Well, you're certainly better off than if you were in Peat Pudding, but many of those bark pieces are too big for cookie-cutter Gritty to be honest. One of the core tenets of Gritty is uniform particle size among the 3 materials. You want to be around 1/4" for each. Reptibark is definitely too big for Gritty.

Why not use the smaller screened Orchiata for Gritty and the larger chunks for some 5-1-1 batches?

smishgibson,

Congratulations on your first batch of grit mix. Sounds like you put much effort into this and your plants will be happy for that. Good work!

From what I can tell in your photos it looks like the Napa Floor Dry and the Manna Pro grit are about the same size, which is good. If you think the Orchiata bark is a bit too large compared to the floor dry and grit you could do what Oxboy suggested and screen out some of the larger bark pieces. I think Al and others have stated that all the ingredients for gritty mix should be about the same size for best results.

Good luck on making your second batch of grit mix and keep us posted.

TYG

Looks pretty good to me. One of the attributes of gritty mix is over potting is not a problem. Al

You should be fine. Keep in mind...the gritty requires much attention. During warm or dry weather...watering can be a daily requirement. That, and the weight factor are the negatives. Free draining mixes require feeding, as well. If you work with it, your results will be good.

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for input. Yes maybe its not that the floor dry it too small, but that the bark is slightly too big. I ran all 40L through a 1/2 in wire mess this morning, 1 cup at a time to get any pieces out that were WAY to big, and so i could pick out sap wood as i went. Total i got about 3/4 cup combined 1/2+ pieces and sap wood. I have to go to the store today, so i think I'll grab a 1/4 screen and see what happens.

Also i stumbled upon a post this morning regarding the use of insect screens. It said to use the metals ones not the fiberglass ones. The one i have is fiberglass. It is 1/16 and inch, but i noticed particles wanted to stick really bad in it when i was sifting. Maybe the metal is less "sticky" and the small pieces fall through easier? Perhaps this is another reason for me feeling the floor dry had some pieces that were too small.

I currently have Foliage pro and pro-tekt. I have been using them in about 1/4 tsp per gallon strength. Dat gritty has no nutritional value and I am sure plants would suffer badly if not fed.

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Nice work!
I agree....with Gritty Mix, over-potting is much less of an issue, and I think your plants are in appropriate containers, anyhow. A 1/4 inch screen will definitely help make the particles more uniform, which will mitigate the tendency of the bark and the smaller grit to separate.

Josh

Alright exciting progress today. I went to the store and picked up..

An aluminium 1/16th inch insect screen, a 1/4th inch wire screen and a 25 pound bag of mannapro poultry grit.

I sifted the bark and ended up with this, and I'm impressed with the result.

This is what did not fall through the 1/4th screen.
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This is what did fall through
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Most of the bark was less than 1/4th, the red bucket is the less than 1/4, the white is large than 1/4th. Both are 5 gallon buckets.
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The more interesting result i think is what happened with the oil dry. It had already been through a 1/16th inch fiberglass screen, and i kept what was on top. But i was SHOCKED how much more fell through the 1/16th inch metal screen. And most interestingly, before I ran it through the metal screen it was in a 5 gallon bucket and it was almost full to the top, maybe down 1 inch or so. After i screened it and put the good stuff back in the bucket, it was full to almost the exact same place!!! So much so that if i added the stuff that feel through the screen on top, it would have over flowed the bucket. This means that the stuff that was screened out was simply *in between* the bigger pieces, taking up precious space for air. :-)

This is what fell through the 1/16th inch aluminium insect screen
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So, here is batch number 2, a much larger batch, with less small pieces of oil dry, and less large pieces of pine bark. Oh, and the second bag of granite was purple instead of white/gray, not sure why?

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Time to repot some things!

smishgibson,

Your gritty mix look fantastic. You did a lot of research and testing and I think your mix will work very well. Your plants should enjoy that mix and be very happy in it.

Congratulations!

TYG

Excellent results! :-)
Much more uniform, and now you see exactly how those small particles can migrate between the larger particles to impede drainage and increase moisture retention. The mix will dry much more evenly hereforth. As for the purple color of the grit, I assume this is what is called cherry stone.

Josh