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Message: [QUOTE="A. Lyric, post: 255849, member: 20402"] I put 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite in the containers, along with some fertilizer. Recommended by a Gardener Scott on YouTube. My gardening philosophy is a patchwork of recommendations from here, there, and everywhere in my ongoing "how do I do this?!" quest. Last summer I came across an article on 18-day hot composting. I really wanted to create my own compost, and I have a compost bin in my backyard left by previous owners, so I got a pitch fork, a compost thermometer, took copious notes, and wasted no time embarking on 18-day hot composting with 97% enthusiasm and 3% know-how. It was too hot. Too cold. Too wet. Too small. I ran out of dead leaves and spent days tearing up cardboard boxes which never seemed to dent the temperature, which I took several times a day like it was a sick child. 18 days? Ha! Plus the tongs or whatever they are on a pitch fork were way too wide because stuff just fell through before I could get it to the other side of the bin so I ended up raking it out on a tarp with my hands. I assumed a pitch fork was a dang pitch fork. Anyway, on a particularly hot day, sweat streaming from every pore, seeing cardboard strips still clearly in that pile, having been at it for weeks, I admitted defeat. This is over your head. Give it up. They sell this stuff in bags at Lowes. Go get some! And so I did. The End BTW, that's a cool avatar. [/QUOTE]