🍅 What's the BEST soil for Tomatoes?!

[@MrLegit2001]

Your 75% 25% seems to be the winner in most of your videos. I'll keep that in mind for next year

[@MindandSoil]

Yeah I am going to be resetting a few other beds with it given how well it has performed!

[@MrLegit2001]

@@MindandSoil cool can't wait to see!

[@Murlockingqc]

@@MindandSoil Are you keeping the moisture content of the soil in the same range for each bed? Vermiculite is good at retaining water, creating aeration and holding onto nutrients. You should test bio-char, it has the same proprieties has vermiculite but with added beneficial.

[@gmxhorst]

is there an video about vermiculite? I heard about health risk

[@AnthonyBolognese710]

So basically compost with aeration. They want the bacteria and they want to breathe. Good simple points to success.

[@khanhc3792]

As a science teacher I wanted to thank you for making this video! Perfect example for teaching experimental design.

[@MindandSoil]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching :)

[@mroakarm]

I add homemade compost and ammend my soil with compost teas. I cover the beds with around 4" of leaves in the fall. I have had indeterminate cherry tomato plants with literally 1000's of tomatoes per plant that reached over 6' in height. I would give away pails of tomatoes all summer long and never be without

[@MindandSoil]

Amazing! Homemade compost is the best. I've done a tea before as well, so gratifying for the garden :) Sounds like an amazing harvest as well! Woo hoo! Thanks for watching.

[@Diseaseisreversible]

Best soil is a ground with homemade compost added every year. If you just build a raised bed and add compost it will be too much. But mixed into native soil. It’s a whole different story

[@MindandSoil]

Great perspective Matthew! Cheers for that!

[@jessicapenaloza9321]

I think that idea is nice for long time growers. But for where I’m at the soil is very sandy and looses nutrients fast. So I think it just depends.

[@devanbarger3630]

Not mixed into native soil. Just added on top.

[@Diseaseisreversible]

@@devanbarger3630 you can do that too, mixed in work just as well

[@Diseaseisreversible]

@@devanbarger3630 but like Jessica said it depends

[@austin6174]

The lesson from these videos is that structure of the soil is as important as nutrients

[@MindandSoil]

Always learning!

[@grimekitty3381]

Thank you for adding context

[@Bertie_Ahern]

I got over 500 from a single determinate plant grown in a small aluminium bucket last year. It was a self-watering bucket, which obviously helps with yield, but nevertheless I've never seen a plant so completely collapsed under its own weight before lol

[@MrRamenTree]

What soil?

[@jarriola9106]

Could you please give more detail on the type of compost used? Was it homemade by you, purchased in bulk , or multiple types of mixed compost like mushroom, composted chicken or cow manure etc. (Mel’s mix style)

[@MindandSoil]

Great question! It was an OMRI listed 100% Organic Compost Ammender from green waste!

[@IMOO1896]

Thanks for doing the work for me, I’m going with compost/vermiculite this year.

[@MindandSoil]

Fantastic! Thanks for watching :) I think you will be very happy with the results, it's been great for me.

[@janemyfoodandflowers7726]

You should try mix with mulch next time, I found the most plants really appreciate that!

[@briankepner7569]

I have two more factors to in your challenge. Up here in Oregon it rains so much that nutrients are washed out of the soil and you have to amend the soil every single year. So over time did your beds lose their productivity because of nutrient loss unless you amended it. Did you notice a change in acidity in the soil over time because the plants you planted change the soil itself

[@microcosms2420]

i would be more interested looking at factors regarding stem thickness, levels of leaf stress, and growth rate. I just have a feeling drawing conclusions based on the amount of flowers a plant produces is somewhat unreliable since most plants require specific light cycles to flower properly, and small changes within the light cycle of plants are known to stunt flowering.

[@MindandSoil]

Interesting! Thank you for sharing :)

[@dontbanmebrodontbanme5403]

You should do one more test with a bed with worm castings added. Maybe just compost and worm castings? I don't know.

