MarionTh230
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Post by MarionTh230 on Apr 24, 2023 17:57:10 GMT -5
I use the yellow bags of dirt from Home Depot and Lowe's. At one place it's labeled as raised bed potting mix and at the other I think it's labeled as garden soil? Since I use containers I do mix perlite in to avoid compaction. My real live-in-the-house houseplants I only use Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Only sterilized potting mix for the inside plants. I see all these videos of setting up raised beds in my feeds and people layer cardboard and sticks and leaves and then only put dirt in the upper portion. Something about the cardboard acting as a weed barrier and then composting with the sticks and leaves over time? Idk. It looked more complicated than pots that's for sure!A lot less pressure choosing dirt for pots too. Because if I screw up I can just the pot and start over. I understand why you are being careful about choosing dirt for a raised bed. It's a big commitment! I don't really have any useful advice on this raised bed thing but it is exciting so I'm just going to live vicariously through you. I think Knee Deep in Water Chloe may have some experience with raised beds though? If all that was required my I would have never had raised beds back in the 70's. I'm a lazy gardener and my son built raised beds around 2011 and didn't do any of that. Just bought dirt and dumped in boxes and been that way for years. People try to make stuff for friggin hard and complicated!!!! But like I said I would rather work smart than hard and a tad lazy. There I've said it again. I was searching for information on cold frames and greenhouses after the really nasty deep freeze. Mostly just looking to see if there was something more I could to overwinter my plants that wasn't really expensive or a lot of work. And since the internet tracks me I keep getting all kinds of raised beds stuff coming up. I'm like whoa buddy I'm not ready for that! I am wondering now though if people are doing all that other stuff as filler to minimize the amount of dirt they need? Dirt has gotten expensive. I mean I still buy it but I could see where the volume needed for a raised bed would be pretty pricy. Anyways, I don't know nothing about raised beds (obviously). I'm just here for moral support. I'm glad there's folks here that can actually help! I absolutely love reading about every body else's gardens and learning about all kinds of gardening things I didn't even know existed!
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 24, 2023 18:14:28 GMT -5
Sooo, I still don’t have any soil for my beds lol. I remember ken a.k.a OMK saying something like I should just get some cheap dirt delivered last time I was talking about raised beds. Ken, please correct me if I’m wrong. But I’ve read more than once the saying “ put a 50 cent plant in a $5 hole” and how important good soil can be and it can make a huge difference in how successful you are. I am trying to keep my starting costs to a minimum, but I do believe that often times you do get what you for, and I am willing to spend money where it matters. and I keep reading that one of the benefits of gardening in raised beds is that you can control the quality of your growing medium. The soil in my yard has Bermuda grass, which some people consider a weed, and is full of a lot of other different types of weeds, herbicides and pesticides, so it’s not a good option for helping to fill my beds. I have a coworker that had dirt delivered to his yard and ended up having even more problems after, than he had before he bought the dirt. So what kind of soil do you all use? My goodness, I wish my Grandmother was still alive to help and advise me, or that I’d been interested in all of this and tried to learn from her when she was growing vegetables in her back yard. I know for a fact she would’ve enjoyed teaching and helping me, and she would get a kick out of me growing my own vegetables. A wise nursery man made this statement to me back in 1967 when I was starting out as a novice trying to plan yard for newly built house. So starting from scratch. I had never so much as planted one thing in my life. He also told me to enjoy my new venture and not to stress to much. I was fortunate to make his "friendship" and he was my go to advisor till he passed away. But to this day I hear his words when digging in the dirt. I know this doesn't help you since my son gets his dirt from a place that specializes in "making" their own dirt and they fill number of bags he needs almost like pouring cement thru a shoot. No weeds, not need for fertilizer. Can you check around and see if there is a place like that near you. Now having said that "dirt cheap" does not apply. I think last year cost was around $35 per bag but not your small garden bags. But it's not a yearly expense since he just replenishes dirt as needed. Really huge bags. Just a thought. Just do a little at a time and enjoy!! I've tried things that were complete disasters but learned from it and had a good laugh. There is a local branch of a company that provides certified compost that I discovered from whatever website I ended up visiting in my research. But the compost’s website triggered some warning on my IPad, so I didn’t pursue that. From what I’ve read so far about filling raised beds, the best thing to do is use topsoil, mixed with compost and potting soil. When I’ve planted stuff in pots the last couple years, Ive always added some perlite mixed in, to try to help improve drainage or whatever. Some people fill the bottom of their raised beds with twigs and branches from their property or even logs. I’ve read that none of that, especially the logs are the best idea. We get tons of leaves in fall, from trees that aren’t even on our property, we just have 1 pecan tree that’s in our back yard. I’ve read that shredding those leaves can be helpful for composting, or adding to to your vegetable gardens, period. I’ve also read that grass clippings from mowing your lawn can also be used in a beneficial way, but I need to research that some more because we have bags to use on our walking mowers, but Mister does use herbicides in our yards to kill weeds and pesticides to kill insects, and idk how that will work with me trying to grow vegetables as organically as I can.
