PSA: That raised bed soil mix recipe everyone shares is way too rich for most stuff

I was at the community garden workshop last Saturday and this guy starts going on about the 'perfect' mix of 1 part compost, 1 part peat moss, 1 part vermiculite. Everyone was nodding along like it was gospel. But I've been running my own beds for 5 years now and I gotta say, that recipe gave me nothing but problems. Everything got super leggy and I had tomatoes rotting on the vine from too much nitrogen. I mean, it might work if you're growing heavy feeders like corn or squash, but for my carrots and beans it was a disaster. I cut the compost way back, maybe a third of what they recommend, and mix in some sharp sand for drainage. Has anyone else found that standard internet recipe just doesn't work for their specific crops?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.ben13d ago

Yeah I gotta push back on this one. That 1-1-1 mix has been my go to for three seasons now and my best beds ever have come from it. This spring my tomatoes were absolutely loaded and I didn't have a single rotted one. Usually the problem is people are using hot compost from the store that hasn't finished breaking down, not the recipe itself. Your carrots struggling is probably drainage or ph, not nitrogen overload.

reese_nelson13d ago

Totally agree, I had the same leggy disaster with that mix until I dropped the compost to half.

gibson.sarah11d ago

You said "not a single rotted one"? Man, that is wild to me. I tried that same 1-1-1 mix and my whole bed turned into a soggy mess with half the plants rotting at the base. I swapped back to a lighter mix with way less compost and everything perked right up. Maybe your soil is just totally different from mine, but I can't wrap my head around no rot at all. I'd love to see a picture of those tomatoes because I have to admit I'm skeptical.