I would have to say that it took time but well worth the effort. Chopping that up took a lot out of me but it was a work out. I am kind of in shape but have ankle, knee and hip problems from an old highschool injury many years ago so I have to sit down to do a lot of the work. I am approaching 40 now and trying to get back in shape and by doing that and how good my body felt after the sorness went away I would do it again next year. However there may not be a need to because I bought the Agway Pine Bark which is near perfect. The price is also excellent I think they have a deal where you can buy 3 to for 4 (3 cubic ft bags) for around $20. The price keeps lowering the more bags you buy. Also I love the cheap cost of Peatmoss. $10 for 3-4 Cubic ft. The perlite is the problem with expense though. Now I would use a commercial mix but the cost would be far too high. I had to fill 9 (20) gallon containers and 15 (5-7) Gallon containers. So as a safe estimate I filled about 250+ gallons which would work out to about 16 (2 Cubic ft ) bags of a commercial mix. If I did my math right I estimate that 15 gallons is about equal to 2 cubic Ft. I estimate that I have spent $20 for about 6-7 Cubic Ft of Peat moss, $50-$60 for Perlite, $10 for 40lbs of Garden Lime, and about $50 in Pine bark. So Let's say I spent around $140 for 16 bags (2 cubic Ft) of mix then the total price per 2 cubic Ft would be about $8-9. This is also not to mention that I have plenty of Peat moss (about 2 cu ft) and a bunch of lime along with more perlite left over. So technically I saved over $100 if I were to buy a commercial 2 CU Ft. Mix bag at about $15. Now if only had to make a small amount I would totally buy commercial and I almost did but the cost was way to high. I also forgot to mention that I did not use control release Ferts, instead I used MG liquid soluable tomato food. This was because it was cheap at the time and I was on a limited budget, but next year I will do it after this crazy weather. Here in Philly area we just got about 7+ inches of rain in one day a few days back and another inch yesterday. It has been very tricky to plan the fertilization days. Edit: I forgot that I had 4 (5) gallon Bell peppers in the front growing and my Yellow Kellogs in 2 (16 Gal) containers so that would make it 300 Gallons of Mix I made which would bring the price down to about $7 per (2 Cu Ft). Also the production is doing great. This post was edited by thebutcher on Fri, Aug 2, 13 at 14:19

.... you sometimes make vertical slits or score the root ball of a plant that you are putting in new soil and cut an X in the bottom of the root ball. What does that do? If a plant has heavy root congestion, the slits sever the roots that are encircling the container, forcing root branching behind the cuts, similar to pruning branch tips. This is a little Eugenia, commonly grown as a houseplant or a bonsai. This one is in the initial grooming stages as a candidate for a bonsai down the road. Even though it's not horrible, I'm concerned about the root congestion because I never got around to repotting it this year, so I'm going to give it a boost. I need to consider how congested the roots WILL be 10 months from now at repot time. Instead of cutting an 'X' in the bottom of the roots, I'll either rip them off or cut them off. Since there were no encircling roots in the remaining root mass, making the vertical slits wouldn't have much effect, so I potted up into a wider/and shallower container than it was in. This plant will remain in the 5:1:1 soil because it's closer to what the plant was in when I acquired it a few ears ago. I'll bare root/repot next Jun, and it will go into the gritty mix. I do a lot of display containers all through the gardens & decks Many of the plantings have several plants in them that came in 4-6" pots. All of these plants get the bottom half of their root mass unceremoniously ripped off at planting time. I then work my fingers up into the center of the roots & spread them outward. The 'damage' to the root system actually SPEEDS establishment of the plant in the planting. I remember years ago, I would so often find bedding plants that never put out roots beyond the limits of their original root mass after an entire summer of 'growth'. Not so when you do as I described. The damaged roots literally stimulate chemical messengers that 'tell' the plant something has damaged the roots. The plant, being a reactive organism, is forced to funnel energy into growing new roots - LOTS of them, and the new roots are very efficient at absorption in the 'virgin' soil, so reestablishment happens quickly. Roots aren't all that delicate. If you can keep them from drying out while working on them, they'll tolerate a LOT of indignity ..... but I'm getting it's more the worms that have you squirming. ;-) The only ferns I grow are a few odd ones that are potted in outdoor containers, and they go in the compost in Oct, but I know Josh repots his ferns and will be able to offer some help. I'll go chase him down. Al

Lynn, I used a moisture meter years ago when they first came out, it was ok, used it more for my Anthuriums and greenhouse plants, but general if its hot in your area (over 85) with humidity under 50 percent, if the top of the soil looks dry and you havent watered for a week generally you might want to water. Even for 20 and 40gallon pots, if your plumies well established (been in the same pot for 2 seasons or more) it will need the water after a week. Places where you have really humid summers or in general, depending on your soil/mix and root ball, because of the moisture in the air your soil may not dry out as readily. I have my plants during July on watered at least 2x a week, if I don't the leaves start to wilt along with the flowers and sometimes buds drop also. So as long as your plumies feet aka roots are not wet (poor draining soil), moist soil is ok especially as we do not get super humid in So cal as a general rule. Some plumies like Dwarf Sing Pink, ACW, Mela Pa Bowman, Slaughters Pink, Gina, Steopetala, Hong Kong, Samoan Fluff, etc, etc, like more moisture as they are heavier drinkers. I know that some long time plumie growers in the IE, like Sonia who water more then 2x a week sometimes as it is very arid and over 90's most summer days. So if you want the moisture meter aka gardening accessory than knock yourself out, plus the moisture meters do not work well on 30gal, 40gal pots as it not long enough to reach down to where it counts... This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 20:34

coco does not disintegrate, it resist decomposition and last several years.. i have made a quick video showing how airy it is, and it's certainly not "dust" like it's mentioned in that 2 line sentence about the person in that link you posted say it is, and as i've said, coco can be purchased in coarser grade too. i'd imagine mixing the finer grade coco with the coarser coco would make one hell of a mix that will put the 5-1-1 mix to shame and keep so much money in your pocket.. but i think just the normal texture coco is fine, there are plenty of people who use it on thehotpepper forum by itself with amazing results. it does not compact at all despite how hard it is squeezed. very fibrous which is why it does not really need any additives such as perlite, bark, etc..which saves huge amounts of money. the amazing thing about is it has tremendous water holding capacity while still staying light and airy and not suffocating plant roots. there are so many other reasons why it's superior to just about every type of planting media out there. research and very much doubt you'll find many valid negative things about it.