First 5:1:1 experience for this newbie - faster and bigger growth
After several seasons of searching, was finally able to obtain bark that was close to acceptable to try out a fast-draining, bark-based container mix.
No surprise to GW Container Forum folk (especially not to the wonderful soil/water-theorists), found that under my local conditions, over the same time period, plants grew markedly faster and to a greater height and mass in 5:1:1 than in the commercial peat-perlite based mixes I had used previously. (5:1:1 on left)
As a garden-newbie I've always appreciated the detailed experiences shared here, but they're not for everyone - so if anyone is interested in the excruciating particulars, see below.
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First, a warning that's probably obvious to the more experienced: always use something to protect drain holes. 5:1:1 went into several fixed, heavy composite, 1.5-2.5 gal pots, each draining through a single irregular ~ 1/4" hole at bottom-center passing into a flat base raised only about 1/10" over the cement underneath. At the first rain, half the pots clogged making an overflowing, floating plant and bark pond. Lesson: small flat bark chips can easily fit together to completely clog a small drain hole. (No problems after installing the usual inexpensive plastic-canvas/needlework-craft mesh.)
Second, a fun little experiment - under my local conditions, just for me - no claims of significance (maybe 10 pairs of plants would have approached some useful statistical confidence).
Cuttings taken from the same tropical milkweed plant were grown in a gritty mix (to facilitate clean transfer to other media). Eight which had achieved a similar height and leaf number were transferred to one-gallon nursery containers with either 5:1:1 (as per tapla) or a peat-perlite-based commercial mix (MG). The four pairs were placed in the same outdoor area and rotated daily in an effort to achieve the same average illumination. Fertigation - peat retained so much more moisture than the 5:1:1, had difficulty deciding the fairest way to irrigate the different media. Chose to use a combination of "second knuckle" depth below surface, and weight decrease from saturation, as consistently as I could.
After one month, plant height, and stem-diameter at 6" above medium, were measured. (Something like dry weight would probably have been a more fair measurement, but did not want to lose the plants.) 5:1:1 main growth was taller and thicker stemmed, on average by about 30% and 50% respectively, and each 5:1:1 had grown at least one more branch from near the base. A typical pair is shown in the above photo (5:1:1 left). When removed to up-pot, healthy looking roots were seen at the outside perimeter of both media (where better exposed to air?), but only the 5:1:1 had numerous roots growing throughout the interior of the mix.
Post-experiment - had run out of bark, so they were up-potted into large containers of standard media. Both continued to grow, but the originally-peat-media plants never achieved near the same height or stem-thickness.
Final impression is that the milkweed which had grown in 5:1:1, besides greater height and mass, also ultimately developed more flowers per plant and more seed pods. Also, The H. spectabile type "sedum" planted in the fixed containers mentioned in the "drainhole-warning" above, obviously grew taller and into a thicker clump than in all of many previous years (in standard media). A better draining and aerated medium made quite a difference in these sized containers under these conditions.
Comments (13)
horti2791
8 years agoRelated Discussions
When , how and why - Al's 5:1:1!
Comments (36)Mcreader, let me put it this way. I live in north GA. Pine trees are grown commercially all over this state and I struggle to find pine bark the past few years! Mulches are now dyed or colored. Some of the pine bark I've used was toxic because the trees were likely injected and killed standing.. here I was making soil mixes that contained powerful herbicides. (that was truly a very bad mix!) The best source I found is to get Lowes or Home Depot to order the product with a purple label sold as 'pine bark mulch'. Some bags have a lot of good size bark bits and others have a lot of wood and cambium or are too decayed. It's really become a hassle to find a good bark bit. Our local Home Depot said I could prepay and they could order some bags of the product I like to use so you might want to ask and see if that's available. I've used aggregate suppliers, landscape suppliers and places like that who had huge stacks of bark but you have to be careful and sort the sizes. Its a far better price but if you're willing to go through the trouble its a fraction of the cost of pre bagged products. I made this video a few summers ago explaining and showing the product I've had the most luck with. Maybe it will be helpful 511 explained...See MoreRepotting into 5-1-1 soil. Questions about 511 materials.
Comments (5)I know this is VERY late - don't know if you will ever even see this posting at all - but for what its worth here goes. I am growing M. koenigii in fiber (fabric) pots. They have been in a mixture of either peat+bark (MM Soil pep in fact) + Growstone (GS2) or peat+bagged mix+GS2 Growstone when I couldn't get MM Soil Pep or anything like it any more. They were originally in a peat+bagged container mix when I started them from seed. It has been 3 years since they were potted up into the fiber plant bags and Growstone-based mix. Some were planted into a gritty-like mix - all of those have either been repotted into a Growstone mix where they are gamely struggling to catch up to their heartier brothers, or - they just flat out died. M. koenigii is a member of the citrus family, a cousin of the so-called "true" citrus such as lemons and oranges etc. I see no reason why what works for my M. koenigii wouldn't work for your citrus as well. You can get the Growstone from a hydroponics store. If they don't have it in stock, they should be able to order it for you. A 1.5 cu ft bag cost me around $35 the last time I bought one, a couple of years ago. That may seem steep at first but the stuff is easily recycled and reused, and it prevents compaction to the point where I've not had to repot for the entire 3 year period and will repot next spring only because most of the plants need to be potted up anyway. You want the middle size - GS2 - not the larger chunks nor the small gritty stuff sold for gnat control. Could be worth a try for you. Handing issues - it is dusty straight out of the bag, and since it is recycled glass, you don't want to breathe that dust. A 99c dust mask from Home Despot should be all you need. You need to rinse the dust off/out of it when you pop the bag open. Put it in a big tub of water and swish it around to de-dust it. If you're reusing/recycling - still put it in a big tub of water and swish it around - the spent organic matter will mostly fall to the bottom and you can just scoop the remaining Growstone into a bucket of bleach water to sterilize. I only sterilize when recycyling, don't see a need for it straight out of the bag. My initial mix proportions were 3:2:1 peat-bark-Growstone but that soon devolved to just mixing it all together until it "looked right". Especially after the MM Soil Pep wasn't available anymore and I was down to just peat and whatever bagged container mix I could find and afford that didn't have any sand in it and at least LOOKED like it had a fair amount of bark in it. It doesn't seem to have mattered, all my curry leaf trees that were initially planted into a Growstone mix at the same time (about 3 years ago) are roughly the same size and robustness. There may be issues of pH but if so, under my local conditions, it doesn't seem to have mattered. Plus all that peat moss is pretty acidic. But then my local water is pretty alkaline at about 9. At any rate it is working for me....See MoreRoots everywhere. Can 5-1-1 mix easily be reused in a 2nd season?
Comments (3)Hi acg85, It would be far more trouble than it's worth to separate the soil from the old root mass. Not to mention; depending on how dried out it might be, the soil can get very hydrophobic, therefore extremely difficult to re-wet. Much easier to start fresh. Rob...See MoreMuddy 5-1-1
Comments (29)Yup, looks like re pot should be in full swing with a much fresher mix. It still not too late. I would make sure that when you do make your mix, use peat moss. If not peat moss the 'turface' like Vance and I do...If you use 'soil' of any kind, it will slide past all your bark and sit into the bottom of your containers clogging everything up and your perched water along with rot will be where all the soil settled.. The reason why you should wet your mix before you use it is so that the peat or 'turface' will adhere to the bark and stay that way even if you should water over and over again. It will not fall to the bottom while just the bark stays near the surface which is a mistake many make. Also too, make sure your bark sizes are very small, sift the through a 1/2 screen to allow only the small pieces to fall through. If you are using decomposed pine bark like I use, I still do the same....See More
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