[@FreeFencerPhil]

Wow, you are committed to your craft. Thank you for showing me the different options and the soil you are stellar top give you a crown a gem 💎

[@ethanletzer3507]

Good compost with both airation and water retention will always work great

[@Tarot_Time_with_Belle]

What a surprising result! I expected the last bed to yield the most. I’ve definitely found with my thick heavy clay soil suffocates a lot of plants!! I’ve learnt to add manure, small shingle and grit, to help break it up more. It makes a huge difference. I’m glad h watched this as my green house raised bed needs added nutrients and soil improved! Now to find vermiculite at a reasonable price.

[@MindandSoil]

Im glad it helped! I have found the same with clay soil, sounds like you are on the right track with it :) I have found that planting long rooted crops helps open up the drainage and allowed the soil to break down easier year after year. I too am on the hunt for affordable vermiculite ! haha!

[@dipanshusabharwal]

Thank you for posting the results in the same video and not forcing me to follow your account for the update in the next video.

[@Brice23]

While there are many more variables to think of than just the soil I agree that the margin of increased production is so high that your results are convincing. I appreciate the information. I was hoping that the difference between the three wouldn’t be so great but as you have shown, there is a best way to go about this. I just built my first two raised beds after having mediocre results in the ground, so this will be the standard that I rely on.

[@randomthings2493]

I mean, im not sure how controlled the experiment was, especially considering the potential differences in seed genetics

[@downtoearthwithjim]

Interesting! I find that a mixture of compost and top soil/garden soil works the best for me

[@MindandSoil]

Love it - definitely not any single right or wrong approach to it all!

[@EliteCannagivers]

You need to do a test on which soil gave the best flavor not which produced the most.

[@someoneyoudontknow7407]

My native soil produced very well. I even have danero tomatoes that sprouted up from some dropped fruits. I am so blessed.

[@blackeyedsusan727]

Interesting! Thank you for sharing your experience! ☮️

[@MindandSoil]

My pleasure Dame!

[@Eric-gi9kg]

I've always used the 75/25 version for most of my crops.. and it always pays off

[@eddiespagetti8395]

Beautiful tips. Beautiful stuff. Thank you. I'm grow peas and lots of tomatoes. Sweeeeet plump luscious yummy tomatoes.

[@2skyland]

I did an experiment and these videos are 100% awesome

[@SimpleNFree3]

Want a video for those raised beds too. Nice & simple looking. 👍🏾👍🏾

[@tjnatx7674]

is it because the vermiculite gives a lot of breathing for the roots?

[@myurbangarden7695]

I think that too

[@jacob1121]

And it stabilizes the moisture levels as it releases water during droughts and takes it in when it rains. This way you don't have to be so perfect with your irrigation.

[@rusted5408]

​@@jacob1121 i gotta try it. For years ive had problems with blosswm end rot. I think uneven watering.

[@Maryvillegas0722]

When I grow up I want to be like you 😊 I can't grow anything,but I will give it a try next year

[@MindandSoil]

Aw thanks! I bet you can grow! Definitely try again :) Keep is posted!

[@nancyselzer628]

I'm a retired scientist, but I can see that you would make a good scientist, too.

[@MindandSoil]

Oh boy! Thank you :) Certainly is a lot of fun and gardening always feels like an experiment!

[@FishingForLife28]

I still believe that the no dig bed is best. No not the first year, and maybe not the year after, but the fungal networks being build slowly over time is what makes it the best

[@sarahdeason493]

Love experiments and this one is the BEST ❤

[@MindandSoil]

Aw thanks for saying so! I also loved this one! Thanks for watching :)

[@Imthedussin]

Did you test each bed before planting but after amending the one? I feel like that would provide the most conclusive study.

[@Imthedussin]

Also testing after harvest to see what the plants took vs left behind. I’m gonna have to do this next year.

