Wow...I don't know much about Al's mix, but I read on posts that it works quite well. I used MG Organic Choice Potting Mix to start all of my plants this year (except peat pellet ones). I was happy with the results.

While the MG Organic may provide results you are happy with from what I saw of it the only similarity between it and the 5:1:1 mix is pine bark. It contains far more peat and 'composted forest product' than the 5:1:1 mix

Sorry justaguy. I didn't mean to imply that this was in any way a duplicate of Al's mix. But since I have not yet located bark fines I was happy to find a product that is partially made of composted bark fines rather than either a heavy soil mix or a mix that is just peat and pearlite, which seemed to be what the stores did carry. This mix is composed of the bark and sphagnum peat and pasteurized poultry litter and my guess is that the texture might be good for plant growth. But if anyone has suggestions on how I could improve it with materials I can find that would be helpful.

If you're looking for bark fines, try the "mulch" section at your local nursery or garden center.
I've found a product called "Micro Bark" that works well in a mix. The bark pieces are comparable
to the smaller bagged "Orchid Bark" sold at most stores.

Speaking of Orchid Bark....if your nursery offers Orchid Bark in the small or fine grade, you can
probably use that in your mix. Large Orchid Bark will be too large, of course.

Josh

Thanks Josh but I have looked at the mulch sections. Some were just getting unloaded for the season so I may do well later when they are more organized. In the northeast mulch keeps the ground cold in the spring so I imagine it is not a big seller just yet. I think I have seen Orchid Bark, so I could look at that. What I saw was small bags so I would presume it would be expensive.