I germinated a lot of African trees in the last few months. The best results I got was with riversand and watering with a spray from the top. I tried other mixes to but had to many problems with damping off. Hope that helps.

If you go on the Fafard site they have a store locator that sells their products. Phone numbers are listed, you could call to see what products they carry. I found Fafard 52 mix that way. And it was a very cool nursery i didn't know about. I go there all the time now.

Hair,

I think as you read more on this forum, you'll find there aren't many advocates at all of bagged mixes. You owe it to yourself and your seedlings to try your own mix based on 5-1-1/Gritty principles.

Looking at Al's famous mixes now!!

Even the ingredients for his mixes is tough to find though...

Fafard's line of Heavyweight Mixes - in particular the "Nursery Mix" - are about as close to a 5-1-1 as one can find in a bagged mix. Highly recommended for those who can't source their own ingredients for a custom mix.

Josh

Looking for either Metro Mix 852 or Fafard 51.
Most "garden centers" around here answer with a blank stare.

I would not be surprised if that is in response to whether they have it. Asking them to check if they can special order it may help though - probably not with Home Depots and Lowes and Walmarts, but with smaller nurseries / garden centers.

I am going to use BARK-BASED mix this year too. I start with 5-1-1 (5 parts pine/fir bark ranging from dust to 3/8", 1 part peat moss, 1 part perlite, ).

If the bark you can find has slightly more bigger pieces than fines then you can make as 4 -2-1.
I am even going to eliminate perlite due to high cost. But the fundamental idea is BARK-BASED used widely by the nurseries that grow shrubs and trees. If you can afford and get fancy, can use like MG potting soil in place of peat moss. That is basically peat/coco choir with some perlite and time release balanced fertilizer.

ONE MORE THING: with home made mixes like 5-1-1 you will need to use ONLY synthetic fertilizers ,possibly with calcium and magnesium. The way I understand it, organic fertilized need bio herds to make it usable for the plants.

I have already bought enough supplies from Lowes

Here is a mix that requires a bit of attention, but will work very well for large tomatoes ans such.

I am going to do a run with this mix on my deck that gets 4 hours of sun a day. I want to share pics of my results with this mix.

It is just bark right out of the bag.

{{gwi:4036}}

That is bark, very large bark, not a "mix" from what I can tell.

Seysonn, the peat and the potting mix that you're intending to use are both serving the same purpose - binding and, thus, moisture retention. As such, your mix will hold a lot of moisture. I know the Perlite can be pricey, but I wouldn't skimp. Of course, your mix might work exactly as you wish; but if it doesn't, I would hate for you to attribute the results to a bark mix.

Josh

Agree with Josh.
For any bark based mix , (5-1-1 eg) the max bark size should be smaller than 1/2". Plus, the has to be smaller particles (crushed, 1/8", 1/4" ..).

Hi hairmetal4ever,

It looks like you are only 20 minutes or so away from a Griffin Greenhouse Supplies location. They should have both of those mixes and the ingredients for Al's mix. They specialize in selling to greenhouses but will also sell retail to the public. I bought a few things from the Georgia location a year or two ago and they were very nice there. You'll probably want to call first to check what they have in stock and prices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Griffin Greenhouse Supplies

I just bought Fafard 52 mix from Walter Fehr and Son nursery in Burtonsville. they also had 3B mix and some others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fehrs