I am wondering if I mixed my usual soiless mix with some well rotted
cattle manure in my outdoor planters. Would that work? The manure is
like compost - 2 years old and very dry and black.

Lori

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 14:36:51 GMT, wrote:

I am wondering if I mixed my usual soiless mix with some well rotted
cattle manure in my outdoor planters. Would that work? The manure is
like compost - 2 years old and very dry and black.

Lucky you! Lots of people don't realize the manure does have to be
"aged".

As to your question: what is in the soilless mix?

That would have a bearing on whether (more?) fertilizer is advisable.

What are you growing in that mix?

Why isn't there soil in it?


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Polar

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 14:36:51 GMT, wrote:

I am wondering if I mixed my usual soiless mix with some well rotted
cattle manure in my outdoor planters. Would that work? The manure is
like compost - 2 years old and very dry and black.

Lori

Lori,

Good compost is not dry and black. What does it smell like when warm
and wet? If it smells like fecal material it still is! If it wasn't
composted well it may be dominated by anoroebic bateria, AB are NOT
what plants like.







"As crude a weapon as a cave man's club the chemical barrage has been hurled at the fabric of life."
Rachel Carson

Lucky you! Lots of people don't realize the manure does have to be
"aged".

Yes, I am lucky. My husband brings me a fresh pile every year so the
previous years doesn't always get used up.

As to your question: what is in the soilless mix?

Pro Mix is a general growing medium. I don't know what is in it. I
use it to start my seeds but I have found that when I transplant into
my outside planters that they do not do so well even though I
fertilize with Miracle Grow. This year I thought perhaps if I mixed
with manure I would have better looking plants.

Lori

On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 01:07:01 GMT, wrote:

Lucky you! Lots of people don't realize the manure does have to be
"aged".

Yes, I am lucky. My husband brings me a fresh pile every year so the
previous years doesn't always get used up.

As to your question: what is in the soilless mix?

Pro Mix is a general growing medium. I don't know what is in it. I
use it to start my seeds but I have found that when I transplant into
my outside planters that they do not do so well even though I
fertilize with Miracle Grow. This year I thought perhaps if I mixed
with manure I would have better looking plants.

If I were you, I'd mix it with some honest-to-goodness SOIL!


--
Polar

I filled a very large planter with a mix of Whitney Farms potting soil
and Home Depot steer manure (about 4:1 or so ratio, maybe less). I've
been using it for years on garden beds, and I added it to a large
planter for the same reason Lori did - hoping it would enrich the
potting soil. Most of the "container gardening" searches I did mentioned
soilless potting mix, though, so Lori's reasoning seems sound to me.

M.
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Melinda Tennielle

M10TVC15 (at) yahoo.com