Did I mess up? Mel's mix question...

ferhoodled Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:49 pm

Now that I have gotten the mix in my gardens I'm afraid that I might have messed up. Almost all of my compost is from manure. Different brands of manure, but manure nonetheless... I used some mushroom compost and some compost from the city's free compost program but now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder if I used too much composted manure. That was about all of the compost type stuff I could find around here at the stores. I'm assuming that there are other types of compost that are mostly plant based? It's too late now, I suppose, but I am nervous. So far the broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower look ok, but they have only been in the ground for a couple days... Worried... pale

dizzygardener Thu Apr 21, 2011 5:11 pm

Don't fret.

You still have time. If we count the manure as one then then have a total of 3 types of compost in your SFG. You can still add two more types of composts if you need to.

Let us about your manures. Were they all Cow or were some horse or chicken?

Also, what is in the city compost?

My local compost is a blend of at least 5 different sources, so it is pretty much the only compost I use (with a little bit of worm castings mixed in). It's as good as anything I could make at home.

middlemamma Thu Apr 21, 2011 5:14 pm

If you had chicken and cow and horse that would be 3....plus the mushroom and your county compost you would be fine.

It would help to know what manures they were... Smile

ferhoodled Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:32 pm

The bags that the manure came in were taken by the trash truck this morning so I can't check now. I do know that there was no chicken manure. I'm pretty sure that the rest of it said just "composted manure". When I glanced at the bags I didn't see if it was horse or cow or ???. I do know that one brand was cow for sure.

The city compost is just a compost of yard clippings and whatever else plant like things people put out in their weekly yard bin. I'm sure that has all sorts of different stuff in it... leaves, grass, etc.

At first I thought that if the manures were different brands I would be ok, but really, the manure needs to be from different critters? (I have never typed the word "manure" so many times in my life! Laughing

)

BackyardBirdGardner Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:52 pm

To be honest, this is a debate across this forum constantly. Don't worry about it. Some people count sources. Some people count types. The concept is to avoid a dud mix of compost.

Sources could be interpreted WHERE you got them. Lowe's and HomeDepot being two different sources. But, to me, sources are the names on the bags. BlackKow is likely the same no matter where you buy it. But, BlackKow and another cow manure by a different brand name, imo, could be debated as two separate sources of compost.....because they are produced by separate companies.

Types would be horse manure, mushroom, cow manure, lobster/shrimp, veggie, etc.

You be the judge on this one. Mix up your sources AND types the best you can until you hit 5. Heck, keep going if you want. The more, the better. Again, the idea is to avoid putting all your "eggs" in one basket.......thereby avoiding a dud brand/mix.

I think you'll be fine going forward. Don't sweat it too much.

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