'Organic' means carbon-based...so, yes, pine bark is organic. I use powdered Dolomitic Lime. You sprinkle it in with the ingredients, then mix it together. The lime phase reaction takes anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to complete, which is why it is often recommended to make your mix ahead of time. However, there is no danger in mixing and potting the same day. I've done it many, many times. In a large volume of 5-1-1, where moisture and temperature is moderated, I imagine that some innoculants might work....but I do not use any, and I only know one guy who does - and his results are far too variable to draw meaningful conclusions. Instead of a moisture meter, just stick a kabob skewer or other stick into the container to check for moisture. It's the easiest way. I germinate seeds directly in the 5-1-1, but I start most seeds in a Gritty Mix. Josh

Jamey: I'm not very knowledgeable about growing cacti so I can't give you any specific advice on that. I do agree with Rina, I think that in general cacti like fairly dry soil so the gritty mix is probably a good choice for them. The 5-1-1 is probably going to be too wet for most of them. You might want to do a search on this forum for "cactus soil" and see what you can find. I'm sure other members use gritty mix recipes to grow them. Yes that Miracle Gro peat-based soil holds a LOT of water, as you just described. It starts out nice a fluffy and plants like it, but the more you water it the more it compresses down into a soggy swamp. As you experienced, the bottom half of the container turns into a mess. It's not just the MG brand but most peat-based soils from the big box stores are similar. They are cheap, but they break down in a hurry. You can buy some very good bagged soils, like Fafards brand, but I understand they are very expensive and hard to find. I'm attaching a link for the perlite at Menard's. I think the pieces in the Schultz brand are actually a bit larger than the Miracle Gro perlite. It's not the super coarse perlite you can find at hydroponic stores but if you screen out the dusty material the remaining pieces are very good, especially if you only need small batches of soil. Hope that helps. TYG Here is a link that might be useful: Perlite

The weight of a saturated gritty mix is only a small fraction heavier than the weight of a saturated Miracle-Gro (or similar) soil because of the excess water retention of the MG or equal. Rather than simply focusing on an inconvenience to the grower and tossing the notion of using the gritty mix out part and parcel, the grower might better consider the inconvenience of any extra weight against the inherent limitations of more water retentive soils that are a nonissue when using soils like the gritty mix. It doesn't matter to me what a person uses, but there is a loss of potential when using overly water-retentive soils because they're lighter than the gritty mix when dry. I realize what you said isn't a campaign against any particular soil or concept - I just wanted to make the point that the gritty mix IS heavier than most soils, but when plantings are at container capacity (saturated), the difference isn't terribly significant. Al

I've been using a 50:50 base mix of perlite/ turface for many years. You can easily modify this mix for different needs. Most mesembs benefit from the addition of a clayey component. For me, I just dig beyond the topsoil in my yard for some good dirt. I also substitute perlite for some lava rock and small pebbles. It's a heavier, longer lasting mix which works when repotting infrequently for mesembs. This same mix is my preference for small cactus species like Aztekium, Blossfeldia, tricky mamms like luethyi, etc. "bigger" plants like some Crassula, aloes, aeonium etc. you could add more perlite to lighten big pots. It also makes it safer to leave outdoors all spring/summer/fall with rain. My palms, plumeria and cycads live in this mix too. Floating perlite is not an issue. But it does easily displace with high water pressure like from a hose. Some form of fertilizer is a must. I'm also a fan of submerging small pots with small plants into bigger, deeper containers to help stabilize root temperatures. Practically any healthy plant I've ever had to repot always has roots circling the bottom. I really don't understand the concept of shallow or regular pots. I think the deeper the better. I haven't really noticed any exception. For some species it's mandatory. Haworthias, many cactus plants with tuberous roots. Even Lithops which tolerate a shallow home will grow much better in very deep pots. Pleiospilos too. For anyone unsure or unconvinced, try an experiment. Take a pot with any plant you want, and bury it into much deeper pot for a growing season. Pull it out later and see what you find. Bury an Aloe, pachypodium or most any strong Echeveria or similar in the garden and watch it take off. We would all be great at bonsai, plenty good experience with root constriction and limiting growth lol!