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Mel's mix question
+7
audrey.jeanne.roberts
Lindacol
Kelejan
camprn
plantoid
CapeCoddess
Tris
11 posters
Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
Re: Mel's mix question
Tris wrote:Kay doesn't the 3 animal waste composts just add up to one though according to Mel's mix? That's been part of my struggle.
Maybe so, but my garden grew great, so I'm sticking with it until my home made compost is ready.
Kay
A WEED IS A FLOWER GROWING IN THE WRONG PLACE
Elizabeth City, NC
Click for weather forecast
walshevak
Certified SFG Instructor- Posts : 4374
Join date : 2010-10-17
Age : 81
Location : wilmington, nc zone 8
Re: Mel's mix question
Alright, bought 2 bags of MooPoo and 2 bags of a different mushroom compost, I figure I'll get 2-3 bags of the humus compost and I should be good! I scored 2x6x16 wood for less than 3 bucks each and now have my lumber for 2 4x4 and 1 2x4, and got my peet moss. And I got my rebar + conduit for the trellis, I just have to figure out a cheaper way to connect the conduit and get some netting <3 Its all coming together!!
Tris- Posts : 134
Join date : 2013-03-03
Location : North Carolina
Re: Mel's mix question
If you a are willing to get a metal drill bit and some nuts/bolts and do a bit of extra work, you can use pvc elbows on the emt. PVC is considerably cheaper.
Kay
Kay
A WEED IS A FLOWER GROWING IN THE WRONG PLACE
Elizabeth City, NC
Click for weather forecast
walshevak
Certified SFG Instructor- Posts : 4374
Join date : 2010-10-17
Age : 81
Location : wilmington, nc zone 8
Re: Mel's mix question
Yes that is exactly what I've been googling for! Thanks!
Tris- Posts : 134
Join date : 2013-03-03
Location : North Carolina
Re: Mel's mix question
Because peat is a nonrenewable resource, do you think using coconut coir would work? Perhaps just replacing SOME of the peat with coconut? I'm new to this, and to gardening, and the tomato seeds I started in coconut are doing just as well as the ones I started in peat pots. Coconut coir has many of the same benefits as peat as well from what I've read. Just curious if anyone has tried this, and what you all think.
jazzycat- Posts : 596
Join date : 2013-03-12
Location : Savannah, GA
Re: Mel's mix question
This is a myth.jazzycat wrote:Because peat is a nonrenewable resource,
Coir is an acceptable alternative to sphagnum peat moss, but here in the US there is a bigger carbon foot print in getting it delivered than in the harvesting of sphagnum in north USA or Canada.jazzycat wrote:do you think using coconut coir would work? Perhaps just replacing SOME of the peat with coconut? I'm new to this, and to gardening, and the tomato seeds I started in coconut are doing just as well as the ones I started in peat pots. Coconut coir has many of the same benefits as peat as well from what I've read. Just curious if anyone has tried this, and what you all think.
I prefer the sphagnum in the garden.
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books
Re: Mel's mix question
The foundation is currently selling coir and testing the use of it in sfg'ing. They are interested in results and feedback on the use of coir. Perhaps you could use coir in one bed and peat in another and report back to the foundation your results
I am my gardens worst enemy.
RoOsTeR- Posts : 4316
Join date : 2011-10-04
Location : Colorado Front Range
Re: Mel's mix question
Rooster, perhaps I will try that. I was thinking more of mixing maybe half and half instead of going "all coir." I'm going to be planting a LOT of tomatoes, some will be in buckets, so perhaps that would be the best place to test it.
The hydroponics store has this awesome compost called "Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Mix" that has all kinds of goodies in it, but it's very, very expensive ($20/bag). I'm going to transplant my seedlings into that so they get a boost growing before planting them into MM. I wish I could afford to use a bunch of that in the mix. Maybe just a bag or two will be enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for good compost that isn't so expensive? I ordered two Bokashi systems so I can start creating my own compost really fast. It ferments the food over about 10 days, you dig a hole and toss it in, cover it, and in 2 to 4 weeks you have rich compost. Or you can add it to the pile, if you have one. I don't. I've always been too afraid to do it, because it seems so complicated, and it takes so long. Has anyone here tried Bokashi?
camprn, just going by what I've read. From my understanding (and granted, it's very possible I'm wrong) that while peat isn't in danger (at the moment) of becoming extinct, it is nonrenewable. Mel even says in the book that it's nonrenewable. Anyway. I am one of those people who really tries to weigh my options, because I am extremely worried about where we are headed as a species.
The hydroponics store has this awesome compost called "Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Mix" that has all kinds of goodies in it, but it's very, very expensive ($20/bag). I'm going to transplant my seedlings into that so they get a boost growing before planting them into MM. I wish I could afford to use a bunch of that in the mix. Maybe just a bag or two will be enough. Does anyone have any suggestions for good compost that isn't so expensive? I ordered two Bokashi systems so I can start creating my own compost really fast. It ferments the food over about 10 days, you dig a hole and toss it in, cover it, and in 2 to 4 weeks you have rich compost. Or you can add it to the pile, if you have one. I don't. I've always been too afraid to do it, because it seems so complicated, and it takes so long. Has anyone here tried Bokashi?
camprn, just going by what I've read. From my understanding (and granted, it's very possible I'm wrong) that while peat isn't in danger (at the moment) of becoming extinct, it is nonrenewable. Mel even says in the book that it's nonrenewable. Anyway. I am one of those people who really tries to weigh my options, because I am extremely worried about where we are headed as a species.
jazzycat- Posts : 596
Join date : 2013-03-12
Location : Savannah, GA
Re: Mel's mix question
jazzycat wrote:
camprn, just going by what I've read. From my understanding (and granted, it's very possible I'm wrong) that while peat isn't in danger (at the moment) of becoming extinct, it is nonrenewable. Mel even says in the book that it's nonrenewable. Anyway. I am one of those people who really tries to weigh my options, because I am extremely worried about where we are headed as a species.
'Peat' and 'sphagnum peat moss' are not synonymous. Peat in the UK is not the same as the peat moss here in North America.
http://www.melbartholomew.com/whats-up-with-peat-moss/
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t13886-interesting-article-on-peat-moss?highlight=sphagnum+peat+moss
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books
Re: Mel's mix question
donnainzone10 wrote:Ocean Forest contains peat, so don't use it as part of your Mel's Mix.
Bummer, because this looks like a great assortment of stuff to use. What if I cut down slightly on the peat in the recipe?
camprn, thanks for the information about the difference in peat/peat moss. I'm on information overload!
jazzycat- Posts : 596
Join date : 2013-03-12
Location : Savannah, GA
Re: Mel's mix question
LOL, yeah, that can happen around here.jazzycat wrote:
camprn, thanks for the information about the difference in peat/peat moss. I'm on information overload!
43 years a gardener and going strong with SFG.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t3574-the-end-of-july-7-weeks-until-frost
There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance. ~ Henry David Thoreau
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t1306-other-gardening-books
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