Hi guys - been to the big city (Detroit) car shopping. Sorry I'm late. ;o)
"Since the pine bark is roughly in "chip" form, it's the fines and the peat and perlite that comprise enough of a "soil" texture for the plant to send roots into and establish some anchorage in, yes?"
Not really. Even large chunks of pine bark will support great growth and supply adequate anchorage. The problem with large chunks isn't related directly to texture; rather, it's related to water retention. You can grow perfectly healthy plants in a bucket of those 'boulder' size marbles, the ones about as big as a Tootsie Pop sucker, if you want to stand over it and water every 20 minutes.
Back to Linda's question. The large bark particles provide the base for a very well-aerated soil that might not have enough water retention. The fine particles are the 'balance'. Start with the large particles and add enough fine particles so you can keep up with watering .....
After I figured out that insufficient aeration and excess water retention was a limiting factor in my growing, I set about trying to figure out how to reach a favorable balance between the two. I already knew I was willing to water a little more in exchange for better growth/vitality, so it wasn't much of a leap to see that larger particle sizes were the key. From there, I factored in cost, and determining what ingredients were best suited to the role they needed to fill in each soil. Long story short, I settled on two basic mixes that were pretty flexible. By varying a few simple ingredients, you can change water retention so it suites your particular needs.
The original recipes should be usable by almost anyone, but they're just frameworks for you to build on. I was never selling a soil, or a couple of soils. I'm selling a concept - that soils that are durable and retain excellent aeration while still providing adequate water retention will make your life so much easier, will offer the best opportunity for you to produce plants growing at as close to their genetic potential as possible, and have a LOT of potential to improve your effort:reward quotient.
How do I look at the joking around? That's a really hard question to answer, because I like to joke around and trade stories/wise cracks back and forth too. Even though I'm always serious about helping people, I'm sure I come off as more serious than I actually am in 'walking around mode'. I also tend to try really hard to respect the original topic of threads. That doesn't mean I won't follow and participate as conversations morph from the original topic, but if the new topic is unrelated to the thread, and doesn't contribute anything meaningful to the thread, I try to avoid posting. Even when people ask me off topic questions on someone else's thread, I tend to be polite and offer the briefest answer possible, and point out I'm uncomfortable being off topic on someone else's thread, and usually suggest D-mail.
Some threads are less serious than others though, destined from the beginning to be short-lived. It doesn't seem to matter much if those threads dissolve into off topic chatting back & forth between parties after the subject seems to be exhausted. This thread is a little different than that, though. I think a lot of people follow this thread, and many come to it often for reference. I often wonder how frustrated they might be, having to read through the conversational posts to get to the information they're looking for? Actually, I've only asked a couple of times on my own threads for people to stick a little closer to the topic, but OTHER posters have expressed their dismay about off topic posting several times, which is one of the reasons I think people are regularly following this post.
So how do I decide what's appropriate when it comes to posting? I can only say that I try to ask myself these questions: What is the nature of the thread? Is my offering on topic? Will it be informative, or, does it have the potential to interest more than 1 or 2 people involved in the conversation, and is that conversation on topic.
Many of you guys have first hand experience, even apart from my threads at Dave's, re. how far I'll go to help to anyone who asks for it or needs it. Remaining on topic could easily be looked at as being respectful of that effort, and of anyone who might be looking through the information in these posts next week/month/year. It's all good, guys. I always appreciate your participation and enthusiasm - always. ;o)
Take care.
Al
