Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
minichopper4me

New container bag mix

MiniChopper4Me
10 years ago

I stopped by at K-mart this morning and happened to come across a "new" container bag mix labelled as organic, but the components listed are:

Sphagnum Peat Moss
Softwood Bark
Perlite
Dolomitic Lime

and the "active ingredients" listed include mycorhizzae. I didn't break open a bag to see what the mix looks like, but its priced at $7.50 for 2 cubic feet.

Its labelled Jobe's Organic Container Soil. Has anyone used this yet that can compare it to 5-1-1? Call me lazy, but like many before me, if I can get a pre-mixed bag of the same ingredients I use, I'll pick this up every time.

Comment (1)

  • Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
    10 years ago

    There are two things that make it not like 5-1-1. First, ingredients are listed in order of their proportion in the mix. So this mix is like most bagged mixes with the largest portion being peat. Peat makes up only 15% of 5-1-1. Second, is particle size, which is likely to be very small in the Jobes. The softwood bark could be saw dust. Although 5-1-1 contains bark dust and 15% peat, most of it is made up of larger particles from the bark and perlite.

    You could mix it 50-50 with pine bark fines if you want to get closer to a 5-1-1 type mix. Or if you're set on using a bagged mix instead of mixing your own, and you're willing to spend a little more, look for Fafard 52 or MetroMix 510. They both have a lot of bark and are coarser in texture than most bagged mixes.

    Also, I would question the quality of the ingredients when it's being sold for $7.50 for 2 cubic feet. That's very cheap. Even MiracleGro costs more than that. And, of course, 5-1-1 costs about half that much, and it is significantly better for your plants.