ugh!!

Where to start?


First off.. I called a million places and did tons of netsearch on vermiculite. Truly it is impossible to get unless you own a landscaping business and have a licence, or are a farmer with a farm number. Really disappointed I went to the garden center hoping they could help me as the Internet was not giving me any clear alternatives.

I consulted the "head soil guy" and to say the least he was blunt, but helpful. He said Vermiculite was useless, and nothing more then Styrofoam in the mix.. making it loose and more of a filler with some water retention. He also said there are many gardeners with their own versions of a "soil recipe" just like mel's mix with the 3 ingredients. Something to loosen the soil, something for assistance in the moisture department and then something with a nutrient value. He suggested I use Zeolite for the Moisture retention and the fact it also had some nutrient value but it's mass would not replace that of the Vermiculite's. He then suggested i Mix the zeolite with a bag of compost to add more value to the boxes vs. filler. He also added his 2 cents in telling me I have completely wasted my money and made a 200$ project into a 500$ project because I'm following this bogus book.
I left with what he suggested because AT LEAST it was something. I do feel disappointed.. because I promised myself I would not stray from Mel's mix.. and so far I did for 2 /3 ingredients.

So today I decide to fill the boxes with the ingredients I have purchased.
What I have is

• 4 bags of sea soil composted soil


• 2 bags of general organic compost
  
• 2 "bricks" of beats peat coconut coir ( which should be 6 cubic feet when wet )
  
• 1 bag of Zeolite

So I put the soil into the boxes - Easy. Next I go to make the Beats Peat product where you add 39 liters of water to the bricks to make them this happy fluffy stuff. Well Not so much.. I waited 2 hours for this stuff to convert into .. something vs the compacted brick it was.. and really It took a long long time ..and a lot of helping break these hard pieces into smaller chunks. It sucked royally.. and took hours! then when I put it into the boxes I had to mix it.. Well.. that didn't work either.. I had to chop up the coconut while in the box and while mixing. To say the least it was a disaster! aaaand it did not DOUBLE in size as the package / person who sold it to me claims it does.. It only expanded some.

To top all this off.. I don't have enough product. If I would have thought about it for a minute I would of realized I didn't replace the mass of the vermiculite with anything. So now I'm off to figure out what I can add more of.. or what new ingredient would be beneficial to my boxes. I only need about a bag per box.. so sadly I think I will once again stray from mel's mix and just add a general cheap topsoil / container soil as I have overspent my budget.. almost double actually. This is not a time to cheap out though.. so I'll have to see what new thing I can buy tomorrow as I once again go to a reno / garden store.

So now I have 3 boxes. 90% filled with my crock pot of ingredients that I hope will mimic mel's mix.

the mess..

added compost soil mixthe awful beats peat product.. Deliciousfinished for the evening.. 3 hours later.