I think the type or brand or even the origin of peat, as just the starting point for your soil mix, if you are re-cycling it. The most important part is what else is in there. As in high quality compost, and high quality ewc. The peat while having some micro life, is a vehicle to hold that microbe rich humus.........MIW
I, like many, can appreciate fully the inherit risks associated with "coming out of the grow closet", but you two (and perhaps others posting here) have a full and distinct advantage over many of us non-lawyer types in that lawyers are the ones that make the laws that we all ultimately have to live under (literally oppressive at times). So, when you get your feet under you with your new status, somehow, someway, work dilligently to help all of us by agreesively acting to get rid of the draconian laws that govern personal use and personal choice as it relates to MJ cultivation and consumption. Good fortune in your careers!
couple things from JaK: #1. I have the neem resources karanja and neem cake. I love the smell of the stuff!Now!!One thing, LD and Chunk, would this stuff be affected in any way from sitting in my 113 degree garage for days on end?? #2. I got about a 10 (?) pound bag of pumice that is like 1/4 - 1/2" or more chunks from a nursery for about $4.00. Was in a plain white bag, no label, but I love the stuff. I can't stand those little flakes of perlite and vermiculite I used to get. #3. I really effed up my present grow due to the fact that I tried to mix 15 gallons of soil with 2 cups of my amendments. 2 cups, I know. It should have been 4. The real problem is I think I did a total shit job mixing it and the result is plants that I would never show a pic of. In retrospect, I am going to break down my mixes to smaller batches, mix in the appropriate amount of amendments and COMPLETELY mix up my batches by 3 gal pot. After all the great shit you guys have taught me. You would really be disappointed. HOwever, I am really WRITING OUT MY NEXT GROW PLANS AND USING A DIARY!! I am getting to old to remember shit by using just the old gray matter. I continue to be amazed at the things you guys lay out for us. I have been reading through Possums Big Box grow and strengthening the organic education. Thanks to ALL of oyu that contribute it the littlest way. JaK
JK The planting and harvesting of the neem and karanja trees dates back 4,000 years in India - Southeast India to be specific. The hottest area in India. Through the traders moving along the spice routes the tree moved into Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand), China and then to Persia, Iraq, the sub-Sahara Desert, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, et al. I think you're pretty safe @ 113 - in some of these countries that would be the nighttime temperatures. Especially Southeast India with it's oppressive humidity hovering around 95% LD
LD are you still using the same portions for your soil mix as wrote in the beginning of this thread? Did you add anything to the mix?
No - it's much simpler after testing and such. If you're in the PNW then get a bag of "Sunshine Natural & Organic Mix" (or whatever this week's name is) - this is 40% Sphagnum Peat Moss, 30% organic coir, 10% each of the following: perlite, pumice and vermiculite. This comes in 2.8 loose-filled bags vs. the 3.8 compressed bales in their commercial/conventional lines like Sunshine Mix #1 thru #4 Let's call this 3.0 c.f. - it's close enough. To a single bag or the Sunshine Mix add 1 c.f. of either thermal compost or worm castings or even better would be a combination of both. You're done on the base soil. Next up are amendments. This mixture will give you a viable soil and not just a bag of dirt like FFOF, Roots Organic, blah, blah, blah............... And it's cheap - the base Sunshine organic mix is < $20.00 for the 2.8 c.f. product. HTH LD
Cottonseed Meal for Fertilizer? Obviously it's your call and my call is summed up in the sub-title: Far Better Options Exist LD
Here's pretty close to what Im rockin .. Dr.Earth's organic soil .. Yucca and aloe extracts with 65 types of bacteria and fungai .. .. 1.5cf bags Per bag .. 1 cup chicken shit 4-3-3 1 cup green sand 1 cup d.lime 1/4 cup kelp 2 cups ewc 1/2 cup azomite I mix all this in a 45gal tote to cook off .. .. Every couple days I spray the soil (once its a little dry on top) and turn it .. .. I alternate spraying plain water (bubbles 24hrs first), humic acid and AACT on the soil .. .. I let it sit for atleast 4weeks to cook off .. .. I also add mj leaves in too .. .. Even for indoors I re-use this mix and just continue amending it every grow .. .. Ill use this mix for about 4 grows then it gets dumped out on the garden around the compost pile .. Do I need anything else? Got all my micro's and macro's covered I believe .. .. I might get some alfalfa meal too .. .. But the nursery didnt have any .. .. Gotta search for it I guess
