What's the best soil mixture for starting your seeds off in? I'm thinking a mixture of native soil and peat moss, what else?
Im using burpees organic seed starting soil for my feminized seeds.(Got soil from Lowe's for 5 dollars) I also flushed the soil to remove the sea salt. From the bag:
I use: 70% Promix BX 20% perlite 10% worm castings And for 5 gallons of mix I will add 5 tbsp gypsum, 5 tbsp greensand, 5 tbsp kelp meal. Once they get a little older, you can replant them in bigger pots using the same mix, but increase the worm castings to 15 or 20% and double up on all the additives.
[quote name='"Corto Malteze"']50% peat 30% perlite/vermiculite 20% worm castings + a touch of lime (optional)[/quote] What about blood meal instead of worm castings?
Use your blood meal in your final soil mix once plants are established, it will most likely burn seedlings, if your having a hard time finding organic ammendments try espoma plant tone from lowes its decent stuff, not for seedlings though.
Here are a few easy tio find organic amendments All MUST be composted (1 year or more in a pile) Mix these in your main soil mix (after seedling) at 1/3 total volume except for the chicken manure. sheep manure NpK low p horse manure NpK low p cow manure (weakest) npk (same) low all chicken manure: high NPK. It will burn seedlings and young plants even when composted. It is very complete because the chicken makes eggs so it's something other animals don't and so it's very good for all plants. Place at the bottom a foot or more away from the root ball. The plant will love it and not burn when done like that! 1 or 2 shovels per plant. etc... + Green ferts like alfalfa meal NpK soybean meal NpK cottonseed meal NpK etc... The numbers and burn on seedlings vary according to crops but they don't have high Ps usually and I heard alfalfa burns only but I place them a bit farther than the root ball. They are useful because they have high levels of N and K (= 2/3 of the NPK lol) and do not attract wild animals. They're used to feed farm animals, cheap and easy to find. They are much cheaper than blood and bone meal which ain't too expensive but still way much more than a big bag of green ferts! Green nutrients can replace Kelp which is also expensive. Ashes also have high Potassium (K) levels but they raise your pH, that can be useful (too acidic soil) or a problem (nute lock or other). Some ashes are good though for K and other elements. For P, I combine seabird guano (burn) which has high N (I don't need) and P (I do need at 15-15-1 about) and high P bat guano which is not ecological, quite expensive but has mostly only high Phosphorous. You could do a whole grow on only chicken manure (the most complete) (the stronger slow release food with) and horse manure (main seasonal food). Chicken shit alone is not recommended despite it being complete because it burns. The horse manure makes the transition for the plant to get big before touching the chicken droppings. Very cheap. Or you can use bone meal (much cheaper than bat guano). It is also a bit less complete for flowering or something. I like to give my couple plants the best there is and I can manage. Also a good trick tif you are on a low budget is to give the guano and kelp which are pricey in teas. That'll give the plants lots of valuable nutrients for less. Have a good one.
I'm not sure. It is toxic if you breath it a lot so be careful. I just buy it myself. You can also find high P fish bone meal which is organic and prety cheap.
I do. I've been meaning to post another thread besides my worm casting one about it but I havn't been back to the cave for pictures since I filled up a bucket last time about a month ago. The air inside bat caves has high ammonia levels and can be very dangerous. you'll know when it's time to leave when your eyes are tearing and you dont wanna breath in anymore lol.
Thank you Corto Malteze. So is the term "bat shit crazy" derived from somebody inhaling too much bat quano? ThEbluEMaGoO, are there any steps needed to prepare the bat guano before it is used in the medium? Can you just use it as is for a tea? There are some pretty neat caves I could check out, and I remember a couple bridges that had piles and piles of it under them, unless I am mistaken.