Hi Lynn ,

I wouldn't since you will be leaving the trees in the container for over a year. The 5-1-1 is used for annuals mostly . It breaks down alot faster than the Gritty or even jacks mix. You could take what you have and add it to jacks mix and it would work fine. That is what I would do since you have OCFS so near with all of the wonderful ingredients available. Just my two cents.

Hope this helps!

Take care,

Laura

Hi Laura,

Thank you so much for explaining that to me. :)

The gritty mix ingredients are hard for me to get too. Not impossible if you have an able body. But quite a challenge if you have some physical limitations. Just the thought of driving around looking for them, then hauling them home just so I can screen and mix is enough to send me to bed for a week. LOL.

I think I should be able to gather all my ingredients for Jack's mix at the OCFS so that's what I will do.

Thanks again! You're a sweetie.

Lynn, your growing conditions are different there, but here in Texas I've bought many, many plumies from different PSA members who seem to use a wide range of mixes.

Some swear by just perlite mixed into Miracle Gro, others seem to use something similar to my mix, which is mostly composted shredded wood. I have yet to buy a plant that has a mix of ingredients like Turface or cherrystone.

I think they'll do well in any quick-draining mix, especially if you use some good liquid fertilizer when watering.

Like Jandey said, any well draining soil will work. Eventually I will use all gritty mix because it works wonderfully in my climate. The reason plumeria growers (or any plant growers for that matter) don't use grit or turface isn't because it doesn't work wonderfully, it's because of the added weight that comes with it. It wouldn't make sense for anybody who ships plants to use something heavier, even if it would be overall healthier for the plant. The main reason I like the gritty mix is, it doesn't break down. I can keep my plants in the same material for multiple growing seasons and not have to worry about root suffocation from a clumping, waterlogged peaty mess, which in the past has killed far too many of my plants.

Kristopher

Lynn,
I do not like Jacks mix, it works well for him in Inland Empire but personally I did not care for it. I use to make my own mix and have blended already bagged mixes together also. I was using Unigro Cactus mix but you can not get it anymore, and the last batches were not good. 2 seasons ago or so I started using EB Stone Cactus Mix its Organic , I preferred the old Unigro but since its not accessible anymore and I refuse to make my own mix this is a pretty good alternative.
Here is a pic of what it looks like. I took a pic when I was loading up the car @ the nursery parking lot the first time I purchased it... I ended up using 120 1 1/2 cu ft bags and still needed more...

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts!! This is very helpful to me.

James,

If I have the strength I would mix the Gritty Mix... but I did it once last year and it nearly did me in. :(

So do you add anything to the EB Stone Cactus Mix or just use them straight? I do like that it's Organic. Hopefully I should be able to find this easily.

Thank you!

I use the EB Stone Cactus mix half and half with perlite. Seems to work well. You can get it at Armstrongs.

Lynn,
You could mix #3 perlite with it if you want, but the mix is chunky and drains well, so I do not bother with mixing anything else...less watering as the perlite will make it dry out so much quicker.

Just my .02, but once you start having to fill a few really large pots (20 gallon or more), cost and time become major concerns.

The better commercial mixes (e.g. Fafard) are expensive, and making the gritty mix in these amounts is both time consuming and expensive.

The 5-1-1 has been a great solution when I need to fill larger pots. It is incredibly inexpensive esp. when you buy the peat and perlite in bulk, and it can be made easily and quickly in large quantities (no screening required.)

It will break down, but it should maintain its structure more than what you might buy at Lowes or HD because of the high bark content. I have some larger fruit trees in it for the first time this year (sapodilla, papaya, calamansi) and I'm going to repot my Singapore Obtusa in it soon.

I still think the gritty mix is ideal, and I use it for smaller plumeria and all my adeniums. But like jandy said, people use all sorts of mixes with success. Ultimately, personal preference, experiences and expectations will lead you to the right place :)

Just to clarify...

You can use the 5-1-1 for Plumeria and i do like the Gritty Mix for mine.. like others have mentioned, it is what you want to put into your mix and how much time you want to give .

Lynn.. You can use the 5-1-1 and it would be fine to use, but i thought you had mentioned that you were going to use Jack's Mix anyway. So i was trying to make it easier for you ...

Jen mentioned that others in Texas use alot of bark in their mix.. sounds like the 5-1-1. It all depends what you want to do. The bark will hold up for a time and work well... so if that is the avenue you want to go.. It will work fine. If you were planning to change to Jack's or something else, then that will be fine too!

Everyone has their opinion on mixes..

Hi Brian!! I know you like the Gritty as well as the 5-1-1. Great to see you again. I agree with you!!!

Just wanted to explain..

Night!!

Laura

I agree with Irun5K in that when you are buying mixes for plumies in 20gal up 40gal pots you end up needing a lot of it and the cost does add up. The one thing that we all agree upon is that if you want to mix you own you can and be very specific to what you want, or you can spend the money and save the time, sweat, mess and grief of mixing your own. For years I made up my own mix and had purchased a concrete mixer to mix the ingredients, but after years of having to drive up to an hour each way to buy all the ingredients every season it got really old, plus to be honest with the ingredients I used it was actually more expensive to make my own.

