Choose one lightener either the perlite or the vermiculite but not both. If your soil is poorly drained then make a raised bed. So basically use 1/3 compost, 1/3 soil lightener and 1/3 base soil.
Choose one lightener either the perlite or the vermiculite but not both. If your soil is poorly drained then make a raised bed. So basically use 1/3 compost, 1/3 soil lightener and 1/3 base soil.
I use new promix and Happy Frog mixed with old used promix/FFOF with great results. I cant wait to get my veggie garden going! Building raised beds 4x10 this year.
I have raised beds filled with mel's mix. I have both perlite and vermiculite because I had it around. Why use one or the other, Dannyboy? I will need to make more this spring to top up, so gimme the 411.
I have raised beds filled with mel's mix. I have both perlite and vermiculite because I had it around. Why use one or the other, Dannyboy? I will need to make more this spring to top up, so gimme the 411.
Both are soil lighteners. I would use both if I didn't have enough of one. But perlite and vermiculite aren't used outdoors. That's not to say you can't but they are almost always used for indoor containers. But hey, if you're comfortable using them both....but can you tell me why it is you like them both at the same time? Not being judgmental just curious.
I used both because I didn't have enough of either one. Mel's Mix, from the book Square Foot Gardening, is designed specifically for raised beds, so 1 part peat moss, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part compost. No humus at all, so it' a very light, porous mix. I have 64 square feet of raised beds, 8 inches high. When I built them last year I only filled them six inches deep because a) that's what the book says, and b) that's all the compost I had on hand. I needed two bushels of vermiculite and only had one but since perlite is kinda similar I used that since I had a ton of it lying around. I plan to build a couple more beds this spring and since I have no materials left, I'll be using only vermiculite, not perlite. There's also a small percentage of hydroton in there from rootballs ending up in my compost pile over the years
I'm sorry you had to reassure me you weren't being judgmental, RIU has never been very civil but I don't play.