Plan on planting in compost...Technaflora nutrients?

[Sweetcheeks]

Okay, so I did a little searching, and I know a couple of people on here are seasoned in using Technaflora brand nutrients.

I had a friend give me a "Recipe for Success Starter Kit" made by Technaflora. From what I've found Googling around, most people use it for "other plants" and I haven't found much on using it on vegetables. What I have found on Technaflora and vegetables is all hydroponic, which is WAY out of my league.

I plan on just filling some 5-gallon buckets with organic compost and going from there. Do you think I'll even need to use nutrients? Will the compost be sufficient? If I do need the nutrients, can I just mix the different nutrients like it says on the paper insert, or do I need to figure out some ratio that better suits the different types of vegetables I'll be growing?

[Gary350]

Hyponic garden is easy. Getting it set up takes time. Watch this guys other video too he gives you the fertilizer in water, Master blend, Calciun Nitrate, Epson salts, in 5 gallons of water. Compost along has no food value for plants it is added to the soil with fertilizer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A

[rainbowgardener]

Compost works as an additive, but it is usually too heavy and dense to be used in containers by itself. It compacts over time and turns in to a brick. For containers, you need something light and fluffy and well draining, like potting soil. You can buy commercial potting soil or you can make your own, by adding peat moss/ coconut coir/ leaf mold and perlite/ vermiculite/ coarse sand to your compost. Shouldn't be more than about 1/3 compost.

I don't know why you would be using the (expensive, complicated) hydroponic stuff when there are tons of regular fertilizers out there. The compost is a good start, but over time you will need to keep adding nutrients, which get flushed out of containers. Could be commercial mixed stuff like Tomato-Tone, could be stuff like alfalfa meal, fish emulsion, worm castings, kelp meal, greensand, etc .

[applestar]

I think on the whole, it's a mistake to use hydroponic fertilizers when growing in soil or soilless mix. The growing medium/existing nutrients, and growing conditions are completely different. The plant roots are different.

Bagged commercial compost -- as in organic material decomposed over time and NOT the European wors for what we call "potting mix" or "potting soil" in the U.S. --as mentioned doesn't make a good growing medium by itself. They are usualy screened, sometimes finely, and are typically pasteurized. If it IS 100% compost, it should only contain organic humus. Plants need macro and micro nutrients and minerals that are not contained in compost. You can BUY all kinds of "fertilizers" and additives to and grow in a soilless growing medium, or you can use soil, compost, minerals, and organic amendments to provide a biologically active soil foodweb. I think of it like living on primarily vitamins and synthetic food vs. eating a healthy well rounded diet of natural food.

Home made compost often is mixed with soil already or is in a finished or nearly finished state SITTING ON TOP OF SOIL, contain large and small aggregate that enables water to drain through, and are biologically active. So you do often read/hear about growing pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. directly IN the compost, but it's not the same thing in a container.

[Sweetcheeks]

Hyponic garden is easy. Getting it set up takes time. Watch this guys other video too he gives you the fertilizer in water, Master blend, Calciun Nitrate, Epson salts, in 5 gallons of water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A

Gary- Thanks! The linked video doesn't invoke much interest in me, but I did enjoy the one about the fertilizers. It answered a lot of my questions regarding the different ratios for different plants, albeit not as extensively as I'm looking for. Hydro just isn't my thing for this stage in the game.

Compost works as an additive, but it is usually too heavy and dense to be used in containers by itself. It compacts over time and turns in to a brick. For containers, you need something light and fluffy and well draining, like potting soil. You can buy commercial potting soil or you can make your own, by adding peat moss/ coconut coir/ leaf mold and perlite/ vermiculite/ coarse sand to your compost. Shouldn't be more than about 1/3 compost.

I don't know why you would be using the (expensive, complicated) hydroponic stuff when there are tons of regular fertilizers out there. The compost is a good start, but over time you will need to keep adding nutrients, which get flushed out of containers. Could be commercial mixed stuff like Tomato-Tone, could be stuff like alfalfa meal, fish emulsion, worm castings, kelp meal, greensand, etc .