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 24, 2023 18:22:25 GMT -5
If all that was required my I would have never had raised beds back in the 70's. I'm a lazy gardener and my son built raised beds around 2011 and didn't do any of that. Just bought dirt and dumped in boxes and been that way for years. People try to make stuff for friggin hard and complicated!!!! But like I said I would rather work smart than hard and a tad lazy. There I've said it again. I was searching for information on cold frames and greenhouses after the really nasty deep freeze. Mostly just looking to see if there was something more I could to overwinter my plants that wasn't really expensive or a lot of work. And since the internet tracks me I keep getting all kinds of raised beds stuff coming up. I'm like whoa buddy I'm not ready for that! I am wondering now though if people are doing all that other stuff as filler to minimize the amount of dirt they need? Dirt has gotten expensive. I mean I still buy it but I could see where the volume needed for a raised bed would be pretty pricy. Anyways, I don't know nothing about raised beds (obviously). I'm just here for moral support. I'm glad there's folks here that can actually help! I absolutely love reading about every body else's gardens and learning about all kinds of gardening things I didn't even know existed! I am skipping around in this thread, so everyone please bear with me. But when I was researching using galvanized planters, I saw an article that talked about how you can use them as a cold frame too…… whatever a cold frame is lol. I’m trying not to get overwhelmed with all the information out there on the webz, so I will read about that later, after I figure out what I’m trying to do right now lol.
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 24, 2023 18:31:07 GMT -5
I use the yellow bags of dirt from Home Depot and Lowe's. At one place it's labeled as raised bed potting mix and at the other I think it's labeled as garden soil? Since I use containers I do mix perlite in to avoid compaction. My real live-in-the-house houseplants I only use Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Only sterilized potting mix for the inside plants. I see all these videos of setting up raised beds in my feeds and people layer cardboard and sticks and leaves and then only put dirt in the upper portion. Something about the cardboard acting as a weed barrier and then composting with the sticks and leaves over time? Idk. It looked more complicated than pots that's for sure!A lot less pressure choosing dirt for pots too. Because if I screw up I can just the pot and start over. I understand why you are being careful about choosing dirt for a raised bed. It's a big commitment! I don't really have any useful advice on this raised bed thing but it is exciting so I'm just going to live vicariously through you. I think Knee Deep in Water Chloe may have some experience with raised beds though? If all that was required my I would have never had raised beds back in the 70's. I'm a lazy gardener and my son built raised beds around 2011 and didn't do any of that. Just bought dirt and dumped in boxes and been that way for years. People try to make stuff for friggin hard and complicated!!!! But like I said I would rather work smart than hard and a tad lazy. There I've said it again. I am pretty lazy myself, and if there is something available to make my life more simple, I’m all over it lol. It’s just I’ve read and heard horror stories about having dirt delivered to fill holes in lawns or help fill garden beds.
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MarionTh230
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Post by MarionTh230 on Apr 24, 2023 18:34:34 GMT -5
I was searching for information on cold frames and greenhouses after the really nasty deep freeze. Mostly just looking to see if there was something more I could to overwinter my plants that wasn't really expensive or a lot of work. And since the internet tracks me I keep getting all kinds of raised beds stuff coming up. I'm like whoa buddy I'm not ready for that! I am wondering now though if people are doing all that other stuff as filler to minimize the amount of dirt they need? Dirt has gotten expensive. I mean I still buy it but I could see where the volume needed for a raised bed would be pretty pricy. Anyways, I don't know nothing about raised beds (obviously). I'm just here for moral support. I'm glad there's folks here that can actually help! I absolutely love reading about every body else's gardens and learning about all kinds of gardening things I didn't even know existed! I am skipping around in this thread, so everyone please bear with me. But when I was researching using galvanized planters, I saw an article that talked about how you can use them as a cold frame too…… whatever a cold frame is lol. I’m trying not to get overwhelmed with all the information out there on the webz, so I will read about that later, after I figure out what I’m trying to do right now lol. Well that certainly explains why the internet started putting raised beds in my feeds! That actually makes perfect sense now. I hadn't made the connection so I kept wondering why the internet was being so pushy. I am OK with pots leave me alone internet tracking!!!
