Fortunately, I only dry mixed 3/4 teaspoon per gallon of 511 mix. The bag is called "horticultural hydrated lime", it calls for one tablespoon of hydrated lime per gallon of water, water plants once a year. It doesn't say anything about mixing it dry in containers, just for outdoor gardens. Im wondering if it's even usable in containers, or is it to caustic? My plants are showing signs of burn on the tips of the leaves, the new growth is looking normal, though. I flushed the plants thoroughly. They should be fine.. This is my first time using the 511 mix, I normally use a peat/perlite mix with success. I was hoping I would be blown away by the growth on my 511 plants, unfortunately the damn hydrated lime burned them and stunted them from the start. I always try to experiment with multiple setups and always try some new setups, yet stick to my proven setup as a control. My peat/perlite mixes are doing great, even the few that were cut with the 511 mix, it just so happens I didn't lime the peat/perlite, the only thing I limed is the 511 mix.. I wish I would of left some 511 mix that i didn't lime, i bet them plants would of did real good! I could always topdress/water with lime/fertilizer after they get established.. Next time, next time... Thanks for the help guys!

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!

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

I would say if you did nothing there might be a slight risk, but if you watered in well it would have filtered in the gaps sufficiently, and every time you water would fill in even better. As GardenGal said, she never uses chopsticks and has never had issues. I use chopsticks because it was how I was taught. Also, I use Gritty mix which has much less organic matter to fill in the gaps. 1/8 to 1/4 inch chunky bonsai soil doesn't water in well, so it needs pushed into the crevasses well, 5-1-1 flows into gaps much, much better. That being said, as I previously stated, you can do the chopstick thing at anytime without having to do anything else (to do anything else would just cause undue stress to the plant at this time). Either way I think you'll be fine.