Rainbow-I can totally see the problems now with using only compost in containers! I've made my own potting mix before using 1/3 perlite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 potting soil for replanting houseplants, but it was all Miracle Gro brand and I've always heard not to use Miracle Gro for vegetables because of all the additives in it. This is my first time EVER growing veggies, but it's a lifestyle goal I'm striving for. Does finding the parts to make my own potting mix without all the crud requre some searching around, or can they be obtained anywhere?

The Technaflora kit is just something I've got laying around. From what I've read on the company's website and on the bottles, it can be used in both hydroponic and soil environments. Tomato-Tone... Is that like Miracle Gro for tomatoes? And alfalfa meal,fish emulsion, worm castings, etc.... Where the heck do you find all that?

I think on the whole, it's a mistake to use hydroponic fertilizers when growing in soil or soilless mix. The growing medium/existing nutrients, and growing conditions are completely different. The plant roots are different.

Bagged commercial compost -- as in organic material decomposed over time and NOT the European wors for what we call "potting mix" or "potting soil" in the U.S. --as mentioned doesn't make a good growing medium by itself. They are usualy screened, sometimes finely, and are typically pasteurized. If it IS 100% compost, it should only contain organic humus. Plants need macro and micro nutrients and minerals that are not contained in compost. You can BUY all kinds of "fertilizers" and additives to and grow in a soilless growing medium, or you can use soil, compost, minerals, and organic amendments to provide a biologically active soil foodweb. I think of it like living on primarily vitamins and synthetic food vs. eating a healthy well rounded diet of natural food.

Home made compost often is mixed with soil already or is in a finished or nearly finished state SITTING ON TOP OF SOIL, contain large and small aggregate that enables water to drain through, and are biologically active. So you do often read/hear about growing pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. directly IN the compost, but it's not the same thing in a container.

Apple- Like I said above, I think this stuff can be used in hydro as well as soil. You just mix it into your water and use it to water your plants.

I like the way you put that... "living on primarily vitamins and synthetic food vs. eating a healthy well rounded diet of natural food". Totally makes sense.

I have a small compost pile in my back yard, and it seems to be doing well, but I don't have nearly enough for what I want to plant. I was originally planning on constructing some raised beds for my vegetable garden and then filling those with compost. I know Rainbow was saying compost is not good for containers, but from what you mentioned, do you think it could work for raised beds?


Thanks for your help, everyone!

[rainbowgardener]

I still don't think pure compost is best for raised beds. Compost + native soil + peat moss + maybe coarse sand/ perlite. And if you only have a small compost pile, I don't know how you would have enough compost to fill a raised bed.

I made my own potting soil for the first time this year. I am using mushroom compost + coconut coir (a more sustainable alternative to peat moss) + perlite + a little bit of alfalfa meal and a little bit of worm castings. The worm castings I have because I have a worm bin. The "alfalfa meal" is just hydrated guinea pig pellets. The rest I ordered on line. Later on, I may use my own compost, but I've been using this for indoor seed starting and my compost has too much life in it for me to want to bring it indoors. Anyway I have enough trouble trying to make enough compost for all the things I want it for, without using it up in potting soil. The coconut coir, perlite, and mushroom compost I ordered on-line. Some one posted here a link to ordering mushroom compost to be shipped to your neighborhood Do It Best store, pick it up from there and don't pay any shipping.

https://www.doitbest.com/Mulches+and+pea ... 750574.dib


I want to continue to move my potting soil towards environmental sustainability. After I use this batch of perlite (which may take awhile!), I want to see how it works using coarse sand instead or maybe ground corn cobs. The perlite is mined and then heated to 1600 degrees. After that, I will try leaf mold instead of coconut coir. The coconut coir is grown instead of being a mined fossil product like peat, but it is grown half a world away from me. If I could make a potting mix with sand/corn cobs, leaf mold, and mushroom compost it would be pretty environmentally OK!! But a step at a time, I just keep gradually working on becoming greener.