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ken a.k.a OMK
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Apr 24, 2023 18:52:29 GMT -5
I saw that on a gardening video. The idea was not to spend a lot on expensive bagged soils. But this was also for filling a raised bed a year before you planted in it. So you put compostable material in the bottom few inches. like leaves, grass and yard waste. Put the good soil in the top layer when ready to use.
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 24, 2023 19:29:58 GMT -5
I saw that on a gardening video. The idea was not to spend a lot on expensive bagged soils. But this was also for filling a raised bed a year before you planted in it. So you put compostable material in the bottom few inches. like leaves, grass and yard waste. Put the good soil in the top layer when ready to use. Please know that I didn’t tag you to be ugly. I am open to all the advice I can get lol. I don’t want to spend more money than I have to, because I understand that Mother Nature is a real force to be reckoned with, and if we humans get out of the way and let her do what she does, the planet Earth that we live on will provide us humans with everything we need to live and be okay. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject. The galvanized bed is 2’ deep. We have not been collecting yard waste so far, but I’ve been talking to Mister about it recently. We get a LOT of leaves in fall, from our pecan tree and our neighbors trees. Mister HATES raking the leaves, but if we can use them for compost or whatever, I will be happy to do so. I am thinking to fill the 2ft deep bed only to 18” this season, and spend more money next year to finish filling it. Idk if that’s a good or bad idea, but that’s what I’ve come up with so far.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Apr 24, 2023 21:14:13 GMT -5
Sooo, I still don’t have any soil for my beds lol. I remember ken a.k.a OMK saying something like I should just get some cheap dirt delivered last time I was talking about raised beds. Ken, please correct me if I’m wrong. But I’ve read more than once the saying “put a 50 cent plant in a $5 hole” and how important good soil can be and it can make a huge difference in how successful you are. I am trying to keep my starting costs to a minimum, but I do believe that often times you do get what you for, and I am willing to spend money where it matters. and I keep reading that one of the benefits of gardening in raised beds is that you can control the quality of your growing medium. The soil in my yard has Bermuda grass, which some people consider a weed, and is full of a lot of other different types of weeds, herbicides and pesticides, so it’s not a good option for helping to fill my beds. I have a coworker that had dirt delivered to his yard and ended up having even more problems after, than he had before he bought the dirt. So what kind of soil do you all use? My goodness, I wish my Grandmother was still alive to help and advise me, or that I’d been interested in all of this and tried to learn from her when she was growing vegetables in her back yard. I know for a fact she would’ve enjoyed teaching and helping me, and she would get a kick out of me growing my own vegetables. Yeah...soil is at least kinda important. I killed 50 tulip bulbs one year because the soil was bad. I was pretty sad about that. We buy our planting soil at Home Depot or Lowe's. We buy fertilized flower soil. We buy the 20lb or 50 lb bags. Depends on the prices. We also buy bags of manure from Home Depot.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Apr 24, 2023 21:15:27 GMT -5
I saw that on a gardening video. The idea was not to spend a lot on expensive bagged soils. But this was also for filling a raised bed a year before you planted in it. So you put compostable material in the bottom few inches. like leaves, grass and yard waste. Put the good soil in the top layer when ready to use. Yeah, we compost the kitchen scraps and make at least 100 pounds of good dirt per year. We use the fall leaves to cover beds too.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Apr 24, 2023 21:18:51 GMT -5
I saw that on a gardening video. The idea was not to spend a lot on expensive bagged soils. But this was also for filling a raised bed a year before you planted in it. So you put compostable material in the bottom few inches. like leaves, grass and yard waste. Put the good soil in the top layer when ready to use. Please know that I didn’t tag you to be ugly. I am open to all the advice I can get lol. I don’t want to spend more money than I have to, because I understand that Mother Nature is a real force to be reckoned with, and if we humans get out of the way and let her do what she does, the planet Earth that we live on will provide us humans with everything we need to live and be okay. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject. The galvanized bed is 2’ deep. We have not been collecting yard waste so far, but I’ve been talking to Mister about it recently. We get a LOT of leaves in fall, from our pecan tree and our neighbors trees. Mister HATES raking the leaves, but if we can use them for compost or whatever, I will be happy to do so. I am thinking to fill the 2ft deep bed only to 18” this season, and spend more money next year to finish filling it. Idk if that’s a good or bad idea, but that’s what I’ve come up with so far. No one thinks you're ugly! Inside or out! Don't you say that bout my friend Pink!
