last year was my first attempt at gardening using the Mittleider method..i was skeptical at first but when the harvest started coming in i was stunned!! i had watched your videos when you were still in Texas and that's why i had to try it...thank you so much. this year it's a no brainer!!!
I just spent almost $400 on the worst 'compost' ever trying to get my new garden started and this is blowing my mind. I'm going to spend the next few days watching your videos and researching more. I would love to grow a huge garden for all my neighbors to benefit from. Our native soil here is horrible and useless. Subscribed and hooked!!
It would be VERY informative to see what you do the year after, when the sawdust has partially broken down. Do you 'eject and discard' the contents of the growbox and fill it up with "all new", or do you add just sawdust (because the sand will not have gone away)? If you "top up" with the same sand+sawdust, in my experience, you end up with progressively more sand in the box, as the sawdust breaks down, but the sand does not... What are your thoughts on this, David? And .. how do you go about it? Thanks!
Jim Kinnard’s video said to use no more than 15% sand in subsequent years. I’m going to take a can full of what’s currently in my bed, apply perlite and/or sawdust until I get the consistency David’s video shows here, and then apply the ratio to the entire bed. Since there is such a WIDE variation in “sawdust”, I’m hoping this will yield more consistent results.
This is the perfect video for me. As a first-time gardener, I'm struggling my way through the Mittleider book and needed to see this to get a real idea as to what I'm reading about.
Timely video David. I am going to try soil and this method for the first time this year. The soil beds are about done and the raised beds are going to be going in this weekend. Thanks for all the information you are sharing.
I might have missed this but did you explain how the nitrogen content is managed in the growing bed? My understanding is that sawdust uses a lot of nitrogen to breakdown and this would take away needed nitrogen for growing plants.
I’ve been doing a similar process using sieved old wood chip that as decayed on my pathways and comfrey and coffee grounds. I will now start adding course sharp sand. My check that it is mature and ready for cultivation is number of worms In the mix. I leave it a year to mature.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, you have know idea how much this video has helped me, I’m a visual learner and no matter how much I read it doesn’t make sense to me, also I’ll be able to show my husband what I’ve been trying to explain to him. I have a question for you, are you supposed to put the pre plant on the ground before you put the sawdust mix in or isn’t that necessary? Thank you, Cindy
OOPS! For some reason I keep forgetting to add pre-plant to the dirt at the bottom of the box. Yes, you are correct. It's been so long since I started from scratch I completely forgot that step. Thank you for reminding me and others. For detailed step-by-step follow the instructions in the Mittleider Gardening Course book at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
Will hunt up pre-plant mix and how to use it. Bought some Miracle Grow at ridiculous close out prices at Dollar General several years ago, so may use some of that for my weekly plant feed....
This was the video we needed years ago when we wanted to do the Mit Gardening method, but had no idea how to approach sawdust/sand selection and mixing from the guide. So we went with expensive soil instead.
A truly instructional video. Thank you LDSPrepper. I didn't know how I could possibly use my 'stimulus payment' in a way that I could afford to grow food. Now, if I can find the materials, I know that I can do it. Thanks again.
I know a lot of people are using their stimulus payment to put in gardens for the first time. A wise use of the money. If you need the gardening course book or micro nutrients you can get them at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
Thank you for sharing this very informative video about how you make your own garden soil mixture for the best way for your garden project of growing vegetables and planting fruit trees 👍✅
That is probably true before I add water, nutrients and plants. But as soon as I do then the magic begins and the microbs come alive and the beauty of how nature works is shown.
If you go to Home Depot or Lowe’s with a trash bag they will give you the saw dust from their wood cutting collecting bin. If you have a composting toilet or bee hive smoker, it works great also.
Just heard to you on a pod cast and sought out your channel ….. I like your method which I believe will be great for starting seeds and I’ll be using it for sure But I prefer to grow the plants on to maturity in living soil full of fungi bacteria achea nematodes etc That way you only need to feed once or twice a year with a top dressing of home made compost and the occasional water from the leachate from my worm bin Thanks for posting
You are 100% correct. That is why I had to make a video because it is so confusing. When we tell people to use wood shavings they end up getting wood chips. 😁
My biggest concern with the concrete sand would be heavy metal content since its source is unclear/unknown, and there probably hasn't been a heavy metal test done on it since it's construction grade.
I have a large garden & have mixed sawdust into the existing natural sandy soil & it has really helped with water retention. I'm going to try your method in one of my raised beds after watching this video. Please provide the names of the 2 fertilizers you use. Thanks.
I think you'll love the results Beth. The Plant food you can make yourself when you add the LDS Premium Micro Nutrient mix as per the instructions that come with the mix. The Pre-Plant mix instructions are in the Mittleider Gardening Course book. Both can be found at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
Thank you so much for the information. I will certainly try this mixture, as our soil is clay. Do the wood shavings loweer the ph? We have a high ph, also.
