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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Do I need to add anything to this compost blend?

6 years ago

I have 5 raised beds. The first bed I filled with 50/50 peat moss and something called Pete's Potting Mix. It was expensive but it drains incredibly and my pepper plants are the best I've ever seen. It has perlite. Even after 2 months the soil is loose and loamy.

I also use this in my containers which are doing great.

Then I built 4 more raised beds (4' x 8' x 12") and bought local compost in bulk. All of my transplants died or turned yellow and stunted. It turns out the compost had toxic levels of manganese.

I just had this delivered:

http://www.earthfarms.com/buy-compost/

So I'm getting ready to dig it all out and replace it with the new Garden Blend but I'm on the fence about whether or not to add perlite/vermiculite, since the website says the blend contains sand for drainage. It's definitely not something I want to spend money on if it's not needed.

Any thoughts?

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Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
You do not need the perlite or vermiculite - the garden blend soil should be fine. A raised bed is not the same as a container and does not require the degree of drainage enhancement a container soil does. It will drain reasonably well with any sort of soil just by virtue of its elevation :-) Ideally, you just want a decent mineral based soil enhanced with some organic matter. And that's what a "garden blend" soil typically offers.

IMO, vermiculite's ONLY use should be limited to propagation. Even as a container soil additive it is problematic as once it is fully saturated with water it will collapse and compress, losing any characteristics of drainage enhancement it might have had and so will actually work to slow drainage. It is expensive and pointless to add to any planting soils.
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kimmq
6 years ago
A raised bed as described needs a soil mix more closely approximating good garden soil than what would be used for a container. A soil mix of about 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay, and 5 percent organic matter would be what I would use.
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toxcrusadr
6 years ago
Agreed. 100% compost, or a mix of potting mix and peat, are not the right things to put into raised beds.

Possible that compost wasn't 100% done, in which case it can do all sorts of weird things to plants, especially if you try to grow directly in it instead of mixing it into soil.

I am curious how you learned of the toxic levels of manganese? Did you have a test done or did the producer provide that info after the fact? I'm just wondering how in the world that could have found its way into compost in the first place.
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