From left to right: Fafard 3B Fafard 3B 1 bag 3B + 1 bag pine bark fines 1 bag 3B + 1 bag pine bark fines 1 bag 3B + 2 bags of pine bark fines 1 bag 3B + 2 bags of pine bark fines 70% coconut coir + 30% perlite (I normally don't start any scotch bonnet pepper plants in the summer (it is too hot, buggy, and rainy) but this year thought I would give it a shot plus do more in the fall. They last longer than 1 season. We don't get freezes.) Here is just a sampling of some of them. Fafard 3B --great right out of the bag Actually had flowers and now fruit way ahead of others by 7 or 8 days. They have the greatest height and most dense foliage. One of the 4 plants I did with 2 to 1 ratio (PB to 3B) is just as tall and full but one is much shorter for some reason. I expect all of the extra pine bark component ones to do well. The 2 PB to 1 Fafard 3B ratio should be good over the long haul. (They also make a mix called Fafard 52 which I only was able to find once. It was 60% bark.) Fafard 3B is 45% peat and 30% pine bark (one site said 25 % pine bark). I am hoping this also will hold up well --I have used peat based mixes with no pine bark with good results so the pine bark should make it even better as the mix degrades. Coir is plugging along--not quite up to speed with the others but still doing OK. It is the final one of the group. The transplants seedlings I did in coir did awful. There are very good potting mixes on the market and pre mixed makes it super easy . Or buy your own ingredients and mix yourself--that can work equally as well too. Your choice. For many annuals like vegetables --longevity of the mix if you are dumping in raised bed after one season or not reusing is not all that crucial as long as the mix is well draining but nutrient retentive as well. L.O. Can you post pics of your vegetables in the gritty mix? How many times do you expect to reuse?

The nursery mix is about as close as you'll come to a commercially prepared 5:1:1 mix, which is an excellent mix from the perspective of root health. Roots need air as much as they need water. The problem is finding a mix that provides both in favorable measure and avoiding those that excel at providing water at the expense of aeration.What determines the ratio of air:water primarily is particle size. A bucket of marbles has more air space than a bucket of BBs has more air space than a bucket of sand has more air space than a bucket of pudding. You don't want to grow in pudding or (fine) sand because it holds too much water and not enough air. The marbles hold too much air and not enough water. When you start getting around the BB size, you're getting close - especially if the particles are able to hold water internally, like little sponges. Yes, you can use the nursery mix long term. It WILL break down eventually, but by the time the soil has broken down into tiny particles, a repot will be overdue. In most bark-based soils, root congestion becomes a limiting factor before a collapsed soil does. Bark breaks down at about 1/4 the rate of peat; and when you add the fact the bark particles are much larger, it's not difficult to imagine a bark based soil remaining servicable for (easily) 5-6-7 ..... times longer than a peat-based soil. Most of Fafard's heavyweight mixes have large bark fractions. If you have a mind to, you can make a soil equal to or better than the prepared soils at a fraction of the price. I think that every container gardener needs to understand the importance of air in the root zone, and what affects the water:air ratio or relationship in soils so they can avoid poor soils and easily determine a good soil from a poor or middling soil. If you have spare time, I think you'll find the info at the link I'll leave to be of value to your container gardening career. ;-) Al Here is a link that might be useful: I hope you find this worth the time it takes to read it.

Any well drained, good quality potting soil should be fine. Here is a link that might be useful: caring for Rhoeo spathacea

TraCami - that is so funny!!! (I don't mean this in a mean way) :) I'm in zone 3...we still have snow everywhere. :) My roses are sleeping in the garage. So I have no idea how the soil is doing. :) It still hasn't arrived here. I would love to hear though how the mix is going for you. Please keep me updated. :) a1an - Yes, I overwinter my roses in the garage. It's quite easy. :) Which roses are you thinking about...and what zone are you in? Carol