I currently have stocked up: kelp meal, alfalfa meal, agricultural lime, crab meal, mag/cal, rock phosphate, peat moss, worm castings and perlite. I was wondering if this would be able to support all of a cannabis plant's needs? What are some ways I could really improve the mix? I was thinking of getting agricultural charcoal, black and or white sand, and sphagnum moss as well. I would be using fox farms happy frog soil as a base, I have used the foxfarms soil in the past briefly for other plants that have died, Hermed or ended up being male. I then re used the soil, with the roots in it, I've added clippings from my plant and from my succulent and its cooking in the bag now, I add a little water occasionally to keep it moist. I'm going to be transplanting into a 5 galon natural burlap pot soon that I'll be using I'll be using the SIP watering method with. Any tips or anything would be greatly appreciated! "We made nature illegal. This just shows how unnatural we have become"
If you already have peat, ewc & perlite, that's your base! http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1357118-Scotty%27s-first-grow
Can't believe it hasn't been said yet; NEEM!!! Neem cake/meal is a great amendment, it will introduce some great newts to the soil (high in nitrogen, blah blah), but it's also a great pest deterrent. You can make teas out of the extra meal to use for fertilization or for pest management. Neem Resource for all your neem needs
My girlfriend has a huge compost pile full of leaves, bunny poop, cicken poop, and fruit scraps, I was thinking about adding some of that to the mix as well. Although I've heard chicken poop is bad because of how acidic it is, anyone care to comment on that?
Are you aware of whether or not neem cakes are better than neem oil? I use neem oil ocassionally right before a watering. I didnt see any neem cakes at my local store and I cant find any on amazon or anything either :/ but i did come across neem oil at home depot and settled for that in the mean time.
Wouldnt the rock phosphate along with the lime cover that area? I looked into rock dust but couldnt find anything too promising. Would azomite do the job??
It's apples and oranges, or maybe apples and apple cider. The neem oil's used as a foliar spray, the cake you can mix into your soil dry like other amendments, topdress (this really helps with fungus gnats), or mix in a tea and use as a soil drench or foliar spray. I believe the oil is more effective for using as a foliar, and the cake is better for subsoil applications. Either way if you have some type of neem in your arsenal you're doing good. I wouldn't say one's better than the other, they're both great; the cake is just what's left after all the oil's been pressed out.
I would say no they don't. I use those in my regular nutrient mix and also add 4 cups per cubic ft of rock dust. Yes it helps mineralize the soil, also adds great living space for microbes. Hopefully someone else can explain better than I can chime in. http://www.rockdustlocal.com/ can do some looking here.
What the rest of the world calls 'cake', we call meal. So, search neem meal or use that term in asking. Cd
Buildasoil.com is a good source for neem meal if you can't find it locally. Cheap, multiple quantities available, and free shipping.
Could anyone put out a good recourse to help with my ratios? "We made nature illegal. This just shows how unnatural we have become"
The soil building stickies in this section won't let you down or lead you astray at all. They have all the ratio info you'll need. There's also an amendment sourcing thread up there too, I believe.
Read here - it'll be alot easier than trying to cram it into a few sentences. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1111289-rock-dust.html j
Very interesting! Thank you for the information! I ordered Azomite rock dust which I believe should do the job. If you're not familiar with it, it's volcanic rock dust. Suppose to be stalked full of minerals, although it may not be the best of rock dust options, it's what I had at my disposal. If I come across any rock quarries I will definitely try to get granite dust or something like that. "We made nature illegal. This just shows how unnatural we have become"
Azomite will work for mineralization but it is NOT a substitute for rock dust; you will likely see adverse effects if applied in the same amounts as GRD or basalt.
So in other words, it's another decent amendment if applied in the right ratio but I will still have to find a source for rock dust. Could you recommend any good rock dust sources? Ive heard granite but I'm curious what people would say works best for them. "We made nature illegal. This just shows how unnatural we have become"
Before I found a local supplier I bought it from here - http://rockdustlocal.com/ I'd go with the basalt over granite if the price difference is negligible and/or if you cannot source it in your location.
I will most definitely go with basalt if I can get my hands on it. Any thoughts on glacial rock dust? "We made nature illegal. This just shows how unnatural we have become"