Most Gardeners Get THIS Wrong About Their SOIL
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2024
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Yes! Use your neighbors resources! My closest neighbor saves all her egg shells and has her daughter throw them over the fence into my garden. 2 other neighbors give me all their leaves every fall. I try and keep them happy by sharing my harvest.😊
I've even mowed my neighbors yard for the grass clippings to mulch my garden in the heat lol
I have turned into an accidental organic grower! I never planned this, I just did what made sense.
I have a mix of grass clippings, chopped leaves, pine straw, and added forest soil and soil from a gulch I brought in with my garden wagon on top of hard red clay. I add all my grass clippings around my garden green when I mow. There are huge worms under it. I had to do it this way because it`s all I have. Topsoil was bulldozed away decades ago down to hard red clay.
I can’t believe how many things you mention I just started doing just last week! I started my compost after finding my parents’ neighbor about to take 5 leaf bags to the dump, I just bought a bag of Trifecta, and will never use “raised bed” soil again.. well, maybe as mulch. After a dismal tomato harvest, which in Texas is saying something, I went with a soil that had compost included. Night and day difference!
All year long i bury in my gaden beds all my kitchen scraps. And use my mower to mulch the grass in the summer to use around the plants. And mulch my grass and leaves in the fall for ontop of my beds. It takes years to build up good soil this way when store bag soil is so expensive. To start new beds i put leaves and grass that have been mulched on the bottom and then some store soil just where i plant the plant.
Where I live in north central Alabama, the soil is red clay, hard as a rock, and with a lot of quartz rock in it. The soil is alkalinme, about 7.5 on the PH scale. Digging an inground garden is not practicle without a tractor with a plow and backhoe attachment. It can be done manually using a pick axe, and a lot of hard labor-not by me. It is a lot easier, and only slightly more expensive using raised bed mix than the cost of ammending the soil, less labor. Every fall, I cover the raised with leaves, then mix them into the soil prior to planting in the winter. I also add compost form my compost bins. There are a lot of wroms in the soil, and the plants grow great. I only use fertilizer sparringly as needed letting the compost and decaying leaves do most of the fertilization. The soil PH is 6.7-6.8, much better for the plants than the alkaline red clay.
Lasagna garden
When I started my raised beds I got some bulk "raised bed mix", but it was native topsoil and compost mix that they composted themselves. That year I also planted super late, but it was also one of my most productive years, especially for sweet peppers. Obviously it's not a bagged mix, but it was significantly cheaper to get started that way, with the drawbacks being a 3 yard minimum and a small delivery fee.
That's definitely the way to go. Most bagged mixes contain zero actual topsoil. The only trick is finding a good source.
Love Luke's passion!
I love the info and that it's not delivered in a condescending way.
I'm in one of the largest cities in New England, and they give away compost! The municipality collects yard waste every spring and fall, and have open drop off locations, turn all they collect into compost, then give it back to everybody for free. It's for city residence only, so the only requirement is to show your ID when you arrive. There are no limit to how much you can collect, you just have to shovel it into your container yourself. I've even backed up a Jeep Liberty, and shoveled on a tarp. My Jeep was a lowrider all the way down the highway! Also in my are, 2 cubic feet of Kellogg organic raised bed/potting soil is under ten bucks. I'm digging up my five foot tall blueberry bushes, and filling utility buckets half way with compost from the city, then toping them off with a one to one peat moss, and Kellogg organic soil. I overwintered three bushes in the cellar, and they look gorgeous this year.
Sounds great, I'm happy it's been working out for you. Personally for myself I have a concern about using municipal compost, it is the possibility of contamination from 'glyphosate' in some of the yard waste which is used to make the municipal compost. Glyphosate {'Roundup'} a chemical plant killer which remains in soil for a long time once contaminated and can inhibit or prevent the growth of garden plants. This is the one and only reason I've been avoiding municipal compost, I'm just afraid it might ruin my garden.
@@Earthy-Artist I don't live in a world of self reinforcing delusional paranoia. It's irrefutably not organic, but if you want to know what's in it, ask. Ask if they do testing on it, and if they don't, take a sample yourself, and send it to lab for testing. Besides, a quick search said glyphosate will only last about a year, and may gone within days to weeks if at all present. We live in a culture of constant fear, and consume. Don't give in to it.
