Re: Where To Purchase Mels Mix?

**donnainzone5** 7/26/2013, 11:33 am

There is a blog post, "Fix Something Today," that details the experience--and lab test results--of one gardener with this product. It is at the top of the Google listing.

Lindypin 7/26/2013, 5:28 pm

I'm really glad that donnainzone10 suggested I check reviews on the web, forget Bumper Crop. But, this morning I was in Lowe's and they have a complete premix, it's called GARDEN TIME PHALAENOPSIS MIX SOIL and states right on the bag that this is for SQUARE FOOT GARDENING. Does anyone have any experence with this product? And what does PHALAENOPSIS mean? Thank You.

**donnainzone5** 7/26/2013, 5:45 pm

It's a type of orchid, which I think usually are grown primarily in peat or coir.

**sanderson** 7/26/2013, 9:00 pm

Lindypin,

I just Googled GARDEN TIME PHALAENOPSIS MIX and found this topic from our Forum!

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t12964-pre-made-mels-mix

Whenever I am at Lowes, I am tempted to buy a bag of ready-made Mel's Mix just to see what it looks like. My attempt at making "MM": peat moss, perlite/vermiculite and Kellogg's red-striped bag of garden soil ended up being good enough to grow but not good enough to keep growing and flourish. Sometimes a Newbie is just too excited to get going that they will buy second best. Embarassed

I had to buy kelp meal and worm castings off eBay, mix with Starbucks coffee grounds and Lowes Cow Manure (100% composted cow manure) to help amend my pea-poor mix. Now I am making my own compost.

**sanderson** 7/26/2013, 9:07 pm

Post Script: I screened Lowes' bagged "100% composted cow manure" through a 1/4 inch screen box. Yes, it was cow manure, sometimes in recognizable clumps, but the screening revealed rocks and large chunks of wood. Didn't know cows ate rocks and solid wood???

Bottom line, a bagged product is only as good as the subcontracted company makes it.

**donnainzone5** 7/26/2013, 9:37 pm

I've been lucky here in Central Oregon with the bagged composts I've used. Although occasionally there are smallish pieces of wood, I've been able to pick them out.

My advice: Stay away from K's "red-striped" compost and most of its other products. Independent nurseries sometimes carry better products. I just learned that there are some apparently good planting composts available in Portland, OR, so on my next trip, I'll investigate.

P.S. My own compost operation is insufficient to provide the 16 cubic feet I'll need each time I re-plant.... Both to replenish and level my squares. So, in addition to having just purchased an updated "traditional" compost bin, I'm constantly on the lookout for additional compost sources.

boffer 7/26/2013, 11:02 pm

sanderson wrote:...Yes, it was cow manure, sometimes in recognizable clumps, but the screening revealed rocks and large chunks of wood. Didn't know cows ate rocks and solid wood???...

If the manure was picked up off the ground rather than off concrete, it would be common to have rocks and sticks in the manure. The horse manure that I get from my neighbor is picked up off the ground with a pitch fork and tossed in piles. Then the piles are picked up with the bucket on a tractor. Lots of drain field size rocks and sticks to screen out.

I found a horse shoe in a bag of commercial manure a couple years ago-it didn't compost too well! I figured it was one way to get a little extra iron in my mix!

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