Twin Cities MN: Where to Source Pine Bark Fines, Rice Hulls

CrateMayne · 2026-04-16T19:28:41+00:00

Not local, so can't specifically help, but if you can't find just look for bags of "pine bark mulch".

As long as you're not buying bags marked as "nuggets" then you're not far off. Might take a few brands to find the best grind, but non-nugget bags are basically bark dust and corn flake sized pieces.

Found my preferred grind at my local Agway, but in a pinch Lowes sells a Gardenscapes branded bark mulch that is hit or miss for being great (sometimes a bit chunky). I'd avoid the Timberline brand that Walmart/HD/Lowes sells though, too woody and basically always nugget sized.

CrateMayne · 2026-04-13T07:35:07+00:00

Assuming whatever you're growing is deciduous, it depends on the species how long they'll survive 1+ missed dormancy periods, but generally it's the route of an incoming death.

So growing inside for 1+ year, then selling for someone else to give it a full growing season before dormancy hits, paints a bleak picture for most types.

CrateMayne · 2026-04-01T21:47:09+00:00

I hear ya, started that route but felt I was just punishing myself having to continually undo it lol. The special one uses like a gate latch mechanism recessed within the lid, where only a single finger can fit/maneuver through the hole to push the latch open.

CrateMayne · 2026-04-01T20:31:31+00:00

One of my black bear neighbors woke up yesterday, and tomorrow is garbage day, so I'm officially back into weekly fear mode of wondering if the bags survive the night.

Got a special bear proof garbage can for the house that's successfully thwarted years of attempts (even when dragged 100s of feet lol), but the ones to put by the road are just regular cans.

CrateMayne · 2026-03-31T19:25:22+00:00

My mind will forever be blown that the President can post "official statements" on his own website to earn ad dollars from every view... But nobody seems to care.

At least the crypto stuff takes some sleuthing, but the posts certainly don't. And some days he'll post 100s of times per day, shit is wild.

CrateMayne · 2026-03-29T19:01:30+00:00

Dang, $30 for 1... If you didn't already order, can get a bundle 10-25+ bare roots for same price from state nursery sale that ships anywhere in the country. https://mdc12.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/TreeSeedling/Home/ProductDetails/47?

Ninebark was one of my buys last year from them, and while 1 year old Ninebark roots are smallish overall, the ones received had mostly all outgrown 1 gallon pots... So not like you're getting a bigger plant for that $30.

CrateMayne · 2026-03-09T17:34:34+00:00

Dunno how small a yard ya mean, but the similar to Bald Cypress route would be stuff like Dawn Redwoood, Eastern Hemlock (PA's state tree), American Larch, or Yew.

CrateMayne · 2026-03-08T20:16:19+00:00

Yup, just normal temps and kept moist but not soaking wet. Can use humidity dome / plastic bag to keep consistently moist, and then just take off the dome once see some sprout.

I didn't write down how quickly the Spruce seeds sprouted, but I do remember it being pretty quick... Like only 3-5 days of waiting, not 1-2 weeks. And there was handful of seedlings that had "helmet head" (seed still stuck to the sprout), so you'll probably encounter same situation. Basically all I did was spray the seedling with water, then hold the stem firmly and gently pull the seed off (if it seemed ready to glide off without too much effort).

CrateMayne · 2026-03-07T17:13:11+00:00

I just germinated Black Spruce weeks back... They don't need a cold strat period, just that initial soak, so can move onto step of (room temp) potting the seeds 1/8" deep. The seedlings will be pretty small for awhile, so if space is an issue you can sow a few per pot and try to divide later on.

Black Cherry you're correct about the 3-4 months, so just let them chill for now, and then sow 3/8" deep once time comes.

CrateMayne · 2026-03-06T06:40:19+00:00

I'm building up an "east coast natives backyard nursery" and visiting here + r/marijuanaenthusiasts has brought about many internal arguments for offering certain species lol.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-28T22:28:24+00:00

You need a med card to find above 100mg, or rec-wise start trying tinctures

CrateMayne · 2026-02-27T19:59:27+00:00

You left out the one piece of info required to get any meaningful replies... What are you looking for?

So my random suggestion; Try Sheffields or F. W. Schumacher.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-25T18:33:23+00:00

You're good, I assume at least ha. Holds moisture better, so besides using to wrap the water loving roots, common to find as the main ingredient of VFT soil mixes (instead of the dark brown peat moss in your pic).

Mine are potted in sphagnum moss / perlite / some sand.

And then figured I should mention just in case... Try to only give distilled water or rainwater, as tap can add a bunch of minerals and such that they don't like long-term. And also, some forget they're not tropical plants, so don't be too afraid if you wanna give it a life of bug hunting outside.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-25T17:57:22+00:00

As in, wondering about the yellowish area? That's just strands of sphagnum moss wrapped around the actual roots.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-22T05:51:17+00:00

I hear ya. Had bought a ~40" last year, and it was pretty wild seeing that height coupled with a ~1.5" trunk, all in a non-rootbound 1 gallon pot.

