Re: mods to Mel's mix on the Front Range?

Marc Iverson 11/3/2013, 11:08 pm

CarolynBG wrote:(As it is, I will have 88 sq ft instead of 64, and now I have to figure out what more I will grow!!)

This year I planted 20 tomato plants. Critters got all the fruit of the entire first third of the season. Good thing I didn't plant only 3! Just kidding. When infestation is that bad, it probably doesn't make a difference if you plant 3 or 300. I got zero regardless until well into mid-summer.

What I'm getting at is that it's hard to have too much of anything unless everything goes swimmingly for you. Your "extra" squares are only extra if everything goes great. So you might want to plant them with things you really love and would really miss having this summer if anything were to go wrong. Having too much of what you like is nowhere near the disappointment of having little or none of it. In fact, it's often not disappointing at all!

Marc Iverson 11/3/2013, 11:10 pm

southern gardener wrote:carolynbg...we were just at Home Depot. They have a product called "EcoScraps". I haven't used it, but it's supposed to be 100% compost from all plant based items. They have a website if you wanna check it out. it was $5.97 per cf, which is kind of pricey, but it sounds like a good source. Good luck.

I used it in a container, and my tomato un-thrived.

**walshevak** 11/4/2013, 1:01 am

Marc Iverson wrote:
southern gardener wrote:carolynbg...we were just at Home Depot. They have a product called "EcoScraps". I haven't used it, but it's supposed to be 100% compost from all plant based items. They have a website if you wanna check it out. it was $5.97 per cf, which is kind of pricey, but it sounds like a good source. Good luck.
I used it in a container, and my tomato un-thrived.

Marc. What did your mix it with or did you use it alone? I know Mel says only make Manure 1/5 of your compost, but I have had more luck making manure 1/2 or more when mixing with the commercial all veggie or wood products composts. My basic 3 in commercial composts are cow, hen and mushroom. I go heavy with them and add in anything else I can find, just watching the peat in case I need to reduce the amount of peat in my final mix. I had 2 good years with that while waiting for my homemade to cook. Even now, I add my basic 3 to my homemade.

Kay[/quote]

Marc Iverson 11/4/2013, 11:36 pm

Kay, I used it straight, in a self-watering 5-gallon bucket. It's not MM, but I just wanted to test it by itself.

I agree with you that the ability to keep the rich manure composts low really depends on the quality of the rest of your composts. Almost all the composts I've bought this and last year have been too wood-heavy to rely on. I got around it reasonably well by using strong helpings of compost tea, but that's only a temporary measure that doesn't really change the soil long-term.

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