Don't Put This in Your Raised Beds!

[@jeffengland1862]

Jeff from East Tennessee. I put down mushroom compost in my rows in the garden. I will add 4 or more inches and lightly till it into the soil!! I use a lot and it can get a little pricey!! It’s ok because it works and my soil is getting better and better. I will add more fertilizer as the plants grow. Sometimes miracle grow or 10/10/10. I will use stronger fertilizers on heavy feeders. 35/0/0 on cabbage or onions. And I use a lot!! This gave me some monster. I think just keep improving your soil! Keep it simple. Thanks!!

[@templeton3504]

In a pinch I've been known to grab a bag of some random big box store mystery "soil", some cow poo, blood meal, bone meal, triple 10 and a few good shovels of native soil and mix it up in a barrow. If I find the mix not light enough I'll add perlite, and more Pete Moss. Basically tossing everything I've got at it and water in with water soluble fertilizer.

[@duncand5148]

I personally buy little or nothing. I use my own compost that I get from underneath the deep litter in my covered chicken run. Other than a little lime to adjust the ph as needed (deep litter compost tends to run on the acidic side) and a generous sprinkling of Osmocote, that’s about it for me.

[@davidscarborough713]

Great video Travis. Thank you. Local leaf mold compost mixed roughly 50/50 with black kow manure compost here. Add a 3-3-3 type organic pre-plant fertilizer. Wish I could find that mushroom compost locally. Appears to be less expensive than the leaf mold compost I use.

[@Not_So_Weird_in_Austin]

I now make my own compost and no longer use potting soil. Its OK for seed starting. It's important to get organic matter in your soil by top dressing and cover your top layer with mulch and any plant, cover crops, or weeds to preserve soil microbes.

[@timfetner8029]

I love and use mushroom compost as well. That stuff is awesome! Another thing I add is my own leaf mold compost. Wonderful stuff with a lot of good biology to help your plants. As always, great video Travis.

[@cindyinpcola]

Lots of good advice! Especially keeping those roots in the bed to decompose. That’s where the majority of the good stuff is. Enjoy your videos!

[@FC-cz6zd]

For some reason I have a hard time leaving the previous crop's roots in the bed. I'll NOT do it this time around!

[@lindabranch8294]

Good video, been amending my beds for the past few weeks. I normally top off twice per year with compost, worm casting and a low balanced fertilizer. First year gardening relied on potting mix was disappointed. Now I get my soil from the nursery and its so much better was outside working and finally starting to see earthworms:)

[@kenbrown9433]

Everyone in Tucson hates the super hot summers, but there is one advantage: the heat will turn our vegetable waste, etc. into beautiful compost.

[@lisakruger5289]

I've learned the same thing here in GA. Hot summers speed up the compost process for sure! :)

[@sandysmith8567]

Bought compost from 2 stores in the spring that did more damage than good. Can't create enough on my own, but will definitely do things differently next year. Thanks so much for all the help!

[@tonyajackson8827]

At the beginning of this season, good compost and some Coop-Gro helped my beds SO MUCH!!

[@emmahughes2618]

I always buy the cheap stuff dirt and manure n compost…. But all the organic bone meal (make my own now) worm castings and blood meal and use stuff from The flowerbed leaves sticks etc…. Works well for me😊

[@Charm-313]

Same here

[@Maria-ql3fc]

Yeah Travis that mushroom compost went from $3.80 in March to $5.95 a week ago at lows. The first bag of black velvet I opened is full of sticks that aren't broken down, and I highly doubt there's a lot of mushroom waste in it. I'm going to be looking for a different brand.

[@susanpayne5592]

@Maria-ql3fc. I just finished topping two 4x4 raised beds with Black Velvet mushroom compost. I had two bags that I had purchased about two years ago and hadn’t used. I filled one of the 4x4 beds with that. I had two bags that I had purchased this Spring and filled the adjacent 4x4 with that. I took a pic of the side by side comparison and wish I knew how to load it here. The two bags purchased two years ago had NO wood bits in it. It’s 100% mushroom compost. The two bags purchased this Spring has so much wood bits in it, it looks like a cheap bag of soil conditioner. Very disappointing!

[@Maria-ql3fc]

@@susanpayne5592 yes that has been my experience as well. I was very happy with bags bought even last spring , but this stuff has more wood than mushroom in it.

[@davidward1259]

Travis, We have been buying the SuperSod Soil3 compost in cubic yard bags. Best compost I've seen around here and it's grass clippings from their sod growing operations mixed with GA cattle manure and composted down. It also makes the best "potting" or seed starting mix. We take 2 cu ft peat moss, 2 cu ft Soil3, 1 gallon of vermiculite and 1 gallon of pearlite and mix it up in a large Gorilla cart tub. I came up with this mix when we filled our Olle beds last spring. I do supplement with 12-12-12 mixed with micro's when we plant and occasional liquid feeding via the drip tubing.

[@mrskimmieg]

Agree! We had a cube delivered a few weeks ago. I was very impressed with the quality.

[@pamhunt392]

I have horse poo thats been sitting around a long time, im gonna put it in my raised beds

[@C3Voyage]

Travis, instead of pulling the irrigation out, why not just rotate it 180°? Just loosen the bottom connection and turn.

[@FC-cz6zd]

Good stuff, thanks! hard to find mushroom compost down here in my area of FL. If I do, it's stupid expensive (like most everything is now). Thankfully have a local source of quality worm castings for a good price.

