Good morning peeps!
I know this is probably a common discussed topic, but I was wondering what soil mixtures you guys use? Right now I am at around 50% peat, 25% compost, and 25% perlite. I may have gotten my ratio wrong somewhere because the pots are holding more water than I would like. I want to substitute 25% peat with pine bark fines, but I can’t find them at a decent price anywhere near me or online. Online prices hurt a lot with the shipping costs. I have found pine bark nuggets but I think they might be too big. I also want to go a little less on the compost as well. Any thoughts on this subject? It’s for potted figs and any other fruit tree I up pot. I appreciate the insight. Or links and posts on the subject.
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Pine bark can be purchased from several companies in bulk. Sims Bark is a local business near me which sells by the 30 cubic yard truck load.
This thread has some useful info.
In my area, soil conditioner is made of composted pine bark fines and it’s available at most nurseries.
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What soil do you guys use and does my ratios seem correct? I would like organic matter in my mix but a lot of people say not to use too much as it can cause root rot, which is becoming an issue with some pots due to the rain we have had. I brought the pots into my cheap greenhouse and stopped watering as much but the damage will need to be corrected with new soil I believe.
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For small batches, I use one 1.5 cu.ft. bag of retail planting mix plus one 0.5 cu.ft. (50 lb) bag of all purpose sand.
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I have over 150 trees potted/bagged that i purchased bare root…that is awaiting to be planted in the Fall.
Mix is 50 percent give or take pro mix or and 50 percent give or take pine bark nuggets and pine fines mix.
Not saying that this is correct or the best or anything but everything is alive and well and thriving… some things fruited like plums etc.
If you want to make pine fines you can shred the pine bark nuggets in a wood chipper. I did that last year. Or you can put pine bark nuggets in an industrial strength trash bag and soak it in water…tie it off then in about a week give or take stomp it or drive over it with a car or whatever to pulverize it. It doesnt come out perfect but it does work pretty decent.
Having said that pine fines are nice but not needed i dont think… pine mini nuggets are fine. I have some blueberries that are thriving in mostly mini nuggets and a little peat.
Pine fines are just about everywhere here. Even ACE hardware is carrying it.
I like the pine fines and mini nuggets in my things because i dont want to water every week… once they become saturated with water im not sure if you can unsaturate them… YMMV though.
I dont use compost on any of my fruit things… just my garden things I do use woodchips to top dress my pots and bags to keep moisture in also. Again i dont like being a slave to watering.
I experimented with Sungro Black Gold in some other things and if you want something to hold water its pretty amazing. If not then it sucks. YMMV though.
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Each commercial nursery has their own mix, but I would say most use 70 to 80% pine fines or fine mulch.
Your mix is more inline with a greenhouse mix for small seedlings in small pots or cell pacs. Heavy peat, and then perlite to keep the peat from matting down.
The reasoning for heavy pine is porosity and good drainage. Most use heavy overhead irrigation or drip. You can always add water when things are dry, but you can’t turn off the rain. So they create a mix that suits their needs. Also its forgiving when employees who might tend to water too heavily. It’s not always the best mix for home growers.
If it’s a small situation, you can adjust your watering to meet your mix. It’s harder to do on a large scale. KRISMORIAH is a case in point, they dont want to be a slave to watering, so they use a medium that holds more moisture that fits their needs and waters accordingly. My 1 gallon apple grafts are in a comercial mix, 80% pine fines and high porosity. It was good when they were young, but now they have grown and I have to water them everyday. I will pot them up into a heavy mineral type soil, soon I hope, and water them less. Like once a week. They are at my farm 37 miles from home.
I think your mix is too heavy with peat and a little heavy on compost which are all smaller particles and will hold lots of water. Not much room for air. When peat dries it can be hard to re-wet.
I’d personally would cut your peat back to 10 to 15% if you want to use it. It’s expensive. Pine fines or soil conditioners you can find at garden centers. Pine mulch works too as long as its not a shredded product. It should look more like chips. Basically pine fines, but more 1/2"-3/4" flakes.
If your mix stays too wet, I’d use the pine in place of the peat and work it up from there to meet your desired porosity and a mix that meets your watering habits. Start at 60% pine and work it up to 80% if you want. The compost is an unknown but I would think its holds a lot of moisture and is well composted so its fine textured and will reduce the porosity creating a wetter mix. Leave it in for now.
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I have bought probably 20 or so trees from RK and Menards etc that are Freedom Tree Farms. Their trees have to look healthy in order to sell. In almost every one of the pots are just pine bark nuggets and some little blue and yellow balls of fert. Im not sure that they use any kind of soil that i can see unless it was absorbed earlier. From the looks of the pot which is full of roots from top to bottom they must have been started from a small whip to a nearly 4 or 5 foot tree in that nearly if not totally soil less mix…
Also to note that those trees have been shipped, then put on display and mostly uncared for until they are sold…
So i think for sure that that mix or something similar is good for at least a couple of years or more until things are ready to be up potted or planted etc.
YMMV
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I’ve become lazy after counting how many potted plants i have… over 250 
not including the various things i have in ground. Eventually 90% of them will go in ground.
With my laziness, I use miracle gro potting mix with sta-green and sometimes i add in perlite if i remember. Then I’ll throw some compost on top along with a sprinkle of osmocote.
This is about a third or a quarter of my fig collection just from today and the few closest to the bottom just got potted up today. So far, everyone seems pretty happy with my laziness/lack of time these days.
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