Hello All -

Has anyone tried cutting (drilling) holes in containers and lining the pot with landscape fabric or the like in order to develop a stronger fibrous root system by means of air root pruning using peat based mix like promix or the like?

I am unable to find a source of pine bark that gives a high percentage of bark suitable for the 5-1-1 mix. The last bag I screened (2 cubic foot) gave just under 24 quarts of usable material. For the plants I have I would need much more.

I tried to call a sawmill to see if I could get the remaining material cut down into smaller pieces burt they did not return the call. I will have to try again. I also tried to inquire about using a small chipper but the individual didn't know if it would work - i.e. give a fairly high percentage of material in the dust to 3/8 inch size range.

So, it seems I have to come up with an alternative.

It seems the air root pruning method can combat the perched water table issue normally associated with peat based mixes - and in fact I will have to be careful with the number/size of the holes otherwise the container may dry out too fast. This method would not help the compaction problem though.

Thanks for any insight.

Brian