Kellog "Garden Organics" Soil

[redwhiteblue]

Anyone used this soil w/ amendments? I'm looking for some store bought stuff that can grow trees outside.

Company says it contains: chicken manure, kelp meal, worm castings, and bat guano.

 

[ssteely71]

I saw in a thread that @caregiverken uses something from Kellogg called Patio Soil.

 

[Seamaiden]

Anyone used this soil w/ amendments? I'm looking for some store bought stuff that can grow trees outside.
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Company says it contains: chicken manure, kelp meal, worm castings, and bat guano.

I've used that and their Patio "Soil." In my opinion both are much better used as mulch.

Get out your yellow pages and find a landscape supply place that sells organic topsoil. You want an outfit that will show you documentation of organic status as well as NPK values and can talk about what's in it. Buy it by the yard. You shouldn't be paying much more than $30-$40/yd UNLESS it's so well amended you have to add nothing. That means lots of rock dusts, castings, you'd better not find a single piece of wood in there, no uncomposted animal manures but you want to see some listed with the ingredients. The fewer fillers the better. Sand is ok, but ask what type of sand--calcareous based sands will drive the soil pH up (and they'll know that if they're good), so Si-based sands are what I prefer. They do add a good bit of weight to the soil, but they also give good drainage for a far better price than perlite, not to mention sand won't float to the top.

If you feel it's a heavy soil, get some rice hulls and mix it til you like the consistency. Given that it's a drought year, I personally am going for a heavier soil that won't drain too quickly. Topsoil does tend to be heavier than potting soils, btw, but that's fine when growing trees outside.

Also, have you familiarized yourself with Hortonova? Get some, it's superior to staking.

Once you have the topsoil and beds set up, use the Kellogg's as mulch. :)

 

[redwhiteblue]

I've used that and their Patio "Soil." In my opinion both are much better used as mulch.

Get out your yellow pages and find a landscape supply place that sells organic topsoil. You want an outfit that will show you documentation of organic status as well as NPK values and can talk about what's in it. Buy it by the yard. You shouldn't be paying much more than $30-$40/yd UNLESS it's so well amended you have to add nothing. That means lots of rock dusts, castings, you'd better not find a single piece of wood in there, no uncomposted animal manures but you want to see some listed with the ingredients. The fewer fillers the better. Sand is ok, but ask what type of sand--calcareous based sands will drive the soil pH up (and they'll know that if they're good), so Si-based sands are what I prefer. They do add a good bit of weight to the soil, but they also give good drainage for a far better price than perlite, not to mention sand won't float to the top.

If you feel it's a heavy soil, get some rice hulls and mix it til you like the consistency. Given that it's a drought year, I personally am going for a heavier soil that won't drain too quickly. Topsoil does tend to be heavier than potting soils, btw, but that's fine when growing trees outside.

Also, have you familiarized yourself with Hortonova? Get some, it's superior to staking.

Once you have the topsoil and beds set up, use the Kellogg's as mulch. :)

I'm playing around the kellogs to just see what happens - I have the luxury of being able to experiment for fun outdoors, a chance I can't take inside. It seems like the Kellog's is 1/2 wood haha, and no perlite! I put about 30 cubic feet of Kellogs organic in a 12' x 4' raised bed, amended the shit out of the top six inches with worm castings, oyster shell, bat guano, alfalfa meal and kelp - curious to see what happens with less than $175 spent. Gonna water it every day for a couple weeks and then throw some girls in and see what happens.

 

[redwhiteblue]

I've used that and their Patio "Soil." In my opinion both are much better used as mulch.

Get out your yellow pages and find a landscape supply place that sells organic topsoil. You want an outfit that will show you documentation of organic status as well as NPK values and can talk about what's in it. Buy it by the yard. You shouldn't be paying much more than $30-$40/yd UNLESS it's so well amended you have to add nothing. That means lots of rock dusts, castings, you'd better not find a single piece of wood in there, no uncomposted animal manures but you want to see some listed with the ingredients. The fewer fillers the better. Sand is ok, but ask what type of sand--calcareous based sands will drive the soil pH up (and they'll know that if they're good), so Si-based sands are what I prefer. They do add a good bit of weight to the soil, but they also give good drainage for a far better price than perlite, not to mention sand won't float to the top.

If you feel it's a heavy soil, get some rice hulls and mix it til you like the consistency. Given that it's a drought year, I personally am going for a heavier soil that won't drain too quickly. Topsoil does tend to be heavier than potting soils, btw, but that's fine when growing trees outside.

Also, have you familiarized yourself with Hortonova? Get some, it's superior to staking.

Once you have the topsoil and beds set up, use the Kellogg's as mulch. :)

Don't you need stakes to use hortinova? I'm an undercurrent guy, used to using texas tomato cages - 6"x6" fencing, six foot roll, around the plant inside. Outside I usually do stakes on the corners of the raised bed and a trellis (netting) over the top and around the sides. Any changes?

 

[Mr.7thson]

As stated,it's mostly wood.I didn't like it and my veggies didn't either.

 

[Seamaiden]

Yep. There's nothing quite like getting all mentally prepared for being able to dig in the dirt, only to come out with a handful of splinters. Wear your gloves!

Don't you need stakes to use hortinova? I'm an undercurrent guy, used to using texas tomato cages - 6"x6" fencing, six foot roll, around the plant inside. Outside I usually do stakes on the corners of the raised bed and a trellis (netting) over the top and around the sides. Any changes?

I drive, or actually what I do is I have my husband drive conduit into the ground, and I use that to create a frame around which the Hortonova is tied. So, something like that will work. I've had bamboo stakes break on me so I don't use those anymore at all.