Dirt is expensive. DH just went and bought more tonight because my snapdragons took over a front porch flower bed and were killing six other perennial flowers I had in there. I asked Dh to repot them, and he had to buy more dirt to do so. Annoying snapdragons.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Apr 24, 2023 21:20:26 GMT -5
Pink I think that will work for you for this year. No need to fill the raised bed all the way up. Just be sure to add some drainage holes.
My raised vegetable bed and pots always seems to settle during winter. Those bags of potting soil can get expensive. It always takes a lot more than you expect. We'll buy 5-6 big bags at Sam's Club and it never seems to be enough to fill everything up. The garden soil mix from the mulch place runs about $30 for a trailer full which is about half my truck bed. Hubby throws leaves in the raised bed in the fall and tills it under in the spring. In summer I use the grass clippings as mulch, but only from the back yard since it doesn't get treated for weeds or anything like the front does.
I'd be a little afraid of using logs or big chunks of wood, thinking it might attract bugs. I don't like wood mulch for the same reason.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Apr 24, 2023 21:21:21 GMT -5
If all that was required my I would have never had raised beds back in the 70's. I'm a lazy gardener and my son built raised beds around 2011 and didn't do any of that. Just bought dirt and dumped in boxes and been that way for years. People try to make stuff for friggin hard and complicated!!!! But like I said I would rather work smart than hard and a tad lazy. There I've said it again. I was searching for information on cold frames and greenhouses after the really nasty deep freeze. Mostly just looking to see if there was something more I could to overwinter my plants that wasn't really expensive or a lot of work. And since the internet tracks me I keep getting all kinds of raised beds stuff coming up. I'm like whoa buddy I'm not ready for that! I am wondering now though if people are doing all that other stuff as filler to minimize the amount of dirt they need? Dirt has gotten expensive. I mean I still buy it but I could see where the volume needed for a raised bed would be pretty pricy. Anyways, I don't know nothing about raised beds (obviously). I'm just here for moral support. I'm glad there's folks here that can actually help! I absolutely love reading about every body else's gardens and learning about all kinds of gardening things I didn't even know existed! Check the price of galvanized troughs at your home improvement or farming stores. If they're cheaper than the "flower beds" get the troughs and drill holes in the bottom. (Wait, did I quote the right post?)
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 24, 2023 21:49:14 GMT -5
Please know that I didn’t tag you to be ugly. I am open to all the advice I can get lol. I don’t want to spend more money than I have to, because I understand that Mother Nature is a real force to be reckoned with, and if we humans get out of the way and let her do what she does, the planet Earth that we live on will provide us humans with everything we need to live and be okay. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject. The galvanized bed is 2’ deep. We have not been collecting yard waste so far, but I’ve been talking to Mister about it recently. We get a LOT of leaves in fall, from our pecan tree and our neighbors trees. Mister HATES raking the leaves, but if we can use them for compost or whatever, I will be happy to do so. I am thinking to fill the 2ft deep bed only to 18” this season, and spend more money next year to finish filling it. Idk if that’s a good or bad idea, but that’s what I’ve come up with so far. No one thinks you're ugly! Inside or out! Don't you say that bout my friend Pink!
Dirt is expensive. DH just went and bought more tonight because my snapdragons took over a front porch flower bed and were killing six other perennial flowers I had in there. I asked Dh to repot them, and he had to buy more dirt to do so. Annoying snapdragons. No one thinks you're ugly! Inside or out! Don't you say that bout my friend Pink! I love you for that. That is all I have to say for this post.
