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poughkeepsie New York

I do not plan on using peatmoss but would like to know what others think about using it as a "soil amendment".
Thanks for your opinions.

6/13/2004 9:40:32 PM

[email protected]

I've tilled about twenty 5.8 cubic foot bales (among other amendments) into my patch over the past 2 years. Organic matter was 19.6% on the last soil tests. We'll know in October how it's helped.

6/13/2004 9:51:14 PM

White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Tremor, how big a patch did you till the twenty 5.8 cu. ft. bales into?

James

6/14/2004 1:41:33 AM

[email protected]

James,

1100 square feet. So the total cubic yards applied works out to 4.3 yards compressed. I deal directly with the Peat Moss brokers in my line of work. So I fortunately have options that many folks do not. Real broker cost plus freight is one such lucrative benefit of working in this field.

Loose shipped Peat is also available, but bales are compressed & contain a good deal more volume after they're opened & fluffed up.

Worms love Peat Moss. I have already seen a significant reduction in volume since the worms eat the Peat & leave behind their lovely castings. Mounds of castings! If I go a week without cultivating an area for weeds, the casting are almost a quarter inch deep in some areas.

All this Peat was in addition to 8 yards of loose cow manure & about another yard of broken bags of cow manure that a local garden center keeps off to the side for me. It's a good idea to make local contacts for discounted broken stuff from nurseries & garden centers. Just make sure to stop frequently & always take every bad bag. "Bottom feeders" are expected to take the good, the bad, & the ugly or the deals dry up. LOL

Anually we also add the 2-3 yards (minimum after reduction with mowers) of Maple leaves that fall here & on my neighbors every year.

Plus last year we added around 8 yards of very old composted grass clipping & leaves that accumulated here over the 9 year period before getting serious about Pumpkins.

Oh Yeah. I've also added 1000 lbs of Soil-Master Calcined Clay particles over the past 2 years. This helps clay soils more that my sandy stuff. But it still aids in drainage & aeration & that's never bad.

I was very lucky to have a friends dump truck, backhoe & tractor/tiller available for the loose stuff last fall. But I hauled the baled & bagged materials in my regular pickup truck as time permitted.

If we do well this year, it won't be because of any one thing we did tha

6/14/2004 7:35:36 AM

Wichita, KS

Now I'm Jealous.

6/14/2004 9:57:34 PM