Soil amendments... help?

Ok ill show u a few pics of mine, all I have is an even mix of peat moss,cow shit called moor nure,and soil. Mixed in 5 gallon buckets .I use lime every month to keep everything leveled out, but that is it and for veg I used vigoro . It is like miracle grow.

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The idea is get as diverse a culture in as possible on building your own dirt. The more the better. You can reduce the amount of compost you use if you want as its not set in stone. It shouldnt hurt your grow too much, but you may be finding that you'll need to use it as a top dressing sooner or later. I wont take over your thread by flooding you with pictures from my journal but if you'd like to look, I have a 20 gal indoor no till setup goin and a 7 gal as well for a super short auto strain i have.

Something I would recommend though is using bokashi. It's filled with trace minerals and it helps dead or dying roots break down much faster in your medium. It also stimulates root growth as well and nitrogen uptake. If you dont use any compost, I suggest at least adding a bit of that to replace some of the function compost brings.

Mixing it yourself is fine. Promix is 22$ or more compared to the same amount of peat for 9$ (here at least). Amendments are also cheap enough and will last years. Some people use promix. Then there's other people The amount of Mychos in promix is not worth the extra 10 bucks for it and the 3 teaspoons of lime they threw in.

 

1) EWC is fine to use as the humus source, and yeah some would say it's the best.. if it is very dense I'd lighten up the mix by adding more aeration.
2) Malted barley is easy to find online. There isn't a substitute that I'm aware of that does what it does at the price and convenience. You don't need a lot. Search for homebrewing anything and you'll find it.
3)You have bone and blood that's fine. You could try any crustacean meals (shrimp/insect?meals). Although chitin is covered if you add the MBP. Add kelp meal.

I also like alfalfa, neem, karanja, fish bone.
Shakas

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Instead of messing with ratios of peat moss, ect., many people use quality promix like promix brand XP or sunshine promix 4 as a base and from there add their compost, EWC, and other amendments. Don't forget some extra dolomite lime. I add 2tbsp per gallon of mix. About a 20% perlite ratio IMO is also optimal for best aeration/drainage. Roots need plenty of air. It's almost hard to have too much.

 

If you want the amounts listed in the recipe, mix it with the soil. But you don't need MBP mixed in to get started. Topdress it a few times during the grow if you want.

I take all the meals or fertilizers I want to add in, mix them together, and use that blend @3 Cups/ Cu Ft 1:1:1 base mix.

Decomposed granite - I don't have any experience with. Should be a good mineral source and you'd use it as your rock dust. As long as you notice its fine like flour - use it.
Shakas


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For what it is worth, coot said crustacean meal is too expensive, he likes alfalfa instead. I would use the bone meal for sure. At least a Tablespoon per gallon. I also used to use bloodmeal in my mixes, it works good. A tablespoon a gallon is a pretty safe amount (I used to use a lot more, in addition to a ton of other stuff, without bad results.)
I like to add a little diversity now and again, its all good. Just be subtle with it.
If you can't find malted barley at a beer brewing store, you can use corn and make an SST. I prefer blue corn (because it heirloom non gmo), I can find it in the bulk bins at many grocery stores and all the natural type grocery stores. Its cheap. There are plenty of threads about ssts. I just sprout the corn and mix it up in the blender with water, strain and water in (I like to add a little aloe, but not required). I don't use the extra stuff like agsil, fulpower etc.
cheers
os

 

I think the plant tone, is used in the original "Easy soil mix for Beginners" sticky. I have never seen it in a store or used it.
hth
cheers
os

 

I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't useful. Just something that I don't see in my area of the world. I'm sure it is good stuff, or it wouldn't have been in that recipe. I think that before folks could get some of the amendments that we commonly use now, the blend's like Plant Tone and Tomato Tone were go to items. I stay away from the blends, only because I can find every individual component I desire. Check out the thread and see what they say.
cheers
os

 

If you have your 1:1:1 base made up. Per cu ft of total mix I would use something like this.
1 cup each kelp meal, crustacean meal
1/2 cup each Bone meal and alfalfa meal
1 cup dolomite
2 cups granite dust
1 gallon bio char
I would suggest sourcing some neem seed meal and using at 1 cup pre cu ft total mix.

I couldn't find what you used for the compost component of the 1:1:1 base mix. So I would save my worm castings for a top dress about a month into the grow.
hth
good luck
cheers
os

 

That all sounds good. I thought you already had alfalfa meal, if not you can skip it. Alfalfa meal can usually be found at feed and seed stores, or at pet stores. You may find it in pellet form, as rabbit food. If its the small pellets just mix it in, wet the soil mix, and then mix again after it cooks for a few days. I have never used the pellets, but a lot of folks on here do.
hth
cheers
os

 

The decomposed granite isn't fine enough to be any good in my area. The Espoma is a mix of a bunch of organic stuff and is fine to use or topdress with. It's just too expensive...a 50lb sack of alfalfa is 10-20 bucks just as a reference point to compare to.

Be careful with chicken manure. Its incredibly hot.
RD

 

Check your local feed store. Planet Natural has literally every amendment we use and reasonable shipping from what I hear too. It's down the road from me.

 

You’re much better off mixing your lime directly into your soil mix so that it is distributed evenly. It also will last for quite awhile with no need to keep adding it.

“used vigoro . It is like miracle grow”

With this being the GC Organics Forum you’ll find Most of the gardeners here try and practice organic methods and don’t go for the chemical fertilizers -

But good luck with your garden!

J