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 24, 2023 22:17:53 GMT -5
Pink I think that will work for you for this year. No need to fill the raised bed all the way up. Just be sure to add some drainage holes. My raised vegetable bed and pots always seems to settle during winter. Those bags of potting soil can get expensive. It always takes a lot more than you expect. We'll buy 5-6 big bags at Sam's Club and it never seems to be enough to fill everything up. The garden soil mix from the mulch place runs about $30 for a trailer full which is about half my truck bed. Hubby throws leaves in the raised bed in the fall and tills it under in the spring. In summer I use the grass clippings as mulch, but only from the back yard since it doesn't get treated for weeds or anything like the front does. I'd be a little afraid of using logs or big chunks of wood, thinking it might attract bugs. I don't like wood mulch for the same reason. Yikes! I already know I don’t want to use the mulch Mister uses in the flower beds on the front of the house. The fact that we’ve had conversations about choosing between the different colors for mulch in those beds, makes my mind say there is something that’s not natural, used to make the different colors. idk what I’m doing with trying to grow vegetables, but I would like to grow them while exposing them to as few chemicals as I can. Even though we only have 1 tree, a pecan tree in our backyard, we still get a blanket of leaves in our yards from our neighbors’ trees. The -wood in our neighborhood’s name has to be because this area was literally woods before people decided to build houses and make it a neighborhood. The neighborhood is not flat, a lot of houses have very steep driveways, lots where the front yard or the side or backyards have inclines too steep to be usable, and some houses look like they are still in the woods, so many trees that you can barely see the house. The houses are not cookie cutter, they are all different styles. The big street that winds though my part of the neighborhood, even after almost 4 years living here I still always notice something different if I pay attention while I’m driving or riding through with Mister.
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scgal
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Post by scgal on Apr 25, 2023 7:56:32 GMT -5
Soil amendment is an important part of gardening. I've used pots, tubs, wood raised beds and inground. Successes and failures in each. Definitely a learning curve. One of the main things I've learned was most plants need the soil to be loamy. Loose so it will drain properly and give the roots room to move. For my containers if i'm setting up a new one I use a bags of Bacto potting mix (this is expensive) or I have used any organic potting soil mix if there is not enough perlite in it i will add some. Every couple of years I will empty some pots in a wheelbarrow if the soil is getting solid I will add some peatmoss to it along with some Black Cow (composted cow maneur).
Some good information go to youtube and look up Roots and Refuge some of her older stuff is real helpful. The newer stuff if more about farm homesteading. She recently move from Arizona to SC. I want to go see her new farm. This kid written books on gardening and now is in the process of opening up an ag store.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Apr 25, 2023 10:52:02 GMT -5
My big flower pots are half dirt and half Styrofoam peanuts. I make sure my pots have at least eight good drainage holes even if I have to drill the holes myself. I put peanuts in and then add dirt on top. I've done this for years and works for me. Not saying works for others. This is so I can move them around easily.
Only problem now is peanuts are hard to acquire since son was my main source with stuff sent to his business. And glad to see styrofoam being replaced with more earth friendly stuff so not complaining just gonna have to drop back and punt down the road.
I also replace dirt/peanut mixture about even three years or so. I swap out plants in these pots every spring and every fall. I call them my experimental pots!! Always looking for at least a few new plants I haven't tried before!!
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Apr 25, 2023 12:18:51 GMT -5
Many years ago I tried the peanuts. Then after I thought about it, I was afraid Styrofoam chemicals might leach into the soil/plants.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Apr 25, 2023 12:26:55 GMT -5
I've never had a problem and been doing it for a good 20 yrs. But also not planting anything in pots that will be consumed. Just flowers. I used to wonder about soils that have perlite and such mixed into the soil and came in actual contact with roots. But again I've never planted edibles in these condition.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Apr 25, 2023 12:42:40 GMT -5
I use the yellow bags of dirt from Home Depot and Lowe's. At one place it's labeled as raised bed potting mix and at the other I think it's labeled as garden soil? Since I use containers I do mix perlite in to avoid compaction. My real live-in-the-house houseplants I only use Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Only sterilized potting mix for the inside plants. I see all these videos of setting up raised beds in my feeds and people layer cardboard and sticks and leaves and then only put dirt in the upper portion. Something about the cardboard acting as a weed barrier and then composting with the sticks and leaves over time? Idk. It looked more complicated than pots that's for sure! A lot less pressure choosing dirt for pots too. Because if I screw up I can just the pot and start over. I understand why you are being careful about choosing dirt for a raised bed. It's a big commitment! I don't really have any useful advice on this raised bed thing but it is exciting so I'm just going to live vicariously through you. I think Knee Deep in Water Chloe may have some experience with raised beds though? Where do you find perlite? Does it come in huge bags and small bags as well?
