Tried bagged topsoil vs. mixing my own for raised beds

Grabbed a few bags of the cheap stuff from Lowe's for my tomato bed last spring. By July, everything was stunted and yellow. Mixed my own with compost and peat this year and the plants are twice as big. Has anyone else found store soil is just filler?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan_jenkins907d ago

Yikes, that sounds like a rough season. I always assumed the bagged stuff was mostly peat and bark fines with barely any real nutrients, but I didn't realize it could be that bad. Your plants turning yellow is a classic sign of nitrogen deficiency, and those cheap bags are usually just ground up wood products that steal nitrogen as they break down. Your own mix sounds much more like actual soil, I bet the tomatoes are loving it. I guess if you want good topsoil, you really have to buy it from a local landscape supply place or just make your own.

betty_fisher57d ago

Ugh, tell me about it. Nothing worse than a bag of disappointment.