Have you considered adding red wigglers and mushroom spawn? Seems you would only need to top off then after established and not need to add nutrients except maybe minerals. Good idea though.
Shouldn't you have added pre-plant before filling the box? For empty boxes MGM says to put preplant down first, then the mix, then more preplant and weekly feed on top (and re-mantis). Also .. after one year, a lot of the sawdust will have decomposed. What do you recommend adding? Just fresh sawdust (then mantis) or do you top up with sawdust AND sand? I'm curious, because the sawdust decomposes, but sand does not, so if you were to add mix every year, you would get an increasingly bigger ratio of sand in your boxes...
From Lil Giant Wish I understood better. Have vision of a second grader. Half those terms mean nothing to me. Cannot feel the texture in a video, though less weeding is always a good thing. Lol. saw a video where guy put a log in the bottom so fed the soil while disintegrating. Might try that. Thank you for the info. Could always share with others. 👍
Thank you for posting this, I found it very interesting. I had always heard that this type of thing will rob nitrogen. I always thought it wouldn't be a problem as long as you were adding fertilizer. I think the difference between sawdust and wood chips is the sawdust is porous enough to allow the exchange of added fertilizer where the wood chips absorb it and lock it up.
Good thinking. I've found the wood chips don't absorb the moisture like sawdust does so the water just runs through the soil so the plants don't get the water or nutrients they need.
Do you think this “soil” mixture would work in containers or Earth Boxes? Do you think it would “wick” water in a self watering container or Earth Box? Thanks, alan
@@LDSPrepper Good to know David. I just spent hundreds on potting mix for all my Self-Wicking tubs and Earth Boxes. I'll definitely try this mix next time (if I can find some good sawdust) What fertilizing regimen would you recommend for containers... the same weekly Mitt feeding? Good to see you back on YT :) alan
@@BIGALTX When I was doing wicking buckets I too purchased the recommended mix but when I learned about a MUCH more cheaper soil mix of sawdust and sand I decided to give it a try and it worked just as well as the real expensive soil.
I no longer buy fertilizer. I do make a lot of compost. So all my fertilizer is free for the making. You could start adding compost to your mix and have cheaper mix
Thank you for sharing. That's awesome. I like using this method because I know the custom soil is clean and with the premium plant food that I mix the plants get a full and balanced diet and are full of nutrients for me when I eat the produce. th-cam.com/video/GsTjsPkfuEk/w-d-xo.html
Chemical based nitrogen is a waste of money and not great for the planet, use grass clippings and sawdust ;) . The premium micronutrient mix is nothing moe than basic (cheap) sulfates and borax, sharp eyed folks will notice that molybdate (Mo) is missing altogether.
Getting 'sawdust' from a modern Cabinet Shop? What you likely have there is glue and sawdust powder/shavings from MDF or whatever crap material they are using now-a-days.
What if you mix pamouse rock 1/8, perlite, volcanic rock 1/8 to 1/32 , sand, saw dust and some, paramagnetic sand and some coconut husk to creat a great soil mix to grow a garden inside a high tunnel?
Seems to me you have to add a lot of fertilizer to that mix. I saw on another video that leaves have a 60 to one [carbon/nitrogen]. Saw dust is 500 to one. I don't know how anything would grow in that without spending many dollars on fertilizer. Compost the saw dust first.
I had the same experience in Texas. I found sawdust that I could purchase from a bed frame manufacturer in Houston, a horse corral and from feed stores. Animal bedding works too.
Do you have a screen you can send the sawdust through, to get rid of the powder? or even a large net bag (with the right size holes)? I would take the time.
Good question. As long at you have about 10% or less of the powder you are good to go. If I get a back that has too much power in it I don't use it in my garden.
@@LDSPrepper and @Annie Gaddis; if one dumped the "dust" of the whole bag onto a tarp of proper size,(shake it out a bit with the help of the wife)then "hand grabbed" the larger shavings or sawdust up by the armloads, this would more than likely leave the remaining "fines" on the tarp. This would then allow one to add the fines AFTER the sand/sawdust/shavings mixture went together with the water to complete the "texture/clumping test. This is the way I will try mine in the coming weeks....I believe what David says; One needs to experiment, and find what works for oneself.
This is a commercial for the Mantis Tiller.. and Cat Adoption. Jokes aside, would you mind linking the pre-plant and the weekly feed? I'm sure you go over it in one of your videos, I just haven't watched that one yet. Perhaps just the video link if you know which it is. Thank you, David.
No quickcrete is a mix with cement lime and if you mean a bag of sane by itself some probably not hurt depending what's mixed in it. If it isn't just sand don't use it.
