Amending stepwell super soil.

what is step well soil ?
technically speaking bagged potting soil has no soil in it nor will organic plant life ever turn to soil.
potting soil aka compost = nutrients

soil/dirt is minerals ......

 

Your growing medium has the following ingredients in it.

Canadian sphagnum peat moss, mycorrhizae, bone meal, blood meal, perlite, kelp meal, fish bone meal, wollastonite, worm castings, basalt rock dust, gypsum dust, alfalfa meal, humic acid, dolomite lime, sulphates of potash & yucca. It depends on what you have access to. I would amend with 4 cups each of Kelp,Crab and Neem meals.

 

tepwell Super Soil – StepWellSoil

• Description
• Specifications
• Directions
• Ingredients

• Canadian sphagnum peat moss, mycorrhizae, bone meal, blood meal, perlite, kelp meal, fish bone meal, wollastonite, worm castings, basalt rock dust, gypsum dust, alfalfa meal, humic acid, dolomite lime, sulphates of potash

The super soil has zero soil in it .
Again compost organic matter = nutrients
Dirt/soil = minerals
what you are calling soil is actually compost

 

I believe habit has us misusing the proper nomenclature. Many growing medium manufactures use the word soil in their descriptions. It almost seems like an accepted practice.

 

I agree, the word potting soil, when there no soil in it is super miss leading .
But here is the big issue, potting soil/compost retains more water then soil.
Took a online horticulture class at UNR , needed UNR for the lab part of the class

This all unnatural in nature Takes this combination.
Compost
Bottled nutrients
Hand watering
Equals one of the different kinds of a passive hydroponic system.

I know your saying huh, but look at all the problems members have had in here with what they call over watering .Because they grow in compost hand water and add bottled nutrients.

 

Your previous run will have depleted most of the Nitrogen and compacted the "Soil".

Composted Chicken Manure = 1/2 to 1 full bag.


Perlite Large chunk size = 5 to 10 gallons.


Alfalfa and Kelp meal are both good N sources and can be found at Hydroponic stores in tiny boxes with high prices or much cheaper from feed and ranch supplies as Horse chow but read the label closely to be sure it doesn't include a (Wormer) as we really don't need or want that in our soil.

BNW

 

1 of my best harvests i cooked my "soil" with chicken shit it stunk for awhile but the buds were huge

 

LOL I grow outside and use Chicken Manure on most everything in the garden and yard flower beds as well and tend to forget it does have a bit of a scent but thankfully nothing like the lingering stink of steer manure.

BNW

 

Charcoal might be good too if you need more aeration, it provides carbon, footholds for bacterial growth and helps balance nutrients, absorbing some when its hot and releasing some of they are low.
A nice layer of woodchip (or whatever you've got) mulch on top will help keep your soil alive.

 

Yes, as others have suggested there are a variety of ways you can amend your soil. I suggested the basic three I always have in bulk. Many older growers amended their mediums with blood, bone and alfalfa meals as that's all that we had available 30 years ago. We have better choices available now. Blood meal and bone meals are bi-products of the slaughter industry and contain some stuff most of us would rather not have in our organic grows. They both can attract animals in outdoor grows. Blood meal is a strong nitrogen source and needs to be used with care or it can cause burning as well. Can you still use them,yes. Worm casting and perlite are fine. Just keep in mind worm castings tend to muddy up a mix and your cycled soil will already be broken down some from its first cycle. I'd keep the worm castings for top dressing prior to flowering stretch. I hope that helps.