Need help with 5-1-1 potting mix choice
Hello All,
I have decided to start some container gardening this year (mostly tomatoes and peppers) so I purchased some 15 gallon containers for the tomatoes and 5 gallons for the peppers and lined them up in the sunny corner of our back yard, but when it came down to selecting the potting mix I began to have second thoughts about the big box store offerings.
After searching online for the best options, I found this website and I've spent hours after hours enjoying a variety of useful,informative and educative posts. The more I read, the more subjects to cover. I've gained a lot of knowledge from the water movement and retention threads and comments, got very familiar with container fertilizing and the 5-1-1 potting mix and decided to use it going forward.
I started driving to the neighborhood nurseries and big box stores in search of the mix components. I found #3 Perlite in 4cft bag and nursery pots at a local hydroponics store, got Sphagnum Peat Moss from Home Depot, Dolomitic Lime and fertilizer on Amazon, and now the only missing component is the "5".
I've found Earthgro groundcover bark at Home Depot (San Jose, CA area), and after reading some posts where some of the members here used it successfully, I decided to give it a try so I sifted 2 bags through a 1/2" screening cloth and got the material in the screenshots below. Since the material in these bags seem to be varying greatly from batch to batch, and I don't have any previous experience to compare it with, I'm turning to your expertise to find out if what I have is usable (and if it requires more sifting/more peat moss) or if I should be looking for other alternatives.
Additionally, I seem to have a good source of Turface in my area. Should I consider using that instead of Perlite for additional water retention?
Thank you for your advice and for the wealth of information you have contributed on this website.
Comments (10)
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Watering potted plants in 5:1:1 mix
Comments (3)Sorry the plants are not in my sunroom, they are in bathroom next to window with filter light through partially opened blinds. They still get 4-5hrs filter sun. Mike, I did make the mix correctly 5part pinefines/1part -perlite/1 part peat mix.Maybe the are not getting much sun to dry out the mix fast? I have several gallon size pots in same mix for citrus, hibiscus, jasmines in my southfacing sunroom, these need watering almost once a week atleast. To detemine the watering need I lift the pot and if it is verylight, then I water....See MoreLarge-scale growing of container basil: potting soil vs 5-1-1 mix
Comments (10)This is why the ReptiBark is such a good bet for my application... because it breaks down less quickly, I can go 2 or 3 years without having to re-pot... or with adding a top-dressing only. I don't have to worry that the ReptiBark will decompose right away. I find that if I soak the ReptiBark overnight before using any in a mix, it's much less likely to become hydrophobic. Plus, my pots aren't drying out that quickly... they're indoor, out of direct sun and any wind, as opposed to outdoor containers and the conditions there. Honestly, I haven't had any issues with the small bags, as used for my own applications. When I know a pot will spend time outdoors, I use a different bark in a medium closer to the 511. I found a few bags of some pine mulch at Lowe's or somewhere like that... no idea on brand names or anything... but it appeared a little darker in color, smaller in size, and perfect for using in a 511 type mix. This past spring, we actually added a bunch of composted wood chip mulch to our raised beds and even turned a bunch into the garden for aeration and whatnot... so far, so good! The basic concept is working well for us!...See More5-1-1 Mix and handling 2 dissimilar soils in one pot
Comments (3)Dee, I think you may be misunderstanding a couple things about 5:1:1. The 5:1:1 doesn't *need* to dry out in order to have oxygen...that's the whole point. The particles are coarse enough that there's always space for air to diffuse into the soil. In addition, the bottom of the pot will not be saturated with water (or at least very minimally so), as is common with retail potting soils. So don't worry too much about watering every day - if the root ball is dry, you need to water. Unless the root ball is staying dry even when you *do* water, a potting mix that quickly drains is rarely a bad thing. How did you remove the old potting mix? The most common way is to thoroughly soak the root ball in water, and then use a stream of water to forcefully rinse it away, perhaps with the aid of a bent fork or screwdriver (root hook). What I've learned from this forum is that you don't need to be particularly gentle, and that for most kinds of plants, heavily pruning old, woody roots is very good for their long term health. However, in the very short term, heavy root pruning can cause problems for the plant in getting enough water to the leaves to maintain turgidity. Water is moving out of the leaves into the air faster than the roots can supply it. When leaves are wilted, they can't photosynthesize. As I understand it, for woody plants, pruning the top growth to "match" the roots is not as important as commonly thought. But for softer plants like many houseplants, leaving all of the top growth can make it impossible for roots to supply enough water right after repotting. This is especially true because humidity is usually relatively low indoors. You can help your plant out by keeping it in the shade until it recovers, removing the largest, oldest leaves, and providing it with high humidity just until it is no longer wilting. Humidity can be increased by using a "humidity tent". You can make a simple one using any kind of boxy frame with clear plastic or saran wrap all around it. If you already have a large bell jar or terrarium, that's essentially perfect. You'll be delighted at how quickly this works! Misting and using a humidity "tray" (water and pebbles underneath the plant) is generally a useless gesture, as it has no significant effect on the humidity level. Do NOT put a plant that has a humidity tent in full sun, as it will "cook" the plant. A struggling new transplant should be in the shade anyway. Also, resist the urge to fertilize before the plant has had a chance to recover. Good luck!...See MoreIs 5-1-1 mix ok for conifers in pots?
