Recommended store bought compost - Photos of composts

My take:  Four good composts are better than 5 junk products.  

I thought I would 'bump' this thread for our new members.

I read on this thread that a nursery was making their form of Mel's Mix from 1 part peat moss, 1 part vermiculite, and 2 parts compost, saying that you will eventually end up with that ratio anyway.  I don't believe that is true.  I have found that the "settling" in my beds is never more than 1/3 the depth of my Mel's Mix.  To me, that confirms that the peat moss and vermiculite is remaining, but the 1/3 compost used in the original mix is consumed.  I always add enough compost to bring my squares back to their original height, and mix that well all the way to the bottom so that I have reconstituted the original ratio of Mel's Mix.  I started out using a blended compost, but now have my own compost that is all vegetable matter (90% leaves and grass, 10% kitchen waste.) I also do vermicomposting on a limited scale and add that into my compost mix before replenishing my SFG.

Doc, you are correct. The nursery is not considering that the extra part of compost will also eventually be used up. So, Starting with 1:1:1 ration and adding more compost as needed to restore original height keeps things simple and the Mix nutritious.

No farm manure in the compost?

No, I no longer use any farm manure in my compost.  I had my blended compost, which did contain farm manure, and my homemade compost both tested.  My homemade compost had a higher % of N and a lower % of P compared to the blended compost.  Since P is so abundant and too high already in my SFG, I decided to go with just the homemade compost.  Interesting what you can learn when you do testing.

1Round two......
I am using the harvest supreme as the backbone due to the multiple ingredients

 it has. As this includes 15% chicken manure. Next is the composted Steer, mushroom comp, then a local compost of lawn and yard stuffs and a more regional brand, and last is the worm poop. Mixed Yesterday.....batch looks good...back a little tired after 8 cu/ft made.

Wow, you found 6 different products. Worm castings are probably the most expensive, but that's okay because castings are supposed to be used as no more than 10% of the compost products. If I found these products I would just open all 6 bags and mix in a pile. Then use your measuring unit (5-gallon bucket, etc.) to mix one of blended compost, one of large vermiculite and one of FLUFFED peat most.

sanderson wrote:Worm castings are probably the most expensive, but that's okay because castings are supposed to be used as no more than 10% of the compost products.   

What happens if you use more than 10%?

after reading about worm castings, they claim that they will not burn plants.  Would using too much castings have an effect on flavor of vegetable?

Should have waited for a response. I'm still learning (even though it feels like the hard way)......mixed 30 gals worth of compost mix and keeping it in a 30 gall bin for now. I have 3 cu/ft of harvest supreme, 1/2 cu/ft of the two compost bags, mushroom and steer compost and 1 gal. of worm castings. That would make another 5 cu/ft of compost.....would you say that that still would make a solid blend of compost?

Second, is it harmful to the compost in the bin and/or worm if i toss a few of them into the compost I'm not ready to mix yet? The worms are all collecting under my bins chowing on what was spilled on the aggregate slab I have them stored on?

Last, I added photos...but I do not see them.

Nikko, That's just what is says. Now, with my mature beds and worm tube hotels, I definitely have more than 10%. We visited an organic farm that only uses worm castings on the rows of dirt. Don't worry if you have more than 10%.

Bickley, Worms need moisture so unless you have holes drilled in the bottom and keep the compost mix moist, it may be better to just wait until you have built the beds. Even lining the bottom and sides of the bed with commercial grade weed fabric, the ground worms will find their way in. You can also toss 2 in each bed and see how many babies they make.

I am always nervous when I see the words "soil amendment" because "soil amendments usually contains wood fines that haven't finished breaking down. That's why I thought if the 6 bags mixed together it would make a good mixed compost. Just to let you know, I started ANSFG with Kellogg's soil amendment. Hey, it had a whole bunch of good ingredients, right? Except it had a lot of wood!

sanderson wrote:Even lining the bottom and sides of the bed with commercial grade weed fabric, the ground worms will find their way in.  

This amazes me.  I am putting my raised beds in what used to be a rock mulch "garden".  Maybe a decade or so ago a previous owner of my house put weed cloth down and several inches of river rock.  I have placed some beds on top of the rock and have been digging out as many rocks as I can. About a foot down, I have finally reached the old weed cloth.  I want as many rocks as possible out of there so they don't mix in with my super expensive MM.

I know that 6" of MM is all that is needed but I'm young enough to dig deeper and build a soil that will be prolific for a very long time. 

I was thinking of putting down fresh weed cloth to keep the remaining river rocks out of the MM but was scared I would be keeping the worms out.  Glad to hear that those ground ninjas will find a way in....hey, if they can find their way out of a vermicomposter, then they can find their way in a garden. 

They definitely will get in! We had newspaper sandwiched between 2 layers of ground cloth & they managed. :-) (insert happy dance emoticon here)

Nikko, If you have reached the old weed fabric, I would stop digging. Deeper MM does not equate better results. Depending on the native dirt, one can create a soggy pit if there is higher ground. Line the beds with commercial weed fabric, running it up the sides also. Can you post photos of what you are doing?

