An organic soil mix of mine

DON'T MESS WITH ME

Could I at least get a living Pope, or maybe Cheesus christ
Dali Lama would be a blast, he might even be able to hook us up with some digety dank secret tibeten
holy shit weed seeds.

 

A friend has a Llama named Dolly but a nasty creature that spits her *blessing* and not what I would think you are looking for.

Let me see if I'm reading this correctly. Are you just looking to 'spice' up that proven mix you've been using for so long like for the initial potting up and then going to the fish and seaweed further into the grow?

Just a little something for 'out of the gate'?

Or, a longer term feed from the amendments? Or, somewhere in between?

Big question .... Do you reuse any of this, or get a fresh 20yds every year? This had to do with rock dusts and such, but they really don't kick in till the second use. Anyway, the kelp and greensand have you covered.

You already mentioned your best bet, take the tested base and tune it in year by year. If it's perfect the first time, buy a lottery ticket. Cause, after all this time you know how that works.

Wet

 

Yeah I'll pass on llama dolly bro, But thanks

You are correct. Proven mix 50% peat moss, 20% compost, 20% wood by products, 10% pumice.
Then it's normally spiked with chem ferts, PH adjusted with dolamite.
I don't reuse soil, I would need a tractor to mix and move it. And then storage space. Ouch!

What the problem is, the soil is spent by mid august. I am trying to get longer releasing nutrients that are available longer. This way I can just use the fish-seaweed liquid ferts I have already purchased.
It's that last 1-1/2 months at end that needs attention.

I use a unique outdoor system for my pots.
5' kiddie pool with 24" fencing, lined with black plastic. Holds 1-1/2 yds soil mix each.
This is put on top of steel turntables. That allow me to spin them a 1/4 turn a day.

So this is a strickly container grow.
I do well for a NW grow and average 3-3-1/2 lbs each. Biggest last year was shy of 6lbs.
I know I can do better.

I just want it to be 100% organic this year.

 

Well, I think you're going to have to bump up some stuff to get there.

Not a total 'water only' super soil type of thing. IMO it, sounds better than it works, a super hot soil underneath a milder 'base' layer on top.

I think you are still going to have to add nutes towards the end, but you could prolong it some with slow release amendments.

For example, feather meal is much slower than blood meal, increase the amount of feather meal. Bone meal is slow regardless as is kelp meal.

What about a top dress of the dry amendments part way into the grow? Like say toward the middle/end of July? Takes a couple weeks at least to kick in which would put you near the front of Aug.

You doing one plant/kiddie pool? If so, making a blend of amendments for top dressing makes way more sense than any liquid stuff, with all that root room. You'll just need to apply it 2-3 weeks before you actually need it.

LOL, that part can get tricky.

Wet

 

MMMM, Top dressing does sound like the appropriate action here.

I do know that the soil itself with water only is not gonna stretch it, clearly.

I think I'm headed into the right direction though.

1 plant per pot. Girls get greedy when they get big so no sharing.

What's your opinion on spiking? Make some holes then fill with a combo dry organics.

Read this in skunk magazine a while back. I have to get the formula found to tell you what exactly.
But this seems simular to top dressing, just inserted into soil. This would actually deliver more directly to root mass.

Also would adding a layer of extra compost, maybe an inch or so roughly 1/2 way between top and bottom? Kinda think this may be too hot, but not sure.

Experimenting is in my nature, frying all my girls isn't.

SG

 

SG1 You might want to try to look into getting some Neem/Karanja cake for your mix next time around. It is a slow release Nitrogen source and also has other elements in it and has many other properties that have been discussed elsewhere but I'm too stoned/tired to list them all because its a lot.. I don't know if you can get it locally, but I got mine online... 1 of the sites linked somewhere around here was selling 44 lb bags of the Karanja cake for $34 found the link Neem Cake Fertilizer from Neem Seeds. Vegan. Organically Produced. OMRI Listed.

 

my last two super soils have beens revs tlo recipes. they've worked pretty well but very muddy and i gotta make the drainage a little better.

so im planning on making a soil mix based off of lumperdawgz with maybe a few more amendments.

so im either going to start with the promix cuz i can get it from a shop around here, or i will start with actually putting that base together myself by using 50% canadian sphagnum peat moss, 20% coir 20% earthworm castings and 10% pumice if i can find it, or perlite if i cant. where is a good place to find pumice? maybe ill do a mix of the two.

and then amend with fish bone meal, blood meal, bulb food, feather meal, alfalfa meal, all purpose fertilizer 5-5-5, soft rock phosphate, kelp meal, greensand and a little dolomite lime.. i just gotta figure out the best ratios for these.

is it a good idea to make my own base by purchasing canadian sphagnum peat moss, coir and ewc? or should i just buy the promix bx and go from there?

thanks for any help i can get, appreciate it cuz i know yall know what youre talkin about.

 

420 posts DAMN CQ catching up to me quick, and your posts a probably at least 5x more useful than mine.. Pro-mix @ home depot was $13 & it gave me more than enough to do my soil mix and my friends soil mix, and still have a lot of pro mix left over if any of the mixes go south.. I kind of like it because the wetting agent makes life 10x easier if watering by hand, I use a wand and its still troublesome without the wetting agent to help coax the peat into accepting your water. They aren't clear what the wetting agent is exactly but I don't really give a shit anymore as I can tell the soil is alive as I found fungi in it a couple times, mostly because of where its being cooked having high humidity tho.

 

Hell yeah that's good to know, what you said about the grow stores pro mix applies to everything at the grow store pretty much. Before going to a grow store prepare your wallet for a raping lol..

 

no not wasted effort. very much appreciated.. i just found out how bad theyre raping people at the hydro store on those pro mixes.. theyre charging $50. its supposed to be cheaper using the promix but not at $50. jeeze.

nurseries have it for $25-$35.

thanks for the tip on that spot, im gonna make a trip this week.

 

Hey,
I have come to the bottom of my
#50 bag of glacial rock dust..
So in ordering more I see the shipping is $48...ouch.
Surely I can witness for it's magical effects and have given it freely to my friends who garden...but I wonder is there any other way to get an equivalent rock dust on the east coast?

Fortunately I am prepared with the Preparation H to spend what it takes to have the best soil but.... damn shipping costs suck.
Will be ordering my first #50 Neem if I can get it today too. Anybody know of an east coast distributor for that as well?

Thanks
url

 

Just a quick random ?... Got my bucket of neptunes harvest crab this wknd and it's literally just crushed crab shells lol. I figured that it would be different, idk how, but I'd like a "yep that's all it is" from some of the pros here?!
Thx in advance guys and sorry if it's just a ridiculous ?

E

 

Thx for a quick response! I had the quantities correct, I was just not expecting to open it and literally find broken crab shells lol.
So this can act as a liming agent as well as a nitrogen source right? i.e. I can throw the lime away finally!?

 

CQ,

Recommending 1.5 cups of crab meal per cu ft? Still at half a cup of the other stuff (Neem and Kelp)?

urlove,

You can always try the Gaia Green contact page. See who the distributor would be for your area and ask them for a local retailer. Maybe you've got one!