In this episode, I will explain why you should start with compost and why bagged soil isn’t a good solution for starting a garden unless you have no other option.
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i think it's ok to start with box store bagged compost but i think you've done the community a great service by advocating for searching beyond box store bags for other soil building resources like the good examples you suggested. i think people who are so inclined should experiment with other nearby sources of compost to see what works, what works better, and what doesnt work.
Hi. My Melons have Powdery mildew. How do you prevent it.? I'm going to post my volunteer Sunflowers . Best this year.
I don't know what product your buying but the soil I get has organic matter .
12:00 LUKE, Pls save seeds from the "mystery sunflower" and share with your viewers.
Throw all of your organic waste in a pile and bury it with dirt. Next year-boom good compost. Grass clippings, old food, etc. this can be done anywhere regardless of where you live given you arent in an apartment with no outdoor access. Roof gardens maybe? Its possible. Garbage adds up over time. It will lighten your trash bags and make them smell less as well.
I couldn`t agree more, I started out with cheap bagged soil that could barley fill a single raised bed and over a single summer it lost half its volume in size and started looking like a desert. The only thing that fixed it and could hold up was rich homemade compost I made in the suburbs. Compost made gardening easy and cheap for me, plus its just environmentally beneficial.
1. All of my bagged soil had a ton of twigs and bark and stuff in it so I'm not sure what you've been using LOL. 2. You mention 1 or 2 years… I mean, you need to be amending your soil with compost or worm castings or fertilizer or something of some sort both up front and over time. 3. I was curious about this very thing and so I did a test. I have three grow bags with radishes in them (they grow quickly so good for testing). First bag, just the bagged soil, second just compost, third potting mix with a good fertilizer (trifecta). The first with only the bagged soil is just ok. The second one in just compost is doing pretty good and way out performing the soil on its own. The third however, with the soil and trifecta is light years ahead. The leaves are greener and larger the plants are stronger and the sacrificial plants I pulled from each show that it has the best root development and the best radish flavor (making sure it's not just leaves and no root growing as that'd also be a problem). So, yes, a bag on its own is gonna be not so great, but as a way to fill up the bulk of your beds when it's the easiest and most convenient option and then fertilize and amend it over time is often the way more realistic option for the vast majority of people. I get what you're saying, you can't just take bagged soil, throw it in your beds, and then expect it to be good forever, but honestly, I kind of feel that's the case with all soil (and compost), you gotta amend it and care for it and make sure that you're introducing good materials and bacteria and food for your plants. Like, you can't just buy a car, never take it to the shop, and expect it to run forever right? Heck, even Charles Dowding adds fresh compost every year to his amazing garden set-up which is based on what is probably the most beautiful compost I've ever seen. So yeah, you gotta add nutrients at least once a year LOL.
Finally, I just wanna say that this is the first of all your videos where you made me feel like maybe I can't garden because I just don't have access to the things you said I need. Especially in this pandemic period where I'm trying to be extra cautious, the idea of going way out of town to grab compost in a rented truck seems not worth it. Thankfully I've been using a composting company for years, even when I was in an apartment, to compost our kitchen and garden scraps and we have a lot of accumulated compost (even with me donating it to a food bank garden). Still, I've found all sorts of weird things in that (can you say green "troll" hair and tinsel?) and so I question if it's good enough on its own (hence the test I mention above). In the end, even if I only used compost, I'd need to amend that because it's not as good as using the bagged mix and trifecta. For me, it's been a journey to learn that not all things a garden needs are available in one medium, you need a combination of things to make your garden grow to its finest. I use a combination of bagged soil, worm castings, compost and trifecta in my garden this year for the fall and it's doing amazingly well (in spite my earlier over watering… sigh) I just wanted to point this out as another set of data points for you since I have learned so much from your channel, and obviously really like your products and use them in my garden. Thanks for all you do. You are appreciated!
Well, it's September and my cantaloupe still hasn't produced fruit. Don't think I'll harvest any.
I got all my raised beds started with cheapo bagged soil mixed with cheapo composted manure and cheapo other stuff. Havent had a problem really.
