disappearing soil rant

[plantingplants]

Last year I transferred it out of pots to mounds and increased the volume with 40 yds of new soil. This year I mixed it all up and put it in pots and I somehow have only 2/3 of the ORIGINAL AMOUNT from two years ago! Year 1: 60 yards, year 2: 100 yards (ostensibly), year 3: 40 yds. Thats including the estimated soil i spilled when filling pots and left behind when scooping the mounds. What the fuck? Do you just lose a lot when you move it around? Does rain wash a lot away when it's in mounds? I was chatting with my sister tday and she asked me if plants eat soil lol. I'm starting to wonder...

I accidentally got the small bobcat (65" bucket) so I racked up 15 hours on it this weekend just mixing up the old with the new soil and some gypsum. Tipped the thing over, got fencing all caught up in the wheel, ran it too low and had to bleed the fuel line, and thoughti was going to be finished today with all my pots but nope, have to order a shitload of more soil and rent another loader. Not to mention have two different soils to test and amend.

End rant.

So should i get a more balanced coots or just get tom hill's mix?

And who stole all my soil?

 

[troutman]

Ants?

 

[noyd666]

I reckon mother earth likes to reclaim some.

 

[Illuminate]

Soil erosion...sounds legit

 

[Shcrews]

Last year I transferred it out of pots to mounds and increased the volume with 40 yds of new soil. This year I mixed it all up and put it in pots and I somehow have only 2/3 of the ORIGINAL AMOUNT from two years ago! Year 1: 60 yards, year 2: 100 yards (ostensibly), year 3: 40 yds. Thats including the estimated soil i spilled when filling pots and left behind when scooping the mounds. What the fuck? Do you just lose a lot when you move it around? Does rain wash a lot away when it's in mounds? I was chatting with my sister tday and she asked me if plants eat soil lol. I'm starting to wonder...

I accidentally got the small bobcat (65" bucket) so I racked up 15 hours on it this weekend just mixing up the old with the new soil and some gypsum. Tipped the thing over, got fencing all caught up in the wheel, ran it too low and had to bleed the fuel line, and thoughti was going to be finished today with all my pots but nope, have to order a shitload of more soil and rent another loader. Not to mention have two different soils to test and amend.

End rant.

So should i get a more balanced coots or just get tom hill's mix?

And who stole all my soil?

soil does compact over time and lose volume especially the light mixes.

get whatever soil you think will perform best..

sucks about the bobcat, that sounds like a nightmare! how did it tip over?

 

[plantingplants]

Yea i guess its obvious mounds would erode significantly thru a rainy fall, especially if on a hill with no terracing. But they didnt shrink that much...

The garden is on a good grade and i was approaching the soil from above, going downhill, and as i went back and forth in the same spot, scooping and mixing, i created a divot in the wet clay that i didnt notice. I had my bucket up and i started to reverse and as i popped out of the divot to much higher ground, the bobcat tipped forwardand landed on the bucket edge. I just had to move forward while pulling the bucket in to get back on 4 feet but i had never done that so it shook me up for a second.

All in all it was a headache but the fixes were smooth enough. Bobcats are really fun when you get a groove.

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

Worms? Must be a good mix.

 

[who dat is]

Do you have a grow thread going yet for this year? If you do can you post a link? If not can you give me a heads up when you do?

 

[plantingplants]

Yea. A lot of worms and bugs. Cant imagine that worms would reduce soil volume that drastically but tjey probably add to it.

Who dat, i havent made one yet. Thought id throw one up when i finish filling pots. Ill let you know. Already dealing with obstacles but still stoked for this year.

 

[Gry]

Did you add the coffee grounds?
Best wishes for positive results.

 

[CoastalKind]

A lot of the organic materials in the soil could decompose as well like wood chips and once the break down in humus they will take up much less volume. It is probably a combination of everything mentioned here. Compaction, errosion, and decomposition all sound perfectly reasonable culprits to decrease the volume of delicate potting soil.

 

[Tonygreen]

mfers runnin off with bags of soil in the night and shit, time to up your security.

 

[MedResearcher]

Composted.

Just like a giant fresh compost pile that becomes a small pile of compost.

Peat, compost, coir, amendments all decompose over time.

Should maybe add some fresh aeration, while your at it. Oxygen is so important for the roots.

I have used Toms chicken recipe, and Coots. I like the coots a bit better for long term use of the soil. Toms will get the trick done though. Iirc he recommended 4 bags of chicken per 300 gallon, then went on to say that he personally uses 8, but doesn't wanna burn other peoples starts so recommends 4. Ive used 6 before, chicken is good bang for the buck if you can use it early and let it cook some.

Mr^^

 

[caljim]

Last year I transferred it out of pots to mounds and increased the volume with 40 yds of new soil. This year I mixed it all up and put it in pots and I somehow have only 2/3 of the ORIGINAL AMOUNT from two years ago! Year 1: 60 yards, year 2: 100 yards (ostensibly), year 3: 40 yds. Thats including the estimated soil i spilled when filling pots and left behind when scooping the mounds. What the fuck? Do you just lose a lot when you move it around? Does rain wash a lot away when it's in mounds? I was chatting with my sister tday and she asked me if plants eat soil lol. I'm starting to wonder...

I accidentally got the small bobcat (65" bucket) so I racked up 15 hours on it this weekend just mixing up the old with the new soil and some gypsum. Tipped the thing over, got fencing all caught up in the wheel, ran it too low and had to bleed the fuel line, and thoughti was going to be finished today with all my pots but nope, have to order a shitload of more soil and rent another loader. Not to mention have two different soils to test and amend.

End rant.

So should i get a more balanced coots or just get tom hill's mix?

And who stole all my soil?

The Law of Mass Conservation..
.......https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_mass

 

[GMT]

Hmmm, I no longer step down into my garden but walk evenly into it. And it now slants up to a back wall.
If you figure it out, I need the secret, because I'm about ready to start "Great escaping" my used compost around town. Growing indoors makes your garden grow, not shrink.

 

[Stay Gel^N 247]

Decomposition and worms making castings. what you have left seem less aerated? I bought some of last year's tote bag soil and it had shrunk at least a foot and a half.

 

[Jhhnn]

Well, some of the dirt obviously turned into that marjahooney stuff...

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

If the plants last year did well, you may as well go ahead and scoop some of the native top soil and mix that in if you're on a tight budget.

 

[plantingplants]

I'm trying but I'm coming up empty-handed. Can anyone translate?

Sometimes I think the posts that make sense are just there to trick me into trying to figure out the nonsensical ones.

"Cant imagine" "dealing with obstacles" too many combo's my man.

What, like too many cliches?

If the plants last year did well, you may as well go ahead and scoop some of the native top soil and mix that in if you're on a tight budget.

Probably ended up with 10% clay in those pots from how many times I scooped the shit up on unlevel ground and got slices of clay. The native has high Mg and pH. We'll see how the potted dirt is after this rain, it's gonna get tested soon.

 

[plantingplants]

Lol thats all text for her not for us. If you're queen is not reading that and ur making it for her ur just waisting ur life on whatever. it wont matter untill you fix ur queen what advice we give you. you added too many personal Male Female problems to my life in that post.

i already told her that manly, titillating story. i told it again for all you so you are mistaken