Making my own Soilless mixture for seedlings to Sell?

[desertlzbn]

I am wondering if anyone makes their own mix for their seedlings to sell?
The Sunshine mix is so expensive, but I was thinking about making my own.
A bag of Sunshine mix #1 is $30.00
A bag of compressed peat moss is $20.00
A bag of Perlite is $18.00
(lime I already have)
So it would be $38. to buy the stuff to make my own, but does anyone know if a bale of the peat moss will make more mixture than what comes in the Sunshine mix bale?
Also what ratios would I use to make it?

Sorry if this seems dumb, but I cannot seem to figure it out, and I know you guys are way more experienced than I am.

[dice]

It might be cheaper to make an "Al's Mix" with bark fines (although he
uses some peat, too):

Here is a thread from GW that discussed where to find bark fines in or
near Tuscon (ignore the title; shredded cedar is not recommended):
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...021520071.html

Another GW thread that lists Al's Mix formulas:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...25632.html?117

[fortyonenorth]

Desert - the Sunshine mix, as a pre-blended potting mix, is jacking up your costs. Al's mix, which is satisfactory, would cost less. It's a 5-1-1 blend of pine bark fines, peat and perlite. My costs are:

PBF - $3.50 per 2 cu. ft. bag (this is from the big box stores; it would be less in bulk, if available)
peat - $16 per 3.8 cu. ft. bale
perlite - $16 per "big" bag

The trick is getting the pine bark fines in the right size. This can vary from store to store. I've even encountered different grades on a single pallet.

[janezee]

What scale were you thinking?
Perhaps you can find these ingredients in bulk. I buy my peat moss, mushroom compost, steer manure (composted) for around $27/cu. yd.

[desertlzbn]

Last year I used 3 bales of sunshine mix #1. I did already buy 2 bales of sunshine mix this year, but I also bought a bale of peat moss. I have a concrete mixer, and thought to use it to mix up a couple of batches of mix. I also have some bark mulch that is pretty fine, I wonder if I could use that?
Thanks for the help

[dice]

Bark fines are probably only available in bags around Tuscon, regardless
of where you get them. As far as I can see, there are no local sources
where people can buy it by the yard. ("Landscape materials" there usually
amount to different grades and colors of sand and gravel, which fits with
the natural landscape.)

If you had deep pockets, I suppose one could order a train car full of bark
fines from somewhere, but I get the impression from browsing the WWW
that tree bark is not a common landscape material around Tuscon, like it
is where conifer forests are closer.

So assume that getting it in bags is the only way to get it there.

[desertlzbn]

I can get a huge bag of it for about 6 bucks at cps, so that it's not too bad price wise.

[jdwhitaker]

I didn't have good luck with the 5-1-1 mix for germination (in 1 inch cells). It has worked well for me when I pot up tomato plants into 4 inch pots. The bark can repel water if it is too fresh. I soak it in hot water with a drop of dish soap to combat this.

A 3.8 cu. ft. bale of peat will make 6 cu. ft. once it is broken apart, if I remember correctly. Add a 4 cu. ft. bag of perlite, and you should have around 8 cu. ft. of mixed soil. The peat will almost definitely repel water, so give it the hot water/soap treatment as well.

[Boutique Tomatoes]

I've experimented with the bark mix for germination and had iffy results myself, I think a finer mix is does better for getting them started. Once they're potted up it does great things for root development.

Eliot Coleman gave a recipe in New Organic Grower that was peat, compost and sand with some blood meal, colloidal phosphate, greensand and lime. I have to look up the proportions but I've made that before when I thought to put a couple of buckets of compost in the garage before it froze solid. Most years I forget and end up buying mix.

[botanophilia]

Keep it simple. 1:1 blend of peat/perlite or 1:1:1 Peat/Perlite/Vermiculite for germination. 5:1:1 Bark/Peat/Perlite would work well for growing on.

[desertlzbn]

This is the mulch that I buy, do you think this would work for the bark fines? I could not find what the contents or type of wood it is. that is a wine cork for size, just what I had handy.

[dice]

Looks ok to me. That looks as fine or finer than what we usually see in
bagged tree bark around here.

[fortyonenorth]

The texture looks good, but the type of bark is critical. You want conifer bark. Pine bark is common in the east and midwest. Fir bark is more prevalent in the west. It looks like there is a phone number on your bag of mulch. I'd contact the company directly if you're unsure about "what" you have.

[jdwhitaker]

It looks great, and is almost certainly pine bark (or some other conifer) since it is sold as a soil conditioner. The bag says it is composted, so it should soak up water well and not tie up nitrogen.