mud

[dannyd]

Hello,

I got a half yard of what a landscaping center called "super-soil", which is 1 part compost and 1 part loam. I am growing in 5 gallon buckets. Well I filled a bucket with the stuff and watered it, and the water just sits on top. If I mix the water in by hand, it turns to mud. What should I do? I have so much of it and want to be able to use it.

I tried adding pearlite to a bucket full, and it didn't help at all.

Thanks,
Dan

I read on another forum about compost becoming "hydrophobic" if it dries out. I am not sure if this is the problem.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

You need lots of peat moss I would say.

 

[dannyd]

I will try that. What percentage peat moss should I use?

Should I still use the perlite, or return the bags i didnt open and buy peat?

 

[Tman]

I would return your mud producing soil and replace with peat. I'm using a bale of peat with a small bag of perlite mixed in. This combonation stays fluffy, retains moisture, and drains well too. Hope you end up with something that your peppers like!

 

[dannyd]

Thanks Tman. I ended up cutting the "super-soil" with some sandy soil from my neighbors yard. I potted one plant in that mixture.

Then, using the 50/50 super-soil/sandy, I cut in about 50% peat moss and planted a second plant in that.

These two plants are ones I bought at the store. I won't be able to plant my seedlings for a few more weeks, so I will know which mixture works better by then.

I'll post some pics in my grow log tomorrow.

 

[Tman]

Sounds like they'll love it!

 

[dannyd]

Yeah, both mixtures soak up the water. When I finished potting them I was cleaning up and the bucket that had the original super-soil/perlite mix still had half an inch of water sitting on top, hours later.

I'm happy, and my neighbor is happy because she gets to use some of the super-soil in her garden. She had the opposite problem as me... her garden soil was becoming depleted and sandy, so super-soil will do great for her... hopefully.