The ideal fir/pine bark pieces are approximately 1/8" to 1/4", but no bigger than that.

If you are buying a fir bark product with varying sizes in the bag, you will want to screen out the large particles and the very fine bits, leaving the approx. 1/8" to 1/4" bits for use in your medium mix. Perfection is not necessary, but you do want all of your medium ingredients to be of comparable size, which will help it work as it should.

Below is a photo depicting the various medium ingredients I incorporate... they include fir bark, perlite, granite chips, and turface. The quarter is for size reference, and the fir bark pictured is a tad larger than I would normally use.

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I will link you to the original articles on soils and water retention, which contains the medium recipes and all the other pertinent information... it's important to understand how these types of sharp draining mediums work, and why they work.

Hope this helps...

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention XIV

Hey Jodi,

And I was going to trudge out on the garage this morning and try and locate what is left of our pine bark bits and snap a picture.. and good think I looked first!! You did all the work for me and far more..Great Job!! Thanks!!

Donna

No problem, Donna... I just had to locate the photo in my overflowing, mixed up album! I tend to upload my pictures without separating them into coherent files, and I never remember to label them as I should! But I'm glad I could save you the trouble of setting up a photo shoot! :-)