I don't believe in using Miracle Gro, that's why I finally started making my own potting soil, because that's the last place I was using it. But honestly, I don't think it is a food safety issue. Most of our food crops are grown with some similar kind of synthetic fertilizer. It is more an environmental issue (synthetic fertilizers are petroleum products) and a soil life issue. Using synthetic fertilizers, salts tend to build up in the soil, destroying the microbial life of the soil. The soil fertility actually declines and you become addicted to the MG. You end up doing a kind of soil based "hydroponics," where the soil is just an inert medium to hold the plants and all the nutrients are synthetic and added. My kind of gardening builds up the life of the soil and and increases its fertility.

[Sweetcheeks]

I still don't think pure compost is best for raised beds. Compost + native soil + peat moss + maybe coarse sand/ perlite. And if you only have a small compost pile, I don't know how you would have enough compost to fill a raised bed.

Honestly, I was going to try to search out some good quality compost locally and buy a truck load of it.

I made my own potting soil for the first time this year. I am using mushroom compost + coconut coir (a more sustainable alternative to peat moss) + perlite + a little bit of alfalfa meal and a little bit of worm castings. The worm castings I have because I have a worm bin. The "alfalfa meal" is just hydrated guinea pig pellets. The rest I ordered on line. Later on, I may use my own compost, but I've been using this for indoor seed starting and my compost has too much life in it for me to want to bring it indoors. Anyway I have enough trouble trying to make enough compost for all the things I want it for, without using it up in potting soil. The coconut coir, perlite, and mushroom compost I ordered on-line. Some one posted here a link to ordering mushroom compost to be shipped to your neighborhood Do It Best store, pick it up from there and don't pay any shipping.

https://www.doitbest.com/Mulches+and+pea ... 750574.dib

Oh, how I would love a worm bin! That will probably be a project for next year. My "homemade" potting soil wasn't as extensive as yours, but I would love to get to that point! Creepy crawlies freak me out, but while becoming one with nature, I'm also becoming one with (most) insects. But I do like to keep them out of my house, so I don't blame you there!

We don't eat much at home (working in the food industry feeds us 5 times a week) and my boyfriend's a picky eater... If it's not meat or bread, he probably won't touch it. Exceptions are made for apples and carrots. We don't have that many scraps for our compost pile, but to kickstart it and keep adding to it on a regular basis, I snag lots of scrap veggies, brewed coffee grounds, egg shells, etc. for it from work.

I want to continue to move my potting soil towards environmental sustainability. After I use this batch of perlite (which may take awhile!), I want to see how it works using coarse sand instead or maybe ground corn cobs. The perlite is mined and then heated to 1600 degrees. After that, I will try leaf mold instead of coconut coir. The coconut coir is grown instead of being a mined fossil product like peat, but it is grown half a world away from me. If I could make a potting mix with sand/corn cobs, leaf mold, and mushroom compost it would be pretty environmentally OK!! But a step at a time, I just keep gradually working on becoming greener.

Environmental sustainability is exactly what I'm shooting for in life! The ideas you've got for your future potting mix are wonderful! Thank you so much for explaining exactly what all this stuff is... I always just though peat moss was peat moss... Never knew it had anything to do with fossils and such!

I don't believe in using Miracle Gro, that's why I finally started making my own potting soil, because that's the last place I was using it. But honestly, I don't think it is a food safety issue. Most of our food crops are grown with some similar kind of synthetic fertilizer. It is more an environmental issue (synthetic fertilizers are petroleum products) and a soil life issue. Using synthetic fertilizers, salts tend to build up in the soil, destroying the microbial life of the soil. The soil fertility actually declines and you become addicted to the MG. You end up doing a kind of soil based "hydroponics," where the soil is just an inert medium to hold the plants and all the nutrients are synthetic and added. My kind of gardening builds up the life of the soil and and increases its fertility.

I'm just so sick and tired of all the commercially produced products. I mean, we're living in a world where we're unknowingly getting horse meat chili and "fresh" asparagus that turns grey as soon as you drop it in a pot. I don't trust anything anymore, and would rather be as self-sufficient as I can possibly be and spend my hard earned money on things I can utilize and enjoy, rather than things I think I'll enjoy. Thank you so much for all of your input on this matter!! You've helped guide me in a direction I have wanted to go, but didn't know how to.

[rainbowgardener]

Love to hear from people who are trying to move towards sustainability.

