Pine Bark Mulch?

NWhosta4life · Post by **NWhosta4life** » Mar 09, 2007 10:12 pm

Everyone speaks of using pine bark mulch in their soil mixes, yet for the life of me i cant find it anywhere. Every bark mulch i find is fir or doug fir.....can i sub this out instead of pine or will this draw to much nitrogen? Did i mention ive looked everywhere.....the local nurseries(and surrounding counties), home depot's, specialty bark and top soil places, ect. Is this a pacific nw thing or what?

John · Post by **John** » Mar 09, 2007 11:15 pm

I can only find "fine pine bark", which I've been using for drainage in containers.

There is something, which I think is better, called "pine bark fines", which is the same thing, but ground up finer, and partially composted.

I'll be watching for better replies, myself!

caliloo · Post by **caliloo** » Mar 09, 2007 11:16 pm

I can get it locally at either Home Depot or Lowe's sold as "soil conditioner".

Maybe try looking for that?

Alexa

leafmould · Post by **leafmould** » Mar 09, 2007 11:44 pm

Pine bark resists decay, that is why the tree has it on the outside. Fir or cedar mulch or bark seems to have too much inner core wood.
Here we have Pine bark nuggets.
Mini pine bark nuggets. perfect size for one gallonor bigger
And pine bark mulch, this I screen for smaller starting pots
Most of the packaged bark found here comes from the U.S.

Justaysam · Post by **Justaysam** » Mar 10, 2007 10:45 am

I use fir bark, the stuff they use for orchids. I have no problems with it. I don't have the seedlings in it for too long, they go out to the yard, or into big plastic boxes with bagged garden soil after they come out of the house. I use the smallest chunks I can find, in small bags and mix it with soiless bagged stuff and perlite. No problems with it here, nice and airy, drains well and gets mixed into the soil when they go outside.

LucyGoose · Post by **LucyGoose** » Mar 10, 2007 11:04 am

I got mine at Lowe's....I can't remember what they call it.....Pine something...I'll try to rembember to look at the bag today......

thehostagourmet · Post by **thehostagourmet** » Mar 10, 2007 11:45 am

Why go to all that trouble when you can buy a high % pine bark-peat mix in 2.8 cu. ft. bags? I use Prime Gro #41 (30-40% bark @ $12.02) from Therm-O-Rock East, Inc.. I have also used Fafard #52 (60% bark @ $11.10) with equal success. Those are today's prices on BFG Supply's web site. I'll get whichever is the cheapest at the time. You can find them at BFG Supply or other wholesalers to the growing industry.

Coir is another good loosener for mixes, but it's more expensive. Scott's makes one.

George

NWhosta4life · Post by **NWhosta4life** » Mar 10, 2007 12:25 pm

Ok thanks everyone.
Caliloo I've ran into the soil conditioner, and so far the stuff i have seen contains soft wood mulches, wood shavings, composted chicken **** ect, no pine for me.
leafmould/Jim- do i see what your saying about the decay factor so do you think i could use a very course gravel and still serve the purpose...oxy to the roots, or would that make the mix to heavy...or what about mixing the rock wool cubes with the soilless mix?
George, i hear what your saying, ive looked around, maybe not hard enough for a good potting soil like you mentioned, i cant seem to get the fafard mixes over here + the shipping would probably kill me.

NWhosta4life · Post by **NWhosta4life** » Mar 10, 2007 12:25 pm

Ok thanks everyone.
Caliloo I've ran into the soil conditioner, and so far the stuff i have seen contains soft wood mulches, wood shavings, composted chicken **** ect, no pine for me.
leafmould/Jim- i see what your saying about the decay factor so do you think i could use a very course gravel and still serve the purpose...oxy to the roots, or would that make the mix to heavy...or what about mixing the rock wool cubes with the soilless mix?
George, i hear what your saying, ive looked around, maybe not hard enough for a good potting soil like you mentioned, i cant seem to get the fafard mixes over here + the shipping would probably kill me.

thehostagourmet · Post by **thehostagourmet** » Mar 10, 2007 1:17 pm

Look up Fafard's and PrimeGro's web sites. I'm sure they can give you a list of local suppliers.

George

Wanda · Post by **Wanda** » Mar 10, 2007 8:27 pm

I make my own (ok, my husband does) with our Troybilt chipper/shredder. I mix it with composted manure, leafmould and alfalfa for building my garden beds. Or maybe you could find a good deal on truckload quantities from a local sawmill. Our local sawmill chips up all the bark and sells it for mulch or to the power company to burn in their co-generation power plant. The leftover old stuff from the bottom of the piles is about perfect. They also sell wood chips for mulch, paths, etc. They used to give it away free...but they have wised-up in recent years. Here you can get a heaping pickup load of bark chips for $15 or wood chips for $10. A local sawmill is a great resource for a gardener!

wanda

leafmould · Post by **leafmould** » Mar 11, 2007 8:23 am

Hi NWhosta, its probably just the time of year for your difficulty getting bark. Next year,plan ahead for your winter growing. It seems I am always looking for out of season stuff. As the season advances most garden centers will have some kind of pine bark.
Re. gravel; pinebark is popular because it resists decay and has a low molecular weight. It is also a by product and is usually cheap. I Have heard of many using gravel in outside beds, by I think it would be a little heavy for pots.
Try a hydroponics store for expanded clay pellets, they are very light

greenguy · Post by **greenguy** » Mar 11, 2007 11:00 am

Both home depots by me have them
i would give them a call

Hallson Gardens

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