So i finally got down to putting everything together (after ample toil and trouble)... here's my recipe for 1 cubic foot of soil mix: 1/3 Peat substrate (V. lightly pre-fertilized. Can't find anything inert) 1/3 Compost material (1/2 home-made castings. 1/2 bagged organic compost) 1/3 Rice hulls (Aeration) To this I'm adding a total 3.5 cups of amendments: 1/2 cup Fish meal 1/2 cup Bone meal 1/2 cup Blood meal 1/2 cup Alfalfa meal (DIY) 1/2 cup Neem cake (DIY) 1/2 cup Crab shell meal (DIY) 1/2 cup Dry organic fert (Have a bottle of cold-pressed liquid kelp extract lying around too) Apart from the above mentioned nutes: 1 cup Azomite 1 tablespoon Epsom Salt Mycorrhizae I'll be travelling for a couple of weeks so this soil will be cycling for roughly 2 months before use. \t \tAnd of course some Questions:\t 1. Are the nutrient amendments too much? (Does that even matter in organic?) \t2. I don't have easy access to dolomite or oyster shells, would the crab shells be sufficient for calciumalong with helping with the PH? (Peat bag states the PH at 5.5). Can i safely up the crab meal to 1 cup keeping in mind question number 1? 3. Coco is dirt cheap here (just needs a laborious washing through for salts and such), can i skip the peat altogether and base my next mix on coco? Opinions/advice more than welcome. Just keep in mind i have to work with that i've got. PS. Sorry if i've asked a few of these questions before. You really have to go around town and DIY most of the stuff here that you would otherwise get there at a one stop shop.
Yes, you can overdo amendments in organics, but your amounts look fine. Yes, you can up the amount of crab shell. Over a cup wouldn't hurt. IDK about the buffering ability of the crab. There has been discussion and disagreement. In any event, I would stay on the lookout for a liming agent. Something will turn up eventually I'm sure. We'll also get to see how the crab shell performs on its own. No experience with coir, so, no help there. Wet
You don't have any Rock Dust (Azomite is not a substitute for rock dust)..... if you can find it, that would be a very worthwhile amendment @ 2-4 cups per cubic foot.
That'll do, for sure.... if you can get other types of rock dust (basalt, for example), diversity is a good thing, but certainly not necessary, so don't sweat it if not, and certainly don't overpay or spend weeks looking for it lol
Great mix!! That'll do you fine. Crab shells are a great source of calcium and other goodies make sure they are crushed up well, the finer the better. They will also provide chitin and your microbes will make some chitinase for you . Which will add a great natural form of pest control later on. And to your question #3 no, I would not try to swap coco for peat. The peat moss has many benefits you'll want to hang on to. Good luck and happy grow
Granite dust is fine I use it in conjunction with Azomite, 1 cup of each/cf. I tried the 4cups/cf of granite dust and it made my mix entirely too heavy and dense, resulting in poor drainage. So far, this season, the 1 to 1 1/2cups/cf that I've used seems to be working out very well and drainage is fine. Wet
Seriously.. Been on a runaround for weeks trying to find everything Makes it a breeze once you know where to get what, and cheaper too... that's 3$ each for a lb of fish and blood meal cheap. Since i'll have my own compost next year, along with 2 worm bins (already running), main cost is peat at 30$ for 10 gallons and even that's reusable. Perlite is around 20$ for 1.5 gallons but i've found rice husk for the cost of fuel for fetching them. Chem nutes much easier to find and relatively cheaper but.... yeah
Egg shells are great for calcium too. Just let them dry thoroughly and crush/grind them into a powder. It's best to get egg shells from hens that have access to dirt - not raised in big henhouses - they'll have thicker shells & more diverse nutrients. I was just in Pakistan in June - unbelievable to see how much just grows wild there!
It really is nuts; the greatest hash you'd ever have on earth, bud though.... nothing! Having grown up around here and having hash so accessible, the green is uber exotic even for me and only now making inroads here. Fetches a kind penny to boot.
I didn't get to try any of the hash, sadly - I got offered a lot of leaves to smoke - meh and had some fascinating conversations with locals. They seemed to think I was some sort of plant expert for being able to explain about the males and females... not exactly the experiences I imagined when I pictured Islamabad, Abbottabad, etc. Do you have a thread about your setup? I imagine that accidental pollination could be a big issue for you!
Not really worried about pollination since I'm at the southern coast, far away from the northern climes you visited. No unintended mj grows here. That happens about a 1000 miles north of here: free range, growing wild in most every empty plot of land a house hasn't been built on. That's Islamabad where you were.
Just got a hold of a few cups of marble dust off a workshop nearby... throwing it in and seeing how it goes.
@[member="DamMastCalendar"] Hello! I've been watching this thread since it started, and am reposting a reply to one of your posts in the "Lounge". Things get buried quickly there, and I didn't want you to miss it... http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1169188-organics-lounge.html/page-897#entry20633982