Your Soilutions products are 100% natural and full of living organic material! Following the steps below will help maximize your growing season:

STEP 1: TRANSPORT YOUR GROWING MATERIAL TO YOUR PLANTING AREA

We recommend moving your material to your final planting area within 24-72 hours. The soil/compost will be delivered with a lower moisture level than you will use for planting. This ensures the growing material can be safely transported, unloaded, and moved to your final planting area. If you won’t be able to work with the material for more than 72 hours after delivery, we recommend spraying the pile with water and covering it with the tarp until you’re ready to move it. If the material dries out too much, it will become powdery and be difficult to transport.

STEP 2: WATER YOUR GROWING MATERIAL

Before you plant, your soil/compost should be wet enough to form a clump in your fist when you squeeze a handful. If it doesn’t form a clump, it is too dry. If water drips out when you squeeze a handful, it is too wet. Watering daily is recommended prior to planting.

STEP 3: REST YOUR GROWING MATERIAL

The process of moving soil/compost into your final planting area adds oxygen, which reinvigorates the microorganisms in living soil and can cause the growing material to heat up temporarily which isn’t ideal for young plants. Letting your soil/compost rest for 2-3 days before you plant will allow for the microorganisms to settle and the temperature to stabilize.

STEP 4: PLANTING TIME! 🌱

Depending on where you live, early May is typically the best time to start planting your garden. Raised bed gardens can be used for growing from seeds or plant starts, which are small plants that have already been sprouted by a nursery or gardening department. Most raised bed gardeners grow herbs, vegetables and flowers.

STEP 5: ADD MULCH

Add a 2-4” layer of mulch around your sprouts to protect your soil and plants. In our hot, arid environment, mulch is an essential tool to retain water, suppress weeds, add nutrients andbeautify your garden.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT MOISTURE: Your growing material can lose moisture quickly in NM’s climate. Your soil/compost contains natural minerals that can become hydrophobic (resistant to moisture absorption). Spraying water on hydrophobic soil/compost will result in water initially rolling off instead of soaking in. Not to worry, you can reverse hydrophobia by watering slowly and steadily over the course of 1-2 days. When the top layer of soil starts accepting water you can return to normal watering. Microbes in soil simply go dormant if their conditions get dry, and robust beneficial microbial activity will resume immediately upon rehydration.