Okay so i'm just underway with my grow, my seeds are germing and one has already a tiny sprout. I go into my room last night and find that my bucket of organic soil that was cooking had begun to mold all over it. I didn't add any water after i mix it so i need some help there. Also i have some house plants growing in my room until the real seeds are ready and 4/5 started to mold as well. I have some ideas why this might be happening but i'm no expert with this and could really use some feedback. Oh so to top it off, my seeds will be ready to plant in a few days and now i have no soil ready So most of that mix was peat moss, i'm thinking that because there was so much of it that it held in all the moisture not allowing it to runoff. I also think maybe i didnt added enough perlite. I have 35% humidity and the temp stays right around 80* in there. I also checked my soil's Ph and it came out to 7.0 For my recipe this is what i use but it's all unaccurate guessimates: -Miracle Gro Spaghnum peat moss - Scott's humus/manure (those two are the biggest ingrediants) -Perlite -Miracle Gro organic bone meal -Miracle Gro organic blood meal -Espoma organic soil acidifier -Espoma organic garden lime -Espoma plant tone (but i just bought this last night so it wasn't in the moldy mix) I'm pretty sure i didn't overwater either. So any help with why my batch went moldy, and any help with my ratios would be great.
Can we see a picture of said mold? Im also curious as to why you have an acidifier and lime in the same mix. Im not a big fan of the whole miracle gro/scotts.. But the espoma is good stuff. sorry I cant help more right now its hard to say with out a picture.
Shoot I actually tossed it all pretty much right away. And I have those two because I'm still trying to figure out the best recipe/I'm having no luck. I just bought all these ingredients and threw it all together. I've been asking around in the city but haven't really gotten the answer I'm lookin for. I have heard to shy away from miracle gro but I can't find much else around me, we'll unless I get it online. I just need some guidance with my organic mix is all.
Check craigslist. I found a lady who sells castings and her own peat based blend (stuff ROCKS) on craigslist. If nothing on CL, try to find a local nursery or farm/feed store. Good luck.
It's too bad you threw out your soil just because it had "mold" growing on it. I'd advise against throwing it out for that reason again. You just need to look outside the box to find non-Miracle Grow products. Trust me, they are out there. Do yourself a huge favor and read through this thread - http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html J
The trouble Ive been having is that I live in a large city so farm and feed stores are rare. So I'll definatly look on craigslist for whatever I can find. And yeah I should have at least snapped a few pics. Oh and Jerry that thread was exactly what I needed. I searched around the threads but never came across that one. Thanks a bunch. Now what would be the best move with my seeds since they were already germing when I tossed my mix?
If you have seeds that are already sprouting, just get a small bag of some basic organic potting mix from Home Depot or Lowe's. They should be fine in 16oz Solo cups for a couple of weeks. It might be because I live in a medical state, but Lowe's actually has a decent bit of the basics you will need (peat moss, perlite, compost) *quick side note, went to lowe's the other day and they had everything you need to make your own sunshine pro mix for about half the price of hydro stores. As for all your meals (alfalfa, kelp, etc.) you can order them online for a good price. * you can also get some organic slow release mixes that will do fine for your first grow. Espoma and Happy Frog are pretty common brands that make Fruit and Flower (or Tomato grow) that will work if you don't want to order and mix a bunch of different things. Just realize that they pretty much get used up or runoff throughout one grow and new/more amendments will need to be added if you plan on using your soil again.
since they were already germing when I tossed my mix? If you're planning on mixing up a proper organic soil then in the meantime to keep your plants going just mix up a little bit of ProMix, a little compost and/or castings and just a tad of some kind of organic fertilizer like Epsoma Garden Tone or similar - or you could just pick up a bag of premixed store bought soil and just use that to get you by until your soil is ready. Kudos to you on making the effort on your own organic soil - if you follow the basic directions provided on the beginner soil thread I promise you will not be disappointed. One tip - use good quality compost and/or castings for the very best results. Seriously - no junk compost or castings. Garbage in/garbage out - good in/good out. J
Alright so I whipped up a new batch, It includes: - peat moss -humus -perlite Then a little bit of lime and Plant tone. It's simple and hopefully enough to get me started. But I will be on the hunt now for some compost and castings (along with better brands of the stuff I already have). And oh yeah I have been frequenting Home Depot and lowe's. I found one feed store that's kinda close to me so ill post up what I can gather from there. But thanks for the kudos! I just want a quality stash that I know for sure is healthy and filled with love. There's Nothing like having something so pure. And chances are I'll hoard all the product between my girl and I, hah but I'm not thinking that far yet.
Go on craigslist and search for Worm castings, compost worms or vermicompost. Good chance you will find high quality fresh castings this way.
Alright i'll keep on the search fro craigslist supplies. And i Found out i actually did take some pics of that moldy soil. I had just deleted them though after i sent them to my Gf. Here you are:
I get mold growth like that on my soil all the time, usually after watering and leaving my cabinet closed overnight (elevated RH). It is especially common when I use a fish fertilizer in the water. Never bothered my plants at all, and it goes away in a couple of days when the soil dries out. I wouldn't worry about it next time, as long as it's white or light grey. Any bright colors (green, red, purple) and I'd be wary, but white is just fine IMO.
Dat dere white mold is good. I have it all over my soil batch in my containers. SunofMan is right. As it dries, it goes away. It let's you know your soil is alive , aliveee mwahahah.