As for Fafard it is East Coast based, we can not get it here on the West Coast. I looked at the ingredients listed for the Fafard Cactus mix and it did not have pumice in it, where as Unigro and EB Stone both had the Pumice and bark in it to make it very gritty/chunky and fast draining. Personally in a season if I am going to repot all my plumies (most are in 20gal or bigger, to 40gal) I end up using about 200 1 1/2 cu ft bags of Cactus mix.

So Lynn you can decide for yourself as to what you want to use, but when you cost it out the EB Stone wont cost you that much more then the ingredients you would have to buy to mix your own, plus it will save you time and sweat equity.
My suggestion is try a bag and see how you like it, again I preferred the old Unigro

Here is the ingredients listed for EB Stone Cactus Mix:
Fir Bark, Lava Rock aka Pumice, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, Sand, Redwood Compost and Mushroom Compost.

Here is the list of ingredients for the Fafard Cactus mix (also not listed as Organic like EB Stone):
Black earth (humus), sphagnum peat moss, sand, calcined clay, Biosol compost, lime -
I am guessing the Calcined clay replaces the Pumice, but in gardening if you have clay soil they tell you to use Lime to help break it down. So just curious to see how the lime in what ever quantity in the mix would react with the Calcined Clay (would it break it down)?

Let me know what you end up using...

Cheers

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 15:37

James,
Sounds like I can use the 5:1:1 mix so I will finish that off first. I don't have a lot of space so I like to use up mixes so I don't have them laying around. Once done will try the EB stone cactus mix since I do like the ingredients. The best part is I won't need to mix anything. I will let you know how I like it.

Thank you!

James,
Sounds like I can use the 5:1:1 mix so I will finish that off first. I don't have a lot of space so I like to use up mixes so I don't have them laying around. Once done will try the EB stone cactus mix since I do like the ingredients. The best part is I won't need to mix anything. I will let you know how I like it.

Thank you!

Just throwing in my two cents. ;)
I planted 'Rhonda' in the 5:1:1 mix since I didn't have enough gritty mix.
I didn't water it for two days and checked both days with my moisture meter and it read 'wet' so I broke down and made more gritty mix which is a pain in the hiney but the plumies do thrive in it.
Hoping I don't lose my two inflos from having removed the potting mix it was growing in twice now!

-Robert

Robert, which meter do you have? I don't trust the moister meter. It always said wet even if my soil is dry!

I've used Farfard Pro mix, plus some other material tossed in, for years with no problem. Farfard is not inexpensive but it has been dependable...until this year. I loaded up a couple of bags late last winter and just did a test drainage on a couple of plumeria. Nothing on my end had changed but the Farfard did not drain as it always has. Not wanting to take any chances, I had to make some changes. Just going by those couple of plants and by the feel of the Pro Mix, I believe something has changed with the Farfard.

I use the Bond moisture meter that I picked up at Tuesday Morning for 4 bucks.
It's always been accurate to me. :)

-Robert

Here is a link that might be useful: Bond moisture meter

Lynn,
I used a moisture meter years ago when they first came out, it was ok, used it more for my Anthuriums and greenhouse plants, but general if its hot in your area (over 85) with humidity under 50 percent, if the top of the soil looks dry and you havent watered for a week generally you might want to water. Even for 20 and 40gallon pots, if your plumies well established (been in the same pot for 2 seasons or more) it will need the water after a week. Places where you have really humid summers or in general, depending on your soil/mix and root ball, because of the moisture in the air your soil may not dry out as readily. I have my plants during July on watered at least 2x a week, if I don't the leaves start to wilt along with the flowers and sometimes buds drop also. So as long as your plumies feet aka roots are not wet (poor draining soil), moist soil is ok especially as we do not get super humid in So cal as a general rule. Some plumies like Dwarf Sing Pink, ACW, Mela Pa Bowman, Slaughters Pink, Gina, Steopetala, Hong Kong, Samoan Fluff, etc, etc, like more moisture as they are heavier drinkers.
I know that some long time plumie growers in the IE, like Sonia who water more then 2x a week sometimes as it is very arid and over 90's most summer days.
So if you want the moisture meter aka gardening accessory than knock yourself out, plus the moisture meters do not work well on 30gal, 40gal pots as it not long enough to reach down to where it counts...

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 20:34

Plumiegirl,
Dont you hate it when a company changes their product. Unigro kept changing the product for several seasons before they finally stopped manufacturing it. Unigro the last 2 seasons they made it did the same thing, it seem to clump and did not drain that well so I had to add #3perlite and more bark to it. Even with that I noticed the plants I repotted in it had root issues like my Lurline and others, would end up with tip issues.

"Biosol Compost?" is that short for biosolids AKA composted sewage sludge? I know its legal to use...I was just curious if that was the kitschy way it was listed on the ingredients.

KMS...lol OMG that is too funny... No its not like in Tijuana or Mexico where some farmers use human waste/sewage..lol
Biosol is a company that is a MFG of Ag products and also Pharmaceuticals for people..lol
Biosol makes different products like "Sea Compost", but in the case of Farhad its not specified what kind of "Compost". EB Stone specifies "Redwood and Mushroom compost".