You might check your local high school (when they open back up) and see if they have a woodworking shop. My local high school has "dust collectors" that collect wood chips from the machines. They are happy to give me there wood chips, I just furnish a large trash can and bags.
@@Astrogazzr I don't know of any school anywhere that still has wood shop classes. I lived in NY, VA, and OH and none of the local schools even offered those classes any more. If your school does, you are lucky! My nephew wanted to learn carpentry but there was nowhere to take a class.
That's funny, because I am getting ready to rip out my 18" because I don't like it. I guess we all have our preferences. I guess the main reason is that I can't fit my tiller in it, and I do grow in soil.
Okay so tell me what is the difference between using sand and sawdust, verses using your garden area that would be dirt, and either the sawdust or wood chips? Because you are not supposed to kill in the sawdust or wood chips into the dirt, due to nitrogen loss. So what is the difference between using them send and the sawdust? This is the first time that I have found your Channel.
Would like to see the results. As the saw dust breaks down it should use up all the nitrogen you provide. Will you be dosing higher amounts of nitrogen.
Great question. I've been doing this for almost 10 years now and have not found that this causes any problems with nitrogen deficiency. I use the same plant food in the sand/sawdust mix and in plain dirt with the same great results.
What would you say is this "soil" PH? I only have Pine mills in my Area and wonder what the Pine resin effect will have? My town has a recycle program that they make Compost that sell at $15/ton.
Pine needles work great if they are ground up. I wouldn't use compost made from recycled material because that can be loaded with herbicides like roundup from people recycled weeds and grass.
@@LDSPrepper Place some water proofing in that area... Your beams are treated wood, will last a long time, but in time the treatment shall let you down.
Yes, the greenhouse doesn't make any difference. It just extends our gardening season. Absolutely no problem with nitrogen when you follow this method. It is all outlines in great step-by-step in the Mittleider Gardening Course Book available at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
David an old aquintance of yours form Texas. I can get all the rice hulls i want. Since you are familiar with my area what sand would you recommend? Would you recommend saw dust over the rice hull?
Actually, I have grown a vegetable garden using sawdust and sand... NO problems whatsoever regarding lack of nitrogen. But... I also fertilized on a weekly basis with a weak fertilizer solution. And I had absolutely HUGE earthworms!! Best garden I ever planted!! You might want to have an open mind and just try it... it sure worked for me!!
My wife had the same problem you experienced. When we took a closer look at what she did we found that she actually used wood chips not sawdust and the wood chips totally pulled all the nitrogen out of her soil. Using true sawdust solved her problem. Best of success to you and your garden.
@@cryptolife5756 I have found that people do what they think will bring them happiness. I don't know that he was acting dumb. I believe he was doing the best he could with the information he had. Now that he has better information hopefully he has great success.
Careful everyone the fine powder in the sawdust is MDF sawdust which is full of formaldehydes. The other caution is running a gas powered anything in you greenhouse, make sure you have plenty of fresh air ventilation or you could be overcome by the CO fumes. You can buy big bags of pure pine shavings for about 10 bucks.
Thank you for your comment Trevor. I'm not sure how you know what the fine powder is if you haven't been to the source and know what the sawdust come from. I know from the person I got this from that he only deals with hardwood because he does custom wood work. For sure you can buy fine wood shaving for animal bedding. Free sawdust or purchased both work.
What about minerals that soil/compost provides? How does that aspect compare to sawdust/sand? Can you mix in soil, pine needles and compost with the sawdust/sand for a more complete, mineral rich soil base? Thank you : )
Yes, absolutely, but the good news is you don't have to. 97% of humans live in cities where pine needles and compost are not as easy to get as they are if you live in the mountains. This simple, clean, inexpensive mix has been used all across the world in big cities and small towns and has proven to be a very effective way to grow nutrient dense food when you use the Premium Plant Food found here th-cam.com/video/GsTjsPkfuEk/w-d-xo.html
So, you buy special sand, sawdust, minerals, fertalizer, seeds and built an (expensive?) plastic greenhouse... Can you keep growing food WTSHTF? It seems like you'd need a lot of "external" stuff that doesn't replace itself at some point... No?
Excellent points. It is because of SHTF that I do this. When a SHTF happens I will already have the very inexpensive sand and free sawdust to create the best custom soil. I will already have all the ingredients to feed my plants, and I'll be able to grow food year-round in my inexpensive geo-thermal greenhouse. If I wasn't doing what I'm doing now I would not be able to grow food when food may not be available. I hope you are doing what you need to be doing to be able to grow food in a SHTF when you can't get manure because your animals have been killed and taken so you have no fertilizer for your garden, when your soil is contaminated from nuclear fallout or other toxins falling from the sky and when there is a nuclear winter so you can't grow food outdoors.