[@tttmmm-lo3mf]

Amazing thank you so much for your hard work ...I will try this with some different plants 🌳....let's see what happens... May GOD bless you and your family.... keep up the good work...🙏🙇🙏📿🐐

[@connieparker8896]

I used grow bags 10 gal. Two tomato ,I used the same 80/20 I have had so far 300 cherry tomatoes ( husky red) and about 75 still green and growing , they got about 5 feet tall, I’ve shared a lot… I only pick them in the hottest part of the day, they are warm and delicious!!!

[@kimberlyboenig6643]

What kind of wood is that. I love them! Im guess you bought the compost? Which ones? Thanks. What is the makeup of the soil and brand? So do you just amend each year with more compost and vermiculite ? Is the vermiculite giving the loose soil the reason? I love sun gold so yum.amaxin🎉🎉

[@MonkeyD.Freaky]

Thanks my mum grow Tomatos for summer they still growing

[@MindandSoil]

Amazing!

[@tejara01]

It's about its grading as well for water retention and adequate drainage

[@nathonfrancis]

Greatly appreciated video

[@nathonfrancis]

I love sungold

[@dinosabatelllo464]

The root system softer the soil the more routes more nutrition absorbed better photosynthesis I am a soft soil guy good video man keep them rolling

[@chrismako6734]

Seems like the no-till bed isn't a fair comparison to something like Charles Dowding (sp?) system since the compost serves as a mulch and feeds the actual soil. In this experiment its just growing in the compost.

[@classproject00111]

I do the same thing with cacti except I forget what I put in each soil ha ha

[@ItsSweetLew]

No hate intended - I love whenever anyone gardens. You could make a vid about any method of gardening and it is still good for the community as long as it gets people interested! However, I’d take this vid with a grain of salt, the results found here are not indicative of a trend, and cannot be used to show that a certain soil is better. There are far too many factors and variables involved when it comes to growing plants in soil. Also - just to mention that a way better way of measuring productivity of a bed would be weight of tomatoes harvested, not the number of flowers set. For example - if a bed produced 20kg of fruit but set fewer fruit than a bed that only produced 10kg but set more fruit, the bed that set 20kg would still be considered more productive. Also, the method in which you prune suckers/shoots can lead to larger&fewer fruit or smaller&more fruit, so a long term analysis of the soils has to be considered. Also, keep in mind that you want to grow for life, not for one harvest. Building healthy soil and promoting vigorous soil life over time is more important than any short term amendment of ferts or perlite could make. Happy growing!

[@vaclavhanusekv1717]

No dig means using compost as mulch, not enclosing compost only in a raised bed where roots can't go deeper.

[@luke6516]

Equal parts sand, manure and peat moss.

[@lostbutfound]

I have lots of mole problems here in michigan. So I put rabbit cage fencing along the bottom (galvanized). No moles in garden.

[@mybetterhalf6373]

Are the results consistent across varieties though? Some people don't like cherry tomatoes....

[@osamasajed3998]

Would you be interested in doing a sound/music based experiment on some of your plants? I am very new to gardening so I don't think I can do this acurately myself.

[@levidavis6695]

Can you try filtered sunlight next please 🥺

[@smalltownpicker]

Great video. Lookup Mel’s mix there’s a reason lots use it. This may be why!

[@suzie2z]

Sun gold has become one of my favorite tomato. And Early Girl.

[@RErnie-gv1hv]

Thanks. I'm gonna try that but with my home compost.

[@MindandSoil]

Woo hoo! Good luck! Enjoy the process :)

[@kathduncan9618]

Amazing! Thanks for doing the hard work!

[@MindandSoil]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching :)

[@praveenkumar-hz8gl]

wow good results sir

[@kristenrussell7254]

Great job! Thanks for the info!

