I’ve a compost that’s awesome and wondered if I can do sip with it still the guy who made it said it’s bark fines and wool bracken so worries it will wick too much water ? He says he has a pure fertiliser blend is mother blend and then a mix made up with bark to lock up nitrogen and make it a potting soil it’s amazing stuff earth box says should be 70-95 % peat based , I know others have done different soil blends n shit so what’s the science ? What’s the score ? Can’t I just use this peat free soil as whole ?add perlite? Or do I get their fertiliser blend as my 1/3 to peat and perlite ?
I'm not using earth boxes, so can't speak to them specifically; however, I do use a modified SIP setup that works just fine when I have made mixes without peat, and it is modeled off of Organic Sinse's SIP and I know he never uses peat anymore - just leaf mould. My current mix is definitely not 70-95% peat - more like 30%. I would highly recommend adding perlite or something else (e.g., rice hulls) for added drainage and aeration. If I were growing photoperiods I'd aim for around 1/3 compost, 1/3 aeration/drainage, and 1/3 peat/peat substitute.
Thanks that’s reassuring @Organic sinse is a legend I am curious on his view I might pm him see what he thinks yeah the 1/3 rule is good but this soil is either can buy the concentrated version or the potted mix version which is basicly mixed to bark and composted it’s amazing he swares he has 12 months for a heavily demanding npk due to the wood chip holding the nutrients and even dared me test 15l pots as he thinks me using 25 will be too big for a plant ? He said after the year it will have broken down even more and be even better as a compost and stronger as chips break down I am sceptical lol just got used to 25-50litre minimum and 25 will only just be enough and need feed but this composter swares by his awards won that it will be plenty so I feel tempted to use his ready mix if it’s acceptable to sip ,saves me mixing loads of inputs too
All my grow bros who run the Earthbox and EB Jr for cannabis use a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 mix. As a reference, Over on BAS’s website, they have links for vids about running EB Jr with living soil. Check it out. Cheers Os
talk it over with the maker of the stuff, I keep a close eye on my buddies at the river side for this very reason, then do a trial good luck
Will ring him tomorow my main concern is what plant do I compare the canna to without giving away what I am growing lol Tomatoes he’s like no brainer but are canna like tomatoes less npk or more ? Ha he starts saying what are you growing il get the gardeners to tell me what to do and I’m like umm I grow chilies lemons tomatoes roses and flowers lol am not sure that would give him a true representation or my Intended fruitful production lol
Will be there tomato soil then which is stronger with comfrey , his words “it will burn the shit outa anything not heavily demanding like tomato and chilies but them tomatoes will go wild in the same soil for a year with no yield drop if anything increases” Will reply after I call him and re ask about the sip he swares by his soil and to be honest with his awards and people in comps here I’m not surprised he is lol
Compost made with comfrey is good stuff - comfrey is a great accumulator and breaks down easily in compost. I just made a batch with lots of comfrey in it! And yep, as Os said, tomatoes are the comparison to make. And if your dude says tomatoes like it then I bet your canna will like it too.
you want an honest answer from him, then give him an honest question hes not to know that you need the cbd side of this plant cheers
Get a burner phone n just say hey I grow weed bro lol He was out the office today back in morning grr lol I don’t understand how any soil can be bad for a sip lol he said when dry his compost will want to absorb water not repel it , isn’t that a good thing like ? why does the sip place say peat 90% isn’t peat basicly leaf compost compressed anywho?
Ok so spoke for an hour lol guy loves to chat stories , basicly said they haven’t tested sips but they want to , they just know if you over water it sits heavy in the base the wool makes them wick up all water they have apparently Nurition wise he swares 15l will be plenty I still said I am going to do 25l he said I won’t need that much but can’t hurt they don’t use perliteand are interested in me doing a peat comparison with their fertiliserbase he said they did some and peat free won with half watering I willblast them os style he did say they calcium isn’t crazy high but not low either and I won’t get any deficiency’s from it…do i stil add gypsum ? As calcium is king
I would personally still add some gypsum. It's got calcium, but also sulpher. For my auto mix I add 2 tbsp per 10 gallons (~38l), along with some oyster shell flour (1/4 cup per 10 gallons) and some crab meal (1/2 cup) for some slower release calcium.. I usually then check my pH, to make sure I'm where I want to be at and haven't gone overboard!
That’s what I was thinking , the soil is high potash from comfrey and to harness that boost in flower a plant must first be loaded with ca in veg