Al's 5-1-1 mix, tropical houseplants and adding lime after planting
NMC
6 years ago
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mblan13
6 years agolitterbuggy (z7b, Utah)
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Volume/Ratio Calculating Al's 5-1-1 Mix
Comments (5)I can't speak for Al. I hope he or someone else who has used this mix for a while will chime in. I always followed the advice to add one tablespoon of lime per gallon of mix and I prefer to measure five gallons of bark to three each of perlite and peat. My formula was closer to what he describes as a small batch: Small batch: 3 gallons pine bark 1/2 gallon peat 1/2 gallon perlite 4 tbsp lime (or gypsum in some cases) 1/4 cup CRF (if preferred) You will notice this is actually 6-1-1. Al has said many times that these formulas are really more of a general concept. I suspect he didn't want new gardeners to get hung up on making exact formulas. I don't think you should repot anything you just put into the mix you made. It is fine the way it is. I was mainly trying to explain why there was a difference in your measurements between the two batches....See Moremaking al's 5-1-1 mix questions..
Comments (25)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...See MoreAl's 5:1:1 Mix vs. Al's Gritty Mix for Tropical Fruit
Comments (5)Yes you can, and in the short run 5-1-1 in may actually perfom better than the Gritty mix. But it will wear out quicker (break down) than the gritty mix. I tend to think of annuals going in the 5-1-1 mix, and perinnials in gritty mix. If you are going to be up-potting in a couple of years go with what you have. Either are a better choice than most anything you can find in most garden centers. Gritty mix makes future repots a dream, tip the pot over and you have bare roots.. Grading the pine bark is not fun, I hate it! A major concept of the gritty mix is based on particle size, larger particles have less surface area (by volume) and thus less water retention. 1/4 to 1/8 inch seems to be the optimal size, although due the screening process of pine bark and the thin strips I will let most 1/2 and under get in the mix (under 1/8 is not good either). If you are looking for Turface MVP check a local irrigation supply house, the stuff was designed for baseball diamonds so look in that direction. The dust is not good for the mix (particle size) The gran-i-grit is intended for chickens to help them digest grains. There are many other products other than gran-i-grit that will perform just as well. Look to a local farm supply house for the rock. Rock dust is not good for the mix (particle size) Gypsum is available at the big box home improvements stores. Gritty does dry out quicker than potting soil so you do need to water a bit more often. It is extremely difficult to overwater with gritty mix, that includes mother nature overwatering. Root rot is probably the number one killer of potted plants. After water, air is the most important thing you can give roots (most plants), more important than fertilizer. Gritty mix excels at this without drying out the root system. Gritty mix is heavy stuff, an advantage of heavy is the pot is less likely to tip from heavy winds. Al is a smart guy, it is such a simple concept....See MoreIs Al's gritty mix or 5-1-1 mix really any better than other mixes?
Comments (32)@Nil13 made reference to the Whitcomb 311 mix, which is an earlier historical attempt to create a more coarse potting soil for container plants. I think it is extremely helpful to read a document written by Carl Whitcomb that explains how he came on this formula by accident. Essentially what happened is he accidentally left nine test pots under a bench and everyone forgot they were there. They had successfully nearly killed all of their test plants by watering in a normal potting soil mix and the unwatered plants started to do very well. What I have started to realize is that any plant can do well in many different soil mixes, if you are able to carefully control the watering. This explains why so many people on this forum claim gritty mix is not as good for their succulents as their (fill in some random horrible soil with lots of small particles) mix. Inevitably those people are growing their plants indoors. They have enormous experience with their plant type and they know exactly when to water the plant. So that is the case of a very skilled gardener compensating for a very bad soil. What gritty mix does for me is let me grow succulents outside in very abusive weather conditions, without the plant dying. A plant can get a week of rain and it will still drain well. During Summer, gritty mix will tolerate a bit of overwatering, although you still really need to pay attention to not overwatering. Whether you make your 511 mix with perlite/peat, or with two parts Turface, or with lava and pumice, is probably in the big picture not going to be the deciding factor in whether your plants grow well or not. Success can be add with any of those mixes because the size of the particles allows the roots to breathe and prevents capillary action of water from bring the perched water table to the top of the pot and drowning the roots. Fine-tuning how you make 511 is a question of matching the plant type to the moisture retention of the soil and to the watering habit and climate exposure. Any 511 variant is going to do better than almost any commercial potting soil because of the larger particles used in the majority of the mix....See Morelitterbuggy (z7b, Utah)
6 years agoNMC
6 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
6 years agoUser
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agotropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
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