Soil Ratio help
- Thread starter Dfk88
- Start date
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
2-4 cups.
I went with four, but one of them was greensand, but that was three grows ago, I do like to mix the minerals as far as the breakdown/availability.
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
I prefer a peat base, it has a better caution exchange rate, and also when I used coco, my yields were less, evidently I am not alone on that, i remember three or four other organic growers that had the same problem.
I do use coco, but only as an aeration type of thing, I LOVE using the coco-wool as aeration. I cut strips of about an inch wide and about 2-3 long, and I use those in my soil when I transplant, sorta helps keep the soil from compacting, also mates great with EWC and comfrey topdresses, everytime I re-amend I see huge masses of roots near the cocowool, my guess is they love the moist/humidness of the soil and coco-wool together.
Last edited:
Rrog
Well-Known Member
Aeration is such a big deal. Great to see you share that opinion. The dudes in my sig showed me this path.
I'm looking at recycled glass "GrowStones." http://www.growstone.com/
Growstones / biochar of various sizes (I make it so I can crush and screen to whatever) / leaf mold. Going to use this in raised veggie beds. Sides of the raised beds are fabric on wood frames. 24" tall beds, 48" wide. Drip lines for constant moisture.
I'm looking at recycled glass "GrowStones." http://www.growstone.com/
Growstones / biochar of various sizes (I make it so I can crush and screen to whatever) / leaf mold. Going to use this in raised veggie beds. Sides of the raised beds are fabric on wood frames. 24" tall beds, 48" wide. Drip lines for constant moisture.
greasemonkeymann
Well-Known Member
I stumbled onto that theory years and years ago, I had a clone in a party cup, and instead of getting a catch tray for the runoff, I just stuck a smaller size party cup (a generic cup) that was a speck smaller so it kind of fit halfway, anyways, kept it there for like a week, watered a couple times like normal, and then I decided it was ready for transplant, so I popped the lower cup off it, and it had a MASS of white fuzzy roots that were all super healthy sticking out the drainage hole of the party cup, the smaller one didn't have any drainage hole so their was maybe a drop or two of moisture in there, which made the air perfectly humid, which the roots LOVED, so ever since then, I reaaaally concentrated on getting the soil media to be more of a "humid" state, instead of being wet.
Also led me to start using rotten treelog chunks too, those work like little soil-conditioners.
Vermiculite is AWESOME for that, but I don't use it because it retains too much water in the rainy season.
I really should have like a "summer" soil and a "winter" soil.
I topdress like mad during the hot months, but don't in the wet ones. Powder mold...
I live in a redwood "rain" forest... that's in quotations because it's CA... and the rain isn't ummm happening