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ID jit
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Mixing Up Mel's Mix - Any Suggestions?

Just back in from screening compost, and this unseasonably warm weather has me itchy. Three less ticks in the world too!

I need to mix up 70 - 75m gallons of Mel's Mix for containers, pretty much all at once. Any suggestions on how to do volume easily? All I am seeing is struggling with three freshly lined trash barrels for the damp components and mixing in a wheel barrow. Is there a better way?

1/3 pre-soaked perlite (easy enough)
1/3 pre-hydrated peat (not seeing that as easy in a lined trash barrel, especially one half empty)
1/3 pre-hydrated compost. (same issue as the peat.)

Playing with compost, perlite and sand mixes this winter, I found out that my compost will decrease by almost 2/3 when it is really wet and almost muddy. Do I use 1/3 of the almost muddy stuff or 1/3 of the "damp as it comes out of the compost pile" stuff - kind of a big difference there.

Any suggestions?
Thanks much.

imafan26
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Well, at the garden we mix soil with a small concrete mixer. We got ours second hand or you can rent one for a day. You just have to mix your parts by shovel fulls. Mix up a batch and then we store our mix in trash barrels but you can just empty it into a wheel barrel and put it directly in your bed.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Mat ... 5yc1vZc7qb

The other way would be to mix your components on a tarp or canvas. Then shovel the finished mix into the wheelbarrel and cart it off. The tarp will allow you to save as much of the mix as possible since you can pull up the sides to get the mix in the middle or drag the tarp to the garden to empty it in the end.

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Allyn
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When I mix my Mel's Mix, I mix it dry since wrestling with heavy, pre-moistened mix just isn't in me anymore. I mix mine on a tarp, as imafan mentioned, for big batches or in an empty trash can for small batches. On a 12x12 tarp, I dump everything in the middle and then pick up a corner and 'roll' the mix one way. Put that corner back and pick up the opposite corner and 'roll' the mix back the other way. By rolling it back and forth and switching corners, it gets mixed up. Then I'll shovel a portion into a 30-gallon tote and add water. For smaller batches, I put equal shovel-fulls of each component into a 30-gallon trash can and clamp the lid on. I lay the trashcan on its side and then roll it around the yard for a bit. Once it's all mixed, I add water. I would like to have a concrete mixer or a tumbling composter to mix in, but I just haven't gotten around to that on the budget list yet.

imafan26
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I don't like to pre moisten mix unless I know I am going to use it all in a short time. You may not have a problem but where it is hot and humid, wet mixes can get a lot of fungal growth in them especially if they are kept in a sealed container like a trash can. I only wet what I am going to use in a five gallon bucket and leave the rest of it dry. I add osmocote to my potting mix and it is better not to get that wet until it is needed.

At the garden we sterilize the old potting soil, and mix it with fresh to recycle the mix. The old mix often has enough residual fertizer that I sometimes don't need to add any more.

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ID jit
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Thanks much.
Am sure it is going to be a fun part of a day.

imafan26
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If you are mixing vermiculite or perlite dry, make sure you wear a mask so you don't breathe in the dust. Eye protection doesn't hurt either.

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ID jit
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Learned a neat trick for course grain perlite.

Put the unopened bag in a trash can not so much bigger than the big bag of perlite.
Make a small hole in the top of the bag for a hose and a couple little holes in the bottom of the bag.
Fill the perlite bag with water so the top of the bag floats to just below the top of the trash can.
Sink the hole bag for a couple of hours under a rock. Let the bag float back to the top and then open it.

Pre-soaked perlite and no dust.

imafan26
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Neat trick.

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ID jit
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Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.

Ended up doing mixing with a shovel in a wheel barrow in the garage because of the snow cover. Wasn't actually that bad of a deal, just repetitive. Worst part was getting the heavy duty trash bags from the compost pile to the garage (Think I may need to consider I'm not 20 something or 30 something or even 40 something any more and do things like load up bags about half as much.)



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