Peat moss isn't quite literally a fossil, but not easily renewable. It is the compressed remains of sphagnum moss. It only grows in special circumstances and it takes thousands of years for it to turn in to peat.

Here's a little info:


Peat moss is mined, which involves scraping off the top layer of living sphagnum moss. The sphagnum peat bog above the mined product is a habitat for plants like sundews, butterwort and bog rosemary, as well as rare and endangered animals like dragonflies, frogs and birds, not to mention the living moss itself. Despite manufacturers’ claims that the bogs are easy to restore, the delicate community that inhabits the bog cannot be quickly re-established. Yes, peat moss is a renewable resource, but it can take hundreds to thousands of years to form.

Like all precious wetlands, peat bogs purify fresh air and even mitigate flood damage.

And there are archeological reasons to preserve peat bogs. In the acidic moss below the living layer, wooden artifacts of people who lived long ago survive, even the remains of the people themselves. CO2 is also preserved and trapped in the moss, but released into the air when mined [adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere] . In fact, peat bogs store about 10% of all fixed carbon.

https://gardenrant.com/2009/04/ken-druse ... -moss.html

I'm thinking if you start growing some veggies, your BF may like them more once he tastes garden grown veggies. If you have only ever eaten tomatoes from the grocery store, you have no idea what a real tomato tastes like!

[applestar]

The source of compost will probably also sell good topsoil.
Try getting something like 1/3 compost and 2/3 topsoil. Depending on the region, "topsoil" can be sandy or clay-y. If sandy that should be fine, if clay-y, then get enough sand and/or perlite (though I tend not to like perlite because I think they eventually all float to the surface....at least in containers) to make up 1/4 of the entire mix.

I like to strive for self sustainability as well. But sand is one product I can't make my self.... I'm trying to compensate by using mixed aggregate -- large particles -- I.e. unsifted/unscreened home made compost -- to provide better drainage. I think this is working in containers that get freshened soil on regular basis, but in the ground, larger bits just break down eventually, so I still end up needing a way to loosen compacted soil. Raised beds/mounded rows (not walking in the planting area) do help.

I have the same trepidation about coir though I'm using some now: Product manufactured and shipped from 1/2 a world away... But someone pointed out that demand for coir is helping the economy of the source countries which I suppose is another way to contribute. I did buy an 11 Lb block which, though troublesome to use in small amounts, seemed to me to be least bulky and economical in terms of wrapping, packing, and shipping (if only they used a box exactly the same size instead of larger shipping box with useless/unnecessary craft paper cushioning, it would have been perfect.)

As long as I have been doing it, it still amazes me when I collect finished compost and vermicasting from my compost piles and wormbin.

[rainbowgardener]

Oh applestar, you are always two steps ahead!

I'm just getting ready to try moving from using perlite to sand, because perlite is mined and manufactured with very high heat (using fossil fuel) and you are already thinking about whether sand is "green" enough! Sand certainly isn't local to me, you might have a beach near enough. One step at a time...

I bought a 5 lb block of coco coir and have only used a little more than half of it so far, even though I already used up my first 40 lbs of mushroom compost and am waiting for more to come in to Do It Best. The coco coir is very light and compact to ship.

And yes, compost still seems like a miracle and I love it every time! I started gardening just to have something to do with my compost.

[applestar]

I live on the outskirts of NJ Pine Barrens, so driving a little way into the area, there are plenty of landscapers that (presumably) get them from all those land development incursions into the (supposedly protected) area by way of zoning waivers. Not ideal for the conservation front, but acceptably local in the whole scheme of things. And I can even find bagged sand that come from somewhere in NJ... Just have to not think about the "process" by which they acquired the sand

[Sweetcheeks]

How fascinating! Thanks for the link, rainbow! My boyfriend is more picky about texture than about flavor, but he said he might eat a cucumber if it's a super crunchy version! That, and he really wants to grow corn. I don't know if I want to venture into that this year or not...

apple- I don't really like perlite that much, either, for the same reason. What exactly is coir used for?

[rainbowgardener]

Coconut coir is a substitute for peat moss. Used as peat moss is to help your potting soil hold on to moisture and give it a lighter, fluffier texture.