Hey guys, so I was hoping I could get an honest, upfront criticism on my soil as I assume there are things I could change to benefit the most from my organic mix. My mix is as follows for 3 cubic feet of soil: 7.5 gallons of Pro Mix BX with Mycorrhizae 7.5 gallons of Coast of Maine EWC & Coast of Maine Lobster Compost & Cow Manure Compost (should I add more than this?) 7.5 gallons of perlite/diotomaceus earth 1 and a half cups dolomite lime, 1 cup calcium carbonate, 1 cup gypsum for a total of 3 cups liming ammendment (also wondering if I should increase this) 3 cups kelp meal 1 and a half cups alfalfa meal 1 and a half cups neem meal 1 and a half cups crab meal 1 and a half cups dr earth organic fertilizer 12 cups rock dust Also wondering if I should add any bat guano into the mix, thanks guys.
Ancient3328 You actually have 5 cups of liming amendments, i.e. 1x calcium carbonate, 1x gypsum, 1.5x dolomite lime, 1.5x crab meal which isn't excessive for 3 c.f. final potting soil. A bit more than some might use and perhaps less than what others might recommend. Looks good!
Ahh I see I see I had mistakenly thought crab meal to be a nutritional amendment...is there anything you would recommend adding? And also, I typically let my soil cook for 4 weeks, should I let it go to 5 as others I see on here do? Edit: Thanks man! I'm glad I've got a good mix going...changing out the humus component seems to have helped tremendously as I know EWC/Humus is one of the most important aspects of any soil.
You'll be in good shape either way - whatever works best as far as the schedule you're wanting to achieve. CC
How long till I can add amendments to my compost it has about a month left to breakdown just a guess but it looks really good right now just want it to be a touch more composted before I use it but I need to add my amendments... Itty Bitty Canna Committee - "Our Cup Runneth Over".
[SIZE=12.222222328186px]How long till I can add amendments to my compost it has about a month left to breakdown[/SIZE] [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]I'd add them now. How old is it?[/SIZE] [SIZE=14.4444446563721px]j[/SIZE]
From my experience, I would suggest you cut the amount of rock dust at least by 1/2, if not by 2/3, 4 to 6 cups max for 3cf. Aside from the crab meal, which I don't use due to the high cost of shipping, my 'liming amendments' are pretty much the same as yours. I use gypsum, but don't consider it for buffering, but as a Ca source. There has been some debate on this, but no matter, it is still worthwhile to use. I do use calcium carbonate in place of the crab meal, so the amounts are the same as yours. That being said, when I used those same amounts of dolo, gypsum, and Ca Carbonate plus 4 cups of rock dust/cf, the mix was entirely too heavy and dense, resulting in poor drainage and poor root development. I've since cut back to a light 2cups/cf of RD and will probably cut that down to closer to 1 cup. I just use it for the trace elements and don't feel the fungal hyphae (?), are all that particular what they attach to. Other than that, your mix looks excellent. BTW, I've used mix that has only cycled for 2 weeks with no problems. No need to wait for 5. Wet