Hello everyone!

Some observations about potting soils. When I started with fig growing I tried all kinds of special potting mixes that were advocated in several posts on this forum. Mixes with sand, perlite, pine bark chips and what not. Last year I planted a number of figs in regular, cheap peat-based potting soil, straight from the garden center.
And, to my surprise, these figs were thriving best! Good growth AND a good Breba crop. The special mixes worked less well, both for freshly rooted cuttings and for established 3-year-old fig plants. Even when the soil was soaked by heavy rain, the figplants in the cheap potting soil thrived.
Have other forum members had comparable experiences?

What brand of soil worked well for you?

Well in The Netherlands your cheap garden center soil is probably better than some of the premium stuff here.  You folks grow the finest bulbs and corms on the planet.  I've ordered saffron from several countries but nothing comes close to yours.  You probably have friendly magical beings making everything growing perfectly.  Did you come here just to gloat?   ;)

Does it list the ingredients?

As my rooted cuttings go into 1 gallon pots this spring I was thinking of trying a modification of the old 5-1-1 mix.

5 parts bark fines
1 part peat moss
1 part coarse perlite 

I was thinking to add 1 part compost manure (maybe less depending on how it looks)

Also some lime

One thing I'm not sure about is the type of bark fine to use. Most recipes suggest pine however I've always associated pine with being very acidic. I was wondering if a hardwood fine might be better? I'm not sure. If we have any bark specialists here I'd like some intel. I didn't get much from Google on this.

Thoughts?

Well, my bark is worse than my bite but I can tell you that most people use pine bark because it doesn't tie up nitrogen the way hardwood does.  When you try to grow in hardwood chips the organisms that break them down use a lot of nitrogen.  If you don't add enough there's none for the plant.  Then as the wood is broken down, that nitrogen comes flooding back into the system and it will inhibit fruit set.  It works great for foliage plants, though.

BTW, pine bark is acid so most people add dolomitic limestone.

You just outdid Google on bark! Thank you!

Vijgenboom,

Some times its luck of the draw....sometimes even the best Soil ( not the soiless mixes) have fungas gnats pre-mixed.

Sometimes your cuttings arrive with mold, and maybe 1/2 make it.

I'm glad you got a good combo this year, and hope it repeats itself consistently. I have recently been unhappy with sand and peat moss ( light on the peat)....I will go back to black kow and pearlite next time.