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Apr 25, 2023 14:21:07 GMT -5
I use the yellow bags of dirt from Home Depot and Lowe's. At one place it's labeled as raised bed potting mix and at the other I think it's labeled as garden soil? Since I use containers I do mix perlite in to avoid compaction. My real live-in-the-house houseplants I only use Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Only sterilized potting mix for the inside plants. I see all these videos of setting up raised beds in my feeds and people layer cardboard and sticks and leaves and then only put dirt in the upper portion. Something about the cardboard acting as a weed barrier and then composting with the sticks and leaves over time? Idk. It looked more complicated than pots that's for sure! A lot less pressure choosing dirt for pots too. Because if I screw up I can just the pot and start over. I understand why you are being careful about choosing dirt for a raised bed. It's a big commitment! I don't really have any useful advice on this raised bed thing but it is exciting so I'm just going to live vicariously through you. I think Knee Deep in Water Chloe may have some experience with raised beds though? Where do you find perlite? Does it come in huge bags and small bags as well? Home Depot here has it in 8 qt. bags I can lift a bag that size. But don’t know if HD in Canada but I bet a google search of perlite might be helpful.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Apr 25, 2023 20:12:51 GMT -5
Thanks. I'm not sure I need that much perlite. Home Depot is called Réno-Dépôt in Quebec.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Apr 25, 2023 20:25:24 GMT -5
Mother Nature is a real force to be reckoned with, and if we humans get out of the way and let her do what she does, the planet Earth that we live on will provide us humans with everything we need to live and be okay. But that’s a whole ‘nother subject.
Before I was six years old, my grandparents and my mother had taught me that if all the green things that grow were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the four-legged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the winged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life. But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish. That is how insignificant we are.” — Russell Means, Oglala Lakota Nation (1939–2012)
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MarionTh230
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Post by MarionTh230 on Apr 26, 2023 19:14:10 GMT -5
I saw that on a gardening video. The idea was not to spend a lot on expensive bagged soils. But this was also for filling a raised bed a year before you planted in it. So you put compostable material in the bottom few inches. like leaves, grass and yard waste. Put the good soil in the top layer when ready to use. Yeah, we compost the kitchen scraps and make at least 100 pounds of good dirt per year. We use the fall leaves to cover beds too. Do you have a special type of compost bin? I have had some fleeting interest in composting. But it was so much information and so confusing that I just let that interest fleet away.
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MarionTh230
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Post by MarionTh230 on Apr 26, 2023 19:17:06 GMT -5
Where do you find perlite? Does it come in huge bags and small bags as well? Home Depot here has it in 8 qt. bags I can lift a bag that size. But don’t know if HD in Canada but I bet a google search of perlite might be helpful. Yep. That's what I get - 8qt bags. Home Depot does have them. But, Lowe's put them right by the checkout which means I remember to buy one when I'm buying dirt.
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MarionTh230
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Post by MarionTh230 on Apr 27, 2023 15:50:48 GMT -5
Cherry tomato plant has blight. I pruned it well and sprayed Neem oil. Hopefully that will stop the problem. It's putting out a good bit of fruit already. Beefsteak is doing fine. Just a longer time for the larger fruits to ripen. Brandywine is being somewhat troublesome. I have never grown a Brandywine before. This is one where the picture on the seed packet got me. It's dropping blossoms. Which is a problem I haven't had with my other tomato varieties before. Based on what I could find on the internet, Brandywine may be more susceptible to dropping blossoms than other varieties. I am going to go ahead and move to watering twice a day though to see if it helps at all.
In other news, I managed to germinate both parsley and chives. Tiny little things, but until now I haven't been able to find success. Really excited about that!
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Pink Cashmere
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Post by Pink Cashmere on Apr 27, 2023 16:04:39 GMT -5
I finally stopped fiddle faddling and ordered some soil. It will be delivered next Friday.
Meanwhile, I could’ve sworn I posted a few days ago that 2 of my tomatoes are already growing flowers, but I can’t find the post now. They are still in their nursery pots indoors, under a grow light. I am growing Better Boy and Roma tomatoes. The ones that have flowers already are Better Boy.
