Good Afternoon!

I am coming to you guys for advice on building a new potting mix for my figs. I went a little crazy in spring and bought 3 bails of 3.7 compressed Fafard#2 growing medium for my veggie seeds and starts i did. I bought a bunch for next season since i had the space and i don't know if they would have it again for next year, was a little over zealous.

So the mix is great for vegetables and my basil is growing great in 5 gallon containers , but im afraid it might be retaining too much water for my fig trees and am thinking of mixing it with pine bark/fines/etc. if i can find it locally. Since i have so much of this mix, i dont want to have to buy perlite/peat over again and was hoping to just get pine and lime. I love this mix, not sure if anyone has grown successfully in something similar for full size tree...maybe the excess rain is making me paranoid. I'm using my own compost and will fertilize with a balanced fertilizer later on too.

Farfard#2 is comprised of the following ratio:

• 70% Canadian Sphagnum peat moss
• 20% Perlite
• 10% Vermiculite
• Dolomitic limestone
• Wetting agent

Your compost would help with organics. Azomite could help with the minerals...it has over 70 natural minerals for heathly growth. Pine bark fines would help with drainage. Im not sure if anyone uses sand to make things gritty and less clumping.

Matt - There is a lot of peat in that potting mix for me personally.  I would start by adding pine bark fines 1:1.  I would add a little sifted perlite, too.  Check this thread out about potting mixes.  It's pretty good.

The best Pine Bark Fines available are from Agway.  Sold as Pine Bark Mulch.  If you call them they'll order it and it usually takes a few days to come in.  It looks like the closest Agway to you is:

Chestnut Vale Feed
150 Duffy Ave
Hicksville, NY 11801

(516) 693-1034

Jarrett - Thanks, I have used azomite in the past and believe its all hype, saw no difference and its expensive. I have some leftover that i will use up once the plants start growing though since i will then have another 5 gallon bucket for something else ;).
Danny - Thanks, i have read that thread 3x already - hehe. I see people who are growing in similar type mix (promix/fertilome UPM) and say they like it, so its a toss up. If i do 1:1 ratio, would i need a specific amount of lime to offset the acidity?

So i ordered a couple bags of pine bark mulch, perlite and dolomite lime from agway (thanks danny). I have been searching up/down/left/right for the ratio of pine bark mulch to lime. My farfard (promix) is already pH nuetral, so i dont need to account for that, i just need to determine if i use 3 cu ft of mulch that i need 1/2 cup of lime (example). 

I have read that lime only reacts to acidic soil, so that once it become pH neutral it will stop working to adjust pH - but not 100% sure if that's true. Basically meaning that i can kinda wing it, but i really don't want to mess this up.

Also - if i'm going from 100% pro-mix in 1G pot, should i bare-root the tree to up-pot or can i keep the root-ball as is and transfer to a surrounding of the 5-1-1 mix? I really want to avoid shocking roots with bare rooting. Planning on moving to a 7G ish planter

thanks in advance!

I use 1 cup of lime per 5g of my mix - should be dolomitic limestone which also adds Magnesium

A former member here promoted a 5:1:1:1 mix using 5 parts of pine bark fines, 1 part perlite, 1 part Tractor Supply Oil Absorb or NAPA Floor Dry, 1 part peat.  He also added a cup of organic fertilizer such as Espoma Plant Tone for the bacterial action.  I use that mix, and have substituted a quality commercial mix like yours for the 'peat' part of the formula, sometimes adding extra of the commercial mix for growing in SIPs to add better wicking ability.  I think that you could use your Fafard mix in a similar way.

Ed - that is the plan on substituting my mix for the peat. That's why i was unsure if i would still need the same amount of lime others are using when they have peat in there since my 1 part fafard mix is pH neutral as opposed to peat which is acidic. Is your commercial mix pH neutral ?

The pine bark is somewhat acidic also
I tested my mix at about pH7
That mix seems to work  great for me

That fafard mix is really good stuff.  I wouldn't rush to use it up unless you just don't have anywhere to put it.  Yes, you can use it in place of peat moss but it costs about 3X as much, right?

If you really want to use it in a fig potting media, mix 1 part of the fafard mix with 3 or 4 parts pine fines.  The hardest part of that is finding good quality pine fines.  Sometimes the stuff called pine bark mulch is good, but sometimes it's half shredded pine wood, which is no good.  Even when it's all or mostly bark it's hard to find any that has been partially composted, which is ideal. 

Skip all the perlite, vermiculite, etc.  I think that stuff is just a way to spend money without really helping much. 

The fafard mix should already be the correct pH, so you just have to use lime if the other stuff you add to it is acidic.  Usually pine bark is somewhat acidic, so if you go that route you should add some. 

When the fig trees get large they will use so much water on a daily basis in a pot that it's hard to imagine water retention ever being a bad thing.  That being said, pine fines are a very nice thing to use for a mix, mostly because they are light and organic and eventually will decay into something resembles that commercial potting mix anyway.

Sorry to keep bugging but haven't gotten definitive answer to my question in post #5, which assumes the my growing mix is ph neatral and all i am trying to find out is what amount of lime would i need to offset the pine bark acidity. If i mix up 5 gallons pine bark, 1 gallon fafard (ph neatral) and 1 gallon perlite (~5:1:1), how much lime would i need. Is 1/2 cup good or should i use less? 

Rob- Thanks, that makes sense. I do plan on using the farfard mix i have left till i make room for a cheap bail of peatmoss and wont waste my 2 new bails of fafard on this purpose.

You can always add more later on, figs in containers (for me) seem to grow fastest at a ph of around 6. The ph of your water will make a big difference and also what fertilizer you use. My water is 6.7 and I use organics and compost that push up the ph and have plenty of calcium and magnesium already, so I now add about 2 cups of gypsum per 3 cu. ft. bag of pine bark and that works best for me when mixed with 2 cu. ft compost and organic fertilizer.

p.s. I use fabric containers but in plastic I would use a higher ratio of pine bark and just a little lime, maybe.