The green sand will take many months to break down, just so you know, if your reusing the soil, cool, if not don't bother with greensand. And you might want to lessen the azomite amount, I like it myself, but in small amounts. Adding humic acid or other chelates to azomite could release aluminum into the soil and really mess things up. Again good, but in tiny amounts. The kelp, and I'm hoping you mean kelp meal, I would up to 1 cup. The ewc I would up to 20% of the mix. And i assume the chicken manure is well composted? All this goes, if the soil your using is not already amended, if it is, your mix could get too hot..........good luck.....MIW
Thanks bro .. Yeah forgot that I only used 1/2 cup of azomite in 3cf (2 bags worth) .. .. Should I use less that 1/4 cup per bag? Yeah I'm re-using the soil .. .. As I chop girls I pull the main root ball and break the old soil up into the tote of soil .. .. At that point I just re-amend w kelp .. Guano and chik shit .. .. Hmmm .. 20% EWC .. .. Gotta figure out how much 20% of 1.5 CF is .. .. .. Yeah the soil is pre-amended but just a small starter charge .. .. About how strong roots organic is It does get a little warm but that's why I'm mixing up soil now .. .. Won't be used for atleast a month if not 2 .. ..
I stay at or under 1/4 cup azomite per cf of soil. Don't sweat exact amounts of ewc, just know that too much can make your soil mix hold water and then it does not hold air. I know that from experience. Once I used about 30% ewc, not only that, but i suspect the ewc was not microbiologically sound. Anyway my plants stalled several times and I went forever between waterings because the soil just stayed wet. After setting the lights to 12/12 the plants did not have a stretch and the yields were meager..lesson learned.... There are multiple reasons to use ewc and or compost. One, both are teaming with microbes, at least they should be. Bags sitting for months in a hydro store may or may not be alive. Look for quality. Two, a solid humic content along with your plants can buffer the ph. No more testing, and fretting. Three, in a living soil the plants exude to stimulate microbes, then the microbes supply the plants with what they want at that particular time. So not only do you want high microbe numbers, but fat happy microbes with lots of stored energy..... To me this is why we want to expend our energy prior to growing by reading, learning and putting together a good soil mix, and also why I poo poo bottled nutrients, if your soil is right you really don't need them.........MIW
We B token the same strain, at the GC institute of higher learning. Actually the regulars already know most of this stuff, but there are a lot of folks who while growing organically or almost organic, whatever the hell that means, and are either not aware of the aspects of a living soil, or are still in the hydro mindset and apply their experiences to organic soil. In my case I have grown organically for a while, but I made leaps foward when i fully embraced the living soil thing, and started using my own compost/ewc. I just hope i don't come off sounding too evangelical about all this. It's part mind set and part method. It's kind of like meditation, when you realize your not in control and go with the natural flow, good things happen.....MIW
Great info people. I am starting to get really interested in the overall quality/health aspects of organic growing. Should I be able to find most of these amendments at my local nursery? I read about so many different mixes that it is somewhat overwhelming.
Lumperdawgz Heres the mix Ive been using. Wanted to know if there is anything i should add or subtract? Im mixing in nutrients in 3 and 7 gal Smart Pots, soil demand is low. BASE SOILESS MIX 2 parts Peat Moss 1 part Coco Coir 1 part EWC 1 part Perlite 2 Tbsp Dolomite Lime per gallon NUTRIENTS ALL PER GALLON 1/2 cup Bat Guano P 1/3 cup Bat Guano N 1 Tbsp Seabird Guano 1 Tbsp Azomite 1 Tsp Rare Minerals 1 Tbsp of Kelp Meal, Complete Humus, Rock Phosphate, Oyster Shell