Whew! Two beds filled

I finally got two of my SFG beds filled with MM. Right now they filled to the top. I watered them lightly. Will the MM settle somewhat and need more MM?

Mine did settle last year. I will have to top them off this year. But I didn't last year and everything produced very well.

clb, Congratulations on filling two boxes!

When you watered your MM lightly after filling the box, did you check to see if the MM was damp all the way through? The concern I have is if you just water the MM lightly once, right after you have filled the box, you may have dry areas in your mix, which means your plants may not get the moisture they need.

In Chapter 5, Page 105, of the ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING book, Mels suggests that you water in each layer as you fill the box. When you fill your next beds, try putting in about 2 inches of MM, water it in, then another 2 inches of MM, water again, and your final 2 or maybe 3 inches of MM with a final watering. If you water it in as you go, you will see how much MM you actually have in the box and your MM will be completely rehydrated and you won't have dry pockets in the mix.

I just filled a 4 ft X 4 ft X 8 inch deep box, and because I wanted to know how much water it needed to rehydrate right from the beginning, I actually used a 2 1/2 gallon watering can and sprinkled each layer as I filled the box. I ended up using a total of 10 watering cans or 25 Gallons. Because this was a slow process, it allowed the MM to soak up the water as I went and I did not have a problem with water shedding off the peat moss. It also means I actually used more than 8 inches of dry MM in order to keep the box filled almost to the top. But, now I do not anticipate any further settling. I will need to add compost as I harvest, but don't plan to need more MM for this box.

Good idea furbals mom! I'll do that with my next two bags.

They will definitely settle. My 4x4 x 8in settle about an inch even with the watering in layers. My first bed 2x12x14in I did not water until the end and it settled like 4 - 5 inches.