Hello OS,
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback regarding your “Blended Compost” purchase. Right off the start, let me say that if you call us, we will happily refund your money. That being said, we strive to produce the best amendments possible. We concentrate our efforts on the production rather than expensive advertising. If our production process has failed you, our reputation is infinitely more important than a single sale, and we will do what is necessary to make it right.
I’ve read your comments several times, have given them quite a bit of thought, and have also studied your pictures to get a better idea. I apologize for getting into the weeds (sorry for the pun) but hopefully it will make sense at the end. Our core product is our compost, which is a soil amendment that works by feeding the literally millions of organisms that reside in just a tablespoon of soil. Here is a good website to get a better idea of what I’m describing:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/biology/?cid=nrcs142p2_053868
As these organisms consume the compost, their waste product is what feeds the plants. The compost feeds the plants indirectly . By way of an analogy, one can buy the best flour available but without yeast the dough will never rise, and hence there will be no bread. The same is true with compost but rather than a single yeast, a whole multitude of organisms must work in serial and parallel to turn the ”store-bought” ingredient (compost) into a rich living soil that will support vibrant plant growth. Until the compost material is colonized, it will remain only as ingredients- compost and dirt. The medium becomes soil only after colonization.
Since one can not plant in 100% compost, we have the “Blended” product where we add dirt to the compost. What is not included is the colonization of the material by the soil organisms. No matter how rich the amendment is without colonization, it will remain lifeless and only minimal plant growth will be possible. Just like the flour without yeast, one will never have bread.
Over the years I have seen real success and some failures with this blended material. The most important factor is how accessible the newly constructed raised bed is to existing soil sources.
Those beds that are put amidst existing gardens do the best with maximum connections to the existing soil. Why? The existing soil (no matter how bad it seems to the naked eye) provides the inoculation of these important soil organisms to colonize and consume the compost and dirt mixture (i.e., make great soil). As folks start to build more isolated raised planters such as on top of concrete (no migration from the bottom) or surrounded by hardscaping, the colonization takes much longer. This is why we advise when building a raised bed, always use a percentage of nearby soil to get off
to a better start. The soil you take from another location works better because there are millions of fungi, springtails, worms, pill bugs, etc. (as you can see under a microscope). Looking at the purchased blended product, you would see much, much less life. But measuring the carbon (the “food” of our blended product), the existing soil would be quite low, and the compost would be very high. Ironically, the existing soil will do better because it has the organisms. This is why we call this mixture of compost and dirt a blend and not top soil. For top soil would need to be in situ fully colonized, and most of the organic matter converted to humus. The term for this is “soil organic matter.” Here are a couple sources that may better explain what I am trying to get at:
http://franklin.cce.cornell.edu/resources/soil-organic-matter-fact-sheet
http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0100e/a0100e05.htm
https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Building-Soils-for-Better-Crops-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Organic-Matter-What-It-Is-and-Why-It-s-So-Important
When I look at your potato plant, I see that it would be very hard for it to be colonized because it seems that there is a plastic tarp that prevents access from the bottom and the sides. Since most soil organisms “swim” in the soil, there is no way for them to colonize this pot other than airborne
means. The potato plant on the right will do better because the dirt that was used was already colonized. When you filled this isolated pot there was no need for the soil organisms to get there because you transported them by filling up the pot with soil that included them.
When folks call and say they are filling pots with our blended material, we will caution them to instead go with a potting soil blend purchased elsewhere. Synthetic fertilizers, water holding gels, and perlite/vermiculite are better for growing in isolated pots successfully (i.e., a chemically based planting medium). There is no need for soil organisms in this methodology. Think of hydroponic farming. Organic soils (in my book organic =carbon based amendments + living soil organisms) must be connected to the earth so these organisms can move in and out of the planted area.
Looking at the onion plants, I see that you might be using two different watering systems. I believe the raised bed is using a soaker hose, but I can’t determine the means for the potted plant. Because watering is so critical, I’ve made two videos to assist gardeners in better understanding what goes
on underneath the surface:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fTRTG8dpFg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYGqeRntdgQ
The central message is to not water based on the soil surface appearance. While it may appear dry, there is often more than enough moisture below. Going by the surface appearance will typically result in overwatering and the excess water prevents/retards oxygen from getting to the soil organisms. These die off and are replaced with organisms that thrive in anoxic/anaerobic
conditions. The byproducts of these new organisms are toxic to plants and inhibit or kill them, and they don’t convert the compost into food for the plants.
Again, thanks OS for your comments, and I await your call to see how we can make your garden flourish.
Regards,
Matt Rayl- Owne