Help with coast of Maine mix

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by Blondie2014, Oct 20, 2014.

  1. I picked up some coast of Maine Penobscot soil and coast of Maine earthworm castings. I also have plant tone for nutes and perlite and vermiculite for aeration. Two questions. What ratio to mix all this? Anything missing or anything I should add to this? The Penobscot blend appears to be a complete soil, but I'm not so sure.

    Any advice? Thanks!
     
  2. One thing I've noticed is that the CoM potting soil is heavy. You'll probably want to lighten it up a little with some aeration. I don't have an awful lot of experience with the potting soil but do with their lobster compost which is an excellent product.

    As a general rule of thumb with any homemade potting soil, you want to A. Make sure that there's some kind of food mixed in, and B. That it's well aerated and drains well.

    "If I were you" I'd grab a bag of lobster compost. Mix a bunch of compost and your worm castings in with your Penobscot soil, then add a few cups of plant tone and then aerate it until it drains very well. This says in a totally ideal mix but it should work okay. You're not going to know until you try it.

    Ps - vermiculite holds water. I'm not a fan of it in soil mixes.

    J
     
  3. #3 queefer madness, Oct 21, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 21, 2014
    As Jerry said, Mix it all together with a few cups of tone. Let it sit 4-6 weeks at room temp. You can't really add too much quality compost as long as you use plenty of aeration (about 1/3 of total mix). Skip the vermiculite or go light with it if you don't want to return it.

    Start reading the stickies in the organic section.

    Good luck!!!!
     
  4. FWIW, I have used both Penobscot blend and the Quoddy blend lobster compost and both of them are equally heavy and are both just bagged compost.

    I would recommend adding sphagnum peat moss to the mix in the usual ratios. :)

    Btw, blondie nice score on the Coast of Maine gear. Many here would consider you very lucky to have access to those products as they are of very, very high quality.

    TJ
     
  5. #5 homer simpson, Oct 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 22, 2014
     
     
     
     
     
    Glad you chimed in.  I know Jerry has used some COM products as have myself.  I've never used the Penobscot blend and the only thing I am unsure of it's label as well as all the information from the company is it's great for acid loving plants.  As far as I know Blondie is looking to use this imediately and may not have time to let it sit.
     
    I hate to bring this up, but I'm curious myself, do you think there might be a PH issue using this vs. the Bar Harbor? which I am very familiar with.
     
  6. Now I am wondering if the product has changed in the time since I purchased it? I just looked it up on amazon and according to the label it is a "complete planting mix" which is probably where the confusion on this product is stemming from. When I bought it, I don't think it said that on the label. The ingredients are composted salmon, blueberries, mussels and sphagnum peat. The ingredients in quoddy blend are lobsters, aspen bark, and sphagnum peat. IME, the two products were indistinguishable beside the fact that the Penobscot blend had pieces of mussel shells throughout. Both very rich, dense, black compost.

    Are you wondering about pH being an issue due to the sphagnum peat moss content?

    I have not tried the bar harbor potting soil. IIRC, that one has some perlite in it?

    TJ
     
  7. On a couple of my early soil mixes, before I had lots of my own homegrown compost I mixed several of these CoM bagged products together and had excellent results. I didn't see any kinds of pH issues but then again that was a few years ago.

    The thing I did notice with all of the CoM products was their being quite heavy and dense. As TJ said, I also added some sphagnum peat (Pro Mix) which loosened it up nicely.

    No pH issues tho.

    Noes the time of year to grab these bags at your local garden stores peeps! They'll soon either not be available for the winter or sitting in a frozen heap outside.

    J
     
  8.  
    The blueberry compost is the part that had me unsure of an answer.  Blueberries are acid loving and are one of the only acidic berries.  I do like the ingredient list otherwise.  I just didn't want to lead blondie astray.
     
    Bar Harbor is indeed a much lighter mix and does contain some perlite.
     
    I've all the respect in the world for this company, they've done me right for 5 years on and off.  Main complaint is I can't find a shop that carries the full lineup.  Quite honestly I'd like to blend 1 bag of all their product together and call it a decade.
     
  9. Blend all of them together with pumice, worm power, rock dust, pro mix, and add your favorite additional amendments, put them in the warm sun (for those lucky year round growing locations) and watch redwood sized buds grow out of your trees haha.... The quoddy blend is definitely very very heavy... Pretty happy with it, I still have another cubic foot sitting around
     
  10. #10 GiMiK, Oct 25, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 25, 2014
    Stupid question, homer are you patriofarmer?
     
