please help me with my amendments

Hey w89.

You've got an excellent list of amendments. But where's your humus source? You've got to have some compost, ewc, etc. Some extra aeration would help too (perlite, rice hulls, pumice, etc.-whatever you have available).

Are you still getting the fish meal? I would add some crustacean meal (shrimp, lobster, or crab meal) or, if you can't find that, at least some fish meal/fish bone meal. Both will provide good amounts of Ca and P and you will have a very well balanced blend of nutritional amendments.

Also, have you thought about just building your own soil instead of starting with the Bio Bizz? You need a good humus source and extra aeration whether you start with a bagged soil or peat moss, so it's just a matter of trading in the bio bizz for peat.

 

I like this. Are you going to use those castings that you linked to? I would. Even if they don't offer the pure castings, I'd still buy a bag or two of the ewc/coco mix (if it's the best you can find).

The problem with mushroom compost (if it's actually spent mushroom substrate) is that they spray the mushrooms with all kinds of herbicides and fungicides and chemical fertilizers. So unless it's organic (or has been well-composted afterward), that stuff could still be present. So just check the bag and see what it says, some mushroom compost is truly organic and well-composted and makes a good humus source.

edit: Also, if you can increase the percentage of ewc in that mix, do it. I'd go for a higher percentage of ewc than mushroom compost (if possible). Something like 20-25% ewc, 10-15% mushroom compost. And if you check out your mushroom compost and find that it's some of the yucky mushroom compost (per the concerns I described above), you can use ewc as your only humus source and get excellent results.

 

As mentioned by ganja girl, you'll want more aeration - pumice, rice hulls, perlite, etc - and that should keep the mud consistency at bay.

A basic soil recipe approach is:
1/3 sphagnum peat moss
1/3 earthworm castings (or other quality compost)
1/3 aeration material...pumice, rice hulls, perlite, etc

and then go with your choice of amendments - alfalfa, kelp, neem, rock dust, fish bone meal are all good and a crab meal can add chitin as well which as I understand is good to help keep pests at bay...as does the neem meal.

I'm making my own earthworm castings these days and I can say that quality castings are really pretty amazing. You can grow in straight castings. I'm not saying that I'd recommend this but it's pretty amazing stuff. The quality of compost seems to be key to a good soil...at least my limited experience.

 

The castings really won't make the soil heavy and muddy anymore than the mushroom compost would. Yes, the other ingredients even out the consistency- this is why we add aeration amendments and peat/coco instead of growing in straight ewc/compost. My soil contains a high percentage of ewc to start, and then I always add a big handful or two to the bottom of the hole when I put the plant in, and then I top-dress with it too. My soil is at least 30% ewc, and then has compost on top of that. The point being that a muddy consistency won't be a concern unless you use 50% ewc and 10% aeration amendment or something like that. If the soil feels a bit heavy once it's mixed, you can always add more aeration amendment to fix it.

You can fix a soil that has a bit too much of your humus source (thus leading to a heavy, compacted soil) by adding more aeration amendment, and end up with a great soil, but you're going to have a much harder time fixing a soil that doesn't have enough humus (because you won't know it until the plant is in the soil and starts showing signs of pH problems, etc.)

When you mix your soil, if you think it looks/feels too heavy, always add more aeration (when in doubt, add more aeration-always). More aeration won't hurt a thing, but too little will.

 

Ok gotcha. The only biobizz I'm familiar with is a biobizz potting soil, I didn't realize they made a dry organic fertilizer. Grinding up crab/shrimp/lobster shells will work exactly the same as crustacean meal (that's all that you're buying anyway). I dry the shells out, put them in a plastic bag, wrap it in a towel, and run them over with my car to make crustacean meal.

 

I'd look for a different source of castings. That looks like commercial bagged worm castings to me, which aren't the best. Have you looked locally? Do some searching online, you may find someone in your area with great compost and/or ewc. I'd go with that castings/coir product we talked about any day over the bagged ewc you linked to. You can use the castings/coir as your humus source, but you'll just have to include a higher percentage than you would if it were pure castings- like maybe 50% castings/coir, 25% aeration, 25% peat moss.

The compost that they talk about in the compost tea bags link sounds good (high fungal aerobic compost that's tested to ensure high microbial numbers), but I'm really not a fan of "compost tea bags". They are charging you a premium to put compost in a bag, when you can just toss it in the water yourself at home. See if you can just buy the compost itself.

 

Yea, they look like their good products.... Seen a couple thing on that Site that might be good for your grow...
The Comfry pellets can be used for nutrient teas and the Rootgrow for mycorrhiza....
http://www.organiccatalogue.com/Soi...70/p2351/ROOTGROW-360g-pack/product_info.html
http://www.organiccatalogue.com/Soi...338/COMFREY-PELLETS-1-litre/product_info.html

 

W89, what is your final list?

J