Soil conditioning help

SteveP · March 20, 2018

Thank you all for your feedback and recommendations. I have not been adding much to build up the soil in my garden. I have used Black Kow and some ProMix, mostly along the planting rows. We have a small city lot with zero trees, so I don't have leaves to mulch. I do have a close friend who has a lawn care business so grass clippings and mulched leaves in the fall should be doable. There is also a Starbucks within a mile of the house and I will see about getting some coffee grounds. I will plan on add about 6 cu ft of ProMix and tilling it into the top 6" of soil. I don't plant my garden until the end of April, so time is running out. I also bought several (smaller) bags of TomatoTone and GardenTone at the end of last fall for cheap and am considering tilling some of it in when I till in the ProMix. Will also add a few bags of BlackKow again also.

Something I have been needing to do and never seem to get done is a soil analysis by the county extension office. I think I will do that later this week and see what they recommend for Ph and nutrients. What I think I have learned is I need to focus more on building a good soil and not solely on growing the plants. Thank you again for all of your suggestions. I have a much better understanding of what I need to work on.

March 20, 2018	#16
SteveP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Joplin MO Posts: 1,398	Thank you all for your feedback and recommendations. I have not been adding much to build up the soil in my garden. I have used Black Kow and some ProMix, mostly along the planting rows. We have a small city lot with zero trees, so I don't have leaves to mulch. I do have a close friend who has a lawn care business so grass clippings and mulched leaves in the fall should be doable. There is also a Starbucks within a mile of the house and I will see about getting some coffee grounds. I will plan on add about 6 cu ft of ProMix and tilling it into the top 6" of soil. I don't plant my garden until the end of April, so time is running out. I also bought several (smaller) bags of TomatoTone and GardenTone at the end of last fall for cheap and am considering tilling some of it in when I till in the ProMix. Will also add a few bags of BlackKow again also. Something I have been needing to do and never seem to get done is a soil analysis by the county extension office. I think I will do that later this week and see what they recommend for Ph and nutrients. What I think I have learned is I need to focus more on building a good soil and not solely on growing the plants. Thank you again for all of your suggestions. I have a much better understanding of what I need to work on.