Best container mix without pine bark fines?

RT_Peasant · November 20, 2014

Most of the recipes for container potting mix that I've seen on this site and others require the ever-elusive pine bark fines. Unable to find them here, I decided a couple years ago to make my own. I took mini pine bark nuggets, ran them through a mulching lawn mower, screened the results with a 1/2" screen, ran them through the mower again, etc. It made a huge mess and took a lot of time, but I eventually made enough PBF for 2 containers' worth of 5:1:1 mix.

This year, I'm going for 20 containers, and I don't have time to manufacture enough PBF. I'd like to come up with a mix that involves measuring readily available ingredients in a wheelbarrow. I was thinking about either straight Miracle Gro potting mix, potting mix + composted manure, potting mix + perlite, or some combination of the three.

Most of my pots will be 15 gal black plastic nursery pots. I plan to irrigate them with a drip system on a timer. My past experience with containers leads me to believe that I'll have to water them every day. The containers have holes all around the bottom, so I don't think I'll have a problem with standing water, but I'm leery of excessive water rentention and bland tasting tomatoes.

What potting mixes have people had success with, for non-SWC containers, that didn't include pine bark fines?

November 20, 2014	#1
RT_Peasant Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Colorado Posts: 24	Best container mix without pine bark fines? Most of the recipes for container potting mix that I've seen on this site and others require the ever-elusive pine bark fines. Unable to find them here, I decided a couple years ago to make my own. I took mini pine bark nuggets, ran them through a mulching lawn mower, screened the results with a 1/2" screen, ran them through the mower again, etc. It made a huge mess and took a lot of time, but I eventually made enough PBF for 2 containers' worth of 5:1:1 mix. This year, I'm going for 20 containers, and I don't have time to manufacture enough PBF. I'd like to come up with a mix that involves measuring readily available ingredients in a wheelbarrow. I was thinking about either straight Miracle Gro potting mix, potting mix + composted manure, potting mix + perlite, or some combination of the three. Most of my pots will be 15 gal black plastic nursery pots. I plan to irrigate them with a drip system on a timer. My past experience with containers leads me to believe that I'll have to water them every day. The containers have holes all around the bottom, so I don't think I'll have a problem with standing water, but I'm leery of excessive water rentention and bland tasting tomatoes. What potting mixes have people had success with, for non-SWC containers, that didn't include pine bark fines?