Good afternoon gc ive been contemplating on mixing my own soil,and while searching nurseries in my area i came across a bagged product called organic mechanic container blend potting soil. Its omri listed but instead of peat , it contains coir in fact the ingredients are compost, pine bark, coir, worm castings, rice hulls. I called the company and the gentleman told me that i needed to add an all purpose fertilizer, so i asked him if additions like neem meal, kelp meal and rock dust, were good additions. He supposed it would be but went out of his way to inform me that i would need a bottle of cal mag, because oyster shell isnt a fast release source of calcium. My question is fo i need to add anything specific because of the coir, and should i add any more aeration(rice hulls), and should i add a bag of worm power? The bags of om are 2 cf and a bag of worm power is 30lbs i do believe. Any help would be greatly appreciated Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Ps im planning on getting a nutrient kit from b.a.s Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I love how he went out of his way to still try to sell you a liquid fert... Wonder if they are required to try to upsell a bottle to every customer with "tact"(note I didn't say intelligent tact ).... I'm not familiar with that soil brand, so I don't really know the feel for aeration, but you listed rice hulls as an ingredient, would really have to go by feel.
gypsum or leingbenite is a good idea for the sulfur content, as coir tends to immobilize a bit more Ca and S than peat. Neems got some but for a coir mix I'd use an additional source as well. gypsum would be my preferred material, supplies a bit more Ca as well. vermicompost (EWC) is a great idea to keep on hand while running a garden, if not solely for new mixes than additional mulch material down the road. Sequestered nutrition, beneficial microbiology (fresh is best for this aspect), humic acids and enzymatic activities that help suppress parasitic nematodes sound like a winning combination to me. kelp would be on my list, if not for the soil then weekly steeps (teas) that get strained and applied via my Chapin sprayer...83 elements....it's got nutrition except on the high N input hungry crops desire and neem covers that aspect in more than one way. hulls are another item I like to keep on hand, for the worm bin as well as soil mixes. your call, as long as the soil drains well and doesn't compact too much over time (might be an issue if you plan on making no tills work). I'd personally add something for long term aeration, like perlite or scoria. Don't bother with that Cal mag crap...just pick up some agricultural lime or oyster shell flour, or even crab shell meal if you can easily source it. It's not an immediately available material once it hits the soil though it doesn't take long to bear it's effect. For a more in depth read on the how and why pH (potential hydrogen) works in the soil, check out this wonderful link below. http://www.soilminerals.com/Cation_Exchange_Simplified.htm This is one of the reasons we encourage cycling new mixes for a time period before usage.
cc will that nute recipe be a good choice for the coir in the mix Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
thank you i appreciate the advice are you familiar with organic mechanics potting soil? Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
dczaster My apologies - I didn't pick-up that this was the name of a potting soil... I just looked at their web page and you'll be fine... CC
again thanks there is a local place where i live called C.J KRANTZ organtics ive done some research and the canadian peat moss they sell is only 98% organic, and i have to be honest, pre moistening peat and mixing my own soil is a little intimidating, i live in a small studio appt and space is at a premium Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
dczaster I understand completely. There is one thing you could have around for teas, top-dressing and that is Worm Power Vermicompost.which is based in western New York state. Hit their website and do a search for retailers in your area and grab a bag. Vermicompost of this quality can fix a slew of problems should they come up but they probably won't. After you get your rooted cuts in your soil mix add about 1.5" of vermicompost on the surface and proceed forward. CC
i found a hydro store near me that sells 30lbs of worm power for $20 most of the places around here dont carry worm power for some reason, or what they do carry is small bags for aact tea, along the line of buffaloam in size which is $20 Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
$20.00 for 30 lbs. of a vermicompost of this quality is a give-away. That's ridiculously cheap - crazy cheap. The crap sold at the grow stores in my part of the world goes for much more and it is f*cking worthless as tits on a boar hog. You'd be better off going outdoors and digging up some dirt in your flower bed and calling it humus. You're going to do very well with the materials you're putting together. You'll be more than a little impressed... CC
at this point id be happy with some decent meds to help with the ptsd and rage disorder ive been diagnosed with. I cant take percription meds for these conditions as they caused me to have conjestive heart failure and a fib and nys med marijuana bill isnt worth the paper its written on Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
If you are able to move the furniture around in any room in your apartment so that you might create some "floor space", it's very easy to mix soil on a tarp with the back of a stiff toothed rake. I mix indoors on my shop floor (I still have to move stuff around) on a 9' x 12' tarp. It's not the easiest thing to pull off, but I can effectively mix around 65 gallons of soil in that space. Being that you're in a studio, I bet you wont need anywhere near that much soil... As long as you're not a sloppy mixer, it will keep all moisture and soil off of the floor. Get a heavy duty tarp, though...
Just purchased 6cf of soil,just waiting on the cc nutrient kit i bought from bas, i would like to thank clackamas coot, jerry and everyone else here at gc for having the patience and understanding to help me. Im sure the questions ive asked have been answered countless times, and time after time the gc community has continued to embrace me with encouragement, and knowledge! I for one cannot express my gratitude enough and i definitely look forward to continuing my education here, so once again THANK YOU Sent from my N861 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Good afternoon GC I finally have my girls. The setup is a 4x2 tent with a 400w hps I have 5 maple leaf indica cuts and one each cherry bomb and one critical kush. The cb and ck were just brought to me so I put both of them in a 5 gal pot to save space gonna let them veg for a week before the flip Sent from my XT1031 using Grasscity Forum mobile app Group shot Sent from my XT1031 using Grasscity Forum mobile app