Filling Your Square Foot Raised Bed Garden with Soil from Lowes

[BrightLightSite]

I wouldn't buy anything from Micracle-Gro - too many toxic chemicals. Their soil

product is just called "Organic's Choice" - that does NOT mean that it's certified organic - it isn't!!! Be aware that many companies are putting the word "organic" on their soils but they are using the word in the "derived from animal or plant matter" meaning of the word,

NOT in the "doesn't have any drugs, hormones, synthetic chemicals or pesticides" meaning of the word organic. Some pesticides are "organic"!

[dtp5150]

i was wondering about the compost place...u say the price is great so i'll use em if i need to ....thanks....i go to this lowes too lol

[fuzzymode]

I don't use anything mixed w/Miracle Grow in it.....It's nuclear!!!! (yuck.)

[socalcraigster]

@tastycajun0381 - you want 1/3 of each: compost, vermiculite & peat moss. The key is the compost. Many people blend different kinds of compost to make that 1/3. I suggest you pick Mel Bartholomew's book Square Foot Gardening and also go to his website. He sells the mixture in bags. While it is pricey, it will get you off to a great start.

[socalcraigster]

@tastycajun0381 - don't use regular dirt in any way if u can; a mixture of blended compost, peat moss & vermiculite; contact some nurseries in your area and ask them for a local soil company that sells that mixture to the public. They can deliver it to your door. The amount of dirt u will need depends on how big the box & how many you make. A 4ft by 4ft box that is 6 inches high takes should take about 8 cu feet of dirt. Each box should have a minimum of 6 inches of soil. I use a 12 inch depth

[burningangel1000]

@tastycajun0381 ya what he said.

[growingyourgreens]

You can do many things. For best results, I reccomend using a mixture of compost from the store , maybe some clean soil from the ground, and something like coconut coir. See

watch?v=vWzR9kX76lo

which shows you exactly what I do for soil when installing a new raised bed.

[socalcraigster]

John, big fan & subscriber. I bought 20 GardenTime bags & planted tomato, peppers, cucumber & much more in 5 gal containers. They get worm casings dissolved in water weekly; just got 20 San Marzano type tomatoes plants (hard to find down in Ventura County) & wanted to know what you think of HAPPY FROG? One thing I like about the GardenTime is that the soil is very light, drains well, but still seems to retain enough to keep moist. Want to use rock duct but can't find around here. Peace Craig

[growingyourgreens]

I like happy frog. they make good stuff.. that being said..its expensive! But in this case, you get what you pay for.

[sandworm3]

I have been reading how bad peat moss is to be harvesting from the bog systems. It takes really long to replenish naturally and is being mass harvested. Non-sustainable. With that being said, I am going to go the direction of the coconut coir as an alternative.

Home composting and vermiculture is a must for every home owner. Nothing goes in the garbage at our place. Compost tip: save your brown leaves from the fall! You will need these in the spring and summer for a good carbon source.

[socalcraigster]

@sandworm3 - just curious, how is the bog ecosystem negatively affected by harvesting Peat? Essentially we are just redistributing it back into the ground?

[sandworm3]

@socalcraigster A few very important things to think about. Sphagnum moss grows extremely slow. Less than 3 inches in depth over the course of a century. A second harvest is not possible for 3000 years to justify the costs of extraction. Also, the bog must be drained completely for the peat to be harvested. Peat bogs store more carbon than all the trees on the planet. 562 billion tons to be exact. More than all the trees on the planet. When mined the carbon is released and even after.

[sandworm3]

@socalcraigster (cont.) Can a resource that renews itself this slowly be considered sustainable? If we balk at cutting down 500 year old trees in old growth forests, should we accept the extraction of 3000 year old sphagnum moss from peat bogs?

[melissam0ss]

i've had great success with black Kow organic compost. i live in central FL and it is simply not cost effective to fill 4x4 raised beds with bags and mixes. they deliver the wonder ful organic compost by the 'yard' which is a huge pile from $20.00-$35.00 a yard plus sometimes a small delivery charge. my last load (i expanded my garden) i got 3 yards and actually they were very generous and i know it was more than 3 yards. ;) if i have to fertilize, i use worm castings, it's concentrated!

[RedSoxBowHunter]

Can anyone answer....how my 5 gallon buckets could you fill with a standard bag of potting soil??

[RedSoxBowHunter]

Can anyone answer how many bags of potting soil would fill a single 5 gallon bucket?

[Lifetimeproducts]

Another great video and helpful, practical info! Just added it to our own favorites list so our viewers can learn how to fill our new Raised Garden Kits!

[77ajv]

John, I'm going to make a raised bed garden with some local potting mix soil. I'm going grow tomatoes and bell peppers with me already using good soil in the raised bed, do I need to fertilize during the growth of the plants and if so what do you recommend to use to fertilize them with? Also I can't find any rock dust in NC. Thank you

[growingyourgreens]

For my tomatoes, I generally dont fertilize when they are growing. Why? The soil is ALREADY fertile. Mix some good organic compost in with your local potting mix, also some worm castings. Also find the rock dust. If you work on building your soil before the season, there should be no reason to fertilize during the season. On occasion, I do fertilize as needed during the season if the plant looks like it needs it. I would recommend Espoma fertilizers.

