Bassattackr
5 year old buck +
Nice sized bear!
potting soil
- Thread starter MRBB
- Start date
MRBB
5 year old buck +
Thanks, the one big one was ear tagged 3 yrs ago,(he is now about 12-13 ys old, forget off top of my head exact age) and weights at the time 480 lbs, he is one of two male from his litter, and his brother is a little larger than he is, both were pushing 600 klbs coming out of winter, but now a several weeks into mating seasons and summer heat, there both down a to about 450-500 lbs
I have been very lucky to watch them both grow up here along with several other bears I can track yr to yr!
the other bears are a bunch smaller, one male is about 300, other about 250 and female is about 150 now, she was at about 300 lbs when ear tagged this spring, and she's dropping weight like mad, trying to out run the boy's LOL
she did mate this yr super early, as she mated last yr, but lost her cubs over winter some how
I witnessed her mating this yr in my drive way super early with two different males, but since then, she's just be running from males non stop
I have access to see them almost daily and watch them grow and live here, I have been super fortunate to have gotten to see so many things with bears over my life time, I find them fascinating critters!
I have been very lucky to watch them both grow up here along with several other bears I can track yr to yr!
the other bears are a bunch smaller, one male is about 300, other about 250 and female is about 150 now, she was at about 300 lbs when ear tagged this spring, and she's dropping weight like mad, trying to out run the boy's LOL
she did mate this yr super early, as she mated last yr, but lost her cubs over winter some how
I witnessed her mating this yr in my drive way super early with two different males, but since then, she's just be running from males non stop
I have access to see them almost daily and watch them grow and live here, I have been super fortunate to have gotten to see so many things with bears over my life time, I find them fascinating critters!
35-acre
5 year old buck +
Clover looks good. Any thoughts of adding something cheap and fast growing like oats? I probably sound like a broken record when I say this but I toss horse oats (yeah - actual horse feed; rolled oats) into my plots. That stuff will get a root going really fast to help prevent runoff. Plus it's a nurse crop, so the animals will keep it trimmed up and maybe some of your clover will be able to grow.
it's cheap enough - like $15 for a 50 pound bag. Hand throw it and see it come up in 5 days.
it's cheap enough - like $15 for a 50 pound bag. Hand throw it and see it come up in 5 days.
MRBB
5 year old buck +
its not really a food plot for deer
its just a section of land I have I am trying to get roe use out of
MRBB
5 year old buck +
ell I have NO desire to be flipping this stuff over
what ever it does it will have to be as si, till I have use for it down the road
the smell seems to be attracting critters so, , so far working in a positive direction on that!
MRBB
5 year old buck +
well just a little update here if anyone cares!
I got another 50 ton of this stuff , just made piles higher
the area's I spread some and tried to fill in a few low spots(using this stuff to make about 10-12 inches base)
things have not gotten any more firm or solid, its still as gooey as it can be!
however most likely part of the problem has been, we keep going from 3-4 days of super ht humid sunny weather, to 3-4 days of several inches of rain each day
making it very swampy
I have tried seeding it now, with clover, then rye grass, , then some chicory and buck wheat, mix, and then some turnip seeds I had laying around
the critters are eating things as fast they sprout, which I am sure isn;'t helping, then add in all the water making gooey mud of it, or the fact some of it turns into standing water when heavy rains pile up
a lot of shade on the area isn;t helping either I am sure
but for now, I have not been able to get anything to really grow or fill in, to maybe help firm things up
as my goal here is NOT making a food plot
but just trying to take some slope off a section of property and get it to be solid
Its only a PLUS , if what I plant will feed critters
SO, I think I am going top try some crown vetch and see if that will work better
so, my advice is if anyone ever gets access to potting soil
only use it maybe to top dress a site with an inch or so at most, other wise, it seems to stay a never ending soft substance that gets worse when wet!!
and again I have been getting ti FREE, thus why I am using it, too hard to find good fill here for a fair price anymore , so the FREE Side of this stuff has appealed to me , HAHA!
so far I got about 200+ tons of it,
its looking like I will need to get some better soil and try mixing to firm up where I used a bunch of this to get a better base! and not get stuck when ever I drive over the area!
all in all, its been worth getting, just have to adjust how I use it in the future , !
