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Suggestions: Least expensive Way To Fill 200 5 gallon Pots

Ok, i am going full scale this year... will have over 100 varieties growing for total isolation seed stock and probably another 100 at another location for open pollination and sfrb fresh peppers...
 
Heres my issue... I will be growing in 5 gallon white plastic grow bags as they are cheap and easy to store... I found them for less than 50 cents a piece too.. 46 cents each in packs of 50...
 
Now, potting mixes are wayyyyy tooo expensive to buy by the bag...
 
Suggestions on making 136 or so cubic feet of potting mix as cheap as possible? I dont need the additives, the buffers, the composts etc... just nice airy stable potting mix as i will be using composts teas and worm castings to fertilize and get the micro environments in the bags going... they will be complete after i add everything so i just need the media to hold it all together...
 
Ideas? No frills, 200 5 gallon bags of potting mix... GO!
 
Boy, I'd sure love to help you, but you got offended, and put me on the "block list", so you'll never even see this. LOL

Too bad. I have done this many times.
 
My local dirt/bark store sells 1 cu yr of what they call "premium" garden blend for $35.
 
I am going this route this yr as It has done very well for me in the past.
 
check your local nursery or garden supply for by the yrd purchases.
 
ours has a good blend of steer manure and sand for drainage and composted wood and other beneficial material.
 
will check back to see what others are doing to help cut the costs for bid soil needs.
 
yeah i have found alot of them by the cubic yard from unscreened farm soil at 18 dollars a yard to 40 dollars a yard 1/2 soil 1/2 compost... but they all seem too heavy for pots... maybe if i do half soil/compost blens and half pine mulch... from all i find pine seems to be the way to go for taking up space and it doesnt decompose fast so it is safe from burning the plants...
 
maybe lose the compost totally and do half soil half pine... my compost tea blend has everything from rock dust to castings to sea 90 etc...
 
I would have to agree with Masher as long as it's not a 'boggy' mix. I know a few years back some Perth growers used a local garden store 'veggie mix' and it went soggy.

Btw good luck isolating so many plants!
 
Jase4224 said:
I would have to agree with Masher as long as it's not a 'boggy' mix. I know a few years back some Perth growers used a local garden store 'veggie mix' and it went soggy.

Btw good luck isolating so many plants!
 
my isolation method guarantees total isolation even with plants 2 feet away from a different variety... its easy but time consuming... but i have the time and i love it...
 
 
The key to our mix is the batch plant is located adjacent to a river that flows from Mount Saint Helens.
 
when it had a volcanic eruption 25 yrs ago it send metric tons of ash and sands into the system that plug the river up every yr.
 
they dredge those spoils and combine it with the mix.
 
There is a 5 arce spoil area 30' high...this soil drains excellent.
 
you could get a yrd of course sand to blend in...perlite in large bulk bags is cheap as well if needed.
 
Masher said:
The key to our mix is the batch plant is located adjacent to a river that flows from Mount Saint Helens.
 
when it had a volcanic eruption 25 yrs ago it send metric tons of ash and sands into the system that plug the river up every yr.
 
they dredge those spoils and combine it with the mix.
 
There is a 5 arce spoil area 30' high...this soil drains excellent.
 
you could get a yrd of course sand to blend in...perlite in large bulk bags is cheap as well if needed.
 

nice... volcanoes have some benefits i guess but i still wouldnt live by one... lol
 
It's part of out Cascades Mountain range....google Mt Saint helens.....there are epic pic of the eruption, damage and debris fields.
 
Mother nature unleashed her shit that day!!!
 
Masher said:
It's part of out Cascades Mountain range....google Mt Saint helens.....there are epic pic of the eruption, damage and debris fields.
 
Mother nature unleashed her shit that day!!!
 

well aware....big time history channel discovery channel documentary watcher... i like to learn while tv rots my brain... NJ really doesnt have any crazy mother nature issues...  maybe an occasional hurricane but if your not on the beach they really only effect certain areas badly... biggest issue is no power for a while..
 
floricole said:
I use
1/3 of good top soil
1/3 Rameal chipped wood (RCW)
1/3 horse manure (2 years old)
 
 
ya think small nugget pine would do? and if i just did wood chip to good top soil, minus the manure... what ratio ya think would be best? 50/50?
 
JUR-Z-Devil said:
 
 
ya think small nugget pine would do? and if i just did wood chip to good top soil, minus the manure... what ratio ya think would be best? 50/50?
 
 
The pine is acid, me it is the Salix viminalis that I prefer, crushed during the growing season (with the foliage)
But any other broadleaf does well with the exeption of the oak and walnut.
I would try 60/40 wood chip
 
floricole said:
 
 
The pine is acid, me it is the Salix viminalis that I prefer, crushed during the growing season (with the foliage)
But any other broadleaf does well with the exeption of the oak and walnut.
I would try 60/40 wood chip
 
thoughts on engineered wood fiber? maybe a 50%  http://www.fibar.com/playgrounds/   25% quality topsoil like black gold here in nj and 25% leaf compost?
 
 
After lots of googling and recipies etc... Im gonna go with 75% canadian hemlock bark mulch, 25% black gold topsoil and my compost tea...
 
tctenten said:
 
 
Those 2 places are not that local for you, but if they deliver I would get 1/2 topsoil and 1/2 mushroom compost.   I use the mushroom compost from Molzons Nursery in Lincroft and I love it.
 
http://www.molzons.com
 
ive been to the yard before... its not that far... but i get a pick up truck and make a few trips... they want to charge more for delivery than the material costs itself... crazy as hell... its less than a 30 min drive... they must be smoking their mulch...
 
 
Maybe dump your efforts and funds into improving a piece of small land? The land under the grow bags possibly? I am one to jump in the deep end also but maybe you can work towards this goal. It's not really a turnkey operation.
 
Full scale is relative,there are guys growing 10's of thousands of plants. I am guessing this is just to supplement your income?  Have you thought about just isolating the plants you are growing for SFRB's in order to get seed stock and cut costs?  Are the seeds you are growing for purity from isolated stock? I probably have 50 more questions I would ask you or ask myself if it was me doing this. You can improve your margin by thinking smaller and smarter. 
 
 
 
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