[tribalwind]

another option can be filling mostly with free woodchips from local tree services, it will break down,dreleasing heat and become compost over time(this is known in permaculture as "hugelculture" )

by me they will deliver 20 yards or more for free.and some will even pay you something! they otherwise have to pay more in dumping fees to the landfill.

[tribalwind]

good vid John'

hah ! i doubt Mel is watching over what goes into this 'compost'. he's paid to have his name/brand on it and that's where it ends. ive had his book for Ages now.and his videos off some torrent site..

the message at the end is where it's at! city compost programs are best i think. Also check Craigslist for Free dirt...then amend top 6-12" with compost and rock dust... buying soil at corporate big-box stores, should be avoided at all costs, its like buying/shipping water!

[MsPatreesh]

I'm growing stuff in 5 gallons buckets. When a plant has bolted and I take it out of the pot, can I grown again in the same soil? Or should I replace it?

[lilchopin1]

I like home depot better because lowes doesn't sell seeds

[feralkevin]

I have a similar composting operation down here (CCL Organics) in the Outer East Bay area, and the last two rounds we got from them made terrible soil for our raised beds. Terrible. I added rock dust, as I always do.

Isn't there also a concern about vermiculite containing asbestos?

[fat22ful]

That sucks you got 5th place in the raw chef challenge I wanted you to win!

[Nubster12]

Be very careful when buying low priced soils from Lowes. Not long ago I purchased over 50 forty pound bags of composted leaf matter and brought it home and started filling my beds with the junk in the bags. Ended up being about 90% clay and 10% leaf compost. I was furious.

[Nubster12]

I emailed Lowes as well as the soil company and ended up getting a refund but I still had to load over 2000 pounds of soil myself...bring it home, unload it, reload it...take it back, then unload it again. So either find bags that are torn or cut them open yourself to see what really is inside.

[BikeManDan1]

Coconut coir is the more sustainable option rather than peat but is not always as easy to find. Definitely opt for it when available though. Its a great seed starting medium

[waterboy1394]

where can i find rock dust?

[2008Raw2008]

John you are a lucky boy. Best wishes for your raw fest.

[TheUrbanOutdoors]

Hey Jon, what about greensand? I read alot of books, and I keep reading about greensand. Wonder if you've tried it, or what brand/type dust you recommend?

[zekehooper]

I also wanted to say that where I am I can get rock dust for $14 for 2 lbs. Seems kind of high to me?

[growingyourgreens]

thats alot. I pay either $21 for 44 # of azomite or about $15 for 50 pounds of gaia green glacial rock dust.

[gruvngyrl]

@growingyourgreens Where do you buy your Gaia Green and/or Azomite, John? Here on the SF peninsula, I found a place that has the Gaia Green for $20, but the Azomite is almost double the cost at $39.

[zekehooper]

That's cool how you broke it down on the cost. Here in Bend the Lowes and Home Depoe are pretty much the same in price for stuff.

[GettingThereGreen]

wow!! I never heard of sfq soil sold commercially like that!  cool. I just buy each part of it individually. vermiculite is hard to find. I had to order it in through a local greenhouse and they were more than happy to order it for me, and it came in in about 3 days. ~Amanda

[erin0819]

I filled a 4 x 6' raised bed with Organic Miracle-Gro Garden soil Mix (the green bag in the video) and just as an FYI..........it was the worst. Way too thick and all my vegetables grew ridiculously small. As a matter of fact, I believe it states on the back it should not be used in container gardening. I did add it to my flower garden with the loam that was already down and it worked great, but not so well in my raised bed.

[btigtime2]

I fill my chicken coop with bags and bags of leaves from around my neighbor hoods. Then around SepTember of the next year I collect it and pile it up. Then in Spring I fill my beds.... So far other than my Blueberry Bushes everything like it that way.

[updownjim]

You said that you use the compost from your area. Besides the rock dust, what else do you add? I used the Mel's formula for my sq ft garden, but I think the 5 different kinds of compost I used was low in nitrogen.... Not enough poop or something. Anyway what all do you add to your compost?

[mchlmrtz]

I actually use the Kellogg Garden Soil you show at 6:02. Works pretty well for me. I'll be adding worm casting from my huge worm bin when I do new plantings from here on out.

[OS253]

Compost tea.

[ASFx2600]

John, this is the soil i used to fill my four 4x8 raised beds here in Vegas when you came to visit. At the local nurseries here, that same square foot gardening mix is mixed and sold by a local company called Gro-Well. I contacted the company directly and asked them to deliver 11 cubic yards for my four raised beds, and they agreed to do it, which ended up being cheaper than buying bags. I was the first customer that ever asked them to deliver it like that. So far my garden is doing great.