I wish the spot I was filling in was more sunny, as maybe that would help a lot, but it stays shaded about 70% of the day, and not wanting to cut any tree's to get it more sunlight, as again, its NOT a food plot, its just fixing a slope on a section of property!
I got another 50 ton of this stuff , just made piles higher
the area's I spread some and tried to fill in a few low spots(using this stuff to make about 10-12 inches base)
things have not gotten any more firm or solid, its still as gooey as it can be!
however most likely part of the problem has been, we keep going from 3-4 days of super ht humid sunny weather, to 3-4 days of several inches of rain each day
making it very swampy
I have tried seeding it now, with clover, then rye grass, , then some chicory and buck wheat, mix, and then some turnip seeds I had laying around
the critters are eating things as fast they sprout, which I am sure isn;'t helping, then add in all the water making gooey mud of it, or the fact some of it turns into standing water when heavy rains pile up
a lot of shade on the area isn;t helping either I am sure
but for now, I have not been able to get anything to really grow or fill in, to maybe help firm things up
as my goal here is NOT making a food plot
but just trying to take some slope off a section of property and get it to be solid
Its only a PLUS , if what I plant will feed critters
SO, I think I am going top try some crown vetch and see if that will work better
so, my advice is if anyone ever gets access to potting soil
only use it maybe to top dress a site with an inch or so at most, other wise, it seems to stay a never ending soft substance that gets worse when wet!!
and again I have been getting ti FREE, thus why I am using it, too hard to find good fill here for a fair price anymore , so the FREE Side of this stuff has appealed to me , HAHA!
so far I got about 200+ tons of it,
its looking like I will need to get some better soil and try mixing to firm up where I used a bunch of this to get a better base! and not get stuck when ever I drive over the area!
all in all, its been worth getting, just have to adjust how I use it in the future , !
I wish the spot I was filling in was more sunny, as maybe that would help a lot, but it stays shaded about 70% of the day, and not wanting to cut any tree's to get it more sunlight, as again, its NOT a food plot, its just fixing a slope on a section of property!
MRBB
5 year old buck +
just thought In would add a little update here, after getting about 200 tons of this potting soil, what I learned is, it just NEVER firms up, it stays soft and gets super gooey when wet!
what I learned is, if I placed it on anything with a slope, even just top dressing a few inches(2-3 inches thick topping/coating) all that happens over time is after each rain, more and more of it, just runs down the way gravity takes it,
after having it down now for several months on some soloed land, almost none of the 2-3 inch thick layer I added is left, its all washed away to the lowest side of things
on the little level ground I put it on, it seems like it all broke down with the rains and was absorbed into the existing soil, which worked well, things grew like crazy in these area's
you can find very little of it on the surface to be seen
I just don't have much level ground where I have this stuff, or be nice to spread out in a larger field if I had one to do there!
NOW< I piled up about 100 ton or more of it in piles about 6-7 ft tall and about a 125 ft long, where I piled it, is a mostly shady spot ALL day long, never gets much sun, surrounded by big mature hemlock's, and some very mature tree's in full green up, that didn;t let much light in!
some of the piles were effected by rains and some washed off the tops of the piles and made there bases much wider
I tried seeding these piles several times, with all sorts of things, from clover, brassicia, rye grass, oats and buckwheat and a few other things
everything would start to grow FAST, sprout up but nothing would take very well, be very spotty at best, I am blaming this more on the lack of sunshine and well, it was a very wet yr, had very heavy rains every few days for weeks and most rains that came were in the 1-2-4+ inch rainfalls that fell fast and furious like, washing away top layers and s things growing with them
I wanted the piles more for a border of sorts, and well, just to have surplus dirt on hand, as I got the stuff for free!
I am going to try and reseed the piles again in the spring time, and maybe can get something growing better before green up shades them off
and am set to actually get some more of this stuff as well,
if nothing else I know it will grow things on level ground and that get sunlight
so, might be good for other things, like maybe to place about fruit tree that are growing already, or when planting smaller things, or growing a garden in!
