Critique my Compost

I am determined to get my Mels Mix right! I was only able to find vermiculite in a medium grade. Hopefully this will be ok. I *think I have the appropriate composts but I want to make sure before I start mixing so I am just looking for some input. Thanks!

Compost 1 - Cow Manure (it is pure manure - this is hard to find in a bag around here for some reason)
Compost 2 - Chicken Manure (this is granulated, is that normal??? http://www.acti-sol.ca/Multipurpose-Fertilizer ) Pretty sure I didn't link that properly, haven't figured that out yet.
Compost 3 - Sea Soil. It is a fish and forest compost http://www.seasoil.com/original-sea-soil.html ) I bought this at a hydroponic store.
Compost 4 - Horse Manure from a farm
Compost 5 - City Compost, yard waste compost.

I can also buy large bags of worm castings from the hydroponic store but they were close to 30 bucks a bag. I will spend it if some of my other composts are lacking. None are mixed with peat moss, I made double and triple sure.

Thanks for you opinions!

Sounds like a good blend except for the city yard waste compost, I would recommend skipping that one. I did the same thing then found out that sooo many people spray their lawns and the herbacides stay their even after composted. Also many city composts are not fully composted and contain a lot of wood chunks!

I hear the sea compost is really good stuff, I wish I could get my hands on some of that!

Also the worm casting are great and because they are so expensive you can make them go further by making worm casting tea to water with

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Worm-Castings-Tea

I'm still a novice but I wish I'd had your mix last year!

The only caution some might give is that city compost is a bit of a dice roll. I think the main concern is that some folks may be using herbicides on their lawns and then those clippings are being composted. Some folks swear by it and some folks wouldn't use it. Do you know anyone using the city compost?

Oh, since you made sure your compost doesn't have peat, make sure to put in some fluffed peat for a nice fluffy mix...

Oh and +1 to "I wish I could get that seaweed or lobster compost in my area..."

Thanks for the quick replies! Pesticides have been banned in my city for a few years so that maybe isn't as much of a concern for me?? I don't personally know anyone that uses it. I guess I will splurge on a big bag of the worm castings and bump up on the horse since I am splitting a truck load with my neighbor anyways.

I live in central ontario so I was surprised to find a fish compost - maybe check your local hydroponic store? Thats where I found mine.

Granulated Chicken Manure is normal?? I don't know what I expected it to look like! LOL

Also my peat moss is in 1.3 cubic foot compressed bales. Any idea what this equals in cubic feet once its fluffed? It says it covers 24 sq ft. at 1 inch thick. So much to know!!

Ok - first off - the question is do people in your city use HERBicides? This would be like RoundUp or WeednFeed type products designed to kill off weeds and leave the grass growing or designed to kill vegetation on sidewalks, driveways, etc. Not sure if that's what you meant was banned?

Yup on the chicken "pelleted" manure - it looks like little gravel but when you mix it and wet it, it'll blend right in your mix just fine.

Lastly, baled peat will fluff out to about double it's volume per the folks here on the forum.

So your question got me thinking and on further investigation I found out that it is a province wide ban on cosmetic use of pesticide, herbicide and insecticide on residential and city property. I know it is still available to people who use it to kill poison ivy and things like that. I think you have convinced me to skip the city compost, as you can never be too sure! Thanks again!

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:I'm still a novice but I wish I'd had your mix last year!

The only caution some might give is that city compost is a bit of a dice roll. I think the main concern is that some folks may be using herbicides on their lawns and then those clippings are being composted. Some folks swear by it and some folks wouldn't use it. Do you know anyone using the city compost?

Oh, since you made sure your compost doesn't have peat, make sure to put in some fluffed peat for a nice fluffy mix...

Oh and +1 to "I wish I could get that seaweed or lobster compost in my area..."

My town offers two year old compost for free every year and I use it. It's black gold as far as I'm concerned. After composting for two years, I really doubt there's any issues. However, I do have to clean it for rocks, sticks, pine cones that haven't composed. I do mix it with several other types of compost to give it a boost and to balance it out.

Matter of fact I grabbed some today and cleaned it.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f43/17/43/37/18/photo11.jpg


Bill

If you are in doubt...try planting an extra seedling in it and see what happens...