Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ljbrandt

Making my 5-1-1 mix 2012

ljbrandt
12 years ago

5x (2cft) Pine Bark Fines

1x (2cft) Jungle Growth Mix

.5x (4cft) Perlite

1 baby pool & some elbow greese to mix it all :-)

I was told not to add lime because the jungle growth already had soil sweeteners in it - but I think I may add some anyway.

{{gwi:12613}}



Going to let this sit for a few days before planting my tomatoes and peppers:

{{gwi:12615}}



Comments (9)

  • TheMasterGardener1
    12 years ago

    Very nice!!. And what peppers are those? Jalapeno and Cayenne? That mix looks really good, and a little lime can't hurt.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Good work!
    I'd add a bit more Lime, as well, given that tomatoes are heavy feeders.
    Speaking of which, how will you be fertilizing, or will you be fertilizing?
    How many peppers and tomatoes will you be planting in that container?


    Josh

  • Joe1980
    12 years ago

    Is that an inflatable pool? What if it pops? And How will drainage work in that sucker? Also, I see kiddie playsets too; how do they feel about you filling their pool with 5-1-1 mix?

    Joe

    P.S. We'll know you're a true 5-1-1 believer if you post a pic of yourself swimming in that.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Haha!
    Joe, I think he only *mixed* the 5-1-1 in that pool.

    Josh

  • DaMonkey007
    12 years ago

    Hi there lj!
    I would agree on the additional lime. The Jungle Growth only accounts for about 15 percent of your total mix. I would have to assume that it only has "soil sweetener" content appropriate for the 2 cuft of soil volume. You are going to distribute that evenly throughout an additional 12 cuft of "unlimed" material. You need to take that into account, not only from a PH standpoint, but from a Ca standpoint. If it were me, I would still add a healthy dose of lime, say 1/2 cup at the very least.

    PJ

  • ljbrandt
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Haha, too funny Joe! Actually, I should have been more clear - I am only using the pool as tool to mix all of the ingredients of the 5-1-1 mix. I'll soon be transferring the mix into 5gal and larger containers.

    The peppers I'm trying to grow this year are all sweet - red, green & yellow bell. Last year I grew some jalape�os, and woah, were they hot!!

    Per everyone's suggestion, I'll add some lime to the mix and to answer your question about fertilization, I'll just be using weekly 1/2 strength treatments of Miracle Grow tomato plant food for everything. Seemed to work pretty well last year! I'll try and update with pictures as I go.

  • ljbrandt
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Well, I didn't swim in the pool filled with Al's mix, but I did have a chance to pot everything. I didn't realize I had so many plants. Watering may be expensive this summer, but we should have plenty of tomatos, peppers and a few strawberries, sweet potatoes and basil.

    {{gwi:12617}}


  • Joe1980
    11 years ago

    Wow, quite a collection of pots there. You outta just put in a garden for all the veggies. Then your kids could get to their playhouse, unless of course that's filled up with 5-1-1 mix too. I used to grow in containers, but I kept doing more and more, until it got to be too much work. Then I made a garden, which has gotten bigger and bigger, and now I grow a whole plethera of vegtables.

    Joe

    P.S. I am disappointed that you didn't swim in the pool of 5-1-1 mix.

  • edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
    11 years ago

    I'll be curious to know how the watermelon does. I saw it in the first photo, but don't see it now. Ed