The perlite, fertilizer, and peat moss look good. Do you still need the pine bark? Am a little concerned about the hydrated lime, not optimum. Just be sure to mix it well. Lawn/dolomitic lime is suggested if I'm not mistaken. Easily found at Lowe's, Walmart, etc. Do you have any hydroponic stores close enough? Usually a good source for big bags of course perlite at reasonable prices. Even ordering bag online is an option. Just my .02

Pine bark is the primary ingredient of the 3-1-1 or 5-1-1 mix so yes, it IS needed. Otherwise you are just messing about with a Miracle Gro look-alike product so why bother!! Didn't notice it was hydrated lime.....agree that dolomitic lime is a better choice.

:-) Yes, I know it's needed, and so do you. The question was for the OP because I didn't see it in the pics. Wasn't sure if she had it yet.

Ahh.........I get it now :-) OP actually referred to "soil conditioner" in the body of her post although did not include a photo so I am assuming the conditioner is indeed the bark fines.

yes didn't post soil conditioner pic but plan on making that the 3, in the 3, 1 , 1 thank you both so much for the advice, I will leave out the lime, do I have to buy another lime or just leave lime out?

You can use that lime if that's what you have. I'd just go lighter on it and get the dolomite the next time. Leaving it out will affect the pH of your mix.

I've been using a similar variation as well of 3-1-1 ratio with Ocean Forest, Perlite and Forest Humus fines in place of pine bark from my local nursery that has it in bulk.

Debbie, 3-1-1 holds more water than the 5-1-1. Soil conditioner does not get screened.

Someone may say I'm nitpicking here, but the Miracle-Gro brand perlite is enriched with fertilizer. It may overwhelm your plants if you use the osmocote too.

How do they enrich perlite?

I don't know how, but I imagine the perlite is presoaked in their fertilizer.

MG pearlite is enriched with a slick advertising campaign, nothing else.

Pearlite has a cation exchange capacity rating (CEC or the ability to attract and subsequently slowly release fertilizer salts) of 1-3 which is virtually non existent, while peat has a CEC of 160-200.

Sorry, but MG perlite is clearly labeled as "enriched with Miracle Gro Plant Food". Since I've never used the stuff - I steer clear of any MG product - can't say how it is enriched.....maybe they just include it in a granular form. However it's included, it's pretty low dosage - NPK of .07-.07-.07.

I only thought to mention it because I had read about how carnivorous plants (which are especially sensitive to minerals in soil) can't handle MG perlite, but given the low concentration of fertilizer it contains (actually an NPK of 0.04-0.01-0.06, according to their website) and perlite's CEC it does seem like a pretty negligible factor for most houseplants.

I actually got that NPK off the product label :-)

I suppose they could add granular...This is why I avoid Miracle Grow products like the plague!