Melcourt Product Specification & Performance Guide

Grower Products

	Growing Medium Ingredients
	Melcourt Potting BarkTM	Melcourt Propagating BarkTM	Melcourt Sylvafibre®	Melcourt Orchid BarkTM
1. Main constituent	Pine Bark	Pine Bark	Woodfibre	Pine Bark
2. Origin	European	European	British	European
3. Nominal particle size range	3 - 15 mm	2 - 7 mm	0 - 6 mm	5 - 20 mm
4. Wood content	< 3 %	< 3 %	> 80 %	< 3 %
5. Dust & fines	< 3 %	< 5 %	Approx 40%	< 3 %
6. pH	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5	5.0 - 5.5	5.0 - 5.5
7. Typical Bulk Density Range	290 - 330 kg/m3	290 - 330 kg/m3	340 - 380 kg/m3	380 - 420 kg/m3
8. Moisture Content	53 %	50 %	52 %	42 %
9. Air-Filled Porosity	62 %	38 %	21 %	73 %
10. Electrical Conductivity	200 µS/cm	170 µS/cm	150 µS/cm	100 µS/cm
11. Plant Avaliable Nutrient Content	negligible	negligible	negligible	negligible
12.Requirement for Supplementary Nitrogen	Yes, except ericaceous subjects	No	No	No
13. Soil Assoc. Approved	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
14. FSC Certified	No	No	Yes	N0
15. Quality Range	Deluxe	Deluxe	Deluxe	Deluxe
16. Application Rates	20 - 40 %	25 - 100 %	Up to 80 %	Up to 100 %

	Growing Medium Ingredients
	Melcourt Growbark® - Pine	Melcourt Growbark® - Mixed Conifer	Melcourt Hortibark® - Pine	Melcourt Hortibark® - Mixed Conifer
1. Main constituent	Pine Bark	Mixed Conifer Bark	Pine Bark	Mixed Conifer Bark
2. Origin	European	British	European	British
3. Nominal particle size range	0 - 5 mm	0 - 6 mm	0 - 15 mm	0 - 12 mm
4. Wood content	< 10 %	< 10 %	< 5 %	< 10 %
5. Dust & fines	approx 40 %	approx 40 %	15 - 20 %	approx 40 %
6. pH	4.5 - 5.5	5.5 - 6.5	4.5 - 5.5	4.5 - 5.5
7. Typical Bulk Density Range	320 - 360 kg/m3	400 - 460 kg/m3	300 - 340 kg/m3	380 - 420 kg/m3
8. Moisture Content	40 %	52 %	55 %	55 %
9. Air-Filled Porosity	18 %	22 %	45 %	28 %
10. Electrical Conductivity	200 µS/cm	150 µS/cm	150 µS/cm	220 µS/cm
11. Plant Avaliable Nutrient Content	negligible	negligible	negligible	negligible
12.Requirement for Supplementary Nitrogen	yes, except ericaceous subjects	yes, except ericaceous subjects	yes, except ericaceous subjects	yes, except ericaceous subjects
13. Soil Assoc. approved	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
14. FSC Certified	No	Yes	No	Yes
15. Quality Range	Deluxe	Deluxe	Deluxe	Deluxe
16. Application Rates	Up to 80 %	Up to 80 %	20 - 45 %	Up to 80 %

Notes
Lines 3,4 and 5	The sizes and percentages (by weight) are nominal. By the nature of these products, it is not practically possible to be exact and there might be a small variation.
Line 5	"Dust and Fines" refers to particles less than 1 mm in diameter.
Line 6,7,8 and 10	These analyses are carried out in accordance with methods described in CEN/TC223 European Standard for Soil Improvers and Growing Media.
Line 9	Air-filled porosity analysis carried out in accordance with the method described in British Standard 4156:1990 for peat.
Line 11	Plant available nutrient levels in Melcourt Grower products are very low, allowing complete flexibility of fertilizer additions. Detailed analyses are available on request.
Line 12	See Guidance Notes for details of supplementary nitrogen requirements.
Line 13	These products are approved by the Soil Association as restricted inputs into organic systems.
Line 16	% of total compost volume.

All values given in the Product Specification are typical. However, some variation may occur from time to time. Melcourt Industries Ltd reserves the right to alter the specification without notice, for the purpose of product improvement.