for indoor plants-- :)

Hi Marjie,

The 5-1-1 is a custom-blended mix of 5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part spaghnum peat, and 1 part perlite. You can look at this thread (see the opening post at the link below) for a good overview of the principals involved in the mix. If you read through the discussion on that thread you'll learn a lot about the components of the mix and ideas for sourcing them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils & Water Movement

Lamora

from Al's post:
The 5:1:1 mix:

5 parts pine bark fines (partially composted fines are best)
1 part sphagnum peat (not reed or sedge peat please)
1-2 parts perlite
garden lime (or gypsum in some cases)
controlled release fertilizer (if preferred)

It would help if you read following post...lots of reading, but it will explain a lot:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0214580016564.html

Marjie
I posted same answer as 41N (I guess we were posting at the same time) - the receipe is in that post.

For indoor plants you may also want to explore the "gritty" mix, again found in that thread. You can also make hybrid type mixes that take concepts from both.

Keep one very important thing in mind when you are reading through the thread. The "recipes" are guidelines and are not written in stone. Make sure to try to understand what each component brings to the table, not just what brand of this or type of that. You will find that there are many different ways to customize either the 5-1-1 or the gritty to fit your needs. If you can understand the concept, you will have alot better chance of success, and alot more options when your out hunting for the more elusive materials required.

Have fun with it!!

PJ