More compost is my vote. Good luck!

40lb will cover the bottom of that bed at 1"?! And why would you do that? And I'm with sinfonian. You'll want to watch your plants and be ready to supplement with fert the first year.

Dan

I didn't get a measuring tape out but it completely covered the bottom. Thought the sand would aid in drainage on the bottom. Read several other post about sand on the botom of raised beds. Didn't know if i needed any more peat moss. The humus contained some peat mixed with pine bark, sand, and fly ash. The potting soil contained peat but was the last ingrediant so not sure how much is in it.
thanks for your comments

Thought the sand would aid in drainage on the bottom.

No it won't. Can't seem to find an image on The Google that captures the concept, but it is a basic lab experiment in any soils class. Lower permeability layers below higher permeability layers slow drainage. You are also cutting off capillary water from the ground below.

Dan

my vote would be compost also, of a different variety than you've already used. Cotton Burr compost and mushroom compost can be found at walmart and lowes.

I also had the hardest time finding vermiculite when I did my beds, I ended up doing 50% peat moss, 50% various composts. Couldn't find 5 different varieties either so I used 2 or 3.

I have needed fertilizer to supplement my not so Mel's mix, but even in the squares that have closer to perfect mel's mix, I've had to supplement with ferts, I think it is because bagged compost is inferior, personally

I may be to blame for the sand issue? I used it in the bottom four inches of my 12 inch deep bed, to save money, as most things that get that deep, will be parsnips and carrot, so it won't hurt them, as they will get what they need further up, and I also put some sand in my main mix to help drainage, because the shop brought compost was like brick, so I used it to break that up and hopefully stop it clogging together again, and I also miscalulated with the peat moss, so wanted something that wouldn't need soaking...whoops sorry! I did use vermiculite but only 2 sq ft per 8x4 bed,and plan to add in years to come as finances allow, but I live in a high rainful area, which is fairly constant all year, so not as important to me as someone in a dry area, it rains heavily every 2-3 days here even in Summer, for instance we have had 4 80+ days in a row but it has rained on two of them, today's measure was 2.2 inches, so I am more concerned about drainage.
I would add more compost as suggested above, remember I am clueless! but like to share :) my experiments and mistakes. sorry if I didn't make that clear :(

great, thanks for all the advice. It doesn't seam from the responses that i need anymore peat, so i'm going to shop around for some different types of composts.

I found the mushroom compost and some hen compost. I'll mix this in and give it a go!
Thanks again!

Here is a link that might be useful: cajunkorner

sand is a really good thing for holding in water! i've learned this :') ummmmm **thinking allowed** have you ever seen the set ups used for propogatating plants? some people like to use sand in a big bowl that won't allow water out, then put a clay pot that has no sealant on the outside and a plug on the bottom, then they fill that with water. the reason is, because it dries out slower than soil. read that somewhere, and one of my good friends told me that :') i guess the beaches wouldn't be a good example! **grin** LOL we tried the sand vs soil. like sand much better! LOL ~Medo