Early this year all I could find was fir bark fines that were in the 1/4"-1/2" range. Later I discovered a more ideal size of fir bark fines for the 511. Instead of trashing the bigger fines or trying to figure out what to do with them I thought I would try a mix of half large and half of the ideal size. Using this mix for strictly tomatoes I had my worries. But I have to say that this mix has grown some of the best tasting tomatoes of the year and thats including my inground tomatoes. Now there are some considerations to take in mind here, one is that I prunned most of my tomatoes in pots to 2-4 vines depending on how big the pot was, as not to over crowd the pot with too many roots and keep the water demand down. And I was worried about the mix settling too much and have all the small fines in the bottom of the pot, but I dont think that happened too much. I also was cautious and decided to put wicks in all these pots too. My thoughts on the prunning is just this: if I get less but better quality fruits, I'mm happy with that and I'll take that any day of the week. Another note is that I have not had to water these mixes more than once a day, and maybe others would have to in hotter climates. Weather here has been just perfect, mostly 80's with a few 90's and maybe that has had something to do with the water demand as well. I'm almost considering just growing tomatoes in pots from now on, I just never thought I could get such great tasting tomatoes from containers, but I stand corrected. This mix will be a standard from now on but I will also play and tweak a bit just for fun. Just a side note here, I'm also very very very happy with Foilage Pro and the Pro-Tekt as a nutrient program and wouldn't change a thing. I would also like to thank A1 for sharing his experience, mix and results with all of us. I have finally arrived........lol, just kidding about that last part.

Damon