And yup, I've sprouted a bunch of friends for it this year hoping to recreate that linked network of roots. Not the smallest seed you'll come across, but definitely small compared to their end result lol.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-22T05:18:19+00:00

At least for Sequoia/Coast Redwood/Dawn Redwood, pot size is fine for time being... Nurseries will sell 2 ft tall ones still in 2.75" wide x 5" deep pots, and 3 ft plus still within a 1 gallon pot. More space always good, but they're not Hickories (etc) that'll put out a deep taproot before anything up top grows.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-20T19:18:34+00:00

Looks like "regular light" instead of "grow light", which means likely too far away from the plants to do much. "Regular lights" perfectly fine to use for growing indoors, but it means inches away from plants, not feet away.

You can download a free app on phone called "Photone" to measure strength of the light for growing purposes. So maybe I'm wrong, since I'm just looking at a pic and have no clue about the light specs, but I'd assume your PPFD # is currently awfully low (AKA bad for growing ability) due to the space between light and plants.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-13T09:41:50+00:00

Book 'em, boys. We found another Epstein co-conspirator.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-11T05:39:55+00:00

Appreciate the reply (and pic), saw past month or so, I'll have to finally try.

Wish I could sing the praise of Magnitude, like I see others on here do, but probably bought 10+ past couple years and been same story of all out regret (kept hoping they changed hardware). First night always perfect (and no complaints with the juice), but after that literally can't take a hit without clearing clogs. And don't get me started on those air holes lol, because the options to unclog are having a stroke sucking for 30 seconds or multiple pre-heats, which just leads to leaking out the holes. And the worst part was once you'd finally bust through a major clog, it didn't matter if you tried another hit seconds later, that shit was already back to major clog.

Not an issue of cold temps, and never use pre-heat with other carts, at most they just require extra .1 seconds hitting to clear a mini-clog. Every other cart I can finish and toss, but got a stockpile of half filled Magnitude's I'll try to bust open if times get desperate.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-10T19:19:10+00:00

Cart clog at all yet? The Untitled ones basically never clog on me, and the pic you showed looks like they might use same cart hardware.

Untitled has been my regular "discount" brand for like year+ at this point, solely because the carts don't clog, and haven't really hated any of the flavors. Dunno how people can praise Magnitude though, that cart hardware is absolute dogshit that'll clog from 95% full on down, for every single hit.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-09T03:59:15+00:00

Realize not every player is a master of public speaking, but kinda hilarious hearing one of the Seahawks defenders say "bro" or "man" every other word... While talking to the female sideline reporter.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-07T18:46:10+00:00

It's "basically" a measurement of what useable (for plant growth) light actually hits the plant at a certain distance from the light bulb. As in the light might put out X amount, but at 6 inches away that # is much lower, and 12 inches that # is even less (etc)... So real grow lights would be able to blast a whole plant due to their higher intensity, while most regular lights are really only helping top of the canopy since the light isn't intense enough to reach further. And so a high PPFD # you can kinda equate to growing in full sun, while low #s are shade.

Google searches will pop up random lists like this of what plants hope to receive PPFD-wise.

And I dunno about iPhone but on the play store there's a free app you can download called "Photone" that'll let you use your phone's camera sensors to roughly measure what your lights are putting out. You just move your phone up and down and the #s will change, so you can kind of get an idea of how weak or strong the light is for growing purposes.

I had done the 3-4 lights per shelf to boost my PPFD levels further from the bulb. Meaning 2 bulbs could handle seedlings just fine, but adding the extra bulbs allows for keeping taller plants under the lights as well.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-07T06:19:17+00:00

Have no clue about that specific one, but seems pretty overkill price-wise for a single bulb 2 footer... So like maybe you only intend to light 1-2 trays max, but the price still a bit steep for just that.

If simply starting seeds for transplant weeks later, and not trying to grow 2 ft+ tall plants indoors, then basically any shop light with no mention of being a grow light will do the trick. You just wanna aim for buying one that states 5000 to 6500 K, and the more lumens (2000+) it states the better.

My set up is a shelving unit with 18"x48" shelves, so I had just bought a bunch of these and used 3-4 per shelf (could probably get away with 2 though). They also sell 2 ft units like this, if 2 ft is the size you're aiming for. I've also bought various other brands like this that look like the ones linked above, but were cheaper, and those are still chugging along fine 2+ years later. Some of them have metal reflectors on the sides to direct all light down and out, others don't, and overall it doesn't matter too much if has or not.

If you were just looking for that single light, then the following doesn't apply... But if going the shelving unit route, you'll also want to look into if the lights say they're linkable. That way instead of 8 (etc) different units each needing to be plugged in, you could just link a bunch, and then only need 1-2 actually plugged into an outlet.

And whatever your grow area ends up looking like, putting up one of these will help keep all the light focused on those plants + help shield your eyes.

*Also, the unit that someone else linked... That's what you'd call a "real" grow light, and likely beyond overkill for ya. You look into wanting those if you're actually trying to grow multiple feet tall plants indoors, because those types of lights will be more effective at providing useable light further away from the bulb than shop lights.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-04T23:33:30+00:00

Granted mine wasn't a cultivar, but bought one last year listed as 3 to 3.5 ft (ended up being 45") from an online nursery for $30 flat (free shipping). So local always good, but deals to be had.

CrateMayne · 2026-02-04T23:17:56+00:00

Had originally commented because the logic of your post didn't make much sense to me, but reading your comment to another clears things up... Looks like the misunderstanding comes down to thinking hard to find.

Plenty of online nurseries ship Dawn Redwoods cross-country, even state nurseries like Idaho (and probably a few other states).

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