Hi Josh, I have seen most people (here, CG forum) are chasing and use barks that is about 3/8" size. But isn't the purpose of using bark for good drainage? If I wanted more moisture retention, just would add more peat moss. Here is a quote from Al's description of 5 -1-1 mix >>>> The 5:1:1 mix: 5 parts pine bark fines, dust - 3/8 (size is important 1 part sphagnum peat (not reed or sedge peat please) 1-2 parts perlite (coarse, if you can get it) garden lime (or gypsum in some cases) controlled release fertilizer (if preferred) . EDIT: One more thing I should clarify here. I am not into potting perennial house plants My application is for outdoors container planting, MOSTLY peppers. In my opinion there is a major difference between those. Say, I pot my pepper in mid April. They will expire by mid October. That is about 6 months. So I don't fuss too much about it as I would with perennial house plants. This post was edited by seysonn on Sun, Jan 12, 14 at 19:55

Hello Before you get bombarded with use this soil or that soil, because it will happen here sooner or later, Im just going to say, yes there are better options than what you have used. Thats not to say that what you did was wrong or bad. What happens is some people will try and tell you that this mix or that mix is better for your plants but not truly understand the conditions that your plants or trees will be exposed to. For me I cant use the gritty mix. It dries out way to fast for me in the summer and my plants are in BIG pots. My back is not good enough to move 100 pound plus pots. So I need to go with something that acts like the gritty but doesnt weigh as much, holds a bit more water, and doesnt break the bank to buy. I use a product called Hapi-gro landscapers mix and I add perlite to it. Some of my friends from south texas grow some of the most beautiful plumeria in straight Miracle Grow. could someone up north pull that off, I doubt it. What Im getting at is your soil choice needs to match up with your area. Where are you from? On to the food. Yes the bags say that but you really cannot depend on that. You need to be feeding your tree much more because of being in a container and the fact that citrus are generally very hungry plants. that in itself is a highly debated topic. I feed my trees once a week during the summer with Foliage pro at half the recommended dosages. I also supplement with a slow release product. Foliage pro is 9-3-6 with minors. Most people do generally agree that the 3-1-2 ratio is about right for our trees but they do benefit from a bit more Nitrogen. mike

Woody stock of all sizes seen on the market here is root-bound, in fact the hardest (even impossible) specimens to correct at planting time are ones that were left too long in bands or liners when tiny and now have tight root knots near the bases of the stems as a result. Among the worst are grafted conifers and other grafted specimens as these are among the most expensive yet also the most deformed, rootstocks used having been "stored" for perhaps years in small and/or narrow containers before being grafted upon - there seems to be this idea that since it's rootstock it does not need the same level of consideration as finished plants. But then much rootbound stock of all types is being churned out anyway. If it were another industry producing something like cars or appliances it would be a scandal and regulatory agencies would step in. Leave nothing in the planting hole except the tree and the existing soil. Stake if necessary for one year and mulch after planting, water as needed. I have a new planting still being populated here and I am having a Hell of a time with some of the plants wilting and burning - because they were planted with intact potting soil rootballs and not mulched after planting. The contractor that tilled the bed said the existing soil was fine but I found it to be poorly draining and of poor texture when planting. So I want to dig in some sand, have not mulched the plants already in place. Despite recurring heavy watering the fight with the sun continues. Why am I doing this now? It is a July-October flowering theme border, with many of the plants not coming on the local market (or being able to be seem in flower and determined to be true-to-type) until summer. Especially here in Zone 8 it is otherwise vastly preferable to plant in fall. The nursery industry had a Fall is For Planting campaign some years ago but the public still wants to do everything in spring. And sales of trees and shrubs are down, I may switch to having what I want shipped here, maybe later in the year when it is cooler.

You are a bunch of swap addicts! And I'm not! Really! Anyway, I was looking if there was a subcategory on GW for medicinals because I have a whole book on Tropical medicinals written by a Tahitien (wow I'm reading his biography-here all the Tahitiens consider him their own , looks like one too, but he's French all the way, not even half!), an awsome pharmacist(who travelled extensively throughout the world as a French naval officer), who learned and recorded many of the ancient remedies of all of Polynesia (and from other parts of the world), from the Marquesas, the Tuamotus, and the windward and leeward islands, which include your more familiar Tahiti and Borabora respectively. So even when our old medicine men and women have mostly left this world, because of his efforts, we have many recorded for our posterity. And the plants he has highlighted are ones that you guys have been trading forever, and I want to leave a record somewhere , accessible to all about what treasures of pharmacology you are growing. For example, would you not want to know that your: Sesbanian grandiflora: .In India the leaves are used for head colds and migraines, but mashing them and inserting them in the nostrils. At first profuse secretion drainage, then the sinuses will fell better and the migraine is gone quickly. Hig in Vit A B1, C, young bugs are cooked and eaten by them and the Burmese, Vietnamese. Cassia alata: A paste made of dried leaves and water or fresh lime juice are rubbed vigourously on snake(cobra) bites in Malaysia, at the tikme the book was written it was among the promising plants that proved to retard cancerous tumors in rats. Cassia occidentalis: Decoction of leaves for fever, add some roots it also becomes a diuretic. The fresh seeds are poisonous but roasted become a caffeine free coffee. Tamarindus indica:boiled fruit pulp for fever and constipation. the decoction of leaves are applied topically for rectocilitis, enteritis. an infusion of leaves for conjontivitis, anticancer properties as the other cassias in mice. Averrhoa carambola(Star fruit) The juice of the green fruit rich in potassium oxalate is used to shine metal surfaces. Ficus prolixa (Banian):Chinese tradition says that leprosy is a boold disease activated by hot and humid climate where banians trees multiply, from their roots a poison is exuded to the soil, then to the water, and passes to humans. To diagnose leprosy, Chinese from the Yunan province would then confirm this diagnosis by making the afflicted with a decoction of its roots and wait for 10m days for the telling signs on the person's face. In polynesia the white tips of aerial roots are used for bronchitis ( I remember my mother sending me in the neigborhood to get some for my brother),gingivitis, for yeast infections,and anthrax! The subterean roots , a diuretic used especially for tuberculous persons Phyllanthus urinarius (red /puple), or amarus(white): considered the plant for ear problems, the whole plant is mashed and strained thru a coth the suc is then mixed with coconut oil(mono'i)heated over a lamp and applied around the ears nad sometimes on the calix (on the head)too. Shoot, I thought this is what you girls called the 'sensitive plant, but one of my seed packet called that mimosa pudica, so i' don't know if the two are the same, all i remember is that my mom would send me to get the former especially making sure it was mature enough to have the round nodes on the underside of each leaves and she even justused those little round nodes to make the remedy for my borthers ear infection, but she mixed the juice from them mixed with coconut oils and heated over a lamp then put the drops right in the affted ears and around the ears too. I am quite interested to draw the parallels between the uses of these tropicals with their uses here. Am I wasting my time for wanting to put this on GW?