Making my own ABG

[Saurian]

I am working on doing my own ABG however I am having problems finding some of the ingredients. I found fir bark (orchid) at petsmart however it is expensive as hell there. Any places that you guys know of that sell it like home depot, lowes,etc? I have checked those two but havnt seen it but could be missing it.
I am substituting the tree firn for coco coir like you get in the bricks. Now onto the peat. Im guessing spagnum peat and peat spagnum are the same thing. However I located a giant bag of it you can see a pic of it below. This the right stuff? They also had a red bag called organic peat, this good too? I have been keeping herps for 20 years but never dwelled into the substrate deal this much and I also have hint of ocd so paranoid about stuff. Thanks for all the help.

 

[toksyn]

Check local nurseries. Make sure you don't get anything with added fertilizer.

I find it's cheaper to buy premixed from a vendor online than to buy everything separately if you are making small batches.

 

[toksyn]

Coco coir is not a good substitute for tree fern IMO because it breaks down and rots much more easily.

 

[Saurian]

tree fern is a pain to locate. Everywhere I have read mentions coco as sub for it.

 

[toksyn]

Well it's up to you. Tree fern plaques are often sold by nurseries that carry orchids. Perhaps coir could work, but I am still of the opinion that crushed tree fern is one of the things that really defines ABG mix. If cost and availability are such high priorities, why is ordering online not an option?

 

[Saurian]

I figure you would have to buy a lot to make it worthwhile exspecially with shipping and I dont really have a place to keep a lg trashcan of it.

 

[toksyn]

What size enclosure are you trying to set up?

I have run around town to get all the constituent ingredients myself more times than I'd like to remember. It cost me more to buy everything individually to make the same amount of premixed material that I just buy online now. Tree fern cost me around $20, charcoal was $12, sphagnum $4, bark $4, peat $12. That's more than $50 with tax, not to mention my own labor in breaking apart the tree fern and "milling" the sphagnum with my hands. All this made me about 5 gallons.

I bought 5 gallons for about $40 shipped from neherpetoculture. I didn't have to do anything more than use it when I received it.

I'm not advocating you go just to this vendor, I just want to relay my experience. By all means, try out the DIY approach. I would definitely recommend looking at prices and shipping calculations and accounting for your labor before writing off the ordering option as not worthwhile.

 

[Saurian]

I'm setting up or redoing 5 enclosures. 3 tens, a 40 tall, and a 20 tall. Price isnt that big of deal to be honest. Nice to be cheaper but I am so paranoid about buying the right stuff. Thats what matters to me. What brands do you buy if you dont mind me asking?