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Feedback on my organic mix

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by soaring90, Oct 10, 2010.

  1. After a few seasons I've "perfected" my organic soil mix. Now I'm looking for feedback, I've seen that there are a few genius minds in the world of organic growing here and I'd like to here from you guys.

    My base is a local rich soil mix with several addatives that I won't bother to list. in addition to that I add
    Worm castings
    Azomite
    Dolomite
    Bat Guano Mexican
    Bone meal
    Blood meal
    Kelp meal (this was substituted with fish emulsions in other batches and turned out just as good if not better)
    Oyster shell dust
    Perlite
    a few cups of piranha and tarantula if I have them at the time
    Glacier dust
    Bat guano Jamaican

    I don't bother with vermiculite. Many growers have told me to add it to help with root structure, but I reuse soil and vermiculite will mold over time if exposed to too much water.

    A few guys I've grown with have told me to add peat moss to my mix, most use a bag with some camo pattering "coco" something or another I think. Can anyone explain the benefits of this because they have never been able to and I don't see it doing anything for my crop.

    Other than that, comment away, I'd appreciate some feedback :]

    edit: I've also been wondering about green sand, at least I think it's green sand, if anyone knows anything about this I'm all ears. From what I've heard I think it's supposed to aerate, but hell if I know.
     

  2. Look functional... just wondering what's your source for the K and Mag and Iron and Micro's?
     
  3. soaring90,


    Peat and/or coco coir is a substrate material that adds aeration, as well as water retention and helps keep soil from compacting. Coco has a neutral pH ( make sure that you use washed coco coir as some will have a salinity factor) and peat is more on the acidic side. Peat is an option if your water has a high pH.

    Personally, I would always want either coco or peat in my soil mix for the above reasons. If you opt for peat, source and use Sphagnum Peat, it is much better than straight peat moss. Sphagnum peat has microbes in it and is more beneficial than peat moss.

    Greensand, while helping with aeration, is another mineral supplement but you're already using Azomite and Glacial Rock Dust, so you've got got the minerals covered. Greensand takes upwards of 8 years to fully break down, so it is an expensive aeration component at best and with perlite you've got the aeration covered anyway.

    One other point I might mention, there are dramatic differences in the liquid fish fertilizers. Fish emulsions mare generally heat processed and are inferior to the liquid fis hydrolysates. Here is an article that details the differences between heat and cold processed fish ferts.

    HTH

    chunk

    BTW.......Welcome to Grasscity and our Organics forum!
     
  4. may i ask where you guys buy all this stuff?
    i should be receiving my seeds for my first grow tmrw or wed. but this grow wont be organic.
    i really want to be able to just have to give my plants tea and water and have a amazing organic harvest but ive never seen these products anywhere yet.
     
  5. High as Space, I have gotten all my ingredients from a myriad of places - mostly if I haven't been able to find things locally, which has been tough to do in my area, I have gone to the internet.

    I have gotten good soilless medias, soil and other amendments locally, but did a lot of phone calling and driving. My best start was when LD told me to source the local Cooperatives and the State Nursery Association for where I live. I got a good start there.

    JaK
     
  6. High as Space

    Here's a few ideas that will usually get an individual the desired results.

    1. Agriculture Extension Services at colleges and universities

    2. Gardening clubs - they're everywhere

    3. Finding organic farmers in your area and a good place to do that is at Local Harvest which will locate farmers in your area. They're business people and sharing the cost on a bag of this or a bag of that is something that goes on all the time. I've found that organic farmers are generally very helpful and friendly.

    4. Locate products available online, determine who is manufacturing the product, hit their web site and find a local distributor. Chances are if a local retailer is carrying kelp meal (for example) they'll probably have other viable soil amendments.

    5. Hit GardenWeb.com and look through the organic forums. There are folks from all over the US and beyond and often sourcing a particular product will be found in their threads.

    6. Avoid indoor garden centers. Most of the staff in these operations are paid on a commission. The more problems that they sell you will insure that you'll be back for another cure.

    HTH

    LD
     
  7. soaring90

    Based on the mineral product that Chunkdaddyo and I use that's made in Portland, Oregon which is based (loosely) on Steve Solomon's Totally Organic Fertilizer (TOF) that is all over the internet and has been for several years, you have the makings of a very fine mineral program.

    Here's what you would want to do, again based on their work and from my own experience.

    Mix equal amounts of all the ingredients that you have on hand. Get a good solid mix and then apply that at a rate of about 1 tablespoon per 1 gallon of mixed potting soil. Personally I'd blow off the Dolomite lime and replace it with gypsum (calcium sulphate dihydrate - CaSO4·2H2O) for the simple fact that gypsum contains both calcium (elemental - Ca++) and sulphur and as you probably know calcium is used by the soil's microbes to move pH up (if necessary) and in the microbial activity on the sulphur, one of the by-products is the creation of hydrogen (H) which is a base acid and if necessary the microbes will use the acid cations to move the pH down (again if necessary).

    As far as greensand, yes it's in the mix that we purchase but it's friggin' worthless in a container garden. Greensand takes between 7-9 years to break down. The benefit (if any) in a 3-5 month garden cycle probably couldn't be measured accurately.

    HTH

    LD
     
  8. I'd probably add some soft rock phosphate (i.e. collidal phosphate, Calphos, et al.) as a good source of phosphorus at a fair price.

    HTH

    LD
     

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