composting in containers
Ruchi Oswal
4 years ago
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nicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Clay soil and compost as container mix?
Comments (10)I can seriously commiserate with you on this one. The higher part of our land is also heavy hillside clay. As for what you propose, I have a hard time picturing what it is you intend to do. A hundred plastic pots on a hillside with no flat areas? How will they stay put? How will you water them? I don't know which part of California you are in, but vegetables are very thirsty under the best of conditions. It's possible that you will be watering every single day, maybe even twice a day if you have a hot climate. Do you have the time for that? And would watering mean dragging a hose up and down a hill covered with a hundred pots? That doesn't sound too easy or fun? You don't say if the hill is south or north facing. If the sun is on that hill all day long then the plant roots in those pots are going to be under a lot of heat stress. I have found that very cheap plastic pots tend to deteriorate much more quickly in the sun than more expensive pots. Some don't even last a year in the sun. And finally, if you cut out the bottoms of the pots you would have to dig each pot into the ground or else you are going to lose all the soil out of them every time you water. I think you may be setting yourself up for a lot of work and a lot of frustration. What we do here with our hillsides is to terrace the land. (If you look for images of Banyalbufar in Google you will see what our terraced lands looks like) Would terracing be possible for you? Even on a small scale it can be very effective. On this island we build up our terraces with supporting rock walls but in the States you would probably use wood. Google "build hillside terraces" for ideas. With terraces you will have flat areas where you can build up your soil, for example, with the lasagna method which is reasonable cheap to do....See MoreAdding compost to containers
Comments (2)Compost used as a mulch works fine as a mulch. When used as part of your potting mix is has a negative effect on the drainage. As a general rule considering you are only growing annual plants in regular potting mix, not known for good drainage, I think you will be fine. Most of the time on this forum, long term container growing is being considered. Al...See MoreUsing compost for container vegetable garden
Comments (5)If one were to compare compost with the common soilless mixes used and made from peat moss, ground bark fines, and/or coir one would find that compost is often as coarse, if not coarser, then those ingredients, unless the compost was screened through a very fine mesh screen. Adding perlite or vermiculite can help with drainage issues, if any. The nutrients in compost are not very readily available, soluble, so they do not show on any of the current tests iin any real numbers, but many of us that have used only compost/organic matter as our source of nutrients have found the plants we grow are usually healthier then the plants growing in "conventional" gardens and have fewer problems with insect pests and plant diseases. The best way to find good compost is to grow plants in some and look closely at them to see how they do....See MoreCan bagged composted manure contain herbicide residues?
Comments (4)All of the bagged manures come from feed lots, large Confined Animal Feeding Operations, aka CAFOs, where the animlas are fed products that will have many pesticides, but those animals are also fed, and injected with, a lot of antibiotics in an attempt to prevent diseases that often result from overcrowding. So given that that manure is unhealthy to begin with is it any wonder that plants grown in soils with that manure added would be unhealthy?...See Morenicholsworth Z6 Indianapolis
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