If only America spent its tax money to benefit all of its citizens
@Earthy-Artist And glyphosate isn't even the only issue. Many people who bag their clippings (rather than mulching their lawns) often use various herbicides and pesticides, and those can easily contaminate municipal compost and wreak havoc in the garden. Two other issues are whether the fecal matter content is below the safe threshold and the content of food scrap collection.
@@burntorangehorn Yes, unfortunately a lot of bad things lurking in that innocent looking municipal compost.
Great stuff here, Luke! I’ve been dredging soil out of my woods on my property, plus making compost like crazy. The garden is thriving this year!
My city/county generates compost from yard waste but I’m nervous about using it because who knows what’s been thrown in it (poisons from pesticides, etc)
Yeah pass on that
I've started a garden at 3 houses now over the last 15 years and I always use our local landscape company that offers a "planters mix" for my soil. The price has gone up, like everything, but when I added a couple more boxes this spring it was 60 bucks for a cubic yard of it. Much cheaper than buying it in bags.
I have tried to do compost in the past. But living up in zone four and in a small city, I do not have the materials to get enough compost to make any difference. Also, we do not get the heat to break down compost in an efficient manner. I use chopped up leaves in the fall and sometimes some grass from the lawn cuttings. I also recycle potting mix from my wife’s many flower baskets to put in my raised beds. A person has to do what they can do to build up their soil and it may not always , work the way down in the lower or warmer climate.
I would also add to this that in the CIty compost, which is great if your city has it, you do not necessarily know what chemicals are in it. People have their lawn sprayed with fertilizer, weed killer, insect killer, etc. if their grass clippings go to the compost in the city. What then are you putting in your raised beds. Just something to consider.
Another great video! Thank you for all the knowledge you share! God Bless you and your community🙏🏼
I am binge watching. Luke awesome explanations. I'm so learning so much as a 1st time gardener and no which mistakes not to do next spring. Winter squash in the ground 😊. Cant wait. Thank you
I'm a first time gardener this year too and Luke/MIgardener has been invaluable! Especially since in the past gardening seem so overwhelming with all the knowledge I didn't know. Luke cut through all the noise with applicable easy to understand explanations and taught me basically everything I've used practically this year. From seedlings, lights, heat mats, soil, etc. Luke knows all lol! My garden is thriving and I can't wait to continue my gardening journey in the years to come. Good luck with your garden!
My native soil is sand in Wi.
Thank you, Luke. 😊
My local garden center sells bulk material including a garden mix they blend themselves with organic compost and local top soil, and the potting mix for the same brand compost is over 2x the cost
Have a beautiful house on one acre, but unfortunately, no woods. This is the first year that I started a compost area. I tucked in between our backyard fence and a pine tree. Used metal fence posts and black plastic roll fencing. I can expand or contract the size as needed. Hopefully next year we will have some good stuff. Thanks for the videos !
As always, you give the best information. I love the free compost I have access to from the local municipal authority. I am usually good for 5 or 6 pickup truckloads a year for my garden. I even make my own potting soil with it.
I have downed trees that have been composting in my yard on their own for years and now I have broken up to make wood chips and underneath that, compost. I also let the leaves in my yard break down and then dig that up for my garden beds. I don't have any raised beds. Mine are in the ground. I do also use some commercial soil with both compost and some nutrients in it that comes in large bags from Tractor Supply which is priced pretty reasonably (I think it was one you recommended).
I have used Miracle Grow Potting Soil and Compost for several years in my raised beds and I have had AMAZING productive gardens. I wouldn't change a thing.
I recently watch a video that did a test on peppers using many different soil mixes. One of the Miracle Grow bagged mixes came in #1. Many Miracle Grow products are criticized but I use the 20-20-20 for years with great results.
Thank you very much for sharing. Those potting mixes are so expensive so it's the best to produce your own soil if you can.
Great information! You have inspired me to take out my mulcher in June to properly create mulch! I usually only do this in the fall
Your 🐓looks great on this video
Great video as usual, thanks Luke🍅🍆🥬
I started my garden with the cheapest compost I could buy at my local big box store - don't have much choice in my area.
