Get Repti- Bark on Amazon, It goes on sale periodically and does not require ieving or get this at Agway: http://myagway.com/catalog/product/117217/agway-pine-bark-mulch-3-cuft#.WRMU1Mm1sk8

thanks Vladimir!

I use 'soil conditioner' from home depot. But the supplier could vary regionally, so the particle size or quality could be different.

I second the reptibark. It's what I use and it works very well.

You will have to put the bark through a 1/2 inch sieve and then through a 1/4 inch sieve unless you use Repti-Bark which does not require sieving.

Gritty without bark is by far the easiest to do properly but also the heaviest.

Pip, gritty recipe is bark: Turface: chicken grit. All ingredients three require sieving, so it is more work that 5-1-1 and Turface is more difficult to source. Do you use gritty without bark? What ratio Turface: chicken grit?

I blend my own soil using a combination of peat, perlite and coco fiber with great results. In terms of a readily available mix, promix is a great product. Hope this helps :)

Thanks to everyone that weighed in on this.

I ordered and received the Repti Bark. The fines appear to be mostly a bit bigger than the recommended 1/8 inch size. Do I really not need to screen it?

Also, to achieve the proper soil pH which is, correct me if I'm wrong, 5.5-6.5, should I add gypsum instead of lime? I'm planning to use Foliage Pro fertilizer.

Thanks.

Vlad

Yes you still have to sift but reptibark is by far the lowest yielding of the ingredients. At least it was for me when I lived in Detroit with the bark shipped to us. It was also the most expensive even before factoring in the waste. add to that the fact that while bark decomposes slowly it does decompose rendering the mix bad eventually.

a 50/50 mix of turface and grit will never decompose or collapse, and you can wash it to remove the dead roots and heat it to sterilize when you want to recycle it for another plant.

Pip: I found that most of the Repti-Bark was in the 1/4 to 1/2 inch size range and so requires no sieving, i.e., there is no significant waste. Yes it is expensive. Bark does decompose so I expect to repot every 2 - 3 years.

Verde: No need to screen Repti-Bark. Use dolomitic (garden) lime.

That probably works for 5-1-1, but I don't like it for gritty at all. I want my particles closer to uniform size. 1/8-3/8

i belive al does specify less than 1/2 inch for gritty bark. Not 100% on that though.

my reptibark yield was less than 25%.

Pip. Al specifies 1/8 to 1/2 inch for gritty bark. You must either live in a very moist environment or you water very frequently if you use 50/50 mix of turface and grit. I have to water trees in gritty mix, which retains more water that your mix, daily during heat of summer.