I have beech in a pot and it's in gritty mix, same as all the rest of my trees. The 5:1:1 will work very well.

Al

i agree.. trees are trees ... few few require something specific ...

if you think of media as a water management system ... then any media differences can be offset with proper watering.. the usual being.. a sip of water.. full drainage .. and near drying before watering again ...

the problems usually start.. when the media wears out and breaks down .. so its not manipulating the water management anymore ... either by lack of drainage.. or by reduced flow of the water.. thru the pot ...

ken

if you think of media as a water management system ... then any media differences can be offset with proper watering.. the usual being.. a sip of water.. full drainage .. and near drying before watering again Water-retentive media proffers to the grower a dilemma. Do I water appropriately and risk over-watering, or water in sips and ensure that dissolved solids from tapwater and fertilizer solutions build-up in the medium? That type of watering also ensures a skewed ratio of nutrients in the soil solution after only a few waterings, and the more disparate the fertilizers ratio is in relation to the ratio at which the plant actually uses nutrients, the faster that issue manifests to problem levels. Also, watering in sips to avoid over-watering means the soil is water-retentive, which means aeration isn't all that great. Watering in sips doesn't fix that or the lack of gas exchange found in compacted/water-retentive media. In essence, you're trading one problem for others, which makes no sense (from the plant's perspective) when all can easily be fixed by way of a change in soil structure.

the problems usually start.. when the media wears out and breaks down .. so its not manipulating the water management anymore ... either by lack of drainage.. or by reduced flow of the water.. thru the pot ... Here again, aeration/ compaction/ gas exchange are left out of the equation. Problems with water-retentive media are more often a problem immediately after the planting is established or repotted/potted up into an inappropriate medium. After the roots have fully colonized the medium, the roots actually become a part of the soil structure, holding media in place. This allows macro pores to form that wouldn't be in a collapsing medium were it not for root structures.

Al

Stuart, follow Al's advice.....it is always sound :-) I'd just add that ALL my containered trees are in a 5-1-1 mix, including some I have grown for many years, and they have all thrived. While never particularly hot here in summer, it is very dry and I prefer the 5-1-1's need for less frequent watering. And a lot of my containers are very large so the weight of a gritty mix filled container is just too inconvenient for me as well. However, if I lived in a different climate or used smaller, lighter weight containers (most of mine are glazed ceramic and incredibly heavy even when empty) I would probably opt for the gritty mix.