how many bags of compost

**walshevak** 1/3/2011, 12:18 am

how many 40 lb bags of compost do I need for 20 cu ft of mixed compost?

Kay

**Furbalsmom** 1/3/2011, 12:37 am

Kay, does the bag give you any dry measurements, such as cubic feet, liters etc?

If not, Mel's Book suggests that you estimate the volume by comparing the 40 lb bag to a similar size bag that does indicate volume. You can also meaure the bag and then trying to calculate cubic feet.
There are 1728 cubic inches in one cubic foot

example: 12 X 24 X 6 inch bag would be one cubic foot.

boffer 1/3/2011, 12:45 am

Hi,

Have you heard of TMI? TMI=Too Much Information.

Your question is NEI. Not Enough Information. Alright, I just made up NEI!

Weight of a product is no indication of it's volume. I realize some compost is sold by weight, but it's really an irrelevant number when it comes to making MM. MM is measured by volume.

To help get you close with your initial shopping, 40 lbs. of compost will be approximately 1 cf +/- a lot.

20 cf of mixed compost? If you mean 5 types of compost mixed together as Mel suggests, then you would have 4 cf of each type. If you mixed 20 cf of mixed compost with the same amount of vermiculite and peat moss, you would have enough MM to fill six 4x4 boxes at 10 cf each.

**walshevak** 1/3/2011, 12:56 am

boffer wrote:Hi,

Have you heard of TMI? TMI=Too Much Information.

Your question is NEI. Not Enough Information. Alright, I just made up NEI!

Weight of a product is no indication of it's volume. I realize some compost is sold by weight, but it's really an irrelevant number when it comes to making MM. MM is measured by volume.

To help get you close with your initial shopping, 40 lbs. will be approximately 1 cf +/- a lot.

20 cf of mixed compost? If you mean 5 types of compost mixed together as Mel suggests, then you would have 4 cf of each type. If you mixed 20 cf of mixed compost with the same amount of vermiculite and peat moss, you would have enough MM to fill six 4x4 boxes at 10 cf each.

Thanks boffer. That is what I guessed but didn't trust my estimation of the volume of 40 lb bags. Six 4x4 boxes is exactly what I'm aiming for, down from five 8x8 plots created BEFORE I learned about SF gardens.

Kay

boffer 1/3/2011, 1:17 am

I guessed right from your other post!

I know it's a lot of work, but I would put a water barrier (plastic with a few drain holes) under your boxes to slow down the water reaching the sand underneath. Most of my boxes are tabletops with only weed cloth on the bottom. That gives me a perspective to see that water can run through MM in a heartbeat if the MM is not saturated. The watering technique and schedule that works for me: slow and frequent.

Happy Gardening

**walshevak** 1/3/2011, 1:31 am

boffer wrote: I guessed right from your other post!

I know it's a lot of work, but I would put a water barrier (plastic with a few drain holes) under your boxes to slow down the water reaching the sand underneath. Most of my boxes are tabletops with only weed cloth on the bottom. That gives me a perspective to see that water can run through MM in a heartbeat if the MM is not saturated. The watering technique and schedule that works for me: slow and frequent.

Happy Gardening

You found me out. I have several threads going because I'm a newbie at SFG. I direct the gardens at my son's house and I'm planning tabletops for my house. He can get down on the ground. If I get down, it ain't pretty watching me try to get back up. Laughing

I am really enjoying all the friendly advice available on these forums.

Kay

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