[@MindandSoil]

My pleasure Kristen! :)

[@laqueshajohnson6058]

Could you do a video of 75% compost and 25%

[@amberc.2137]

But was the middle bed also protected from any insects that may destroy the tomato plants or its flowers? I've found that my plants on the perimeter tend to be victims of more grasshoppers, beetles, earwigs, etc....I think it may be due to the perimeter plants acting as a barrier to the inside beds and/or lots. They're found and attacked more frequently because they are found on the way to the middle plants

[@pascalxus]

wow that's amazing. look at the difference between compost vs compost with vermiculite. who knew adding vermiculite would make such a difference. it must be due to the drainage, right?

[@8971felix]

it may be because the bees are more likely to pollinate the center tank rather than those on the sides.

[@TriggaTreDay]

That’s a good point. Which bed got favored more by the pollinators…🤔🤔 he should grow something that doesn’t have to be pollinated. At that point it probably wouldn’t matter which soil he grows in. My compost bed was full of top soil, grass cuttings, some food scraps and wood chips (mostly wood chips). So many vids kept saying don’t put wood chips in your growbeds… well my compose bin ended up randomly growing plants from my food scraps. By November I had harvested 25 butternut squashes and 19 sweet potatoes that I didn’t deliberately plant. And I never watered it. it only got water from the rain. Well at that point I stopped listening to the advice from most of these bag soil buying gardeners 😂. Gardening can be super expensive if you keep buying soil and fertilizers. So I vowed to never buy anything for my garden again (unless it’s a tool) and my garden has been doing just fine.

[@zenway7027]

@@TriggaTreDay ‘bag soil buying gardeners’ !!😂

[@KN-xr5mt]

Great information 😀

[@MindandSoil]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching :)

[@johno8859]

Why not try Square foot garden mix. I believe 1/3 each compost, pete moss, vermiculite. When I use that everything grows CRAZY.

[@bbbean]

Wow. Was not expecting that crazy result for the 75/25. Something to think about for my future plantings. Still not bad results with the soil science though

[@MindandSoil]

It’s so interesting! I love experimenting :) Thanks for watching!

[@alanwolff6452]

... and not only that, but the Sun Gold is my favourite tomato! And thanks for using the scientific method to collect your empirical data.

[@MindandSoil]

It’s one of my favourites too! Thanks for watching :)

[@only_folls]

I want to try vermiculite with also some sand too and perlite too after i google some stuff

[@cassiebailey2734]

have you tried one part compost, one part vermilculite/perlite, and one part coco coir or peat moss? i've heard some good stuff about that

[@mission1mfruiting]

❤ The info you shared.. Thanks

[@MindandSoil]

You are so welcome! Thanks for watching :)

[@Life_is_a_scam]

Try with fish compost u will get 500 tomatoes

[@MindandSoil]

Good point! I also like Kelp Man :)

[@annharris2109]

From the store or you catch?

[@xaviercruz4763]

Wow, it would seem as if the compost needing the parent material is correct to extract everything better for plants (ELaine ingham says that) so would you try normal soil instead of vermiculite to see how it performs?

[@sukursukur3617]

How do you explain the result? Cation exchange capacity of %100 organic matter is better than others. Watering or fertilizing may have differed.

[@klausschwab6808]

Best mix is typically earthworm castings with peatmoss, coco, worm castings, bokashi and activated biochar. Master marks system

[@SteveB-nx2uo]

its a literal compost pile of your table scraps with rectangular fencing for it to trellis up.

[@aaronsuever4362]

How did you come to the conclusion that 75% compost/25% vermiculite was the best ratio, vs maybe 50/50 or 25/75? And have you tried adding other components to the mix, like peat moss?

[@MindandSoil]

Great Q! from experimenting with other soils, I've always gone with 50% compost or more which is why I went with 75%. The only times I've been closer to 50%is when utilizing peat or coco coir, however, my preference is to pull from the waste cycle (compost) as much as possible and use as few extracted resources as possible. So there could be a better option out there yet - we just might need you to run that experiment!!