I am making my own now, but only enough to top up the beds, can't make enough to fill the beds to begin with.
The compost I buy seems pretty good, but there is quite a bit of small plastics in it, and often small stones.
PS You can compost in a plastic bin, i do it yearly for over a decade.
Smell only when i open bin to put in scraps, warning dont overdue coffee grinds in small bin. One year i over did it on grinds.
We have city composting and I used it in the past but then it finally dawned on me....why would I use it esp. for food gardening when what is collected could be loaded with pesticides and chemicals (yard plants, lawn grass & leaves and non-organic veggie waste) and then passed on to me? Best to use compost only if you know what went in to it.
Solid advice.
I've been mixing a little fertilizer, with Black Kow manure/compost, and my natural soil. I have a trashcan full of leaves, compostable waste, but I haven't been turning it or anything. I have a large storage container tub, and I think I'll move those contents to that, start regularly turning the compost, and see how that works out for me. Thanks for all the info.
you can drill holes in sides for aeration and holes in bottom for drainage
@@TheRealPlato Okay, the side aeration holes was something I hadn't thought of. Thanks for that!
Use a metal shopping cart to sift your compost pile. Scoop a pile in then rake it back and fourth with a flat blade shovel. Garden size particles will fall through leaving the big stuff to put back in the compost pile.
Man I thank you for reminding me of this. Sooo true and we do have a "natural-native plants" nursery that sells compost.
YOU are amazing! Thank you
I agree with everything you said here except the part where you said that the bagged soils are inert. Seed starting mix is but a lot of potting soils and raised bed mixes are full of nutrients - granted they may be chemical in nature. They do grow wonderful plants (I use them for my container potatoes) but they are expensive and I still prefer to use my own compost whenever I can.
We have sand, the same mulch will work on sand as well.
Thank you for the information.
Any time!
I live in the suburbs on Long Island and there are several local sites that we can go to to pick up free compost and free mulch. It comes from the leaf debris that the town picks up. Also, however, you can get free wood chips from that website but… If you call any tree company, they will be happy to drop a truckload of free wood chips in your driveway. But you have to be ready for a truckloadbecause they don’t give you less than that
Sounds great! I make my own soil!
I ended up with bags of wood chunks. I have a ton of mushrooms growing now. Slugs have been eating them though. Before that the raised beds were used as compost collectors. Once I till it, everything should be okay from what I have seen from one tilled section I have done.
Loving my compost pile I’m actually out filling 5 gallon buckets of water today to bring home and damping it to keep it working well going through a bit of a drought up here and upstate New York
I collect the rain water off the back of my garage. Ran out of it last night due to the slight drought here in N.Y. We might get some rain on Friday night hopefully there saying. We're 10 degrees above average for June.
I hadn't thought about watering my compost pile so glad you mentioned it. My rain barrel level is getting low, sure hope we get some rain soon.
@@dalegaa4094 I have pallet bins something like Luke’s, but mine are side-by-side and then I take two scrap pieces of lumber and lay them across and I have a 5 gallon bucket with about a dozen very very, very small holes drilled in the bottom and I will run 3 to 45 gallon buckets of water through that so that it drizzles in very slowly and soaks into the compost pile. It really helps it. Heat up and work.
@@johnwood738 Interesting set up. It finally rained today and the forecast is calling for rain on and off throughout the week.
@@dalegaa4094that’s the way it goes. I watered my pile twice now nothing but rain in the forecast.
Bought raised bed mix after I built my raised bed, combined it with a little compost, and old potting mix. I'm sad to say that several of my seedlings were stunted because (afterward) I read about how that particular raised bed mix lacks nitrogen. I had to hit it up with some liquid fertilizer, so we'll see how it goes.
It is so good for gardening to use compost. It takes years to get it the way it needs to be. We use tubs with lids and a turnable composter.
Yup 'total newbs' (new beginners) are absolutely allowed to make less than better decisions while moving to a place of more and more 'experienced gardeners (or whatever you are doing in life as a 'newb') Point is to mature and learn from other more experienced ones AND to surely learn from the current state of knowledge you are in both now and 'tomorrow' :)
Could you do or have you done an indepth video on making compost. Building a compost area and how to compost that does not attract critters. Please.
