SQWIB
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Posts: 970
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:21 am
Location: Zone 7A - Philadelphia, PA

Start Checking the Big Box Stores

Check your local big box stores, they're starting to clear things out

I picked up a bag of Kellogg's Raised Bed and Potting Mix for half price. (51% off)
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I got a few bags last year for a quick fill on a new bed and had no luck with it, not sure it was me or the mix, I figured I would try another bag and start seedlings as a test this weekend.
Many bad reviews for this product, maybe that's why they are on clearance.

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imafan26
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Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I have bought that product. I is hard to wet and hard to keep wet. Unless you want to be totally organic, I needed to add some peat moss to it to improve the water holding capacity. The plants I grew in it were stunted and yields were lower. I had to water it more than other parts of the same garden that had different soil mixes. The miracle grow section did best.

The raised bed mix does not have enough fertilizer, so you will need to supplement.

If you are growing succulents or need a mix that dries fast, then it may work for you.

SQWIB
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Posts: 970
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:21 am
Location: Zone 7A - Philadelphia, PA

imafan26 wrote:I have bought that product. I is hard to wet and hard to keep wet. Unless you want to be totally organic, I needed to add some peat moss to it to improve the water holding capacity. The plants I grew in it were stunted and yields were lower. I had to water it more than other parts of the same garden that had different soil mixes. The miracle grow section did best.

The raised bed mix does not have enough fertilizer, so you will need to supplement.

If you are growing succulents or need a mix that dries fast, then it may work for you.
That sounds about right with the reviews.
For my starts I usually use miracle grow moisture holding potting mix and add pelite.
I'm curious to see how this does because last year's bed with beets did nothing and I'm not sure if it was the time of year (not much sun) or the mix.
I'm not holding my breath.

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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

I have had bad luck with mix in bags for the past 5 years. I bought some 2 years ago it would not grow anything I think it has no fertilizer & no food value for plants. I tried a variety or several other mixes and had the same problem they won't grow anything. I dumped them all in the same place in the garden then tiller them into the soil with a pint jar of 15-15-15 fertilizer & quart jar of wood ash. It did good in the garden once it was mixed with soil & fertilizer. Years ago I only bought peat moss in 3 cu ft bags I had to add 1 quart of fertilizer per ever 3 cu ft bag of peat moss plus also added wood ash then tilled it into the soil plants do good. I bought a name brand Miracle Grow potting mix it claimed to have fertilizer but when I opened the bag it looked like tree bark pieces were too large for planting seeds so I dumped it into the garden. I use to have good luck with cow manure in bags 3 years ago I bought 5 bags 20 lbs each it looked like black poop covered ground up dead sticks it would no good for seeds in pots either. I give up I don't trust anything anymore it seems to be made to sell not actually good for anything.

When I lived in Arizona we could throw any organic material we did not want on the street once a month trucks & loaders picked it up free. 2 miles away was a company that ground up all that organic material into saw dust size pieces then pushed it up into very large piles in a very large field. The piles sat there for several years before they were bagged and sold for potting mix under several brand names. I have no clue if they added anything to it.

The 10 tons of free organic material I got for my garden a year ago had no plant food value by itself but after being tilled into the garden soil plants grew but suffered from low nitrogen so I had to add lots of nitrogen for corn & beans. Corn would not grow and turned yellow, beans grew then stopped growing and turned yellow. I though beans pulled nitrogen from the air but yellow plants turned green soon as I gave them Urea. Peppers & tomatoes had a small nitrogen problem a small amount of Urea solves that problem too. The free stuff I got was not composted long enough it raised my soil to 8ph and almost killed my corn.

Now I mix potting mix with about 20% to 30% garden soil plus Urea & wood ash before I use it.

imafan26
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Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Making your own compost is usually the cheapest way to go and at least you will know what went in it. If you have space for it and a large garden, it can be practical as well.

I don't have a lot of space so vermicomposting is a better solution for me. It does not produce volume though. I do buy bagged compost for the garden. I usually get kellogg's N'rich, Patio Plus, and if I can find it Black Gold. Most of the compost in bags has forest products (translation composted sawdust) as a main ingredient. I can get locally made city compost but it is low quality with a pH 8.13, so it is less than ideal.

I do a little bit of trench composting and tilling in crop resisdues as well.

I don't have a lot of browns. The primary brown is the newspaper mulch that I use. Most trees in the tropics are not deciduous and only drop a few leaves at a time. I have to only use clean leaves so any leaves with pests or disease cannot be trenched or bag composted. It is difficult to get free mulch anywhere now because of the rhinocerous beetle. Mulch is illegally dumped but is not legally distributed around the island in an effort to contain the pest.

The Urban Garden does have the pest and brought in by illegal dumping by landscapers. There is a tub grinder on site to grind the mulch as it is one of the ways to control the pest. They were even considering getting a controlled burn permit. The rhinocerous beetles primarily attacks palm trees but will go after pandanas and bananas as well.

https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invas ... os-beetle/



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