FrugalPrepper's Garage & Garden I think the point he is making is that with this system you can affordably stock and store the inputs you will need to plant for as many years as you want to store inputs for.
last year was my first attempt at gardening using the Mittleider method..i was skeptical at first but when the harvest started coming in i was stunned!! i had watched your videos when you were still in Texas and that's why i had to try it...thank you so much. this year it's a no brainer!!!
Thank you for sharing George. Congratulations! Every year is a learning experience and an opportunity to become better.
From Lil Giant What is the Mittleider method?
Thank you for helping us become better and more productive gardeners. Love the video :)
Thank you very much Karla.
I just spent almost $400 on the worst 'compost' ever trying to get my new garden started and this is blowing my mind. I'm going to spend the next few days watching your videos and researching more. I would love to grow a huge garden for all my neighbors to benefit from. Our native soil here is horrible and useless. Subscribed and hooked!!
Make your own soil leaves food scraps vegetable compost
Sold! After 3 days of researching all the science, methods and techniques on a future hydroponic project, I've decided to just use soil.... ;)
Fantastic!
It would be VERY informative to see what you do the year after, when the sawdust has partially broken down. Do you 'eject and discard' the contents of the growbox and fill it up with "all new", or do you add just sawdust (because the sand will not have gone away)? If you "top up" with the same sand+sawdust, in my experience, you end up with progressively more sand in the box, as the sawdust breaks down, but the sand does not... What are your thoughts on this, David? And .. how do you go about it? Thanks!
Jim Kinnard’s video said to use no more than 15% sand in subsequent years. I’m going to take a can full of what’s currently in my bed, apply perlite and/or sawdust until I get the consistency David’s video shows here, and then apply the ratio to the entire bed. Since there is such a WIDE variation in “sawdust”, I’m hoping this will yield more consistent results.
Great to see you back!!!!!!!!
Thank you.
This is the perfect video for me. As a first-time gardener, I'm struggling my way through the Mittleider book and needed to see this to get a real idea as to what I'm reading about.
thank you for the lesson on types of sand and sawdust. here where i am at sawdust is super fine and so is the sand. thanks again.
Timely video David. I am going to try soil and this method for the first time this year. The soil beds are about done and the raised beds are going to be going in this weekend. Thanks for all the information you are sharing.
I'd done both soil beds and grow boxes. I get the same yield from both but I love the minimal weeding using the boxes.
How'd your growing season end up going?
Happy to see new content from you.
Thank you. More to come!
Mr LDS.....loved your soil mix.....very good video. Thank u ,fine sir. Yah's finest blessings on u and urs!🖐🏻☺️
🙌🏻💝👑
I might have missed this but did you explain how the nitrogen content is managed in the growing bed? My understanding is that sawdust uses a lot of nitrogen to breakdown and this would take away needed nitrogen for growing plants.
True. Saw dust 500 to 1
I’ve been doing a similar process using sieved old wood chip that as decayed on my pathways and comfrey and coffee grounds. I will now start adding course sharp sand. My check that it is mature and ready for cultivation is number of worms In the mix. I leave it a year to mature.
Thanks for the explanation. Have wondered about the sand-sawdust mix. Funny cat. Had me looking outside for my cat.
I'm glad the video help clarify. Thank you for viewing and commenting.
@@LDSPrepper Is the sawdust hardwood or soft wood. I'm in NW Montana and there is no hardwood. Does it matter?
@@paulstoll8146 Great question Paul. Both hard and soft wood work equally well.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, you have know idea how much this video has helped me, I’m a visual learner and no matter how much I read it doesn’t make sense to me, also I’ll be able to show my husband what I’ve been trying to explain to him. I have a question for you, are you supposed to put the pre plant on the ground before you put the sawdust mix in or isn’t that necessary? Thank you, Cindy
OOPS! For some reason I keep forgetting to add pre-plant to the dirt at the bottom of the box. Yes, you are correct. It's been so long since I started from scratch I completely forgot that step. Thank you for reminding me and others. For detailed step-by-step follow the instructions in the Mittleider Gardening Course book at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
Thanks. This is very helpful.
You are very welcome.
Interesting video, thank you
Will hunt up pre-plant mix and how to use it. Bought some Miracle Grow at ridiculous close out prices at Dollar General several years ago, so may use some of that for my weekly plant feed....
This was the video we needed years ago when we wanted to do the Mit Gardening method, but had no idea how to approach sawdust/sand selection and mixing from the guide. So we went with expensive soil instead.
Thank you for the feedback. I felt it was a point of confusion too.
That's some good looking custom soil and the price is right that's true gardening on the cheap
That's for sure. If I had used the Square Foot soil mix it would cost $1,200 for the 30'x18" box. This was about $1.
