Bulk Potting Mixes vs Miracle Grow Potting Soil

[TheClaw]

Last year I used Miracle Grow Potting soil which I purchased from Home Depot in the 2 cubic foot bags (lots of 'em).

After reading posts about pine bark fines I decided to do some research and this is what I came up with.

Parker Bark has commercial mixes available for about 30 dollars per cubic yard. Sounds like a pretty good deal. I've got a full size pickup and I can haul the stuff.

http://www.parkerbark.com/nursery_mixes.html

In particular:

Nursery Mix

We manufacture NC State University’s formula using Parker’s composted pine bark fines, sand, lime and micronutrients. This is a general purpose potting mix for one gallon and larger containers.

Greenhouse Mix

Formulated with pine bark fines, peat, perlite, lime and micronutrients to be lighter and hold more water than the Parker’s Nursery Mix, this mix is ideal for plants that require more water.

In response to am email I sent them this is what Parker says:

"Thank you so very much for your interest in Parker Bark and the opportunity to share information with you regarding our quality products, specifically our potting media.
Your local NC Cooperative Extension Office will be the best resource regarding what specifically needs to be in the mix for tomatoes (or any other variety of plants) and we will be the experts in getting the product you request.

Our General Nursery Mix consists of: 90% Aged Pine Bark Fines, 10% Sand, Micronutrients, and Lime. We can make any mix you would like. You just let us know what exactly you want in the product and we will mix it up.

We also have a US Composting Council Certified Compost (Consists of composted/aged/recycled hardwood fines and turkey manure) and some folks have been very successful with this product in raised plant beds for ornamentals as well as some vegetables and some have used it in containers.

Your extension agent will be able to let you know what will work the best for your plant variety and how you wish to plant/pot them and we can make it for you.

Thank you again for your interest and I do look forward to hearing back from you."


Okay, so I called the NC Cooperative Extension Office, they called me back and at the end of the conversation they referred me to .... (drum roll) Craig LeHoullier, the Tomato Man of North Carolina. Cool.

They said they were concerned about the lack of soil. I am trying to learn more about soil-less mixes. Some of you work with them. They also were concerned that without any soil the containers would dry out more quickly. I should add that my containers are not SWC's and they range from 5 gallon to 20 gallons in size.

Sorry to ramble on. I'll stop now and wait for responses.

The Claw

[dice]

Watering in hot weather is usually a major issue with
conventional containers, so I would go with the
greenhouse mix rather than the nursery mix.

[rnewste]

I would also be concerned about the Sand component in their Mix. I tried blending Cactus Mix (with lots of sand in it) and it turned out terrible in a SWC.

Please give my "Raybo's 3:2:1" of Potting Mix, Bark Fines, and Perlite Combo Mix a trial this Season. I think this, or a slight variant of it to suit your climate will be a worthwhile effort in your containers.

Raybo