North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 07:36 AM 4/18/2006, Tom wrote:
> I have been looking at the ratios for soilless mix and I have a question.
> Why are the ratios limited to "pine" bark?  I have a pile of old maple
> chippings that are closer to compost than wood, and I wonder if any OLD
> wood chips would work in a soilless mix?

Tom,
The pine bark is relatively inert, and very slow to break down, but 
even pine bark 'fines' help a lot with improving 'structure' of the 
medium - they're irregular in shape, allowing for more 'spaces' for 
roots to penetrate into, and promoting good drainage.
Your composted wood chips could probably be substituted for the peat 
component. When I make my own potting mix, I typically substitute 2-3 
yr. old composted leaves for peat, which is a non-renewable(or, at 
least, very slowly renewable) resource.

Lucky