We have a ton of videos, just search our channel for the compost videos, and you will find them.
I've searched and searched for any municipal compost lots near me, but they don't exist in NEPA.
Compost: Black Gold!!!! Its all u neeeeeed!
Totally 👍
Thank you very much for your time and information do you have any videos or info on soil-borne Wilt disease 4 out of 5 of my Giant Crimson's got stunned hard and are diying slowly how can I fix my soil for next year, (this also happened last season with Early Girls)
My garden planting area is 1 acre the ground here is hard-as cement It is sand and stilt with a slight touch of clay I put lots and lots of compost into our native soil I use organic fertilizers I add lots of worm castings at first it was very expensive but now after 3 years it could actually be called soil
I use a trash can with holes for compost
My raised beds- I use 100% local compost when I fill them. Then I top them off over time with 100% compost. Our compost is sold directly from the local landfill for 25$ a yard.
I have that available also, but I worry about all the chemicals people put on the grass.
Hey Luke!
Thank you for your helpful advice!
How can you know if your garlic is REALLY ready?
I think mine has only been in the ground for 8-ish months instead of 9. However, I have had to pull it out because not only is it mostly brown, but a couple of them came up without the bulb. I'm assuming they rotted in the ground. I'm curing the rest, but I'm really not sure what will become of them.
I wish I could send you a picture of them. The bulbs are large, but just not sure if they're ready.
Check out vermicomposting. It will raise your compost production to an even higher level.
When i need dirt i go to the river flats near me and fill buckets
Get your drainage right, then let plants amend your soil. Any compost or biochar can't be mixed in when harvesting root vegetables.
I just started a raised bed this year, luckily my neighbors have horses, cows and chickens I was able to get some compost to fill it up for free however as I sift through it I'm finding tones of weeds it's extremely sandy heavy material! Should I leave it be for the year or should I amend it with something?
Luke. How do you get away without putting ground cover over your dirt?
I moved last August a couple miles away from my old home. Fairly rocky soil but very good soil. I put down a patch of 8 month old horse manure then rototilled it in March. I planted in late April into late May. Lots of things never grew, things planted outside of the manure are growing well, all my beans in the manure are growing well. I've noticed the material stays fairly cool. Am I having an issue with the material staying to cool or is it an issue with the manure?
Luke! I always ❤your vids! So I learned one thing in this video, that I don’t need to buy raised bed mix for my raised beds. Excellent! But I didn’t quite learn what I can fill it with instead: other than getting compost from somewhere. Do I just put compost in my raised bed?
Hi 😊 look up Hugelculture, where they put larger sticks and chunks of wood to breakdown and help fill the garden box space. Really helpful because trying to fill our garden boxes can be very expensive buying soil. Another idea: start that compost pile, and if you already have one, I mix two parts my backyard dirt with 1 part compost in a wheelbarrow to mix. Or untill I like the look of it. Then plant into that.
I filled my raised bed with my own mix from peat moss, vermiculite, perlite and compost. I did not amend to increase the peat's acidic PH because I'm growing potatos in it. If the roots can find the correct amount of air, water and nutrients they are set up for success. Pure compost will probably have too little air and too much nutrients.
I had the same question earlier this year when I was planning my first garden! I used a 50lb bale of organic alfalfa hay as my core and base of raised bed, then a 50/50 mix of organic coconut coir and organic compost. My garden has been thriving! I plan to add another raised bed next year and the only change I will make is to go 100% compost instead of using the coir. Re-hydrating the coir wasn't worth the time and effort due to the amount of water needed. Happy gardening!
Awesome content. I'm also in the suburbs of chicago. Is there a location for compost you can suggest? My fear is getting bad compost that may have viney weeds or poison ivy etc...new gardener
Buy peat moss and topsoil and add fertilizer mix:
4 parts compost
1 part bone meal
2 parts wood ash
1 part crushed eggshells
2 parts dried seaweed
1 part garden lime
1 part gypsum
1 part Azomite
I'd like you to check earth grow from menards they have a topsoil and a compost mix both 3 dollars per bag. I put in some 8 inch tall beds tilled the soil and can't believe the result. Last year bought 800 lbs worth of bags only to have sandy soil this year. Apparently the bags at menards for three dollars are full of peat and compost and they do sell bags of compost for 2.50. Raised beds take way more dirt than people think. I do think I did better this year added beds n was gonna order a bulk shipment of compost soil mix but it was actually cheaper at menards couple trips got her done n no shoveling. I've got a ton of free mulch over here if you want some BTW. In Port Huron
I only use wood chips, food scraps and pee.😊
I use bumper crop
I moved into a place with an huge established blueberry bush, it made awesome berries the first summer. But nothing for two years now, what did the previous owner do?