[@ValeriaVincentSancisi]

@@MindandSoil

[@ValeriaVincentSancisi]

Just vette as best you can OMRI helps but even OMRI doesn't formally test for persistent herbicides that are seeping into the gardener's supply chain.. best thing to do s to buy the Omri compost ahead of when you need it and test it by planting a legume seed in a cup (that is in a cup to capture the watering drainage.. and about 5 weeks if the seedlongs don't start retarding in growth , you are good... It is happening from waste collected from animals feeding on conventional feed or hay or straw grown with the herbicides to boost growth.. all conventional grasses and grains use them....

[@topher_69eze34]

Lovely experiment

[@kmarch6630]

I love Sungold.

[@MindandSoil]

Me too! It is a popular favourite for sure! Thanks for watching :)

[@FatherSonHolyspir1t]

75% compost and 25% bagged potting soil always does me well.

[@MindandSoil]

Awesome to hear it :) Thanks for sharing!

[@glomontero6011]

Thank s , really good to know. Im fixing my beds tomorrow.

[@b.williams7818]

That is fascinating but what kind of couples was it? Was it every day scratch or did you make your own compost? Did you get it from somewhere else? Also, how does it at with other vegetables or fruit?

[@123456789oldenholden]

They are some shallow beds for tomatoes. My tomatoes roots go about 1meter down. Lowers watering requirements and each plant yields many kgs of tomatoes.

[@Loooooooooooooooool]

I do 1:1:1 parts hp promix, worm castings and vermiculite.

[@stayathomecichlidmom3579]

I showed this to my BF who runs a landscaping company, we are not allowed to walk on the lawn due to stressing it out. His take "You do realize they sell vegetables at the grocery store" 🤣🤣 He has every license and still can't with "soil analysis" He's permanently stuck "old school" 😂

[@Machailey1]

The compost that was mixed with the vermiculite, what type of compost was it?

[@WanieB]

Great test!!

[@BenSeiver-vj3pg]

Isn't it a matter of the 75 - 25 mixture having the right PH so that the tomatoes can process the nutrients properly. So why not make a mix simply for tomatoes...

[@tclodfelter8789]

That's impressive and relevant information!!

[@oluwanifemikim1996]

What inside the 3rd bed , composition

[@simonwalker2073]

Was sunlight and water controlled for?

[@matthewnewberry9843]

I put a liner under my bed as well. Do you find that it's the best way to go?

[@waywardshed9721]

I have started adding vermiculite to my beds this season to see how they do, should be interesting

[@bayoulafourche]

That's crazy! Great info. I'm getting ready to plant

[@Atlantas_finest]

This is so cool! Is this your own compost? I’m looking for compost to buy and someone is selling aged cow manure compost near me. Would that be suitable mixed with vermiculite?

[@janicejurgensen2122]

Wow! Thank you! I’ve been so confused! I will be taking a lot from that! Ty

[@MindandSoil]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching :)

[@lancecorporalveteran0621]

My parents grew tomatoes in 100% compost very few tomatoes But the soil bed that was an unintended mix of compost, dirt, and gravel sprouted endless tomatoes for most of the year.

[@Mohamad80640]

Where did you learn this? Where can i study this?

[@user-pr8wq9zr6b]

My home is surrounded by pine trees and tomatoes love an acid soil. So I add pine leaves to my compost and also mulch with the pine leaves

[@khalidjj2073]

Thanks for this....I cannot grow anything...all the trees are failing and veggies don't grow. I will try this 75%/25% compost/vermiculite combo...thanks for the experiments. Any hints trees guava trees

[@TREYCEMONE]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

[@MindandSoil]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)

[@joshschannel5654]

That was surprising

[@MindandSoil]

I thought so as well!

[@olisg5917]

Proves natural always win 💪

[@MindandSoil]

You got that right! Woot! Thanks for watching :)

[@kevinmelanson3282]

I expected your soil scientist to take it. Nice to see results that make you think its not just an advertisement scheme

[@charsiu_808]

Calcium..im going to add oyster shells to mine this year..ill let you know how it turns out

[@happyface5143]

Was there a difference in their taste?