Mel's Mix at Lowes and Home Depot

I just finished reworking one of my 2x12 beds today. It is about 20 inches deep at the front and 16 inches deep at the back. When I built that bed back in March I filled it up with MM. It took a bunch to fill it up and was very expensive. It also settled quite a bit. Today, I dug all the MM out and filled the bottom 10 inches with straight compost. The compost I used comes from the city's yard waste program. On the first sat of each month, residents can pick up 3 free bags, so I used that stuff. In the past it I think it has been a little undercooked, so it is the perfect use for it. Now my beds are full again (they had dropped by about 6-8 inches below the top of the box) and I had a bit of extra MM to build up another box that settled as well.

I bought Mel's Mix from my local nursery. They were selling it for $12.97 a bag and I negotiated a price of $9.50 a bag. They would do that for 50 bags but I ended up buying 100 bags to fill my two new beds. They are 4'x32' and 9 inches deep. I had eight bags left over to use after settling and for seedlings.

I don't live that far from San Tan Valley. What was the name of the nursery?

grandpashorts
Looks like you joined us six months ago and have been lurking about and not commenting or asking questions. :tsk:
Sounds like you are also quite ambitious, having two 4 by 32 ft beds Now that you have used the 32 ft long beds, how do you like that size as far as convenience and ease of use?
Again, Welcome and please let us know how your garden is growing.

The name of the nursery is Desert Horizon Nursery on South Ellsworth road about a mile south of Pecos. You should ask for one of the owners and tell them that I referred you. They should do the same deal.

Garden Time 2cuft bag...11.98 here in Iowa

check out
Gro-Well Western Organics
(602) 269-5784
2807 S 27th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85009

I hear they are the ones to contact for compost. We are going on Wed to check out what is called premium potting mix to see if that might be some good compost fo our new boxes and trees.

Last I heard, it was-

70.00 for 2.5 cubic yards of the premium potting mix from Wester Organics

Hmm I am going to have to checkout my stores to see if they carry it and what the cost will be

Stringbean - contact this guy in Gilbert - you can find his ad on Craigslist and I've bought a couple truck-fulls already.:

Real Compost- not driedout manure (Gilbert)



We have the best compost your going to find in this area. This is 1 yr
old + compost that will be wonderful in the garden, over exsisting
grass, planting trees, and as a amendment to the soil to break up the
clay.

Truck load available minimum (3) ton to max (5) per delivery.
$25.00 per ton + Delivery.
Pick up Small $40.00, Big Pick up $50.00.
Pick up yourself ; Sat and Sun only.
602-692-8320

I called Home Depot and I can have it shipped fior more then the product costs! There is no place that I can find that sells it. Does anybody know of anywhere in the Southern california area that actually sells it where I can pick it up and not have to pay for shipping?

Welcome to the forum.

Truly the most economical and sure fired way to get quality Mel's mix is to find the sphagnum, vermiculite or perlite and 5 different sources of compost and make your own mix. Cutting corners on the mix will indeed result in lower quality plants and veggies from your garden.

Lowes in Fresno, CA carried it last summer (2013).

You'd probably be better off making your own mix. Read some of the past posts for more info. Good luck on whatever you decide

In CA Home Depot does not carry it. Only Lowes. Do a search on the Lowes site for stores in your area that carry Garden Time 32 Quart Potting Soil (item#: 383743). If they do not have it you may be able to special order and pick it up there.

sanderson wrote:Lowes in Fresno, CA carried it last summer (2013).

I was just at the Clovis store today and they had a ton of it for $7.63 per bag.

Wish we could get it up here in Wyoming

$7.63?? I think that is a good price??? I wonder what it looks like?

Sanderson it was about $1 off the regular price and said it was clearanced. I picked up 7 bags (thank you gift card!!) because my 5yo all of a sudden became desperate for a garden of her own (she can't just use mine??) and I have a few of those lifetime 4x4 raised bed gardens from Costco in my shed. The last time I bought garden time soil (about 2 years ago at a lowes in the bay area) it had too much woody material in it and that bed didn't perform very well. This mix looks MUCH better. I can't attest to how it performs yet and I do intend to add a bunch of compost just in case.

You have beds and haven't been using them??? Boy, no matter how many beds and containers I get, it never feels like even half enough.

Based on some sfg forum members past experience, I strongly suggest adding at least 2 bags of compost to a 4x4 bed before planting if the premade Mel's mix is being used.

Shamefully I do have some beds I haven't filled yet. My biggest issue is enough compost for the 8 beds already have. But I do plan to add lots of compost to the new bed. I have a good pile going and I hope it will be mostly ready when we are doing our spring planting.

For those who live out away from cities.
Check local farm supply shops for vermiculite, there are many in my area.
I found one 15 miles away that orders me 4cubic foot bags at $21.00 per bag

For that matter even folk who live in cities, these small farm suppliers are happy to order for your needs.

camprn wrote:Based on some sfg forum members past experience, I strongly suggest adding at least 2 bags of compost to a 4x4 bed before planting if the premade Mel's mix is being used.

yep. I'd add LOTS to it. Keep us updated how you do, I'd be interested.

First post, but I have some info.

I started reading this forum about a week ago, then the next day I received an email from Home Depot telling me they had Mels Mix in 1.5 cu ft bags.

I went to HD on Friday, and there I was taken care of by a very nice young man named Gabriel, he went way above and beyond.  We looked for nearly half an hour for the mix and couldn't find it anywhere.

Then I went out to the car to get my Kindle to show him the add/email I had received, he looked it up on the store computer (we were looking for the wrong name on the product) and we found the 111 bags the store told me they had.

I bought six bags at around $8.74 (can't remember exactly).  Six bags at 1.5 cu ft equals 9 cu ft, enough to fill one 4" X 4" X 6" plus a little to add when it settles after watering.

If any of you live in the Kingman area, or east of there, when you get to the store, just go to the garden area and ask for Gabriel, and tell him I said "Hi." 

If you live closer to Bullhead City, I would call their store and see if they have it.

I bought all the wood I need for three 4' X 4' gardens, but I have to wait until this weekend (in the rain, I HOPE) to build my gardens.  I also spent a lot of time and money chasing down the ingredients to mix my own MM, so this weekend is going to be a very busy one for me, and yeah, I really  HOPE IT RAINS.

Skip

Congrats Skip and welcome to the SFG Forum. I urge you to add at least one bag of compost o your Store bought Mel's mix. Some folks have found that the pre made mix is a little light on the compost.