My inlaws made a raised bed and filled it with this stuff. The tomatoes grew into a jungle of 8 and 9 foot monsters that are so lush and healthy that it is litterally unbelievable. I have never seen anything grow so well. The same plants in another row are also nice but 1/5th the size. It's ludicrous!
mushroom compost- what is this stuff?
- Thread starter SmokesAhoy
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darren1979
First Time Grower
Ive never tried it before but by the sound of your inlaws tomatoes plants i should be getting me some. Ive always looked at it as a by-product from mushroom farming, and it can be bought cheap to boot.
well, to actually use it,,,you got to be willing to put a lot more stuff with it,,,i.m.o.
if im making a growing medium that i want to be the best medium possible, it is a major ingrediant,,,
i usually try to mix for the perfect medium
mushroom compost,
worm casting's
bat guano
neutral potting soil
perlite
and depending on how i want the beggining ,of the plants nitrogen intake to be, i may add other ingrediant's, to the mix { minor trace elements ]
but i dont make that type of mix, unless im doing something like orchids, or some special plants, i want to do 150% of what they are suppose to do, or a indoor container plant,,
i have nt done no serious gardening in years, i right now, just plant some big shade annuals in the front, and maybe a mmonflower, and morning glories,,
but at one time i used to go all out, and each summer my whole yard would be a jungle, stuff growing everywhere,
i still have 4 rose bushe's.{ remenents of those days gone ] and they are still doing strong, each year,
perhaps, im old enough to supervise the planting now,????
but my 2 girls dont do much gardening,
if im making a growing medium that i want to be the best medium possible, it is a major ingrediant,,,
i usually try to mix for the perfect medium
mushroom compost,
worm casting's
bat guano
neutral potting soil
perlite
and depending on how i want the beggining ,of the plants nitrogen intake to be, i may add other ingrediant's, to the mix { minor trace elements ]
but i dont make that type of mix, unless im doing something like orchids, or some special plants, i want to do 150% of what they are suppose to do, or a indoor container plant,,
i have nt done no serious gardening in years, i right now, just plant some big shade annuals in the front, and maybe a mmonflower, and morning glories,,
but at one time i used to go all out, and each summer my whole yard would be a jungle, stuff growing everywhere,
i still have 4 rose bushe's.{ remenents of those days gone ] and they are still doing strong, each year,
perhaps, im old enough to supervise the planting now,????
but my 2 girls dont do much gardening,
Matty
Well-Known Member
Mushroom compost is mostly grasse, straw, wood chips... (depending upon the variety of mushroom being grown) composted. For mushrooms it also has to have been sterilized in an autoclave (pressure cooker) and slightly acidic. The stuff we get at the store has already been used to grow mushrooms. Good clean dirt with lots of nutrients in there
Tom_in_TN
Well-Known Member
Mushroom compost needs to be composted and then used like fertilizer - but take Chicken's advice and add other nutrients to the mix while it's composting. Other natural sources for nutrients can be added to your compost from things like alfalfa hay, pulverized oyster shells, wood ash. The list is very long so use what is readily available or easily obtained. See my thread "Tips on growing your own nitrogen" for plants you can grow for a big nitrogen boost to your soil.
Matty
Well-Known Member
Yes, mixes are better than straight compost. My favorite is mostly peat moss with black earth, sheep manure, a little perlite and a little vermiculite.
Matty
Well-Known Member
Lol, yeah, works good for "tomatoes". I used to do a lot of gardening, the legit kind. The vermiculite we'd get was fairly coarse, some of it bigger than 1/8". The peat moss makes it really fluffy enabling rapid root growth. Only problem is that it seemed to dry out pretty fast needing daily soaking in hot weather.
Grundle
Well-Known Member
This has been my experience with peat as well. I had to buy a soaker hose because my raised bed was drying out so quickly and the growth of my plants has been severely stunted. I also through some mushroom compost in there, but I haven't noticed any monstrous growth yet
Maybe monstrous growth isn't such a good thing after all, after we left they had a bunch of rain and the plants were so heavy they fell down. They were in heavy gauge cages too.
i hope that dallas soil is very special, i wouldnt think of mixing no florida soil with my mix,
a georgia soil with traces of clay PERHAPS, ,,
Grundle
Well-Known Member
Why do you use cow men instead of cow boys?
BarG
Founding Member
Them cow men realy know their sh.t.
The mushroom compost for sale here is whats left over after growing the mushrooms I believe. They gather a ton of the magic ingrediants from the poultry houses located all around this locality.
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