times since I put them out over a month ago. I guess I will try to stay with the pine bark but just make it more like 5-2-1 or 5-3-1.
Bruce

I also had some where I subbed pro mix BX for the peat moss. I had decent results there.

I've been doing a lot of experimenting this year.

Yah, I mix whatever I have handy for the soil part of the 5-1-1 mix. I have been using Fafard 52 as I had several bags of that available. Most of those mixes are comprised mainly of peat anyway.
Bruce

Bruce: the 5-1-1 is much cheaper and it lasts for several years. According to digdirt(veggy forum, who is a encyclopedia IMO), the Promix lasts "maybe" two seasons with a refresh on the 2nd.

The appeal of it is it's ability to support organic ferts and a microherd. One could easily take any potting mix and add the mycorrizae him/herself.

Which leads me to Judo. Judo: Because of the mycorrizae, the microherd would cause 5-1-1 to break down faster. Which kind of defeats the purpose of both. 5-1-1 has no nutritional value so you want to feed it synthetic ferts and any organic ferts you may feed it causes it to break down faster.

Kevin

I am using 5-1-1. It costs me about $3.00 per cu-ft. The most expansive component (1/7th) is perlite. About 70% is pine bark @ $2 per cu-ft.

Now, promox on the other hand is better than 70% peat moss. So its advantage is more moisture retention and with that comes fertilizer retention. You can have a modified version of 5-1-1. Make it 3-3-1 (3parts pine bark, 3 parts peat moss, one part perlite)

I modify mine by adding 1 part DE (UltraSorb) and reduce pine bark by the same amount. So I have: 4-1-1-1. You can do it as 3-1-1-2 (2 parts DE). one pond of dry DE absorbs one pound of water, EXACTLY. And unlike peat it does not get mushy nor it will cake. After it is saturated it will work like perlite, providing drainage. AND it won't fall apart. Great stuff.

The most difficult part of making 5-1-1(or its variation) is to find the right pine/fir bark fine. I made 2 barrel full of it this season, with less the one bale of peat moss($11), one bag of UltraSorb ($9), and one bag of perlite ($18).

I keep saying this: there is no secret in the medium other tha its moistutur retention and drainage property. Plants grow with nutrients that you add to the medium. That medium can be water, sand/gravel, bark, old fashion garden soil( as long as it does not get compacted).

Edit:

Another property of a good medium is to provide AIR for the root system. That is what a soggy soil lacks (no air = oxygen) causing fatal damage. Plants do not die because of too much water but because of too little or no air. Otherwise hydroponics could not work if it were because of too much water. Yet another reason why fabric/smart bags work better than plastic container; MORE OXYGEN.

This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 1:17

Great point made seysonn!

Too much water acts as a sort of barricade for oxygen reaching the plant's root system. I place a lot of importance on a medium's ability to drain properly. I have had much success with PRO-MIX HP because it does a great job of draining water. After months of using it I was then clued in that HP stands for high porosity.

That's why it contains so much perlite!

Stoney