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Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 7:18
| I'd like to hear some opinions on this compost product. I've got raised beds that will need compost at the end of the season and I'm considering this. Just curious to hear what others think.
They say the TechnaGro and the SoilMagic are the same product, but one is bulk and the other is bagged. I will probably be forced to go with the bagged. |
Here is a link that might be useful: KB Compost
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 11:30
| There is not a lot of info there to evaluate, pluto, but the 60-70% organic number suggests it is not diluted with a lot of soil, sand etc. which is a problem with some of the cheaper products. In the absence of any ingredient or nutrient data, it looks fine to me. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 13:18
| Some folks have issues using biosolids in vegetable gardens or on edible plants. Just saying......in case you were not aware this is what this producrt consists of. |
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| I saw the biosolids - plus they're next to our wastewater treatment plant, so I assumed that's where part of it was coming from. I'd think that the composting process would kill any of the nasties before they could get into my tomatoes - or is that not true? |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 15:56
| Maybe.....maybe not :-) Biosolids get classfied by the EPA under two ratings as to pathogen reduction. Your website does not disclose whether this stuff is Class A (what you want) or Class B. Also, contamination by industrial waste, heavy metals and hazardous waste can also factor in to the equation. If it were me purchasing the stuff, I'd be doing some pretty thorough research before shelling out the bucks. FWIW, heavy metals in overly aggressive concentrations have traditionally been the ongoing concern with biosolids - not particularly any pathogenic issues. |
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| Ignore the doom and gloom buy and do not worry about it. |
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- Posted by tropical_thought San Francisco (My Page) on Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 23:13
| If you read here about all the disasters that occur with bought compost, you would never consider buying compost ever. Lloyd's would be the only one I would trust. |
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| Compost is 100 percent organic matter. What is added to this product to lower the amount of organic matter to 65 to 70 percent? |
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| The parent company of the KBCompost is a landscape company (Kurtz Brothers, Inc) that sells topsoil, mulch, stones, etc... I'm sure they're mixing the compost with topsoil to get to that number. |
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- Posted by toxcrusadr (My Page) on Thu, Jun 28, 12 at 10:51
| The analysis of local commercial compost products I did last year showed that 60-70% is not bad at all. All the minerals from the plant matter are in there as well and show up as 'ash' which is everything except the OM. Even my own was not 100%. I think it was in the 75% range. Now, when you see a product down at 5-20%, that's full of soil and it's just fraud to label that as compost in my opinion. |
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| In addition to what Tox has already stated, most composting facilities work on dirt areas so there is always some dirt being scraped up and mixed in. Furthermore there is often dirt in the root balls of the container plants and chunks of sod is very common. Some lawnmowers are incredibly good at sucking up dust and dirt so even the grass clippings can come out with mineral materials mixed in. No compost is analysed at 100% organic matter even though only organic material went into it. This is a common misconception. Lloyd |
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