I am still doing good with not buying a bunch of random stuff, even though I get tempted. I’d decided last week that I need a wheelbarrow, then today I thought a wagon might be better and I started looking for a wagon. Then I told myself I already have a wagon that I use for my side gig, I can cover it with plastic or something to keep it from getting dirty and use it to move stuff around outside instead of buying another one. Plus the one I have folds up, and we don’t really have anywhere to store a wheelbarrow or a wagon anyway unless we just leave it in the backyard.
Happy gardening!
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Apr 27, 2023 16:05:10 GMT -5
Mulch is coming to the complex soon. Will see if I can do some more lily plant thinning before it arrives.
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Post by Opti on Apr 27, 2023 16:09:21 GMT -5
I use the yellow bags of dirt from Home Depot and Lowe's. At one place it's labeled as raised bed potting mix and at the other I think it's labeled as garden soil? Since I use containers I do mix perlite in to avoid compaction. My real live-in-the-house houseplants I only use Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Only sterilized potting mix for the inside plants. I see all these videos of setting up raised beds in my feeds and people layer cardboard and sticks and leaves and then only put dirt in the upper portion. Something about the cardboard acting as a weed barrier and then composting with the sticks and leaves over time? Idk. It looked more complicated than pots that's for sure!A lot less pressure choosing dirt for pots too. Because if I screw up I can just the pot and start over. I understand why you are being careful about choosing dirt for a raised bed. It's a big commitment! I don't really have any useful advice on this raised bed thing but it is exciting so I'm just going to live vicariously through you. I think Knee Deep in Water Chloe may have some experience with raised beds though? If all that was required my I would have never had raised beds back in the 70's. I'm a lazy gardener and my son built raised beds around 2011 and didn't do any of that. Just bought dirt and dumped in boxes and been that way for years. People try to make stuff for friggin hard and complicated!!!! But like I said I would rather work smart than hard and a tad lazy. There I've said it again. There are many ways to do raised beds. Someone built them for me and put in the dirt, is a level I could handle at this moment. The cardboard to me is just an interesting idea. If I had extra cardboard laying around that didn't want to make curbside for recycling pickup, I might test it out if the raised bed was big enough. It can always be removed or a " danger cardboard" sign put up. Just saying.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Apr 27, 2023 16:12:01 GMT -5
Cherry tomato plant has blight. I pruned it well and sprayed Neem oil. Hopefully that will stop the problem. It's putting out a good bit of fruit already. Beefsteak is doing fine. Just a longer time for the larger fruits to ripen. Brandywine is being somewhat troublesome. I have never grown a Brandywine before. This is one where the picture on the seed packet got me. It's dropping blossoms. Which is a problem I haven't had with my other tomato varieties before. Based on what I could find on the internet, Brandywine may be more susceptible to dropping blossoms than other varieties. I am going to go ahead and move to watering twice a day though to see if it helps at all. In other news, I managed to germinate both parsley and chives. Tiny little things, but until now I haven't been able to find success. Really excited about that! I'd be interested to know how you germinated parsley and chives from seed. Do you have a greenhouse or some other special set up?
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Apr 27, 2023 16:15:08 GMT -5
I use the yellow bags of dirt from Home Depot and Lowe's. At one place it's labeled as raised bed potting mix and at the other I think it's labeled as garden soil? Since I use containers I do mix perlite in to avoid compaction. My real live-in-the-house houseplants I only use Miracle Gro Potting Mix. Only sterilized potting mix for the inside plants. I see all these videos of setting up raised beds in my feeds and people layer cardboard and sticks and leaves and then only put dirt in the upper portion. Something about the cardboard acting as a weed barrier and then composting with the sticks and leaves over time? Idk. It looked more complicated than pots that's for sure! A lot less pressure choosing dirt for pots too. Because if I screw up I can just the pot and start over. I understand why you are being careful about choosing dirt for a raised bed. It's a big commitment! I don't really have any useful advice on this raised bed thing but it is exciting so I'm just going to live vicariously through you. I think Knee Deep in Water Chloe may have some experience with raised beds though? Where do you find perlite? Does it come in huge bags and small bags as well? there should be smaller bags in the indoor plant section. You can also try searching online to see whether it is available in a physical store or has to be ordered. My local grocery chain sometimes has stuff available like that, but very seasonal.
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