Comments (23)Ha, that's weird. No idea why that is in the description. If you have a store near you, check it out. You need to run it over 1/2 inch hardware cloth to screen out any big particles,but most is fine enough to go through. It's much better quality than the stuff at big box stores, and a lot more affordable than the reptile bark. Also, the reptile bark is bigger in the big bags vs. small bags. So you will see people say it doesn't need to be screened, but that's only true in the tiny bags. If you get the bigger bags, it seems the bark size also increases. I had to run it through my chipper machine to get it to the right size...What a pain! @gardengal - Well... Someone on gardenweb used a temp gun to measure soil temp vs. a 5 gal black pot. Temps in 80's, soil surface was similar, but the pot was 147.... That's not surprising to me. Think about how much hotter black pavement or a black car gets in the sun. Maybe the plants in larger pots can tolerate it, but why add the stress to the plant. I think smaller bp & 1g pots are at extra risk, especially when they have just been up potted. I'm not willing to test this theory.... I just sink the pots in the ground or provide shade cloth. Now...On the cold, I disagree. z7a on the east coast is way different than the west coast. I an 1/2 a zone colder than the OP and I have definitely lost z5 hardy conifers to cold when they are left in pots, above ground, without protection. Again, pot size plays a big role here. A 5 gal pot is going to be able to absorb/buffer the cold much better than a BP/1g... Those are just my thoughts/experiences... Maybe I am over cautious, but I don't want to add unnecessary risk... http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2111205/can-black-pots-cook-roots...See More
Adrian B
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoThank you for your comments. I will try to pay a visit this weekend to some rockeries or landscaping companies and see if I can find something better. Below is a picture of another bag I just opened. The contents of the bags pictured above looked somewhat similar but after going through the screen, the smaller particles "sinked".
Maybe I'm overthinking this but when you measure the ingredients for the mix, are you using a liquid gallon or trade gallon? Since the difference between the two is almost 20%, I'm worried about adding too much/less CRF or lime.
Mary Leek
8 years agoAdrian B
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoHello Mary,
I never tried mixing just perlite and peat so I'll let other, more experienced members, comment on that.
You may want to search your area for landscaping companies or rockeries. Usually they sell the bark in larger volumes (1/2 cubic yard or more) and you may have to bag it yourself. When calling, ask for pine or fir bark, don't mention the fines because some of them are not familiar with the term. Most of the time, you'll find the bark under "bark mulch". Something like this, in Hot Springs, Ar. I'm sure there are other places, closer to where you live, but this was just a brief search in central Ar.
If you have larger size bark, some have reported using a blower/mulcher like this one to produce the fines.
I've made my own "bark screen" by cutting a board into four 1.5ft pieces and nailing them together to create a frame and attaching a piece of 1/2" screen (purchased from Home Depot for $6) to it with some nails. I was able to go through about 180 gallons of container material in a couple of hours. This is a picture of it with some of the material.
Because I was concerned about moisture retention (maybe more than I should have been), I decided to go with a 5-1-1-1 mix of bark, peat moss, perlite and Napa 8822.
So far, my plants seem to like it:
Good luck!
Mary Leek
8 years agoAdrian B
8 years agoMary Leek
8 years agoAdrian B
6 years agoResurrecting an old thread to thank all the ones that helped finding the right bark. Here's a picture of the plants enjoying the 5:1:1 mix this summer.
Ernie