Due to my low budget I could only get perlite and vermiculite... I'm thinking 1/2 native soil, 1/4 perlite, 1/4 vermiculite... I know it's not the best mix but it's all I can afford. Will be adding some organic nutes later on
If it's all you can afford then it'll have to do. I would've added some composted manure to the native soil, I get mine for $4/bag. For that matter, you could just scrape up the $10 for a bale of peat as well and forget the native soil. Perlite is the most expensive ingredient. Bottled organics or real organics?
Well I need to make 8 plots, so I'm probably not gonna have the money to buy peat moss or manure for every plot... I'm using epsoma plant tone for veg. I mean I know my plants may be skimpy and not as healthy as can be, but will they at least live to give me some sort of yield in a mix of native soil, perlite, and vermiculite?
Nice, I use the same stuff. Here's my soil mix ... that one bale of peat ($10), one 30 gal bag of perlite ($30), and 4 .75 cu ft bags of compost ($16) made 70 gal of soil for $56, not including my nutrients. I've still got half a bale of peat left over, it expands from 3.5 cu ft to like 9 cu ft or more. Anyway, I'm sure your plants will do fine
Damn man seems like a nice easy affordable mix! Well I was actually forced to plant today with only native soil, perlite, and vermiculite, because I couldn't keep them inside for any longer for various reasons... But thanks for your comment man yeah hopefully everything will be fine, but next time ill make sure to spend my money more efficiently. Hopefully the native soil is good enough, it's really clay-like though. I added extra perlite so the soil would drain better, hopefully it makes a difference
I'd do perlite and pumice/ rice hulls. You can build a soil cheaply and reuse it alot. A base mix bag and some seed /bone meals is all you really need with some castings//composts
Thanks guys, as of now however I am stuck with a mix of maybe 10% vermiculite, 40% perlite, and 50% native soil. Ill be adding epsoma plant tone soon, but will this mix be good enough?? I'm stuck with it seeing as I already planted in the ground because I had to get them out of my house fast..
Well they're all in the ground as of now, do I have any major concerns regarding planting in just native soil, perlite, and vermiculite? Is there any real problem with this besides it just not being the best mix?
I really do appreciate all the other options you guys are giving me, but unfortunately I'm stuck with what I have.. So basically all I'm asking is if this mix will be good enough to at least give me an average yield?
depends man. If you use native soil you have to sterlize it and use some ferts. If you don't sterlize it, you run the risk of contaminating your plants with nasty microbes and bugs etc.
This is one of my sprouts right after 2 days of heavy rain. It's not supposed to rain for at least a week, but temperatures will be below 60, will it be okay?