511/gritty mix mold growth on pine bark

6 years ago

i used bark peeled from pine trees then i poured boiling water over them thinking that would kill unwanted nasties, then i placed them in a plastic bag and mold grew on them.

so i washed them again with boiling water, rinsed while removing the mold, let them dry out, and then made the gritty mix.

i use plastic pots and i saw my campfire was rotting after 3 days so i unpotted and saw mold growth on pine bark.

how do you prevent mold on PBF? i thought cinnamon would help. i actually mixed it in my mix. havent checked the other pots though.

how do you deal with fresh bark?

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Comments (9)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
Can you post a pic to illustrate your observation? Mold/Fungus is everywhere whether you can see it or not and vast majority of them are harmless and beneficial. Fresh pine bark is also very resistant to fungal growth. I store damp 511 mix in bags and rarely see any visible fungal growth although I know the spores are there.
kil0
Original Author
6 years ago
Heeere!
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Yes I agree with this, try to avoid using that Timberline bark in the purple bag. Looked like a lot of sapwood and large chunky pieces. I suppose it could work if that was your only possible option but I would keep looking and try to find something better. I'm attaching a photo of the unscreened pine bark I use. This is not ideal bark either, but for the 5-1-1 mix it works. The trees I grow seem to like it a lot. I simply take this mix out of the bag and run it through a 1/2" screen. I save everything that passes through the screen, and toss the small amount of larger bark into the garden beds.BTW, this bark was a bit wet when I took the photo. If I were making the gritty mix I'd have to screen out the fine material as well. TYG
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tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
First of all that looks like pine wood chips not bark. Bark has a more layered look to it. In that case it is not a good idea to use it in potting mixes. It will quickly degrade and become mush.

Second that could be green mold on it or could be remnants of lichens. Not sure which one. Either way I will not worry about that.
kil0
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Okay, thank you! Now im worried about my "bark" lol

Is this not bark? We peeled it from the tree trunk. D'oh!!
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
The above picture looks like bark. I guess I have not looked at bark so closely before.
kil0
Original Author
6 years ago
Oh pheww! Hahaha. Thank you!!
conifer50
6 years ago
Looks like rotting wood, aluminum pan and the bark is long gone!
kil0
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
you mean the bark pictured is no good for use? :O
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
Unfortunately it seems like conifer50 may be correct. Looking at it again it does seem like wood pieces as opposed to bark pieces.

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511/gritty mix mold growth on pine bark

Comments (9)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)

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511/gritty mix mold growth on pine bark

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tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)

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