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Compost Mixes

Hotpeppa

Hotpeppa

Hey everyone,

i thought i would start a thread that deals with the different Compost Mixes that people here at the THP use...

With all the talk about using hormones, 'organic' ferts, superthrive, steriods and others, i think this would help any ' Newbie ' who wants a different direction choose another direction that works...

Can anyone post their formula that works for them ?

thanks:lol:
 
I don't have a formula, I have a compost pile. I throw kitchen wastes and grass and leaf clippings in the pile, and whatever else non-diseased plant matter comes my way. Every now and then I bring home some soiled bedding from work if we have rabbits.

I don't compost my tomato or peppers plants or grass clippings if the weeds have gotten large enough to go to seed; they go to the city composting site.
 
Compost gardening is a work in progress for me. This year is the first time I've used anything besides potting soil mixes and local sand/dirt.
My neighbor planted last year with some goat and straw compost and those plants stayed green way after mine yellowed out from lack of N. Adding the same stuff to a dog-damaged seedling I gave her made it spring back to life with vigor and color.
I have access to an almost unlimited supply of leaf compost (I live in a forest) and goat doodoo (free for the labor of cleaning out goat stalls). The only other thing I'm doing on an experimental basis is adding coffee grounds and wood ash to a small test batch and seeing how it effects some of my 'runts'. Oh, and I'll probaby add eggshells when I transplant into the ground.

Here's some links that I found useful when researching this last fall.
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=785
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=793
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=867

c.
 
All my green stuff from the yard - including weeds go into the pile along with leaves from the trees. Non-meat food scraps, egg shells and used potting soil get added as do tea bags, coffee grounds, straw and whatever else tends to rotten.

Mike
 
I make my own compost with old soil, leaves, kitchen waste, lawn trimming, manure etc. There's also plenty of deer droppings all around my garden. This year I could have filled 3 of the huge compost bins I made. Instead, I had to pile the rest in the garden till spring.
 
POTAWIE said:
This year I could have filled 3 of the huge compost bins I made. Instead, I had to pile the rest in the garden till spring.
Click to expand...

I have to pile mine too. A lot of the leaf stuff has been accumulating for years, if not decades. I just have to rake/dig it out and screen out the chunks - twigs, pine cones, hickory nuts etc. It also comes with centipedes and earthworms. :shocked:

Please do share the home-made compost bins. Are they the type you turn with a crank to mix it up??
 
My composter is just a wooden box that holds everything right now. This year I plan to make a much, better 2 or 3 stage composter that is big enough for my tractor bucket to fit in to scoop out and move/aerate the compost, with the idea being that the first bin will be the freshest, the second will me partly composted, and the third is the most ready for use.
We'll see how ambitious I get:)
 
POTAWIE said:
This year I plan to make a much, better 2 or 3 stage composter that is big enough for my tractor bucket to fit in to scoop out and move/aerate the compost...
Click to expand...

Can I come over and borrow some? It's only a coupla thousand miles maybe. ;)
 
Pam said:
But, earthworms are very good, and centipedes are good little predators.
Click to expand...

Yes. I was going to buy some earthworms for the garden, but then I saw them crawling out of my seedling cups when they got saturated with rainwater. The critters are a bonus. Except maybe beetles. I don't want any Bad Beetles to chew on my leaves.
 
Im only using shop bought stuff this year as my compost heap is nowhere near ready.
I began using multi-purpose compost mixed with perlite, vermiculite and worm humus.
Now that im repotting into larger pots im using pre-mixed stuff by Canna (pro or pro+), it costs £15 for 50 litres but saves a lot of work.
 
caroltlw said:
Yes. I was going to buy some earthworms for the garden, but then I saw them crawling out of my seedling cups when they got saturated with rainwater. The critters are a bonus. Except maybe beetles. I don't want any Bad Beetles to chew on my leaves.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I spend a lot of time id'ing the buggies I find because I don't want to kill the good bugs, and beetles can be tough.
 
POTAWIE said:
I used a vermicomposter years ago and have also bought worm castings. Its all great shit eh:)
Click to expand...


ha

yeah, izzzz good stuff man ! they call it liquid gold...lol

always wanted to try getting a bunch of worms and try it out. is it as good as they say ?
 
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