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soil Raised bed soil mix opinions

Islander

Islander

Here are a few things that i have found locally and would like some opinions on what and how much to mix into my raised bed.

Mushroom Compost
Chicken Manure
Cow Manure
Earthworm Castings
Spagnum Moss
Top Soil
Perlite
All Purpose Sand
Bloodmeal
Bonemeal
Limestone Powder

These are the ones i can think of off the top of my head that are available locally. 3 beds 4x8x12"
 
I've always been big on amending my native soil(clay) for texture more than anything.
But I tend to stumble around blind more often than not. :)
Almost any organic composted matter will help.
At the top of the list I'd say Earthworm Castings, at least a 5 lb bag per bed. Texture I'd try to put at least one bale(per year) of Sphagnum per bed.
You can see this can get $$$ quickly. That's why I try to use as much free resources as possible. But that kinda requires  a truck, and time, and a lot of shoveling.
The composted manures/mushrooms are fine, a few bags of each wouldn't hurt. Instead of the those meals, get a little bag of Tomato Tone and Kelp Meal(can be hard to find locally -hydro store maybe) Use 1 cup of Tomato Tone and 1.5 cups of the Kelp for every cu ft of materials you add. Dolomite(powdered Limestone) use about a cup for every cu ft (1 cuft = 7.5gal) of material you add to the bed and a several extra for the native soil too. I use sand @ about 1000lbs per 100 sf of bed, but I dig deep. I've never used perilite in a raised bed, my clay just seems too heavy still for it to have much impact for the time being. You can get 3-4 cuft at a Farm store for about 15-20 bucks. Farm store/co-ops are usually cheaper than HD and Lowe's. Now the fun part, mix all this into the soil underneath the bed 8-12" . You could mix it all on top  and dig it in a month. It may "cook" better this way. The sooner the better at this point. Plant out is only 4-8 weeks for TN I'm guessing.
 
I getting/adjusting this info based on an in-depth thread on soil building on a 420 site, plus what I've been doing to my beds for 2 years.
I think Proud Marine Dad turned me on to it. :high:
The first page says everything, followed by 317 pages of discussion :D I'm only on page 14.
 
Good Luck.
 
What's ya growing?
 
I'm assuming you have the godawful red clay like we do here in VA, in addition to what JJJ said, I'd also recommend a composted leaf-litter for a clay breaker.  Clay doesn't drain worth a crap so anything you can add like sand or perlite will also help tremendously.
 
Im growing a mix of chiles.

Red Bhut Jolokia
Yellow Bhut Jolokia
Firecracker Chili
White Hab
Orange Hab
Pepper Joes Jalapeno
Red Peter Pepper
Trinidad Moruga Scorpian
Carolina Reaper
Cayenne


Yes our soil is full of clay/rocks and is horrible for planting! lol
 
I've had my raised beds for 3 years now (2 years of growing, this year is the third).  I filled them with a 50:50 blend of top soil and leaf mould compost that I got by the yard from a local company.  It only cost me $15 for the whole yard.  My vegetables have grown great in it the past 2 years.  The first year, when I filled the beds, I added a 10-10-10 fertilizer to it.  I since decided to grow organinc, so last year I top dressed some Jobes All Purpose Organic Fertilizer every 3 months.  The bag of Jobe's cost me $9 and I still have at least half the bag left to use this year if I need to.  
 
My point in telling you all this, is I've grown great veggies/peppers in it without spending a lot of money.  All those ingredients you've posted seem like they would add up to some hefty prices.  I say keep it simple.
 
I am kind of leary about using local nursery top soil dues to diseases and such. But on the other hand as long as i give it a good drench with some AACT and mix in some manure and other compost I should be ok right? I also plan on letting it cook for about 2-3 weeks before planting.
 
I would replace blood meal and bone meal with kelp meal and alfalfa meal. They are far better and contain every micronutrient your plants could ever need. I am not sure how much you would need of each of those but a diverse soil is always a good thing if you are growing organic. Are you planning on organic or inorganic?
ikeepfish said:
I'm assuming you have the godawful red clay like we do here in VA, in addition to what JJJ said, I'd also recommend a composted leaf-litter for a clay breaker.  Clay doesn't drain worth a crap so anything you can add like sand or perlite will also help tremendously.
Click to expand...
Be real careful with adding sand. Sand plus clay can make something similar to concrete.
 
Start out with mostly topsoil and moss.  The rest is up to your budget and how many seasons of crops have exhausted the soil.  On a new bed you don't really "need" any of the rest of that stuff but each may help a little and together provide a good cumulative effect.  Do add at least a little manure and bonemeal since you're staying organic.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
I would replace blood meal and bone meal with kelp meal and alfalfa meal. They are far better and contain every micronutrient your plants could ever need. I am not sure how much you would need of each of those but a diverse soil is always a good thing if you are growing organic. Are you planning on organic or inorganic?

Be real careful with adding sand. Sand plus clay can make something similar to concrete.
Click to expand...
True dat! Make sure there is plenty of compost, etc, going in with it. If you're clay is of the sub-soil variety be even more careful. 
I lucked out and my clay had been in grass for decades and it loosened fairly well for 10-18", below that is  sterile clay. It would make bricks. Just add sand :) 
 
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