Actually looks too fine. I

I figured I would have to sieve it some more. Is the white growth inside the bag an issue? Any idea what it is?

It does look like there is too much fine material in the mix. In order to take best advantage of what highly aerated and fast draining media offer, there should never be enough fines to fill all the air spaces between the particles larger than 1/8". That means the volume of material that passes a 1/8" screen should be less than 15% (by volume) of the mix.

The white strands are fungal hyphae, not an issue.

Al

Thanks, I appreciate the response. I decided to remove any large chunks with fungus. Not due to the fungus itself, but because it caused large clumps of bark and dust to form which I imagine would break down more quickly once mixed and planted.

I bought this too, in central NY, but the bag contents was 50% composted forest products and only 50% pine bark. (Despite what their website says)

I was very disappointed. Was your bag actually all bark?

Yes, all bark. Look for pine bark - ground cover, soil conditioner, landscape mulch, pine fines ......

This product ^^^ is a little to coarse

This is what the finished medium looks like after screening bark through a 1/2" screen. The pencil/ black oil sunflower seeds, and .177 caliber pellet are for size comparison.

Al

Hi, Al,

After reading through all the back posts in the container forum (and regretting that Houzz has decided ”Only the top 5010 items are presented.”) I know the golden ticket is 100% pine bark at 3/8” screen size.

I had bought the same Just Naturals product (based on the website info) and was asking Alex if their bag was also 50% forest products or if it was 100% pine bark.

I’m hoping I found something better at my local nursery - a pine bark mulch from a regional supplier - but I’ll see when I crack the bag open after our current spurt of rainy weather.

Thanks so much for all the hours of reading you’ve given me, and for making it exciting rather than deflating to move to container gardening with only in-ground experience. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the recipe for success. 😁

~emmers

@emmers_m - You're welcome. I hope the return on your investment of time and effort pays rich rewards. Your choice of medium is a major determining factor with regard to whether your path is difficult or easy ...... but you already know that. Good luck!

Al

I believe that the product I purchased is 100% pine bark but now you have me concerned that i just planted a new tree in 50% forest floor. I screened mine so all dust was removed and I removed any twigs and sapwood by hand. I believe that process left me very close to pure pine. I have noticed that the mix takes approximately 7 days to dry out conpletely with my new tree in it so I believe it will work well. Please do keep me posted on your local find