A truly instructional video. Thank you LDSPrepper. I didn't know how I could possibly use my 'stimulus payment' in a way that I could afford to grow food. Now, if I can find the materials, I know that I can do it. Thanks again.
I know a lot of people are using their stimulus payment to put in gardens for the first time. A wise use of the money. If you need the gardening course book or micro nutrients you can get them at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
Thank you for sharing this very informative video about how you make your own garden soil mixture for the best way for your garden project of growing vegetables and planting fruit trees 👍✅
You are very welcome.
Thanks for the video. I would’ve mixed it in the wheelbarrow, then poured it in the beds.
What are the nutrients/fertilizers you are using?
Hi love your videos
I am trying your soil mix this year
for my toms & veg this year
Thank you x😆😆
That's not microbial active live soil, that's just a hydroponic growing medium to retain water and additives.
That is probably true before I add water, nutrients and plants. But as soon as I do then the magic begins and the microbs come alive and the beauty of how nature works is shown.
If you go to Home Depot or Lowe’s with a trash bag they will give you the saw dust from their wood cutting collecting bin. If you have a composting toilet or bee hive smoker, it works great also.
Thank you for the tip.
Can you reuse that next year?
what are the "Pre-Plant" and "Weekly Feed" fertilizers you're using?
Thats what I wanted to know.
Just heard to you on a pod cast and sought out your channel ….. I like your method which I believe will be great for starting seeds and I’ll be using it for sure But I prefer to grow the plants on to maturity in living soil full of fungi bacteria achea nematodes etc That way you only need to feed once or twice a year with a top dressing of home made compost and the occasional water from the leachate from my worm bin Thanks for posting
Sawdust is also great for mulch.
I haven't tried it for mulch. Thank you for sharing.
The powder is the sawdust, what you are using are wood shavings
You are 100% correct. That is why I had to make a video because it is so confusing. When we tell people to use wood shavings they end up getting wood chips. 😁
My biggest concern with the concrete sand would be heavy metal content since its source is unclear/unknown, and there probably hasn't been a heavy metal test done on it since it's construction grade.
Also lime / alkaline metals.
I have a large garden & have mixed sawdust into the existing natural sandy soil & it has really helped with water retention. I'm going to try your method in one of my raised beds after watching this video. Please provide the names of the 2 fertilizers you use. Thanks.
I think you'll love the results Beth. The Plant food you can make yourself when you add the LDS Premium Micro Nutrient mix as per the instructions that come with the mix. The Pre-Plant mix instructions are in the Mittleider Gardening Course book. Both can be found at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
Love the cat! Oh, good information, too. But LOVE the cat!
LOL! Thank you.
Ha - I was listening to this while I took a walk, and kept taking off my earphones to see where the cat was thinking it was close by!
I've had an electric mantis and a gas mantis( I gave to my son, they last ForEver! love the little guy
That is awesome!
Thank you Sir
I have access to large quantity of shredded leafs. I wonder if that would work in place of saw dust 🤔. Thoughts?
Much better than saw dust. Carbon/nitrogen 60/1. Saw dust 500/1.
Great presentation!
Thank you kindly!
Yeah like I wasn't going to stop what i was doing to see this!
Thanks!
I'm glad you did. I hope it was helpful.
Would using a cement mixer be easier?
We have a cement mixer and it does a great job. I don't use it because it is easier for me to use the Mantis tiller.
Does the saw dust need to be from non treated wood?
Thank you so much for the information. I will certainly try this mixture, as our soil is clay. Do the wood shavings loweer the ph? We have a high ph, also.
Is it important to make sure your sawdust supplier does not use any chemically treated wood? Thanks. You are an inspiration!
Good point. As I get sawdust from various suppliers I've asked this question and haven't found it to be a problem.
@@LDSPrepper thanks!
I understand the size of the sawdust - but does the type of wood matter?
David, sawdust isn't available in my area so could you do a video using peat moss?
Have you considered adding red wigglers and mushroom spawn? Seems you would only need to top off then after established and not need to add nutrients except maybe minerals. Good idea though.
Got anything for thumbs of death? When we run out of canned food we're done.
Shouldn't you have added pre-plant before filling the box? For empty boxes MGM says to put preplant down first, then the mix, then more preplant and weekly feed on top (and re-mantis).
Also .. after one year, a lot of the sawdust will have decomposed. What do you recommend adding? Just fresh sawdust (then mantis) or do you top up with sawdust AND sand? I'm curious, because the sawdust decomposes, but sand does not, so if you were to add mix every year, you would get an increasingly bigger ratio of sand in your boxes...
I have access to a lot of cocoa hulls, could I use that in place of sawdust?
I used rice hulls on Texas with sand and sawdust. The rice hulls worked great but the decompose much faster than sawdust.
