Help Needed On My Compost Mix

Living on Long Island, NY finding one source for compost mixes has been a chore at best. Today I was able to score a few:

1- Dehydrated Cow Manure
2- Forest Compost
3- Mushroom
4- Lobster with Peet

Now is where the help is needed. I found a shrimp compost in stock that I can get my hands on, my question is will it be ok to mix the lobster and the shrimp together (too much sea food)?

Also I have found Worm castings 20lb for $29.99 and from another source 8qts for $20, should I replace the shrimp with the worm or use both?

I am hoping to not waste my money before mixing all of these together to not have good results.

BTW I will mix the Vermiculite and peet moss in as well.

Thanks
Rob

Sounds like this is the first time for you and you are purchasing your own compost or do not have room to make your own. I have the same problem finding the different composts for a "blend" mix to put in my new gardens this fall. Lowes and Home Depot have a limited selection of compost so I will continue to look around but you seem to have a good variety already. I have read great reviews on worm casing so perhaps add that in lieu of one of the fish composts. But I am new at this as well so listen to others on this board.



There will be a learning curve but the helpfull people on this site can give you some infinite wisdom on issues:study:

Rob

Maybe you can get your hands on leaves, spent plants, and grass? Btw I'm a transplanted Long Island girl, Suffolk County, sure do miss the ocean out here in central Ohio!

I would consider the shrimp compost a 5th and final compost to make your initial Mel's mix but if there are any horse stables or a dairy in the area, maybe you can get some composted manure or stable litter there and add it to the mix.

Floyd, it is my first attempt at using Mels Mix. I am buying and mixing my own compost instead of making it because I do not have the room to make the amount I need. I went to 8 different locations and called every nursery in the Nassau County yellow pages to see what compost they had in stock.

I just dont want to mess it up with such a huge cost to the mix.

Thanks
Rob

llama momma wrote:Rob

Maybe you can get your hands on leaves, spent plants, and grass? Btw I'm a transplanted Long Island girl, Suffolk County, sure do miss the ocean out here in central Ohio!

I do have a forest compost in the mix so hopefully that will help.

As for the ocean, to me there is not anything more beautiful than watching the sun set on the ocean.

Thanks
Rob

camprn wrote:I would consider the shrimp compost a 5th and final compost to make your initial Mel's mix but if there are any horse stables or a dairy in the area, maybe you can get some composted manure or stable litter there and add it to the mix.

I called around for a horse stable and found one about 1 hour from me that is willing to give it to me for free. So that was a homerun, thanks for that one. They will not be able to have me come to get it for a week or two because of their schedule but it will be good for my next batch of boxes I am building. So for now I will probablly go with the batch I am working on.

I will have the mix made tomorrow and my winter plants will be in before the day is over.

I will post my final mix here once I have it all done. My 14 yo daughter is excited to help me mix it so that will be a few hours of Daddy time for us, just icing on the cake!

Thanks
Rob

OK so I got my first box complete, all the soil is mixed in and there are plants in it as well.

I wound up with 1 box made of 2x6 pressure treated lumber and I lined the insides with plastic to stop the chemicals from leaching into the soil.

As for the mix I went with:
1/3 Vermiculite
1/3 Peat
and for compost:
Mushroom
Leaf & Forest
Cow
Shrimp
Lobster
Worm castings

Hopefully it will work out.

Thanks for the help
Rob

I too live on LI (south Nassau - epitome of suburbia) and have been banging my head against a wall looking for compost & coarse vermiculite sources. I have visited many garden centers and called almost every one of them on LI (including LI Compost) as well, explaining SFG to them and I usually get a funny look from the owner/professional, especially in regards to the coarse vermiculite. I am my wits-end looking for material;

I have built (3) 4' x 12' x 12" beds, which, by my calculations is looking like ~6 sq yds of material. I am trying to get as close to the suggested 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 mixture as possible, but my search for varieties of compost & coarse vermiculite has turned-up fruitless.

Rob, do you have sources in the Nassau county area you could share?

I did manage to find one nursery that would deliver compost, but the owner did not know what was in it, what type, etc. So, I am thinking maybe get 2 sq yds of that, mix it with something from home depot (fishing for suggestions on brands of bagged compost at box stores), vermiculite (hoping I will find a source soon - probably home depot insulation aisle) and I can get peat from that nursery as well (debating on using Beat's Peat or ummm Peat's Beat instead of regular peat - any suggestions/recommendations on Beat's Peat?)