[@urbanbackyardcontainergardenin]

Good advice😊. I use compost

[@williamcobb1408]

New green house is looking nice.

[@wcorporon3736]

You said you leave the Zinnia roots in the soil. Do you always leave roots in the soil? Okra? Tomato? Peppers, etc? Or when you clean the beds out before amending so you pull roots and all? Thanks. Love the content.

[@EventHorizon34]

I used a good organic potting mix as a base in my raised beds but I mixed in black kow mushroom compost and a chicken manure fertilizer. It worked wonders for my red snapper tomatoes, cucumbers and winter squash! That compost is amazing! Definitely using it for my brassicas this fall. But it has sank down quite a bit. Definitely using the mushroom compost and organic fertilizer. But do you think I need to add another type of soil medium?

[@brianczuhai8909]

Do I have to scratch in the dry fertilizer applied on the top? Does it loose anything being on the top surface? I use wood mulch a lot. I want to fertilize, but just want to throw it on the top. It's easier. My thought is it will eventually flow down with the rain. Anyway, that NatureSafe 8-5-5 pellet fertilizer for pre-plant works great. Plus, the Agrothrive 3-3-5 for seedlings thru fruiting works great! I might hit it with Alaska 5-1-1 liquid if it is slow or the leaves need help. Your tips for success makes it easier for us to excel more in our gardens. I've had my best garden this year just trying things.

[@Southern195]

I have a serious question…my husband grabbed the wrong sprayer and sprayed my raised beds with his 38 Plus (I know 😢) how long do we have to wait to plant? A year or is there any way to plant something to reduce the chemical? Maybe a ground cover/cover crop! I’m devastated and need some encouragement here. 😬 Was planting greens in those beds…but…😢

[@LazyDogFarm]

A cover crop would help flush it.

[@mattingly1217]

So every time I do this I mix it all up to the bottom…. But I’m doing grow bags…. Kind of a waste on my part…. Makes sense to just leave the compost on top so it can bleed down through the soil …. Thanks for info

[@jo-annjewett198]

We don’t have mushroom compost around here. I had my beds tested because my spring garden was awful. The tests came back balanced. A little high in phosphorus which is normal here. I actually think I had too much organic matter in the way of black cow manure and raised bed mix that was not really broken down into actual “Soil” so the nutrients weren’t available to the plants, especially nitrogen. That’s my theory. This fall garden I only added Kelloggs brand raised bed mix, garden soil, blood meal, biochar and azominite, This is my 3rd or 4th planting in these raised beds and yields are all over, some ok others terrible. I am in a quandary about what to do. I have 7 tomato plants in and 11 to go that I started from seed and are healthy. My cucumbers and squash look ok so far. I am in zone 10a. Two packs of cow peas only 2 plants so am replanting with razor back. None of my kale came up . Kohl rabi is slowly growing. Still want to plant carrots and beets. Lettuce and radishes when it cools off. Last year my onions and potatoes did nothing. I am a certified master gardener so I am mystified. My in-ground gardens always were fabulous.

[@JohnnyHill-v5z]

If you keep your mustard greens watered good they want bolt in the heat

[@christineelsey3104]

Great advice, as always.. I do have my own worm bin set up. Pllb

[@chesterandchristiedavis7134]

can the coop gro be added at planting or does it have to be done prior to planting?

[@alexu2689]

Will you be getting more DP sweet onion seeds soon?

[@vincentmiceli2554]

I have a rule regarding gardening. If I have to spend more money to grow vegetables than I would by buying ready to cook fresh vegetables, then what’s the point? Buying starts or seeds, soul, compost, fertilizer can add up. If my peppers, tomatoes, squash is cheaper to buy than to grow, them what am I doing? Like raising and feeding chickens that don’t lay eggs.

[@LazyDogFarm]

I get that. But not everyone gardens to save money. Some folks just do it because it's a hobby they enjoy.

[@danielwarren7033]

Travis what are your thoughts on the cotton seed compost, a guy over in Lenox makes and sells it. Black Gold Compost. Contemplating it

[@hdrider2071]

Make sure the cotton wasnt sprayed with pre emergent or growth regulators or it will affect your veggies.

[@sherricarlton6813]

I am in 8a center Alabama. What can I plant now? Is it still To hot. Is there anything I can direct sew now?

[@bigtitan27]

Wouldn't it make more sense to work the compost into the soil so its at the plants roots and doesn't get burned up as fast from the sun beating down on it?

[@mutantryeff]

Have you tried bio-char in your raised beds yet?

[@Charm-313]

I'm thinking of trying this. And making my own once I get the understanding of how to do it

[@mutantryeff]

@@Charm-313 I have been using in my primary raised bed. I wish I had something to compare it to. Our 110F+ temps this year destroyed production of everything except hot peppers, some eggplant, and early zucchini

[@Charm-313]

@@mutantryeff 😧😦😮😯 Yup! My plants are struggling now because of the heat but last year in the fall my plants EXPLODED with growth 😃 I'm hoping for the same this year but definitely need to amend my soil.

[@mikeh8374]

Try a bed with sea 90 and let's see what happens.

[@Terri_Stauffer]

Grew the most tasty veggies ever using sea 90 this year for first time. Gave some to a friend who had same results. It’s amazing and a little goes a long way.

[@russellhmccullough3496]

How long does the 8 - 5- 5 organic fertilizer remain viable? I have some that is 18 months old but it's stored in a dry seal plastic tub. Thanks!