Cheryl Morgner here from VA: I was just remarking about my own soil predicament on Hoss Tools’ Row By Row Show last night. Finances have been definitely an issue for my family. And our soil isn’t healthy enough to product adequate food for the 8 people living on our family property. And though it’s small for this many people (less than an acre), it’s still expensive to even bring bulk compost in for our many gardens. The pests are killing more plants than we can salvage to keep for food. The weds are vicious and you CANNOT keep them at bay with only about 3-4 of us even about to do that kind of work or for us to have time from work to get it done. It’s literally a jungle right now trying to harvest potatoes and plant a fall garden. We live in a more remote residential area and have to daily drive at least 25 minute any direction to go to work or get groceries or anything. And if we can’t get what we need there, it’s much further to find something useable. And now none of my family members have a truck and people are keeping to themselves and not offering to help haul things for people when asked if they are available because of COVID. It become a catch 22 for us. And it’s very financially difficult for us to prep gardens because funds have to go in other places during those times. Knowing that soil needs time to do what it does. Not sure at all what to do about any of it.
I have been using Kellogg's Organic Raised Bed and Potting mix for a few years now and have had excellent results with my plants. My soil is LOADED with worms. The contents as listed on the bag (recycled forest products, coir, perlite, dehydrated poultry manure, composted poultry manure, hydrolyzed feather meal, peat moss, kelp meal, worm castings, bat guano) sources
Now I understand why I hardly see any worms in my garden. The soil also doesn't retain water. How about sheep, shrimp or chicken manure sold in bags . Is it lifeless too?
When should I add composted leaves and shredded branches in the fall or spring? Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. It's most helpful.
It was a toss up, watch my nightly episode of S.T next generation or, catch up on some of your videos-
Thats a reishi
Question here.
I will be adding a few raised beds in spring and have two options for filling from bulk sales place in my area. Straight compost or a "garden mix" that is 60% soil and 40% compost.
Thank you,
Do you have a problem with tree roots taking over your raised beds? I made some raised beds, and trees from the neighbor's yard came underground and filled my beds with roots. I could no longer garden in them.
I used municipal compost I got from the city for free when I was a newbie gardener and it was AWFUL. All my plants were stunted. I heard a pro gardener call it "putrified organic matter". Use with caution. You have no idea what's in it.
In years past , when my dad was living we would get gin trash from ginned cotton. But because all the local gins have closed its hard to find. It was the best organic matter we ever used! Everything grew like crazy with it! Composted grass clippings and leaves work great too. I'm glad you told me about bagged compost or soils too. Going to stop buying them.
This video is full of poor information and phrasing that will inevitably deter the new gardeners 2020 has given us. Many people have a longer drive than 5 minutes to make it outside the city and don’t have the ability to transport bulk compost home. Also you contradicted yourself, you started off by saying bagged compost and potting mix is low in organic matter but then later in the video say that most bagged compost is full of peat moss which is just organic matter.
Truth: organic matter is the sponge that holds nutrients in the root zone so that the plant may take them up once they have been converted by bacteria and fungi. No, bagged compost isn’t the same as homemade quality compost but it’s a start, the combination of big box soil/compost and the knowledge to make your own compost tea as well as continued amendments to the soil each year will give you a well rounded garden soil that will nourish your plants and your body!
Credentials: masters education in molecular biology specifically in plants
Bachelors degree in botany
I buy bagged soil and amend it with manure and dry amendments. Plus I add leaf mould and a little bit of compost. I would add more compost but I am waiting in it to break down.
Can you use straight compost in your beds?
There was a video in which when it came to potting soil , you said that we get what we pay for. Could not have been more accurate. Got one of those bags of soil for about 3 dollars (Canadian by the way). Garbage. Smells like it came out of a sewer or something; truly not an earthly smell and above all too wet which could be the main reason for the stench. I do know a co-worker at my job whose father in law runs a farm where no chemical products whatsoever are used wether they be synthetic fertilizers or herbicides . Should be looking into the possibility of getting some non contaminated manure from him…..instead of putting bagged soil in my garden.
Yep, I made this exact mistake firing up six new raised beds. My tranplants lasted five weeks before seeing color loss and stunted growth. Top dressed all the beds with live compost and everything perked up in two weeks.
Tips for clay soil. I'm in Oklahoma and that's what I have to deal with lol so far mixing in compost has helped these two farming years
Congratulations beautiful cantaloupe, you should save some of the sunflower seeds maybe sell them or send them to subscribers.
For those of us who live in apartments and have to use bag soil and compost we have no access to dig up dirt. And we don't have the time or whatever to drive to find it. I have a balcony and have no choice but to use bag soil. There's no true options out there.
Can you grow directly in compost? Or does it need to be mixed?
When I stared my beds, googled said that all compost is a bad thing and it needs to be mixed.
Well sh t your are right guess going to the big box stores was too easy dang it anyway thanks , need to change my attitude going to the country should be fun