Can I use beach sand or is it too salty?
Does the sawdust need to be from a specific type of wood? For example, do I need to avoid sawdust from Pine?
Great question. Sawdust from all trees works great except Walnut.
@@LDSPrepper What about osage orange sawdust (Bois d'arc)?
From Lil Giant Wish I understood better. Have vision of a second grader. Half those terms mean nothing to me. Cannot feel the texture in a video, though less weeding is always a good thing. Lol. saw a video where guy put a log in the bottom so fed the soil while disintegrating. Might try that. Thank you for the info. Could always share with others. 👍
Hi, can I grow the vegetables right away after mixing or I have to wait for it composted? Thank you
Pls how do you wash the sand
Thank you for posting this, I found it very interesting. I had always heard that this type of thing will rob nitrogen. I always thought it wouldn't be a problem as long as you were adding fertilizer. I think the difference between sawdust and wood chips is the sawdust is porous enough to allow the exchange of added fertilizer where the wood chips absorb it and lock it up.
Good thinking. I've found the wood chips don't absorb the moisture like sawdust does so the water just runs through the soil so the plants don't get the water or nutrients they need.
Does it matter if it is cypress?
I have access to chainsaw sawdust of primarily cedar.. will that work?
Our soil is sandy and has shell pieces like it was once under water. Can I just use what is there?
whats the difference using miracle grow than your fertilizer?
You could totally use Miracle grow, at a MUCH greater expense. But it would work just fine.
Nothing
Do you think this “soil” mixture would work in containers or Earth Boxes?
Do you think it would “wick” water in a self watering container or Earth Box?
Thanks,
alan
Good to hear from you my friend. I have tried this exact mix in self watering containers and it worked wonderfully well.
@@LDSPrepper
Good to know David.
I just spent hundreds on potting mix for all my Self-Wicking tubs and Earth Boxes.
I'll definitely try this mix next time (if I can find some good sawdust)
What fertilizing regimen would you recommend for containers... the same weekly Mitt feeding?
Good to see you back on YT :)
alan
@@BIGALTX When I was doing wicking buckets I too purchased the recommended mix but when I learned about a MUCH more cheaper soil mix of sawdust and sand I decided to give it a try and it worked just as well as the real expensive soil.
Nice ..can I use sand and sawdust media on duch bucket on my hydroponic tomato ????
Do you make sure the sawdust does not come from chemically treated wood?
Can I use cocopeat in place is sow dust?
This is awesome and it seems to be working wounder for you. Where could I get some sand and saw dust?
Buy play sand or a sand bar near a creek.
Do you reuse the same sawdust sand mixture every year or you just dispose and start over
I no longer buy fertilizer. I do make a lot of compost. So all my fertilizer is free for the making. You could start adding compost to your mix and have cheaper mix
Thank you for sharing. That's awesome. I like using this method because I know the custom soil is clean and with the premium plant food that I mix the plants get a full and balanced diet and are full of nutrients for me when I eat the produce. th-cam.com/video/GsTjsPkfuEk/w-d-xo.html
LDSPrepper if you are buying the nutrients-doesnt that jack the cost up after all?
What is your pre-plant mix?
With so much carbon in your garden, how are you getting the nitrogen to it?
Great question. All of the nutrients that the soil and plants need are in the LDS Prepper Premium Plant Food. th-cam.com/video/GsTjsPkfuEk/w-d-xo.html
Chemical based nitrogen is a waste of money and not great for the planet, use grass clippings and sawdust ;) . The premium micronutrient mix is nothing moe than basic (cheap) sulfates and borax, sharp eyed folks will notice that molybdate (Mo) is missing altogether.
@@JohnGuest45 Sawdust is a carbon too. I agree with the grass clippings part though.
Where do you source sawdust?
Is this only good for growing in boxes?
Getting 'sawdust' from a modern Cabinet Shop? What you likely have there is glue and sawdust powder/shavings from MDF or whatever crap material they are using now-a-days.
I just bought clean sand understanding that I shouldn't use concrete sand. What can I do to use it successfully with sawdust?
Maybe by adding perlite or pumice to the mix? I had the same hesitation to concrete sand.
What if you mix pamouse rock 1/8, perlite, volcanic rock 1/8 to 1/32 , sand, saw dust and some, paramagnetic sand and some coconut husk to creat a great soil mix to grow a garden inside a high tunnel?
Seems to me you have to add a lot of fertilizer to that mix. I saw on another video that leaves have a 60 to one [carbon/nitrogen]. Saw dust is 500 to one. I don't know how anything would grow in that without spending many dollars on fertilizer. Compost the saw dust first.
I called every cabinet shop within 20 miles of me and no one wants to get rid of sawdust. They are already recycling it or selling it to others.
