lowes composted manure - a very cheap organic?

[igrowone]

by cheap, i mean under $3 for 40 lbs
ingredients are composted cow manure, composted wood product, and sand
which seems to qualify as organic
for the price, i just had to give it try, and so far so good
dense, but a looseness that looks good for root growth
the pot feels like it was filled with concrete, which concerns me
anyone ever try a grow with it?

 

[clearcutter]

I mix one 40lb bag composted manure, one 40lb bag of top soil, and a bag of perlite. I've had good luck with it so far. Here's a pic of a plant grown in it.

 

[igrowone]

^^^ thank you for that, nice looking plant too
good sounding mix you have there, i'm trying to get away from perlite, mostly because i feel guilty about taking my used soils to local trash collection

 

[SpicySativa]

Reammend and reuse your soil! It gets better each round!

 

[igrowone]

Reammend and reuse your soil! It gets better each round!

that is a goal actually, waste not, want not

 

[OrganicBuds]

You could find better compost, but this will work.

 

[bigshrimp]

"Composted wood product" could mean something nasty... could just be wood chips.

 

[igrowone]

"Composted wood product" could mean something nasty... could just be wood chips.

that's probably true, but that could be fine
as i understand it, composted wood stuff is a 'brown', the composted cow manure is 'green', i.e. heavy on the nitrogen
the right mix of green and brown gives good soil
now how well this soil is proportioned is another story, but my seedling likes it so far

 

[h.h.]

I find " composted" manure often needs composting. Figure to be commercially viable, they need fast turnover in product.

 

[OrganicBuds]

In my local area I can find yardage of compost for 20-80$ a yard. Seems right in line with the price you pay, but I would bet the compost from soil yards is of higher quality.

 

[indianajones]

The L owes here sells some stuff called "leafgro" for just a little more per bag. The leafgro is much higher quality, and the texture of it is great.

 

[They]

I've only used it in my compost pile. Ten or so gallons of kitchen waste and 40 lbs of Black Kow has a nice bunch of stuff that gets everything breaking down real nice. But the Black Velvet mushroom compost mixed with peat and amended ain't to bad if it's all you can find. I've yet to find a bagged soil mix I like at a big box but you can find the components to make something decent. I only wish I didn't have to pay through the nose for EWC from a specialty shop.

 

[CT Guy]

Why not get a big bale of peat moss, some perlite or pumice, and then source a decent compost? I would be nervous about using a product like that from Lowe's, especially one so cheap. What did they feed the cows? Any growth hormones or anti-biotics? How well is the cow manure actually composted? Did they do e. coli testing on the final product? I just see more questions than answers when it comes to these cheap products.

 

[k-s-p]

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[igrowone]

thanks for the replies, the leafgro mentioned by indianajones sounds intriguing, look around next time
no doubt this stuff wasn't top of the line, but it looks pretty good
as for antibiotics, growth hormones, that not really desirable
but growth hormones are typically injected? i don't think that will be likely in the manure to any extent
antibiotics? probably more possible

 

[igrowone]

and just to add a little context, i do have a cheap streak
i have used MG Organic Garden in the past, ammended properly it did work pretty well
so i'm taking a chance here, was kind of an impulse buy
also a microgrower, so buying ingredients that are in large amounts doesn't suit my needs

 

[MJOFMJ420]

use your own poop.. it will work better and its 100% organic
poop in a 3 gallon container mix with 10 pound bag of worm castings and blood bone meal, some pearlite and some peat moss. mix good , stick your fingers in it ( 2 fingers 2 inches deep) place a seed in it,, sprinkle your compost over it and whalah.. if i had my camera i would put up a video of the process

 

[igrowone]

^^^ the humanure debate, that is pretty hardcore

 

[indianajones]

I saw that stuff and it looks pretty good and pretty inexpensive too. It's made from leaves and grass clippings from Prince George and Montgomery counties in Maryland. I wondered if it's really purely organic or if the leaves and grass clippings have any pesticides or other undesirable content. But I guess there's no way of knowing with anything from a big box store.

I didn't care for the local cow manure compost at the blowe's near here. They did have something called Nutri-Fibre with biochar that looks decent, made from poultry litter and manure.

the leaf gro also has forest litter, basically sticks. the texture on it is amazing, very similar to EWC it is so fluffy.

yeah that stuff you are talking about with the bio char is called harvest super powered organic, the bag i bought
still smelled like ammonia when i got into it. i had to leave it out in a mixing tote for a few days for the smell to go
away. works just fine once it is mixed in, but it is $7 a cubic foot while the leaf gro is $4 for 1.5 cu ft that breaks up to closer to 2.

 

[k-s-p]

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