So I found a deal on Craigs List for 6 gal food grade buckets @ $2/ea.  My timing was good as I got them all. 

After putting drain holes in a few, I decided I should try one out and up pot one of my cuttings started in January.

I couldn't find 'Pine Bark Fines' for a 5-1-1 mix, so I decided to try 'Pine Bark Mulch.'  It looks like it has some pine wood in it in addition to bark, which worried me a little, so I decide to change the mix and deal with any consequences later.

Here is the mix I used, for 5 gallons total volume:

3 parts pine bark mulch
3 parts compost
1 part pearlite
1 cup Espoma Garden Tone
1 cup dolomite lime
1 Tbsp Ironite

Pics:  I was a little shocked at how root bound these were at only 5 months from cuttings.  They were in 3 gallon trade pots.

This is a Chicago Hardy.  It has 2 tiny figs on it not visible in the pics:

 
You can see the pine wood chips pretty clearly in this pic.
 
 

One is never enough, so I up potted a NJ unk as well.  This was also started from cutting in January.
 
 
 

  um, phil. if you want pine bark fines, you need to screen that mulch. anything that passes thru a 1/2'' screne
are fines.

i get mine that way. it's the cheapest method i've found.

using the mulch without screening is not optimal.

Those trees sure look good to me.

RE: Pine Bark fines.    I had some larger but thinner bark pieces in my fines that I ran through my leaf vac/mulcher that came out small enough to use.  Yes, I do abuse that tool but I think it likes it cause it keeps running ;)  Just a thought....

What harm will happen if there is an occasional 3/4 or 1 inch diameter bark chunk in the mix??? Just curious, and lazy :)

What will happen? They will grow like crazy and can't be controlled. Now no one wants those results do they. Great job drphil69. They might need to be watered a little more often but it is better then staying watterloged.

Yes, those look really robust!  Mine cuttings have great roots but a way to grow to get to that stage.  Nice work!

   Nice job Phil...you had a nice healthy root system to begin with, so you are well on your way to increased growth in the 5 gal. buckets...good luck....BTW, I use the unsifted pine bark mulch in my soil mix, and I find that it gives me better drainage so water does not pool around the root system.  PS.  Nice pics too.

Wow, thanks for the wonderful responses.  Nearly everything I learned about growing figs I learned here, so all of you really deserve some credit! 

I was more concerned that some of it was pine wood rather than bark.  I think the idea with pine bark fines is to absorb and slowly release water as well as nutrients.  Smaller pieces equals more surface area to absorb, so it would hold more and you could water less. That's probably very important in very hot and dry climates.  Personally I would rather error on the side of drainage, which the bigger pieces I think provide.  I was also curious if there were any other reasons not to use the bigger pieces. 

Figpit - I've been thinking about getting a chipper/shredder for just that reason.  Well, for other uses too, like shredding leaves for compost, small branches, etc.

Looking good, Phil! 

phil, if you use fines only, and stick to the 5-1-1 ratio, you will have a very fast draining mix.

your mix won't drain properly  because you used 3 parts compost. you may end up with perched water.

next time, try sticking to the proper ratio and compare for yourself.

using regular mulch won't cure this. the reason for screening to get fines is to regulate particle  size. this is not hard to do. just buy a piece of
1/2'' hardware mesh  and  screen it.
if  you don't wanna do that, pet stores and amazon have fines under the name of reptibark.

or, orchard supply  stores have a very nice grade of fines

in my opinion, properly made 5-1-1 is the perfect potting medium for any plant. the only thing i ever vary is lime, acid loving plants like the mix as is, but figs do need lime as 5-1-1 is acidic.

What ever your doing seems to be doing the trick...Great amount of healthy growth in such a short time!  I bet they rocket after the up-pot.

Dries quicker, like you said. And also has a lower CEC so won't hold onto ferts as much as fines.

Alexanders Lawn and Garden in Newark carries Agway products. Their PBM is almost all bark and only has a few pieces over and inch.

Great looking plant Phil
I use Agway PBM  and love it great mix mostly all bark fines i mix it with Pro-mix HP .
What brand lime are you using i tried  HD lime the 40 lbs bag and it kill one of my Fig Trees it was Soil Doctor Pelletized LawnLime i put a very little on the top of the soil i know a lot of people use it but i am not so sure i will  
put lime in again they say it should be Dolomitic lime from near the ocean this brand is Dolomitic Lime but it all so said fast-Acting i am knew here so i don't know if it was wrong to put on top because i see a lot of people mix it in there mix .
Well again great job with the plant it looks great .

                                                                                            Rich :)
 

Hey Figaro
So what kind should i use i have post before but no reply i am trying to find out the brand every body is using  this is the lime Bill's Figs uses its the same brand but says Granular limestone mine says Pettetized i guess your right Pettetized will kill as i know now.
Thanks for your feed back .
                                                    Rich :) 

Hey Figaro
I found the right stuff Bill's Fig's uses it's Granula Limestone .

My potting mix is mostly large pine bark chunks with additives like worm castings.  I mix the small chunks like what you have into my pro-mix because they hold water.  As long as all the small pine bark chips aren't at the bottom layered tightly creating a swamp you should be ok.  The compost is all fine particles so that may also create swampy conditions as has been mentioned.  Stick your finger in the drainage hole after watering to check.  I'll use a handful or 2 of a compost/worm casting/napa floor dry/Espoma mix for every 4-5" deep of large pine chunks in a pot.  The fine particle stuff isn't 1/2 of the mix.

Thanks Guys for all your help.

                                               Rich 

I got so tired of trying to find a good pine bark mulch for potting meduim! Every thing around hear is full of white wood and trying to sift it out is a night mare to say the least. Ive resorted to one of two ways. They sell large pine bark chunks here which I dump out on the drive way and remove all the white wood. Its bigger chuncks so its much eaiser to remove. Then I run over the pile of bark with my lawn mower with the bag on. Then I sift do a desired particle size. The other way is just to buy the Orchid Bark. Its all the perfect size but hard on the wallet. You got to pay to play I guess!

The problem with white wood in a mix is that its not composted and when it gets wet in the potting mix the composting process begins. This can cause 2 problems that I know of. One, it heats up as it composts which isnt good. Second, it ties up N2 in the potting mix during the composting process. I have found with my blueberries that a mix high in white wood will require almost double the amount of N2 for the first few months untill the wood breaks down completely. After that the plants will respond nicely. It will slow the growth intially though and its very noticable with my plants. The leafs will yellow pretty quick and growth will come to a hault. I use a organic fert though so I imagine with figs using the MG fert or some other kind of weak chemcial fert every watering could potentially counter act the N2 binding up during the compost process.

Hey Blueboy1977
Do you have an agway near you they have a pine bark mulch its great right out off the bag hardly any white wood at all i think it was like $6.00 and change .


                                                                               Rich 

May be a regional product, but Evergreen Soil Conditioner contains a lot of pine bark fines. A product of Muscle Shoals, AL, but found in all the local big box home improvement stores. I'm using it quite a bit this season for uppottings. Plants seem to really enjoy it as we get quite a bit of rain and the product seems to keep things from getting too soggy and compacted.http://www.walmart.com/ip/Evergreen-Soil-Conditioner-2-cu-ft/16793735