Self-watering container: soil update

In the ten years I've been using Earthboxes, I've never liked using the typical peat/perlite soilless mix. It's always much too wet. And using it multiple years turns it into mush as it breaks down.

This year I used a mix of small pine bark pieces (fines), peat potting mix, and extra perlite. So far, I'm loving it. I didn't use so much bark that it doesn't wick, but I used only about 40% peat and that has helped the wetness factor tremendously. I also may be able to use it a second year.

If anyone else doesn't like the degree of wet their peat mix gets, this might be worth considering. I'll let you know in the fall how production compares.

I will be playing around with soil mixes for next year's tomato sale...I plan to experiment with coconut coir rather than peat. Has anyone else tried it?

I have used coir. For all practical purposes, it's not much different than peat - water retentive, breaks down within a year. The only caveat is that initially it was very salty. Some people still rinse it to prevent problems. Could be that most of it is rinsed much better than it was when it was first introduced.

I have also used coco chunks. Instead of breaking the coir into fibers, it's cut into chunks. This holds a LOT of water. I'm testing some now with some streptocarpus and some African Violets. So far, it's a bit too wet unless I put a lot of perlite or granite in it.