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5-1-1 mix, anyone using it this season?

Ragnar

Ragnar

After finding a great cheap source for pine bark fines by the yard I am considering changing my plan from a compost mix (also bought by the yard, looks a bit heavy but I'd add peat and perlite as well...) to the 5-1-1. Anyone using it this season? Any luck?
 
I like this idea even though it's not organic because of how airy the mix is - I think that's been my nemisis to an extent, that and peat drying out to the point of being practically unwettable.
 
Thoughts? I've read up a bit on it but still value your individual opinions. Thanks!
 
I like this stuff. I can buy triple ground pine bark at my local nursery. In addition to 1 part perlite and 1 part peat moss to 5 parts pine, I add 1 part of composted cow manure I purchase from a local farmer. He makes it to put on the veggies he sells at his produce stand. I also add a cup of Dolomitic lime to a wheelbarrow load.
 
i'm using 5-1-1 this season in 5 gallon bags. The mix drains super fast and doesn't hold a ton of water like a more silty soil. This means, smaller, more frequent waterings for me. Also since there is no nutrients in it you have to be pretty much doing hydroponics with your waterings. I couldn't find  dolomite lime in powder, just pellets.. so i used the pellets but they don't seem to be breaking down very fast at all..
 
I can see why organic soil can be nice, because you just mix it and leave it alone. The difference is 5-1-1 has much better aeration of the roots which means plants should grow much better in it. We'll see, mine have been in the 5-1-1 a couple weeks, not much happening yet.
 
heres an album me making it:
http://imgur.com/a/Ji7qB#1
 
I am using a derivative of this.  I got a bunch of pine bark fines from a local nursery, 3 parts, 1 part perlite, and 1 part compost and 1 part Promix BX.  Plus a good dose of lime/bonemeal.  Used this last year and it seemed to work out well.  All the plants imn the 5 gal buckets had lots of roots and the soil was not to compressed.  Plan to get more bark this year and refresh the soils that I did save so the mix might be a bit more bark than last year.
 
It seems to do OK with draining, as I live in the Pacific NW and had these in Self watering buckets which lets the water drain out if it gets to much.  They never realy had any issues with being to dry or wet, so I figured it worked out OK.
 
IF!!!!! If you have some good big trees on your property then use some of last year's leaves in your mix. Just toss a bunch in the wheel barrow and pound on it with a shovel or a rake till it is nice and uniform. Use that as one or two parts of your pine bark and enjoy. The leaves add nutrients as well as aeration.
 
Since this topic got me thinking about it and I knew I needed to get my mix ready for the plants that will go into pots this year.
 
I went down and got a truck load of Bark fines (screened and most of it is under 1/4 inch).  Then I got out my Harbor freight cement mixer and made up a bunch for this year using recycled mix from last year.
 
Here is the mix I used.  I hope it works out.  Not to hot, so it should be OK for putting the plants directly in it this weekend.
 
5 gallons of fine bark
2.5 gallons previous years soil mix (bark and promix)
1 gallon of compost from the pile I have out back
1 gallon of perlite
2 cups chicken manure compost
1 cup alfalfa meal
1 cup bone meal
1/4 azomite
1/4 cup huminc acid granules
1/4 cup dolomite lime
 
I mixed it all up in the mixer, then put it in a 55 gallon drum, (2) 35 gallon garbage cans and (24) 5 gallon buckets.  I figured I would let it sit for a week and then transplant some of the peppers into it, and the rest into my garden area.
 
Fingers crossed, but I figure it should be OK.  It is light so should not pack down much.  Will be interesting to see how the roots do in this stuff compared to last years mix which was a bit more dense.

 
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