Hey guys, so I recently just mixed up a batch of soil and am wondering if I may have gone too heavy on it. I literally just mixed it so it is not in use yet but, as I have been having some problems with my current mix which I have been led to believe could be over-application of enzymes via freeze dried coconut water mixed with products like recharge. As I just sat here thinking of what I added it occured to me that most people I know on here add amendments at a total of 2 cups per CF total while my mix is closer to 4 per CF. I also mix each 15 gallon soil container separate as to make sure each one has exactly the amount I want in it. My mix is as follows: Per 2 cubic feet: -1/3rd Pro mix HP, 1/3rd Compost (bu's dynamic blend and greentree EWC), 1/3rd perlite (closer to 40 percent of my mix actually) -2 cups kelp meal -2 cups neem meal -2 cups crab shell meal -1 cup fish bone meal -1/2 cup biothrive -1/2 cup langebite -2 cups gypsum -2 cups dolomite lime -12 cups biochar -8 cups basalt Let me know what you guys think. Will I be okay? Will I run into possible issues down the line? I had used a similar mix in the past with a lot of constituents and had great success but have recently tried to combine the old mix with the new updated no-till mix as that is what I plan to be doing with this mix. Thank you guys!
That's a lot of goodies in high amounts for only 2 cubic feet. Not being critical mind you just an observation after running soil for many years. The basic issues you'll find with time is what felt light enough when you mixed it compacts. By the 2nd grow it's gotten dense enough to start slowing growth in veg. Perlite is and always has been my best friend when it comes to keeping the mix light enough but remember it also compacts and looses it's size as time goes by so buy the large chunk kind if you can. Mine isn't no-till as I have to disturb most of the flower sites when I transplant in my vegged plants so while I'm digging out that 2cf I add a 1 lb coffee can full of Chicken manure and a 1/4 cup of Sulfur dust. My tap water runs 8.5 PH so rather then try and change the water I changed my soil to compensate for the high PH. Works as my plants greened back up and I've been doing it like this for 5 years. ( growing for over 40 years) Veg inside and flowering outside in the warm So Cal sun I get 4 harvests per year outside. Keep the mix as Fluffy as possible and know it's going to compact more all the time. I've gone to heavy with the amendments per CF and stalled part of the grow. Thankfully I didn't commit the whole grow to the new mix or I would have been really screwed. BNW
@BrassNwood Thank you for your reply man. Yeah I definitely added a TON of perlite to this mix as well as all my others but usually do go with the #2 perlite which is smaller. Do you think this will severely effect things? Or can I just add even a little more to the mix? I'm hoping at worst I just may not get as many cycles out of it before having to mix a new batch, does this sound likely?
@Sc00byD00bie Thank you sc00bs I got nervice for a second after I thought about how much I added. I may add a bit more perlite to be on the safe side. Also, if I cant find basalt locally, what would be the best replacement? I have used glacial rock dust in the past but don't know what the current status of what people prefer is. Thank you again!
The one thing I see that is bad is 1/2 cup Langbenite. That's a lot for any container. In the future I would drop that to like 2 tablespons for a 15 gal. Then if you think you need more next cycle, I would top dress another tablespoon once or twice in flower, maybe a month apart. It is very powerful stuff. I usually omit it during the initial soil mix, and wait to add a touch during flower. I would also cut the gypsum at least in half, especially since you are using Langbenite. I would also just omit the biothrive, you have most of the best parts of biothrive already in your mix. For the record, I am very familiar with all the ingredients I commented upon. Otherwise I think your mix looks good my friend. cheers os
If you can't source it locally and must ship, I'd recc Azomite since it's certainly complete with everything. More perlite is a good thing. Those amounts you have listed? For how much mix? I see both 2cf and 1cf. Over time and experience, my normal is 1cup/cf for dry amendments. This is down from ~2cups/cf 6 or 7 years ago. The smaller amounts just seemed to work better to start with. Wet