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gardengalkc

Al's mix

gardengalkc
14 years ago

I was looking for the ingrediants in KC. Grass Pad has Turface. I was wondering if one of the Orchid Mixs would have most of the ingrediants or could be modified by adding an item to it. I found this one and thought someone wiser than could tell me. http://www.tindaraorchids.com/index_tindara.htm?mediums_mixes.htm~rbottom

Also does Turface need to be sifted. Thanks Marie

Comments (16)

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    Were you talking about the fir bark at Tindra's, GG? If so, it looks like it will work, though a little on the large side and VERY expensive. I pay about $15-17/ 3 cu ft bag (depending on whether I buy 20 bags or less) which figures out to around $5.50/cu ft. She is charging you about $36/cu ft + shipping, if that needs to be factored in. If you just want to try the soil, it might not be so bad, but I think I'd still keep looking in the meantime - for something suitable that is much less expensive.

    The gritty mix is formulated so it holds no perched water if you screen it. If you don't screen the Turface, it WILL hold some perched water, but you can still get excellent results if you just use a little care. I would increase the grit and back off a little on the Turface to compensate. Maybe:

    3 parts bark
    2 parts (unscreened) Turface
    4 parts crushed granite or cherrystone

    Al

  • meyermike_1micha
    14 years ago

    Hi...

    Just to let you know, they have the perfect size uncomposted fir bark, top of the line..That can be your base for the gritty mix..That is where I get mine.
    This stuff is hard to come by for a lot of folks..We are very lucky! I use the fine size...

    Now, all you need to do is find Gran-I-grit, "growers size",

    and

    Turface, "MVP" screened away, and you are in buisness!

    Good luck

    Don't forget to add gypsum and use Epsom Salts if you are not using Foliage Pro which already has both Mg and Ca in it!

    Mike..:-)

  • gardengalkc
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Mike, you didn't say where you bought what you are using. I thought you might be using Tindara's but could not find a Foliage Pro there. Marie

  • skinnyhoops
    14 years ago

    Hello, I'm a small volume gardening and will only prepare a few containers. I was tempted to buy the ingredients for Al's Mix but having to store the extra bags will takeup space I don't really have.

    So is Jungle Growth Flower & Vegetable mix a good substitute to Al's Mix? I noticed it has all the ingredients except for Lime, but it also includes vermiculite. The containers will be for Tomatos, Peppers, and a larger container for Zucchini. Many thanks for your thoughts!

  • gardengalkc
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    'skinnyhoops' I am new to Al's Mix also. After looking at Jungle Growth products they have fertilizer in them and right now I need a seed starting mix which has no fertilizer. I'm sure someone can help you. I think I need to find time to look up previous posts. Marie

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    Skinny - they're very different mixes, but in the same vein that you can substitute several different tools to tighten a nut or bolt and get the job done, you can substitute container media; and, just as some tools work better than others on that nut/bolt, some mixes work better than others, too.

    Al

  • skinnyhoops
    14 years ago

    Hello Marie, just thought I'd throw out an idea incase you were interested. For seed starting, I've had excellent luck with the Burpee Ultimate Growing System. It's a 72-cell system that uses a capillary mat to bottom-water each cell. It includes everything you need including the little cubes that expand in each cell with warm water. From my experience, it's very easy and low maintenance. Just sow seeds and watch them grow. The seeds germinated extremely fast and the risk of damping off was decreased since you don't have to worry about over-watering. Hope this helps!

    Thanks Al, you sure have a way with words to make it easy for us to understand. I appreciate your feedback.

  • bruce_f
    14 years ago

    Al,

    In your Gritty Mix can I use the "starter" Gran-I-Grits and skip the silica sand ?

    Thanks

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    Please don't take this as being snotty, because I'm serious when I say you can do whatever you want, and consider it an experiment. I've already worked out what I think is a superb soil for a good number of reasons. You can tinker with it, but I don't think it's going to be very easy to improve on it.

    Changing the ingredients changes the mix, which isn't always an awful thing, but far more often than not, it somehow detracts from the original. In this case, it will reduce aeration slightly and could leave you with some perched water to deal with because of the small size of starter grit.

    I think I left a recipe for a succulent mix I made for one of the growers here that included very coarse silica sand, but I don't include it in any of the mixes I use. I probably did that to add just a little more water retention so she could more easily make the transition from the heavy soils she was using to a mix that held considerably less water. I pretty much stick with the equal parts recipe of screened Turface, Grower grit or #2 cherrystone, and 1/8-1/4" fir (or pine) bark.

    If you use it (starter size), I would suggest you use a wick to help drain any perched water in the mix until the planting is mature enough that the extra water almost becomes a non-issue.

    Al

  • bruce_f
    14 years ago

    Al,

    This is the formula that my search engine found for "Al's Gritty Mix" below:

    3 parts Turface
    3 parts crushed granite (farm feed store)
    3 parts pine or fir bark (see photo for size)
    1 part coarse silica sand (masonry supply company)
    1 part vermiculite
    CRF (18-4-9 is what I use, but anything with a high first # or close to a 3-1-2 ratio works well)
    Dolomitic lime & gypsum
    Micronutrient granules

    I therefore was trying to eliminate the silics sand. I have many bags of "growers" Gran-i-grit for my chickens, so not having to buy the "starter" is good news.

    If this is not the correct formula for your Gritty Mix, can you point me to another link.

    Thanks

    Bruce

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    That came from a thread in which I had posted a picture of a succulent mix I had made for a person and sent to her. It's what was in THAT particular mix. The basic gritty mix is

    1 part each of 3 ingredients, by volume:

    screened pine or fir bark in 1/8-1/4" size
    screened Turface MVP
    Crushed granite (Gran-I-Grit in grower size or #2 cherry stone)
    gypsum @ 1 level tbsp/gallon of medium or 1/2 cup/cu ft

    Al

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    14 years ago

    Orchid mix includes fine peat-moss as an ingredient, if I recall. One would be better off buying a bag of plain Orchid Bark (in the smallest size available), sifting to useable size, and then incorporating this as the organic component of the gritty mix.

    Even if you can't locate the *exact* ingredients for the mix, your plants will thrive as long as you honor the principles behind the mix - aeration, hydration, structure, and durability.


    Josh

  • jojosplants
    14 years ago

    Hi Josh,
    The Orchid mix I got recently, labeled great for Phal Orchids does have fine peat-moss.. Some almost like a powder..

    JoJo

  • gardengalkc
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I bought bag of Turface expecting to be sort of chunky but it was a granular mix. About same as a medium size seed. Can I use this? Marie

  • tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
    14 years ago

    I use screened Turface MVP. I'm not sure what you have, Marie.

    Al

  • jojosplants
    14 years ago

    Turface from John Deere :

    Here's a link to a picture of it. Scroll down.

    JoJo

    Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of Turface