Acidified soil,...amded the soil, (ie appropriate fertilizers, compost, occasionally adding some vermiculite, sphagnum peat moss)... likely new mulch each year... prune during appropriate off seasons... made sure it isn't shaded too much... water regularly but not too much (aim for using saved rain water if possible, see "acidify soil")...
evidently, they can be a bit of a challenge to keep happy... hope those ideas help.
Luke did a video on what he learned about blueberries from an 80 yr old farmer. 4 fertilizer applications per year and more info.
Making sure the soil is the right pH is probably the most important thing. My wife and I bought a blueberry plant as Costco a couple years ago, put it in a big container and kept it reasonably watered. The first year we got a little growth, but no berries. Oh well, we figured it just needed to establish itself. Next year, still nothing, very little growth, some of the older stems started drying and dying. By chance we saw a video about blueberries (might have been this channel or another one on CZcams) and it was mentioned that they need acidic soil, and also that not all blueberries are self-pollinating. We got acidifier, two more blueberries and a fair bit of peat moss, and with all of them acidified and a couple feet away from each other we've gotten a ton of growth and a few dozen berries on each plant. I'll have to watch that other video on here about fertilizing multiple times in the year again, but literally just those two changes have seen huge results.
Thanks!@@wyssmaster
What if I made the mistake of composting in a shaded area right next to my shed that does have mice? And an infestation of ants? Ugh! Is any of it salvageable? Can I at least dismantle the bin, clean it out, and move it someplace sunny?
I don't need seed starting mix, either? Good to know, but what do I use for indoor seed starting?
Flies!!! Massive amounts of flies (fungus gnats?). Tried to compost for the first time last summer and there were flies everywhere. If someone could tell me what I did wrong, I'd like to try again.
What is your opinion on store manufactured composting barrels? Living in the 4a zone leaves us with a big part of the year that it is hard to get far in the backyard.
i have used a horizontal rotating bin for a bit more than a year, I don't like it because if the mix gets too moist it drips foul liquid out of the seams
Do u have a video on how to begin compost
We have so many videos on how to make your own compost.
I bought bags of Miracle-Gro raised garden bed last year and it was the worst decision I've ever made ....it was like the bags were just full of yucky mulch. What a waste of money.
Do leaves have To be shredded to make compost?
It helps everything break down faster if they're shredded.Rather than if they're big and just lay on top of each other, they can cause an anerobic condition And stink.
Is your wood all untreated?
QUESTION new at gardening when it comes to squash how small can you pick them I planted straight, crooked neck squash that are 6 and 8 inches long would they be safe to eat or should I wait grow them bigger ? I forgot when I planted them to go with 50 or 70 days to harvest
thanks 🙂🌻
6 - 8 inches is my preferred size for squash.
👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌🤞🤞
So far composting with Bokashi is the worst smell ever 😅
Otherwise if composted correctly or with worms almost no smell at all 😊
Shredded leaves how?
Rip to all the plants that died in this heatwave 🙏
💚🫶💚
They attract bears
You can just mix sand into your clay and the nutrients will be available
I was told sand and clay mixed together Make very cheap cement.
I thought the same and did it. I thought that because sand helps drainage and clay holds water, they were the perfect match. It was not. I learned just recently that because of the particles size and shape they pack tightly together. Having much more success mixing the clay with potting mix and compost.
I have downed trees that have been composting in my yard on their own for years and now I have broken up to make wood chips and underneath that, compost. I also let the leaves in my yard break down and then dig that up for my garden beds. I don't have any raised beds. Mine are in the ground. I do also use some commercial soil with both compost and some nutrients in it that comes in large bags from Tractor Supply which is priced pretty reasonably (I think it was one you recommended).