="sanderson"]Nikko, If you have reached the old weed fabric, I would stop digging.  Deeper MM does not equate better results.  Depending on the native dirt, one can create a soggy pit if there is higher ground.  Line the beds with commercial weed fabric, running it up the sides also.  Can you post photos of what you are doing?[/quote]







Not meaning to hijack the thread....I dug each box about 6-12” below their base.  Now that I know worms have ninja powers and can make it past weed cloth, I’m not digging deeper. The plan is to fill back in the boxes with local compost (leaf origin I believe). The 4x4’ boxes and the 4X12’ box will have about 8 inches of MM. The 6x6’ Keystone box will be deeper at about 12” of MM. that box is 2’ high

That snow.....makes me sad

The photos really help. Thank you. I was worried you might have created water ponds digging so deep but I think you will have good drainage. Line with Commercial weed fabric, over-lapping sections, bringing up the side. Fill with clean washed sand instead of leaf compost. Why? Because in time the leaf compost will be consumed. Then top with Mel's Mix. Wella!! You are ready to plant.

I can take care of the hijacking. What is your original post? I'll move the conversations over to it.

And look at the snow this way: The water is getting the ground ready for seedlings... Nice & moist!

Nikko wrote:

sanderson wrote:Worm castings are probably the most expensive, but that's okay because castings are supposed to be used as no more than 10% of the compost products.   

What happens if you use more than 10%?

after reading about worm castings, they claim that they will not burn plants.  Would using too much castings have an effect on flavor of vegetable?

Worm castings by itself does not feed plant roots. The castings supply food for bacteria in the mix. Bacteria process this then distribute it into the various sections of the rhizosphere ( root tips )
Can you just imagine 2 billion bacteria in one teaspoon of compost ?

jimmy cee wrote:
Can you just imagine 2 billion bacteria in one teaspoon of compost ?

I just recently read "Teaming with Microbes", and was fascinated with it!  I have always worked to support a lot of microbes in my gardens, but this provided a lot of new insight.

Can I just imagine 2 billion microbes in a teaspoonful of compost? Yep, I have seen their work.  Yesterday I top dressed the tomatoes and bush beans with fresh compost. Last evening I went out to check to see if there were tomatoes to pick, and there were night crawlers everywhere collecting that compost to pull it into the ground. I love it!

OhioGardener wrote:

jimmy cee wrote:
Can you just imagine 2 billion bacteria in one teaspoon of compost ?

I just recently read "Teaming with Microbes", and was fascinated with it!  I have always worked to support a lot of microbes in my gardens, but this provided a lot of new insight.

Can I just imagine 2 billion microbes in a teaspoonful of compost? Yep, I have seen their work.  Yesterday I top dressed the tomatoes and bush beans with fresh compost. Last evening I went out to check to see if there were tomatoes to pick, and there were night crawlers everywhere collecting that compost to pull it into the ground. I love it!

That two billion turns into 4 billion in compost tea..

I hate to sound really dumb here (I’m brand new to square foot gardening, any my only other garden was two Earth Boxes last year), but is manure and compost the same thing?  How about potting soil?  I keep trying to find good compost, but very few places having anything labeled as “compost.”
 
Thanks for all your help!

Not a dumb question, mrcmb99, as there is a lot of confusion about this, mostly caused by labeling of such products.  There is raw manure (as, fresh from the farm); there is composted manure (such as Black Kow Composted Cow Manure); there are bags of "compost" of various and sundry products such as wood chips, "biosolids" (sewage sludge), etc.; and there are more varieties of "potting soil" then can be listed.  It is essential to read the ingredients on the bags being sold as compost or potting soil. If a bag of "compost" says it contains Biosolids, avoid it completely - you do not want the heavy metals, drugs, etc., in your soil. Bags labeled as "potting soil" or "potting mix" usually are nothing more than peat or coir with composted wood products.

For Mel's Mix, you will want actual compost to blend with coarse Vermiculite and either Peat or Coir.  Check local nurseries or top soil places for locally made compost. If there is none, big box stores usually carry a variety of bagged compost, such as Timberline Cow Manure and Compost, or Dr. Earth All Natural Compost.

Hi, Mr. C Not a dumb question at all. Fresh manure is from the animal. Composted manure is after the microbes, heat and time have finished with it.

I'm adding these two photos to this thread (with permission from the 2 new SFG gardeners that assembled their products).

MrCMB, you will find that at least on this forum, there is no such thing as stupid question. We have the best people on here.
I have been doing SFG on and off for a few years and I struggle with the compost mix too. That is easily the hardest part of the process, at least until you start making your own (so they tell me). If you cannot find 5 different sources, that is ok. Just do the best you can. The peat and vermiculite with 3 types of compost will grow quite a bit quite successfully.

Hopefully someone in your area (Michigan) can chime in with where they get theirs. I know the big box store in NC have mushroom, cow and chicken manure. I have found some horse manure for free on craigslist.

My only suggestion with the store bought stuff is to sift it first. I have found sticks, rocks and even cigarette butts in the bags I've sifted.

Also, thanks Sanderson for the pics. who knew there was such a thing as lobster compost

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  This really helps!!!