Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Soilless Mix[older string]

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: tanis grif <tanisgrif@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Soilless Mix[older string]
  • Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 08:27:07 -0700 (PDT)

I should share my woodchip successes. I have access to large piles of junk
woodchips. The newer piles are I think 3 years old. I have been using the
oldest
pile (age forgotten) for potting media-- it is more compost than wood. I
sift it on
1/2" for weedy vigorous plants; 1/4" for seedlings & stuff needing better soil
contact. I did a time-trial and decided this would be cost-effective for a
small
commercial greenhouse if I had a better sifter and if I never needed
truck-loads.
Most plants do OK, some things grow like weeds. I use a soluble
'miracle-gro' type
fertilizer when watering the pots of things which don't grow well. This is
just a
hobby, so I've never bothered to send a sample of the compost for nutrient
testing.

The only problem is weeds. This compost contains more viable weed seeds than
you'd
think. Not a big problem, but would look sloppy if I was selling plants. I
suppose
covering the wood-chip piles w/ tarps when wind-blown seeds are ripening &
flying
would solve this.

Tom's original post I think included the Q "Why pine bark?" I believe this is
because of the sheer volumes available. Many MANY pines are bebarked during
the
milling/ lumber processing. Mountains of bark became a commodity.



--- Lucky Pittman <> wrote:

> 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
>
>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com



  • Re: [NAFEX] Soilless Mix[older string], tanis grif, 05/16/2006

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page