I had the same experience in Texas. I found sawdust that I could purchase from a bed frame manufacturer in Houston, a horse corral and from feed stores. Animal bedding works too.
Been following you since Texas. Looks like Idaho is good for you.
Why no to vermiculite?
Vermiculite absorbs water, Perlite doesn't therefor it provides air pockets which is the whole purpose for using it.
Wouldn’t compost and sand be free and safer? Cabinet shops are easily contaminated with chemicals and different woods.
But don't the sawdust creat a lot of acid?
Do you have a screen you can send the sawdust through, to get rid of the powder? or even a large net bag (with the right size holes)? I would take the time.
Good question. As long at you have about 10% or less of the powder you are good to go. If I get a back that has too much power in it I don't use it in my garden.
@@LDSPrepper and @Annie Gaddis; if one dumped the "dust" of the whole bag onto a tarp of proper size,(shake it out a bit with the help of the wife)then "hand grabbed" the larger shavings or sawdust up by the armloads, this would more than likely leave the remaining "fines" on the tarp. This would then allow one to add the fines AFTER the sand/sawdust/shavings mixture went together with the water to complete the "texture/clumping test. This is the way I will try mine in the coming weeks....I believe what David says; One needs to experiment, and find what works for oneself.
@@magua1368 Interesting approach. Not sure if you need to do all that work but let us know how it goes.
What are you using for fertilizer? 10-10-10?
I use 19-19-19. Here's my recipe th-cam.com/video/GsTjsPkfuEk/w-d-xo.html
Approximately how many years does the custom soil mix last in the grow boxes before you need to replace it? Or do you just add to it each year?
Sawdust and leaves is an annual job.. you just keep adding stuff..
This is a commercial for the Mantis Tiller.. and Cat Adoption.
Jokes aside, would you mind linking the pre-plant and the weekly feed? I'm sure you go over it in one of your videos, I just haven't watched that one yet. Perhaps just the video link if you know which it is.
Thank you, David.
I think this is the video you are looking for.
th-cam.com/video/jb1LEAEr1rE/w-d-xo.html
@@tyatwd Thank you "Tatty" That is the correct link.
Thank you, Tatty. That is the one.
Hello, I’m having troubles locating concrete sand. Would quikrete all purpose sand work as well?
No quickcrete is a mix with cement lime and if you mean a bag of sane by itself some probably not hurt depending what's mixed in it. If it isn't just sand don't use it.
Yes. He shows this brand at 5:27.
There is literally nowhere in my area to get either sawdust or wood chips. :(
You might check your local high school (when they open back up) and see if they have a woodworking shop. My local high school has "dust collectors" that collect wood chips from the machines. They are happy to give me there wood chips, I just furnish a large trash can and bags.
You could purchase animal bedding. I'd get the smallest size. I've also purchased sawdust from horse stalls.
@@Astrogazzr I don't know of any school anywhere that still has wood shop classes. I lived in NY, VA, and OH and none of the local schools even offered those classes any more. If your school does, you are lucky! My nephew wanted to learn carpentry but there was nowhere to take a class.
@@LDSPrepper I was wondering if the animal bedding bales I've seen for sale would work. Is pine ok, that seems to be what's mostly available here.
@@Aelanna You might check out a trade school/college.
Do you add the same sawdust/sand mixture in grow boxes not in the greenhouse or do you add Perlite, too?
I haven't needed to ad perlite in or out of the greenhouse.
That's funny, because I am getting ready to rip out my 18" because I don't like it. I guess we all have our preferences. I guess the main reason is that I can't fit my tiller in it, and I do grow in soil.
If you put dirt in your boxes why use boxes?
@@LDSPrepper Because I like boxes and I like dirt.
@@frugalprepper Excellent!
@@frugalprepper Where do you get the dirt?
@@LDSPrepper From my back yard. There is a bunch of it right under the grass!
Okay so tell me what is the difference between using sand and sawdust, verses using your garden area that would be dirt, and either the sawdust or wood chips?
Because you are not supposed to kill in the sawdust or wood chips into the dirt, due to nitrogen loss. So what is the difference between using them send and the sawdust?
This is the first time that I have found your Channel.
Welcome Jeff. Good question. I have found in doing this for about 10 years tilling in wood chips causes a nitrogen depletion but not so with sawdust.
Would like to see the results. As the saw dust breaks down it should use up all the nitrogen you provide. Will you be dosing higher amounts of nitrogen.
Great question. I've been doing this for almost 10 years now and have not found that this causes any problems with nitrogen deficiency. I use the same plant food in the sand/sawdust mix and in plain dirt with the same great results.
@@LDSPrepper thank you, also busy with some raise beds and the cost can go up trying to fill them.
What would you say is this "soil" PH? I only have Pine mills in my Area and wonder what the Pine resin effect will have?
