Need some ideas on fixing a kind of big mistake in soil! jav

[cshell1958]

Here it is:
After organizing some family n friends; sourcing materials; drawing plans;starting seeds indoors; checking for sun n shadow areas...etc; Trucked in yard of compost,got 40# of green sand, 44# of Azomite, had 16-17# of coir 30# of aged alpaka manure, some mycoz, liquid kelp n fish hydrolysate to use for foilar feed/wetting. And of course, what is said of best laid plans... After starts n seedlings in ground and all looked good ah, a day of rest well scratch that! I felt compelled to go over notes and records again and realized I failed to have someone pick up the bag of vermiculite!

I've got 1-4'x8' bed and a 4'x4'bed 6" deep but will build up to make it 12" where tomatoes are(have another 4x4 not using because the coco was not as much as needed)

What is a plan for correcting/compensating for in this situation? So far all can think is auto/semi-auto watering. I'm in North Tx near Dallas/FtWorth By mid-June or so it will be near constant 90's Plan was/is to have harvest most stuff by then unless it likes the heat or is part shaded by trelis or other elements.

This is year 2 for mejavascript:emoticon('-helpsos-')
Any help would be wonderful

[Dillbert]

if you mean the missing vermiculite, don't worry about it.

with all the organic material - compost & coir & manure . . . the soil will stay light & loose through the first season - you can dig in the vermiculite next season.

[stella1751]

Many gardeners avoid vermiculite for two reasons: 1) The production (excavation) is not environmentally friendly, and 2) It isn't native (?) to certain regions so is unnatural in certain areas. Here's a thread where we discussed its use, kind of a pros-and-cons thread [url]https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18177&highlight=vermiculite[/url]

I use it, still have the bag left that I bought way back when. I forget to use it most of the time, but now that you have reminded me, I will probably use it up this year. I will then go back to perlite for water retention capabilities because I believe it does a better job of lightening heavy soil and reducing wind/precipitation compaction in raised beds.

You should be fine without it

[cshell1958]

Thank you both so much for easing my mind and I'll look into it more. While I was looking for answers prior to here I found a site with a ton of info and research on perlite in mix or sole growing medium. Interesting, to help mitigate drought issues.
Thanks again! pphew

Next season maybe add perlite cuz of our drought conditions

[stella1751]

That's why I use perlite or vermiculate. Our average annual rainfall up here is 14 inches. The big difference between the two is, I think, that vermiculite flakes lack the water-storing capability of perlite, and perlite lacks the nutritional boost (?) provided by vermiculite. However, neither appears to degrade, at least obviously, so you don't need to re-amend the soil every year. I never forget to add it to a new bed, but I do forget the established beds on occasion