Re: Beds are taking shape now

**Kelejan** 1/9/2015, 2:07 am

I'm glad you noticed that some commercial compost has too much peat in it.
Many newer gardeners miss that and have unsatisfactory results until they catch on or start making their own compost. Very Happy

Marc Iverson 1/9/2015, 2:26 am

sanderson, I think I saw Home Depot stock more than one kind of eco scraps for a while.

**sanderson** 1/9/2015, 3:53 am

Green bag and orange bag? The Compost has less wood than the Soil. You can read the response from Ecoscraps when I emailed them. Search box for Ecoscraps.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t14403-ecoscraps?highlight=ecoscraps

TSHRED 1/9/2015, 9:57 am

sanderson wrote:Tshred, Great photo of your scores! The only thing missing is some bagged chicken or cow manure. (It's really cheap, less than $2 per bag.) I think the consistency of EcoScraps is too heavy without peat moss. This is my suggested recipe if you think the MG and FF have peat moss and humus in them. Take a bucket worth of mixed compost and a bucket worth of vermiculite, and add, say, a minimum of half a bucket of fluffed peat moss. There after, the only thing you will be adding at planting time, and during the growing season as top dressing, will be mixed compost. PS: The MG looks interesting as a sea source.

What say the rest of you gardeners about my suggestions?

Thanks for the advice. I'm not going with the mushroom compost because I can't trust it doesn't have pesticide residue and I read its high in salt.

**jimmy cee** 1/9/2015, 10:46 am

sanderson wrote:Tshred, Great photo of your scores! The only thing missing is some bagged chicken or cow manure. (It's really cheap, less than $2 per bag.) I think the consistency of EcoScraps is too heavy without peat moss. This is my suggested recipe if you think the MG and FF have peat moss and humus in them. Take a bucket worth of mixed compost and a bucket worth of vermiculite, and add, say, a minimum of half a bucket of fluffed peat moss. There after, the only thing you will be adding at planting time, and during the growing season as top dressing, will be mixed compost. PS: The MG looks interesting as a sea source.

What say the rest of you gardeners about my suggestions?

My very first season with SFG, Mels Mix was devoid of home made compost.
Soooo I picked up twenty four 5 gallon buckets of compost at our local recycle center.
Consisted of brush and lawn cuttings so I was told by the mgr.
I knew I needed more ingredients, the following is what I added.
one five gallon bucket of vermiculite
one 5 gallon bucket of peat moss (fluffed)
1 quart of composted horse manure (from stables)
1 quart of last years mushroom manure (from a large pile)
1 quart of biochar (lowes)
1 quart Chikkity doo doo (local farmers supply)
Added these to a five gallon bucket and filled with recycle centers compost.
I only hope someday I can grow plants as well as that material did...
I'm now doing my own compost, last years season was a flop because of roots I have eliminated now.
We shall see.

TSHRED 1/9/2015, 10:50 am

llama momma wrote:I used cut strips of panty hose. Cut strips horizontally from the legs. Very economical. Tie several strips from short young plants and train them over and attach to the net. I tightened it up almost every day and they moved right over. Gave support on windy days too.

I like that idea rather than the standard green nursery tape. Panty hose would be a lot more flexible and forgiving on soft stems I would think.

TSHRED 1/9/2015, 3:05 pm

Final mix per planter

1 part = 1 cu ft.

3 parts --- Roots Organic Marine Green Compost
2.5 parts --- Organic Fox Farms Ocean Forest
2 parts --- EcoScraps Compost
2 parts --- Organic Chicken Manure Compost
4 parts --- Coarse Vermiculite
1.5 parts (compressed) --- Organic Peat Moss
.5 parts --- Organic EB Stone Compost (leftover I had laying around)

All of the composts had quite a bit of forest in them so I downgraded the peat a bit.

It smells nice and rich.
I watered it in good and won't plant for a while to give it a chance to "cook" a bit.

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 20150117

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 20150117

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 20150118

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 20150119

**Kelejan** 1/9/2015, 3:26 pm

Your set-up is lovely.

TSHRED 1/9/2015, 4:08 pm

Kelejan wrote:Your set-up is lovely.

Thank you!

**AtlantaMarie** 1/9/2015, 6:53 pm

Yes, it is!! Woo-hoo! Doesn't that feel great??!!

TSHRED 1/9/2015, 8:42 pm

AtlantaMarie wrote:Yes, it is!! Woo-hoo! Doesn't that feel great??!!

My back and body hurt a bit but it's a good hurt, a good feeling.

sunny

CapeCoddess 1/10/2015, 9:04 am

Beautiful boxes, Tshred. I'm curious, what types or brands of paint or stains did you use?

CC

TSHRED 1/10/2015, 9:16 am

CapeCoddess wrote:Beautiful boxes, Tshred. I'm curious, what types or brands of paint or stains did you use?

CC

I used some Behr Weatherproofing Solid Color Stain in the color Sandal.

http://www.behr.com/consumer/products/wood-stains-finishes-cleaners-and-strippers/behr-premium-solid-color-weatherproofing-wood-stain

Goosegirl 1/10/2015, 10:07 am

Looking great! Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 3170584802

Start looking around your yard for where you will put the next box (and the next, and the next, and the......). As has been said earlier on this thread: it is addicting! Can't wait to see some green sprouting in those box beauties!!!

TSHRED 1/10/2015, 10:20 am

Goosegirl wrote:Looking great! Start looking around your yard for where you will put the next box (and the next, and the next, and the......). As has been said earlier on this thread: it is addicting! Can't wait to see some green sprouting in those box beauties!!!

Thanks! Greenery coming soon. Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 370856013

TSHRED 1/17/2015, 12:17 pm

Drip system in!

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 Gridre10

**sanderson** 1/17/2015, 12:22 pm

Next, grids and greens.

TSHRED 1/17/2015, 12:30 pm

sanderson wrote: Next, grids and greens.

Yep.

In addition to the timed valves I installed these for fine tuning.

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 20150120

TSHRED 1/17/2015, 3:45 pm

**sanderson** 1/17/2015, 3:47 pm

Would you look at you! Very Happy

TSHRED 1/17/2015, 4:46 pm

sanderson wrote:Would you look at you!

Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 998388915

**AtlantaMarie** 1/18/2015, 6:42 am

W.O.W.

Looks GREAT!

TSHRED 1/18/2015, 10:26 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:W.O.W.

Looks GREAT!

Thanks. These beds actually ended up being 4' x 5' so now I have 40 squares to try and figure out.
Beds are taking shape now - Page 2 931411784

**AtlantaMarie** 1/18/2015, 1:23 pm

Hey, Everyone!

Should we take bets on how many beds TShred will have by the end of summer?

has55 1/19/2015, 3:10 am

your beds look great and pleasant to the eyes. I salute you. cheers

Sponsored content


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.