I realize I have started large on my first go (so don't yell at me), but I am looking to get the soil mixed and in the boxes so I can install the drip irrigation system and cover it for the winter. Any help/suggestions and especially sources for material would be helpful as I don't know what to do at this point - my project has started and sitting there waiting to be completed for the winter.

here is a link to some vermiculite, it looks like they can ship it? the price sounds reasonable, but I don't know how much the shipping would be. I have no affiliation to these people...just trying to help
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/vermiculite-4-cubic-foot-bag/soil-growing-medium

Is there an Agway near you. According to the forum database, Agway carries vermiculite. There are a number of listings for NY, but I'm not sure whether any are near LI. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/Vermiculite-Entry-Form-h1.htm


Kay

I finally found course vermiculite at my local building supply house, not a big box store. It was in their insulation storage warehouse. Before I could find the vermiculite I used perlite, which is perfectly acceptable. I ended up getting some composted manures from a dairy and a horse stable. Do you have any of those in your area?

camprn, so have you used both vermiculite and perlite? Just out of curiosity, what are your opinions, plus and minus wise on each?

I think I may need to amend the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 mixture... and seeing how the vermiculite is expensive and comes in 2 cu ft, or 4 cu ft bags, I do not think I can afford 2 cu yds of this stuff (I am looking at ~6 cu yds of total material to fill my beds)..... Like I posted previously, I found a nursery near me that can deliver compost (of which they do not know what type it is) and the peat (still considering the Beat's Peat - any recommendations on this?).

Any suggestions on a mixture here, given my situation?

Should I go for 4 or 5 cu yds of the unknown compost, mixed with a couple bags of the 4 cu ft bags of vermiculite and have 2 cu yds of peat delivered with the compost and purchase a variety of other bagged compost types to mix-in?? I'm thinking that being more compost-heavy, may be the "easier" way to go. I am going under the assumption that the soil is one of the most import factors for a successful garden, so I do not want to "skimp" on this, but at the same time, I am overwhelmed with this task of garnering all this my material in my area.

My beds consist of (3) 4' x 12' x 12" (I may do a little double-digging and replace the sod I already dug-up and place back in the beds face-down, so that 12" may be a little deeper). So, 144 sq feet at approx. 12"-16" deep.

Sorry for the lengthy post (again) and I appreciate all the feedback in this forum

nKedrOoStEr wrote:camprn, so have you used both vermiculite and perlite? Just out of curiosity, what are your opinions, plus and minus wise on each?

I like both and I'm not too picky. The perlite does float a bit in brand new Mel's Mix, but adding more compost after harvesting, I found it was not really a problem and kept it's place in the mix.

Dondi, you could also look at buying a bale of soil less growing mix like BM1 or BM8, these have approximately the desired amounts of peat and perlite of vermiculite already mixed together. Then add your 5 way compost mixture. This is what I did for my first 2 boxes when I set up the SFG, because I was having such a hard time finding the ingredients as Mel described.

camprn wrote:Dondi, you could also look at buying a bale of soil less growing mix like BM1 or BM8, these have approximately the desired amounts of peat and perlite of vermiculite already mixed together. Then add your 5 way compost mixture. This is what I did for my first 2 boxes when I set up the SFG, because I was having such a hard time finding the ingredients as Mel described.

Thanks camprn.... I did some investigation on the BM1 & BM8 mixes and traced them back to the Berger Peat Moss site.... went to the page of the sales representatives in my area and had a conversation with my area sales rep (they deal with commercial & wholesale, not residential consumers) who then referred me to a place waaaaaaaayyyy out on the island that is a distributor of their products. I called this place (greenislanddistributors.com) and AMAZINGLY they: 1) have heard of SFG, 2) Have ALL the components I need and 3) they DELIVER!!!!! I should be receiving a delivery on Dec 2nd. Thanks again camprn.

And for those of you on LI, green island distributors in Riverhead has everything you need... speak to Charlie!!

FYI - the following is what is being delivered:
(6) Peat Moss 3.8 cu. ft 30/pallet
(9) #2A Ex Hort Vermiculite 18lbs, 36/pallet
(12) Biomax Peat-Seaweed Compost 32 qt, 60/pallet
(12) Biomax Shrimp compost 32 qt, 60/pallet
(3) Worm castings 40lb 50/pallet

Thanks again for this forum, I can now continue my garden project!!