    But yeah, first mix I made used both the quoddy and penobscot blends.....very heavy manure based compost but I didn't experience any negative effects while using it. I think when using it barebones in a long term situation, the peat is what contributes to the acidity.
     
    Wish I could source CoM products in my state....unfortunately not an option.
     
  11. Thanks everyone. My last mix with CoM killed my plants, except one that is stunted, beyond help I think. I wasted some very good seeds and am hoping to get the mix right this time. CoM is much easier to come by then good seeds for me. I guess ill mix it up and hope I have it this go round. Thanks.
     
  12.  
    Thanks for the input, I've never used this particular blend before so this is very educational for me and surely others.  I have used the Bar Harbor blend for several years but have always strayed away from the Penobscot, going to pick up a bag for sure and add it to my blend.
     
     
    Not a stupid question, who else would use this avatar?  Yeah it's me, what's good my friend?
     
    I grew blueberries, and azalea and remember they needed a bit of sulphur to keep the soil on the acidic side, as limestone was prevalent where I grew up.  I was just unsure if this mix was more tuned for plants of this nature, and I knew blondie does not have time to let the mix sit.  Last thing I wanted to do was give a beginner bad advice and sour his/her first experience.  There's plenty of other blades here that do a fine job of that!! lol.
     
     
    If I remember correctly, you tried growing in just manure, perlite and vermiculite?
     
    If I were you I'd transplant that stunted one into this new mix and see what happens, it can't get much worse.
     
    Good luck, hope that mix kicks some ass for you.
     
  13. CoM is an excellent company that makes excellent products - when used correctly. When you open a bag of their lobster compost, their potting mix et al you will notice that it is also very dense and heavy, which equates to way too much water retention which in turn equates to stunted growth, yellowing leaves and generally very poor plant health.

    It is absolutely imperative that you add more sphagnum peat and the aeration amendment of your choice in a big enough percentage to be positive that your mix is light and fluffy, drains and aerates like any good soil mix should. In no way should you be using more than 50% of the CoM compost in your mix and probably less.

    I'd also lose that vermiculite. It's worthless IMO.

    J
     
  14. #14 Blondie2014, Oct 25, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 25, 2014
    Ok. Thanks. I had a very very light mixture really. I still don't know what happened. I was thinking repot my stunted plant and save the few seeds I have left until the new mix proves itself. Not sure this will work or not. Attached is an image of my plant. Note the leaf tips are dark even black. Also note my soil looks light and airy, at least to me. This was planted in end of May, about. I repotted into this large container so it was taller than it looks. But never filled out or really took off. I thought the temp in my room seriously affected growth as it was hot. Fall is here and I figured things would take off. No such luck. Any comments are very very welcomed. Good health to all....

    "Blondie"

    Edit: added another image to see my old mix and one of my dearly departed pineapple plants.
     

    Attached Files:

  15. What's the moisture content usually like when you get their compost? I got 2 bags the other day and was surprised how wet it was. There was a clump inside that had a good amount of moss or algae growth on it...would you say that's good or bad?

    Thanks

    Solo
     
  16. It's expected. Bust it all up well when you mix your soil. I run it all through a half inch screen each works very well. What you found, I've found to be typical. Good product; like I said tho - usually dense and heavy.

    J
     
  17. #17 SoloToker, Oct 26, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 26, 2014
    Yeah I've used it a few times and like it. I mix my peat and compost with amendments with my hands then add my aeration. I do fifteen gallon containers so it's 5 gallons of compost, 5 gallons of peat, add amendments, then 5 gallons of lava/pea gravel. Adding the aeration too soon makes it hard to mix IME.

    Thanks

    Solo
     
  18. Com is coming out with a new product very soon...it's a super soil containing all their good product lines...lobster compost, bumper crop, soil, castings. ...its going to be $$$ though....still better to mix your own

    Sent from my XT1080 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  19.  
    check your PM's..
     
  20. #20 homer simpson, Oct 27, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 27, 2014
     Seriously thanks so much for the info, I'm going to check them out tomorrow.  Hittin up all the local farms.
     
     
    Blondie, post the progress you get from the Penobscot, I'm interested in seeing the results.
     
    Good luck.
     

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