Re: Pro-mix (Was: Re: baking dirt)

Gerry and Narda,

My experience in the nursery is that Fafard 3B is one of the best mixes for
wet conditions.  Recently, I have found that the local Home Depot carries a
mix from Majestic that is very similar to the Fafard 3B.  We add perlite to
both mixes.  Pro-mix and related products start out OK but soon get
waterlogged in wet conditions.  I do not recommend them for seed starting.
The key appears to be how fine the pine bark and sphagnum are ground  --
too fine in the Pro-mix.  You can make your own mix with ground pine bark (4
part), sphagnum peat (4 part), perlite (1 part), dolomitic limestone (1 cup
per cubic yard).  You need a fairly fine pine bark, but not powder.  Small
amounts of ground coconut shells or peanut hulls do not hurt the mix, but do
not use mixes with organic peats (often from Georgia).

Jim Anderson

----- Original Message -----
From: Gerry/Bob O'Neill <eoneill@ibm.net>
To: <hosta-open@mallorn.com>
Sent: Friday, December 24, 1999 8:12 AM
Subject: Pro-mix (Was: Re: baking dirt)


> Narda, you might want to look for Fafard (No. 2, I think) soilless mix,
> very similar to Pro-mix.
>
> I like them both as an alternative to the other stuff that is sold here
for
> potting, which is usually dense and heavy (Baccto is the worst, IMHO). My
> nursery rebags it and sellsit, but the bags are too small for my huge
> collection of greenhouse plants, so I go with the bale. I'n the spring
I'll
> go through two bales easy while repotting my hibiscus.
>
> It sounds like your stuff is great. If I have any complaint about Promix,
> it's that it is too uniform in consistency. If you are happy with your
> available mix, I wouldn't "fix it if it ain't broke."
>
> I would love to get hold of some of the stuff that commercial plant
growers
> use (anybody out there know what it is?). It's the stuff that when you buy
> a plant, falls away from the roots as you plant it. Very light, porous,
> obviously containing sand and hardwood bark as well as other ingredients.
>
> Gerry
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE HOSTA-OPEN
>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE HOSTA-OPEN
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index