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Author Topic: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed  (Read 4039 times)

Michael J Campbell

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Re: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed
« Reply #15 on: May 02, 2011, 10:30:43 PM »
I spread fresh compost  on shrub beds when I moved up the country for a spell 15 years ago and had a great crop of mushrooms for weeks. Mind you after looking at them all day at work I wasn't all that interested in looking at them or harvesting them when I came home in the evening. 

Lesley Cox

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Re: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed
« Reply #16 on: May 02, 2011, 10:54:28 PM »
Briefly back to Trichoderma, you have to remember not to use fungicides on plants treated with Trichoderma, but then, there's no need to. ;D
Lesley Cox - near Dunedin, lower east coast, South Island of New Zealand - Zone 9

Alan_b

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Re: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed
« Reply #17 on: May 03, 2011, 08:10:14 AM »
Thanks for all the replies.  Just as I thought I had learned that spent mushroom compost was a wholly bad idea there were a few favourable comments.  It's clear that spent mushroom compost is exactly as described so what you get has the potential to be very variable, depending on the original source. 

As things stand I have had a tip-off from a kindly forumist as to where I might be able to buy Leaf Mould, so I am going to look into that as my first line of attack. 
Almost in Scotland.

Maren

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Re: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2011, 12:41:39 PM »
Am I too late to make a comment? I use mushroom compost on my allotments. It gets dumped on the raised beds in autumn and dug in in the spring. It really improves soils structure but can't be used on its own.

Mushroom compost has become very popular and therefore extremely expensive, as it has taken over from horse manure. People still don't trust horse manure due to the risks associated with herbicides used on the crop that makes up the hay that feeds the horse. There is a huge pile of horse manure on my neighbour's allotment. It has been there for three years and only now there are a couple of distorted broadleaf weeds growing on it.

Strangely, no such problems have been reported for mushroom compost. This is surprising, since one of the ingredients is horse manure. Maybe there is more security of the source of the herbage and how it has been grown ie. which herbicides, if any, have been applied.

To come back to the main topic, I have found that ordinary potting compost (I get mine from Wickes, it's cheap), mixed with grit (2:1) is perfecty good for a raised bulb bed. :)
Maren in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom - Zone 8

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Alan_b

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Re: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2011, 01:29:54 PM »
I perhaps should have drawn peoples attention to the fact that I live near "semi-arid" Cambridge.  The Cambridge Botanic Garden records the daily rainfall and says that it has averaged 56 cm annually over the last 30 years, that's less than Barcelona gets!  We got 3mm of rain in March and probably less in April.  So I am looking for soil that is really good at moisture retention.  Some potting composts might do, but again there is quite a range of those and I need to buy in bulk.     
Almost in Scotland.

Maren

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Re: Soil/compost for raised bulb bed
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2011, 03:47:08 PM »
How about a tonne delivered? That'll keep you busy for the weekend. ;) ;)
Maren in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom - Zone 8

http://www.heritageorchids.co.uk/

 


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