Anyone else seeing potting mix prices tumble? 50% drop here.

Last year I paid $22 for per 3.8 cu. ft. bale of Lambert potting mix . Yesterday the same Agway had Lambert for $10.99.

I asked if it was a mistake, if they confused Lambert's peat moss with its potting mix and they said no... the price of mix dropped. Might pay to check your local Agway if you need bales of mix. I bought three yesterday:

Last year I used ProMix ($33) and Lambert in 7 Earthboxes. Couldn't discern any difference.

Btw...the Agway below had lobster compost from "Coast of Maine". Never seen that before.

This message was edited Apr 5, 2009 4:06 AM

I'll keep my eyes peeled!

Just opened my second bale of ProMix this spring, have one more in the garage... honestly, I'm not sure how I go through so much of it, LOL.

David Paul: Thank you for that post, I'm going looking, as my Jungle Grow in the Silver bag, it's called Jungle Grow for Professional and Container is now $11.95 at Lowes and that bag in your picture looks huge there. I know last year I picked up a watering can for $2, then this year, same watering can was $4. Fresh vegetables has skyrocketed again and so have the frozen ones. Glad I'm growing this year. LOL

Oh, Gardener's Supply Potting Mix for containers - I just opened and used a bag on the two square footers and guess what I noticed? It looks just like the Jungle Grow I use except you gotta add water to it; but, it has dolomite lime already in it. All you add is water and fertilizer.

joy

joy...I came "this close" to giving up and ordering 3 bales of ProMix at $33 a bale. Glad I took the 40 minute drive up to the Colchester Agway. Farming never went away there (the mid northeast part of the state) and is making a comeback. Prices are seriously better than here on the coast where the trade is mainly ornamentals.

The Agway reminded me more of an auto parts place than a garden center. People were at the counter telling a clerk what they needed. She called it out to the yard and by the time I walked out everything was loaded in my truck. It may take some looking to see if there is a similiar place near you. I went to a dozen places before finding this one.

I've read people fill 3 and 1/2 Earthboxes with a 3.8 cu ft compressed bale of potting mix. I seem to fill around 3. But spending under $4 to fill one instead of $11 is a nice savings.


Btw...those terra cotta colored pots in the back of the truck are 7" self-watering containers. Great for starting long season peppers which need a large root mass when setting out. They were only $1.98 each.

One thing that has gone up is 10-10-10. Yikes! $23 for 50 lbs. I was going to do the lawn which is woefully lacking in P & K but I need over 10 bags of that (plus at least 10 of lime) to start to bring the soil up to proper levels so that can wait.

Food first!



This message was edited Apr 5, 2009 1:14 PM

David Paul: You sound like me, I'm getting possibly two EBs out of my $11.95 bag of Professional Jungle Grow for containers before it's pretty much exhausted. Thing is, I can reuse it next year too. When you have as many HEBs, HE buckets and GPs and EBs as I have that is a lot of dough there. I've whizzed through 6 bags of Jungle Grow so far, 10 blocks of coconut coir, 2 bags of Gardener's Supply Self watering container mix and still feel like I'm only half way there. I have stopped until after Tuesday as the temps are supposed to drop suddenly to 28 and 29 degrees, after that it should stay pretty warm, and that is when I will rescue my peppers and eggplants from the greenhouse, bringing them inside the house for a few days and then out again and up with the topsys and revolutionary planters and then the rest of my EBs and HEBs. Then; everything comes out of the greenhouse. I have a sneaking suspicion I may be having to buy more watermelon and ambrosia melon seeds though, as they aren't doing very well. I think I will direct plant them this time. I also did not use an innoculent on my beans and peas, hope that is ok??
joy

Joy....I planted some heirloom beans last year without innoculent and they did OK but I'm no expert. Didn't really care for them (no trellis) and got a decent crop but nothing great.

Starting brussel sprouts tonight. Oliver and Diablo. Have you grown them in an EB? I see the EB site says 6 per box. That seems like a lot but I dunno....first time growing them.

Never grow brussel sprouts before, we have a freeze heading in, it's cold and supposed to get down to 28 or 29 tonight and tomorrow; so have zipped up the greenhouse leaving just a few windows open for air for the plants and brought in my eggplants and pepper plants to keep them warm.

I have cabbages planted.
joy

Is any body from utah because i have utah gardening questions

Welcome to DG, Nawla!

Unless your questions are specific to this forum (in which case, start another thread with "Utah" in the title in order to get more useful responses), I'd suggest checking out one of the regional forums... depending on your climate and your questions, that would probably be either the CA or the SouthWest gardening forum. Oh, I think there's also now a new Rocky Mountain Gardening forum that might be better if you're at higher elevations.

:-)

I am currently using potting SOIL in standard pots to grow most everything veggie. I recycle the soil from season to season. I notice the HEBs require potting MIX. Can that also be recycled?

Wulfsden...yes...I've reused potting mix. Some people add more lime to it when they reuse peat based mixes but I haven't bothered. Saw no difference last year between reused and new potting mix.

With the price lower this year however I think I'll dump what I saved into the garden to aerate and enrich the soil. Used ProMixBX last year and the mycorrhizal fungi has been proven to help crops. But, like so many gardening things, I 'll never be certain of how much of a difference it made.

I use soil in containers too. Not in EBs but in grow bags and larger terra cotta pots. I add in some potting mix to lighten it up and toss in decomposed cow manure as well.

Used only soil one year in small pots and that didn't work well....^_^





This message was edited Apr 20, 2009 6:45 PM