1/2 Coco 1/2 Soil Mix

Last year I used coco in my organic outdoor garden. It was quite expensive for the scale I'm at.

I found some soil (simple garden mix, some dirt with compost) and compost for a lot cheaper, and this year I want to increase the amount of soil I have.

What are your thoughts on mixing 1/2 coco from last year with 1/2 soil?


Possible recipes:
1/2 coco 1/2 soil
3/6 coco 2/6 soil 1/6 compost

Might add some azomite and maybe some more perlite too.

Thoughts?

It's fairly cheap to take a soil sample to have it tested for nutrient content. I'd start there and amend accordingly. Maybe mix in some turkey poop or something too. I use Ckick-E-doodoo and it seems to work very well.

Thanks Kevin!

Do you think it's safe to mix regular soil with coco? The two mediums are quite different. From the research I have done people appear to think it is fine..? I just want to avoid having problems further down the line. I could invest completely in soil and remove the coco but I would like to save money if possible since I am already past my budget :/

I have used old coco as a soil amendment and it works fine. It helps with drainage and aeration the first year or so but in a living soil like a garden it will start to break down after that. Similar to peat-moss as far as that's concerned.
I don't know about your municipality, but here you can buy decent compost from the city for 11 bucks a yard. If you're looking for cheap, that's a great option too.
Without a test though, it's all guess work.

im currently using a soil mix that has coco and perlite mixed throughout bought it from local garden centre im really happy with the results so far everythings looking nice and healthy so far so good

Kevin the Great said:

I have used old coco as a soil amendment and it works fine. It helps with drainage and aeration the first year or so but in a living soil like a garden it will start to break down after that. Similar to peat-moss as far as that's concerned.
I don't know about your municipality, but here you can buy decent compost from the city for 11 bucks a yard. If you're looking for cheap, that's a great option too.
Without a test though, it's all guess work.

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Awesome I really appreciate your feedback. It sounds to me like you would just skip the garden mix (it's top soil mixed with compost) and just add straight compost. So 1/2 coco and 1/2 compost?

My local nursery offers the following at a good rate;

5 Way Compost
This compost is our bestcompost. Great in vegetable gardens or even top dressing a yard Made with 30% cow compost, 10% sheep compost, 10% chicken bedding, and 25% straw and 25% aspen fines.

Dairy Cow Compost
This compost is has a nice rich dark color. Great for top dressing a yard, a vegetable garden or mixing when planting a perennial or shrub bed.

Black Tea Compost
This low salt compost is less fragrant than most and has a nice rich dark color. Made from Arabian horse bedding and chicken bedding.

Which one would you get? Much love for all the help.

MR-GREEN666 said:

im currently using a soil mix that has coco and perlite mixed throughout bought it from local garden centre im really happy with the results so far everythings looking nice and healthy so far so good

Click to expand...

Cool thanks for the input Mr. Green I feel a lot better about mixing them now!

That 5 way compost looks great.