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kil0

question on al's mix?

8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

the ingredients would be pine bark fines, sphagnum peat, garden lime and perlite.

what would be okay substitutes for these ingredients?

just wondering, because pine bark fines are hard to find in my area, and coconut husks are more available. could i replace PBF with coconut husk chips? if they were about the same size?

and what about the sphagnum moss? what does it do? is sphagnum peat moss and just sphagnum moss the same? could i use coco coir/coco peat instead of sphagnum moss?

and for the perlite, could i use pumice instead of perlite? if not, what can i substitute it with?

thank you!

Comments (4)

  • 8 years ago

    What is your area? perhaps someone lives near you could give you a location to get them. Also, It is good to include that in your screen name so peeps don't have to ask.

    I'm not sure on the coco chips, but pine bark fines are easier to find than you may think because there is not a product called PBF, It's more of a description. I get pine bark mulch (not nuggets!) or soil conditioner (which is PBF and "forrest" products, sometimes I skip the peat moss whan I use soil conditioner). Sphagnum moss and sphagnum peat moss are not the same thing. Sphagnum peat moss is a very finely ground product (in the US anyway)

    Pumice will work, but it holds a little more water, as does coco peat. Be careful your soil is not soggy using all these highly water retentive ingredients, The whole idea is a free draining mix that does not retain too much water. IMHO, I feel coco chips, coco peat and pumice would be almost identical to peat based potting mix in water holding capacity.

    kil0 thanked mblan13
  • 8 years ago

    oh, im from the philippines.

    so if i were to use coco chips with pumice, how do i make the mix less water retentive? seems like i cant. (?)

    is grit or crushed granite water retentive too? oh no

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I agree pretty much with the above :-) But maybe some clarification of terminology would help. Peat is a very specialized ingredient..........it is a heterogeneous mixture of more or less decomposed plant material that has accumulated in a water-saturated environment and in the absence of oxygen.

    So sphagnum peat is the decomposed remains of sphagnum moss that is harvested from bogs, dried and ground or milled. There is no such thing as coco "peat" - what they are calling coco peat is just coir or the fibers of coconut husks. No decomposition of this material has occurred in a wet, oxygen-lacking environment, therefore it cannot be peat. But these fibers are often ground to much the same consistency as peat moss, have a similar water holding capacity and they resist further decomposition in much the same manner and are often used in substitution for actual peat moss.

    kil0 thanked gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
  • 8 years ago

    grit is basically non porous rock and does not retain water. Decomposed granite, pearlite or river gravel (freshwater) would probably be better than pumice.

    kil0 thanked mblan13