My town has a recycle program that they make Compost that sell at $15/ton.
Pine needles work great if they are ground up. I wouldn't use compost made from recycled material because that can be loaded with herbicides like roundup from people recycled weeds and grass.
Also a lot of municipalities use biosolids from the sewage treatment plant and they arent required to test for pathogens, medicines, etc.
@@LDSPrepper I have loads of pine needles (brown not green lol) I will try instead of the shavings
Bro you're going to have issues In the future with the post supports due to soil contact in the planters.
That could be the case. It might take decades but at some point I might have to replace them. After 5 years I didn't see any deterioration.
@@LDSPrepper
Place some water proofing in that area... Your beams are treated wood, will last a long time, but in time the treatment shall let you down.
Can this mix be used in raised beds outside of the green house. and what about nitrogen and the saw dust ?
Yes, the greenhouse doesn't make any difference. It just extends our gardening season. Absolutely no problem with nitrogen when you follow this method. It is all outlines in great step-by-step in the Mittleider Gardening Course Book available at www.LDSPrepperStore.com
David an old aquintance of yours form Texas. I can get all the rice hulls i want. Since you are familiar with my area what sand would you recommend? Would you recommend saw dust over the rice hull?
Silica is a benefit of Rice Hulls some sand is high in silica content. Silica increase cell wall strength in your plants.
geocache hat 👍
I never had Good things happen with sawdust, it removes all the Nitrogen for 2 years..
Must mix it, and let sit for two years before planting.
Actually, I have grown a vegetable garden using sawdust and sand... NO problems whatsoever regarding lack of nitrogen. But... I also fertilized on a weekly basis with a weak fertilizer solution. And I had absolutely HUGE earthworms!! Best garden I ever planted!! You might want to have an open mind and just try it... it sure worked for me!!
Very dumb idea to just mix it and leave it there and not ad some nitrogen if you had some
My wife had the same problem you experienced. When we took a closer look at what she did we found that she actually used wood chips not sawdust and the wood chips totally pulled all the nitrogen out of her soil. Using true sawdust solved her problem. Best of success to you and your garden.
@@munchkyn56 Thank you for sharing.
@@cryptolife5756 I have found that people do what they think will bring them happiness. I don't know that he was acting dumb. I believe he was doing the best he could with the information he had. Now that he has better information hopefully he has great success.
Living soil is the way to go .
Careful everyone the fine powder in the sawdust is MDF sawdust which is full of formaldehydes. The other caution is running a gas powered anything in you greenhouse, make sure you have plenty of fresh air ventilation or you could be overcome by the CO fumes. You can buy big bags of pure pine shavings for about 10 bucks.
Thank you for your comment Trevor. I'm not sure how you know what the fine powder is if you haven't been to the source and know what the sawdust come from. I know from the person I got this from that he only deals with hardwood because he does custom wood work. For sure you can buy fine wood shaving for animal bedding. Free sawdust or purchased both work.
What about minerals that soil/compost provides? How does that aspect compare to sawdust/sand? Can you mix in soil, pine needles and compost with the sawdust/sand for a more complete, mineral rich soil base? Thank you : )
Yes, absolutely, but the good news is you don't have to. 97% of humans live in cities where pine needles and compost are not as easy to get as they are if you live in the mountains. This simple, clean, inexpensive mix has been used all across the world in big cities and small towns and has proven to be a very effective way to grow nutrient dense food when you use the Premium Plant Food found here th-cam.com/video/GsTjsPkfuEk/w-d-xo.html
So, you buy special sand, sawdust, minerals, fertalizer, seeds and built an (expensive?) plastic greenhouse...
Can you keep growing food WTSHTF? It seems like you'd need a lot of "external" stuff that doesn't replace itself at some point... No?
Excellent points. It is because of SHTF that I do this. When a SHTF happens I will already have the very inexpensive sand and free sawdust to create the best custom soil. I will already have all the ingredients to feed my plants, and I'll be able to grow food year-round in my inexpensive geo-thermal greenhouse. If I wasn't doing what I'm doing now I would not be able to grow food when food may not be available. I hope you are doing what you need to be doing to be able to grow food in a SHTF when you can't get manure because your animals have been killed and taken so you have no fertilizer for your garden, when your soil is contaminated from nuclear fallout or other toxins falling from the sky and when there is a nuclear winter so you can't grow food outdoors.
How are you growing your garden after SHTF?
@@frugalprepper If you are asking me I'm going to be doing the same thing I am doing now.
FrugalPrepper's Garage & Garden I think the point he is making is that with this system you can affordably stock and store the inputs you will need to plant for as many years as you want to store inputs for.
@@LDSPrepper Lookin' forward to that nuclear fallout/winter... Party time.