OH well, just a little update/info on potting soil, didn't take any real pictures of things recently,. but here are a few some what recent trail cam pic's that show some of the piles and how not much green is growing on them!, mostly rye grass that has lasted the longest, and can see the piles went from about 6-7 ft tall to less in many spots from rains washing them down!
what I learned is, if I placed it on anything with a slope, even just top dressing a few inches(2-3 inches thick topping/coating) all that happens over time is after each rain, more and more of it, just runs down the way gravity takes it,
after having it down now for several months on some soloed land, almost none of the 2-3 inch thick layer I added is left, its all washed away to the lowest side of things
on the little level ground I put it on, it seems like it all broke down with the rains and was absorbed into the existing soil, which worked well, things grew like crazy in these area's
you can find very little of it on the surface to be seen
I just don't have much level ground where I have this stuff, or be nice to spread out in a larger field if I had one to do there!
NOW< I piled up about 100 ton or more of it in piles about 6-7 ft tall and about a 125 ft long, where I piled it, is a mostly shady spot ALL day long, never gets much sun, surrounded by big mature hemlock's, and some very mature tree's in full green up, that didn;t let much light in!
some of the piles were effected by rains and some washed off the tops of the piles and made there bases much wider
I tried seeding these piles several times, with all sorts of things, from clover, brassicia, rye grass, oats and buckwheat and a few other things
everything would start to grow FAST, sprout up but nothing would take very well, be very spotty at best, I am blaming this more on the lack of sunshine and well, it was a very wet yr, had very heavy rains every few days for weeks and most rains that came were in the 1-2-4+ inch rainfalls that fell fast and furious like, washing away top layers and s things growing with them
I wanted the piles more for a border of sorts, and well, just to have surplus dirt on hand, as I got the stuff for free!
I am going to try and reseed the piles again in the spring time, and maybe can get something growing better before green up shades them off
and am set to actually get some more of this stuff as well,
if nothing else I know it will grow things on level ground and that get sunlight
so, might be good for other things, like maybe to place about fruit tree that are growing already, or when planting smaller things, or growing a garden in!
OH well, just a little update/info on potting soil, didn't take any real pictures of things recently,. but here are a few some what recent trail cam pic's that show some of the piles and how not much green is growing on them!, mostly rye grass that has lasted the longest, and can see the piles went from about 6-7 ft tall to less in many spots from rains washing them down!
Telemark
5 year old buck +
One reason for the limited growth on the piles is probably lack of nutrients. Pitting soil is just a growing medium, where fertilizer and small amounts of lime need to be added regularly. It's like the organic equivalent of sand. If you spread it on a slope, you will probably need to plant into it right away, and either add fertilizer before you spread it or after germination.
Tap
5 year old buck +
Compost the potting soil. Mix in whatever you can...grass clippings, wood chipping, ashes, manure, pretty much any vegetative waste.
I'm using potting soil on a much smaller scale than the OP but the concept is the same.
Whenever I plant trees, I always scoop up a front loader bucket of the composted stuff and I mix it in with the virgin soil when I dig the hole. It allows rain to percolate down into the roots better. I find it especially useful if the soil has a high clay content.
I'm using potting soil on a much smaller scale than the OP but the concept is the same.
Whenever I plant trees, I always scoop up a front loader bucket of the composted stuff and I mix it in with the virgin soil when I dig the hole. It allows rain to percolate down into the roots better. I find it especially useful if the soil has a high clay content.
loshonhora
5 year old buck +
I wish i had a source of free potting soil in large amounts. I'd love a dump truck full. can you say (generally) where you got it? nursery? landscaper?
MRBB
5 year old buck +
yeah I can agree its not the best soil for growing things in AS IS<
I did try planting in it ASAP it was put down and placed it over some , some what decent soil, I also did add some lime to it, but things would just start to grow really fast, as in faster takes than I would normally see in soils my way
but due to all the shade, things would get stunned like and stop growing, between the lack of sunshine/light, and then just tons of rain that kept everything wet almost non stop for weeks at a time
it just didn;t work out to get anything to take well enough to build a root system to maybe hold in in place better
had I had less rain, that MAY have helped with things growing better and developing a root system, which in return maybe would have helped prevent a lot of it from washing away with all the rains I got(getting 3-6 inches of rain in a few hours a few times a week really sucked and moved a lot of it away on me)
Like I stated when I was first getting it, I was just going to try and fix a slope with it, and see what happens, , due to I was able to get it free, so was an experiment of sorts and if nothing else I wanted to pile it up as a fence of sorts, so was worth the work/time I spent on it, , and maybe if I get better weather this spring I can have better luck with it! will see what happens, as I do plan to get more this spring time! have all winter to let the mind work on new things to do with it HAHA!
