Hi,

You know, after all your recommendations I tried the pine bark mix last year and the results are really encouraging

How about pine cone pieces, have you ever tried it?
We can gather some cones, crumble them and use it instead of the bark.They are organic and much harder than the bark, it will last longer in the mix.
They are cheaper, easier to find and maybe easier to crumble.
I am not sure if they have that bacterial process or if they have the right PH degree but just wondering

What do you think?

You may find you have many baby pine trees popping up if you use the cones...

Yes, this is a very good point

1. Maybe we can use a chemical on them to suppress germinating.

2. The forest officers (I don't know what you call them ) collect cones to get their seeds.I will check what they do to the cones after getting the seeds, maybe they can sell the cones.

I like Fafard 52, which is a pine bark based potting mixture. If you look you can get it at Farm Co-ops or wholesale nursery supplies.
(Nursery supply places will usually sell to you if you are sincere about growing, they will add tax if you aren't a business- just don't ask them for 1 bag or 1 pot, that probably won't work)
You do have to add fertilizer more often because of the pine bark:

http://www.griffins.com/gazette/2003_spring/spring_2003_shop_talk.html

I also like Fafard Nursery Mix, which is just the peat and pine bark, I have to add my own perlite, etc.

Hi Susan. MeyerLemon is in Turkey I don't think he has access to those brands.

I have used pine cone pieces for part of my mix--I don't think they last as well as the pine bark. I have never had any pine seedlings, but the pine cones I have used were partially composted--otherwise you can't break them very easy. The pine bark works well for me--especially the stuff I get from dead trees where the cambium is alreay gone.

Oops, I'm sorry Meyerlemon!

Maybe if the pine cones were baked for a few minutes?
That would make your house smell good too!! Lots better than baking soil to be reused..
Boiled or steamed might be other options to steralize a pine cone..
Though like when boiling vegies.. boiling might lose some of the benifitial properties..
Just some ideas.. if the seeds are still in the cones..

Gina *BabyBlue*

Thanks SusanB, as Laaz mentioned, those brands are not available here
Last season I got written permission, hired workers and collected 17600 lbs pine bark, now I use them and they work perfect.

The pink lemon in pine bark mix below is one year old, I believe it is in very good condition, so I will never use any other mix from now on;



The point is, cones are cheaper and easier to collect.

Quote:

I have used pine cone pieces for part of my mix--I don't think they last as well as the pine bark.

This is interesting Skeeter, they seem harder than the bark, thanks for the warning.

Thanks for the ideas Gina Yes, so that we can stay away from chemicals, I need to find out the best way and I will ask to the forest officers, they may know the best way.

Best,

That is a beautiful lemon, and looks very good for only one year old!

I will try to do an experiment with crushed pine cones, we may not have the same varieties of trees, but should show something.

I am guessing it would be similar to the coir Millet uses. Just guessing, though.

Meyer Lemon, it is very interesting to read and watch your growing on a large scale. Please continue with stories and photos!
Susan

Thanks SusanB, it will be interesting to compare results.

I just think that I need to correct my word; when I wrote "one year old" I meant that the rootstock is budded one year ago.So, the roots are 2 years old but the leaves and brunches are one year old.This is interesting, what is the real age now?

Meyer, how do you plan to break up the pine cones? The ones we have here are pretty tough when they are fresh. I think they will work for you, even though they breakdown faster, they should still last more than a year.

Do you have any sawmills that you can get the bark from? That is a common source here (paper mills are too).

Skeeter,

We built a small machine to break up the pine bark.It makes a lot of dust but it works.Then we sift the broken parts and divide them into 2 parts.The pieces bigger than 1 inch go to container mix that you recommended here in the forum.

Normally, nurseries use 80% soil and 20% manure as container mix here to get the cheaper mix.I mixed 6 parts soil, 2 parts organic humus, 1 part perlite and 2 parts of that sifted small pieces of pine bark as the cheaper alternative.

One year is good enough Skeeter, next year we will have a new mix.

There is no sawmill that we can get the bark.Forest officers get the old trees cut and the bark is left in the forest.You can pay and get written permission, hire workers and collect them in special times of the year.

Here is the trick The cones are already collected for their seeds and I don't have to pay for the workers to collect anything.

Best,

It sounds like it is definitely worth a try. In my case, I have pine trees in the back yard and pine cones are always available. Most I just toss in the blueberries or azalea beds--then if I am looking for a little extra material when I am potting, I may use one that has partially decomposed.