what soil to put in a raised garden bed?

[Anonymous]

I just build a basic raised garden bed from home depot and now i need to fill it with soil. I bought some basic top soil and planned on mixing it with manure and peat moss but now I wonder if I would be better off buying bags of a garden mix soil. I have also ready about doing a 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite (where can I buy this, don't think Home depot sells it) and 1/3 manure. I am so confused. Please help!

[Anonymous]

I use a ratio of 5 bags of top soil to 1 bag of leafgro. You can add some peat moss too but leafgro will add the right amount of organic matter. Bagged garden soil is a ripoff for raised bed vegetable gardening.

I also add some worm casings for extra fertilizer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just build a basic raised garden bed from home depot and now i need to fill it with soil. I bought some basic top soil and planned on mixing it with manure and peat moss but now I wonder if I would be better off buying bags of a garden mix soil. I have also ready about doing a 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite (where can I buy this, don't think Home depot sells it) and 1/3 manure. I am so confused. Please help!

Home depot sells vermiculite. However, when I went they were unable to find it. I went home and look up the store on line (the one at 7 corners) and it said they had 25 bags in stock. I order it for in store pick up and it was ready an hour later. So, I suggest doing that.

You need the vermiculite for holding in moisture, the top soil won't do that. You can also use perlite if you want. For the Mel's Mix you are supposed to use multiple bags of compost, but I just used one kind. I live on the edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just build a basic raised garden bed from home depot and now i need to fill it with soil. I bought some basic top soil and planned on mixing it with manure and peat moss but now I wonder if I would be better off buying bags of a garden mix soil. I have also ready about doing a 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite (where can I buy this, don't think Home depot sells it) and 1/3 manure. I am so confused. Please help!

Home depot sells vermiculite. However, when I went they were unable to find it. I went home and look up the store on line (the one at 7 corners) and it said they had 25 bags in stock. I order it for in store pick up and it was ready an hour later. So, I suggest doing that.

You need the vermiculite for holding in moisture, the top soil won't do that. You can also use perlite if you want. For the Mel's Mix you are supposed to use multiple bags of compost, but I just used one kind. I live on the edge.

thanks!

we go to seven corners too and I did not see it there.
So right now I am planning on
regular old top soil- 10cu ft
vermiculite- 4 cu ft
peat moss- 6 cu ft
manure: 4 cu ft

do you think this will work?
I already have the top soil and want to try to make it work, adding the peat moss and vermiculite to lighten it

[Anonymous]

In a raised bed you don't really need vermiculite but it can't hurt. Keep in mind that vegetables normally grow in standard high organic matter soil.

The other KEY thing is a good mulching. And not shredded hardwood. Use either cedar or straw. That will help keep the moisture constant and the weeds at bay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In a raised bed you don't really need vermiculite but it can't hurt. Keep in mind that vegetables normally grow in standard high organic matter soil.

The other KEY thing is a good mulching. And not shredded hardwood. Use either cedar or straw. That will help keep the moisture constant and the weeds at bay.

so should i buy a lot more manure?

[Anonymous]

Just curious, can you tell me how much you are spending on the "dirt" to fill your bed? How big is your bed? Every time in want to make a raised bed, I get so disheartened at the thought of the cost of filling it up.

How do you mix it? In a wheelbarrow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious, can you tell me how much you are spending on the "dirt" to fill your bed? How big is your bed? Every time in want to make a raised bed, I get so disheartened at the thought of the cost of filling it up.

How do you mix it? In a wheelbarrow?

it is expensive to start anywhere from $65-100 to fill. Our bed is 25cu ft. The cheap top soil is inexpensive at around $1.25/bag/cu ft. but from what i have read that is not really the best quality for gardening. You can buy bagged garden soil for around $2.50-$5/bag/cu for (miracle grow on sale ow for $2.50 at home depot) to mix you just use a dirt rake and mix in the garden bed.

the first yr is expensive but after that you are all set.