Hello all,

I'd like to ask you guys about which mix is optimal for my situation. I have some plants that will live temporarily in containers, say for 3-5 years, while they get bigger and until I am ready to plant them in the landscape. Call them medium-term container plants. They are mostly conifers (spruce, pine, fir, etc.) and are relatively young (1-3 year grafts), and I think they'd greatly benefit from one the potting mixes discussed here. Which mix would be more appropriate - the 5:1:1 mix, or the gritty mix? As described, they will reside in pots (for the most part, square 1 gallon rootmaker pots) for a handful of years at which time they will go into the ground and/or raised beds. Until then, the pots will reside outside spring, summer and fall and go into my garage (w/windows) during the winter.

My first choice would be to put them into the gritty mix as I think that my conifers would enjoy the superior drainage offered. My concern here, and my main question is, how easy is it to transplant from gritty mix directly into the landscape? This could be done late in the winter while they're still dormant, but that being said, would there be excessive transplant shock as the plant has to reacclimate from gritty mix to landscape soil? If so, maybe the 5:1:1 would be a better choice.

Thanks all for sharing your expertise.

Alex