After doing a little research I bought some ingredients for a organic soil. What I am unsure of is what amounts to add or other things I may need. Items Worm castings Jersey Greensand powdered gypsum blood/bone meal dolomite lime calcitic lime kelp meal Pro Mix HP
Please post either how much Promix you're starting with or what volume of soil you need to end up with.
Just my first thoughts and others will have different recipes that are just as good. 10gal Promix, 3gal Worm Castings, 1.5gal Perlite, 4c Blood Meal, 6c Bone meal, 5c Kelp Meal, 5c Greensand and a cup of the dolomite lime. The amount of lime should be adjusted after using the mix and seeing how the pH naturally turns out.
That seems almost Super Soil hot. For that same amount of mix, I use closer to 1+c of blood, 2+c of bone and 1+c of the kelp and greensand. I do use closer to 2c of the lime, but that's after running it before. The + thing are 'heavy' measurements. Still dialing it all in though. Make a batch, run it, see what you have enough of and what you're lacking. Re Mix and do it again. LOL Wet
How should I go about testing ph level after it is mixed? I am looking for a good mix that won't need much adjusting right away and if I have to make some microbial tea throughout than so be it!
The first suggestion does seem like there is alot of additives per cup compared to other mixes I have researched. I think Wet has something around what I 'feel' should be right. How do I know that this will have a balanced ph? And what kind of water is better to use, I have some r/o, rather not use tap water due to the possible chlorine in it.
I use tap. RO and Distilled aren't all that good for soil and even less for organics. They are pretty much 'dead' water, not even real healthy for you to drink on a regular basis. No, I don't have all the science handy, but it's something to do with the lack of ions. Perhaps someone can chime in with the science part as all the research I did was years ago and forgotten. My water system uses chloramine, so I just use the drops that are for aquarium use. 1 drop/gallon and if they don't harm sensitive tropical fish, for sure won't hurt mj plants. Then again, I also use it straight from the hose and noticed no effects. IMO, the micro beasties aren't THAT sensitive where tap water would kill them off. AFA the soil pH, I just add the dolomite lime @1cup/CuFt of the powdered and ~1/2cup/CuFt of the pellets (mainly for the recycle), and don't worry about it. As long as the plants look good, I don't chase pH. I haven't checked pH in months. I mean nothing, going in, or coming out. About the only thing I use my pH meter for now, is when doing a batch of AEM. I have noticed that with fresh mix and dolo, you might have to give a shot of epsom salt. Like the mag in it isn't available right away. I've never needed to do a second dose as of yet. Well, I have on the tomatoes, but they really suck it up. LOL Wet
I use a Hydro Logic Big Boy water filter. It is a high flow whole house filter capable of 420 gallons per hour. It removes 99% of chlorine and 95% of sediment. It allows you to strip most of the negative ingredients without completely losing the beneficial ones. I can water straight from the hose with about 250 ppm of calcium and magnesium I am guessing. Plus there is no waste water associated with RO.
Thanks for everyone's help. Will be putting this mix into use right after I can find a grow tent in Canada! Most likely will go with the tap water, also would rain water work just as well as tap?
