which brand of soil from lowes or depot

[im4satori]

FF products are "soil" FFOF, HF, etc.
The list of everything you want to use to make a soil - makes a soil! Peat based soil...it works better.


Pro mix is not a "soil"
Sunshine mix #4 is not a "soil"

ok
im getting it

I was reading on other sites
a debate over fox farm and if its a soil or soiless medium

but what your saying makes sense to me more so than what was said in the other forum

so promix is mainly peat and therefore not soil

mix it some poop and let it cook and it becomes soil
that makes more sense to me

I was getting confused...

 

[im4satori]

Ocean Forrest?
Happy Frog?

If the run with it was successful = You had no problems. You added no Ca/Mg to feeds and only used 100% organic feeds...

You could recharge that soil, kinda hard to figure for it as I don't really know what was in it to start.

Personally, I would pitch that soil and only recharge what I made from scratch.....
You would as a basic guideline.
Add back 1 part EWC and Compost to 4 parts old soil
Add back 1/2 the perlite you did in the building of the soil.
Add back 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the dry fert mix to each cubic ft
Add back 1/4-1/3 cup liming agent per cubic ft

Extra amendments: You added Kelp, Crab meal and Alfalfa meal..

Mix together, one part crab and one part alfalfa meal and two parts kelp meal. (Like 1 cup crab and Alfalfa with 2 cups of kelp - mix well)
Take 1 to 1/2 cups of that mix and add it to the soil.....cook 2-4 weeks - longer the better...

Got it?

as far as heat is concerned (heat as in how much nutrient is available)

using the recharge mix you suggested

would you consider that recharged soil
hot mix only for established plants or more of a safe mix?

 

[Dr. Who]

Got it



fox farm ocean forest
ingredients

sphagnum peat moss
fish emulsion
crab meal
shrimp meal
EWC
sandy loam
perlite
bat guano
granite dust (I missed that)
kelp meal
oyster shell

my experience within 6 weeks veg

it has plenty of N,P,K for 4 to 5 weeks without repotting

not enough calcium or magnesium or iron

the list of ingredients are very close to what you recommend
except they add bat guano and fish emulsion

Yeah and the amounts used were not enough to get you to the end. So the nutrient is expended and you use something to for a nutrient to get that plant done.....

You might try to recharge that soil with a cup of your dry fert mix AND the crab and Alfalfa meals with twice the kelp meal as you use for the other meals......I would follow the amounts of EWC and Compost for recharging and OF is low on perlite so, go more....

 

[Dr. Who]

as far as heat is concerned (heat as in how much nutrient is available)

using the recharge mix you suggested

would you consider that recharged soil
hot mix only for established plants or more of a safe mix?

Normal water only soil - not considered "hot"....... One might say that water only soils are 'hot"...... I don't.
This is not a seedling soil, nor is the water only from scratch......Seedling soil is the soil before you add all the ferts and meals to it.

Seedling soil is the EWC
Peat
Perlite
Compost

Got it?

 

[hillbill]

"Water only" mixes have too use a bit larger container to get to the end. I enjoy small containers so I supliment with light Alfalfa tea. I water with compost teas also alternating with clear water. Kelp is in teas also but I just call it Alfalfa tea.

I use containers that are under 2 gallons for handiness. 5 gallon pot will nicely do just water if you need to. Compost teas are just so effective and easy that I use them everywhere from herbs to Elephant Ears.

 

[Dr. Who]

"Water only" mixes have too use a bit larger container to get to the end. I enjoy small containers so I supliment with light Alfalfa tea. I water with compost teas also alternating with clear water. Kelp is in teas also but I just call it Alfalfa tea.

I use containers that are under 2 gallons for handiness. 5 gallon pot will nicely do just water if you need to. Compost teas are just so effective and easy that I use them everywhere from herbs to Elephant Ears.

Smallest bloom pot is a 5 in my gardens.

Did you know Bill? If you brew teas with kelp in the brew. You will have as much as 40%+ less living bio's in the resulting tea?
If your doing fert teas - fine - no problem!
If your doing simple AACT bio teas.....skip the kelp and use a liquid extract (added after the brewing) if you must use kelp with your bio teas.....

 

[hillbill]

My tea is pretty much Alfalfa/Kelp/Molasses in a weak mix. No compost.

I Bubble about anything on the ground in the woods. Any of the leaf litter and even rotting leaves, twigs and any of that moist layer at the bottom. My bog garden soil is great as nightcrawlers live there.

Our plants are tough and do quite well without being force fed in organic grows.

 

[im4satori]

i had planned to finish 4 plants in a 4x4 area with 5 gallon pots

but the veg is longer than what is required to fill the space (8weeks)

currently there in 3 gallon pots at 6 weeks and im transplanting them into 5 gallon pots asap (2 weeks before 12/12)

maybe id be better off with a bigger pot

 

[im4satori]

on the other hand
a ten gallon pot might be heavy and hard to move..

I still haven't purchased the final pots as of yet.. I need to buy them today to do the transplanting

 

[Morriston55]

10 gallon pot wet = 40lb

dry=12-15lb

 

[im4satori]

is a smart pot worth multiple uses?
or is it a 1 time use?

 

[im4satori]

mushroom compost

just happened to see it at the garden store

is it good for anything?

 

[Dr. Who]

mushroom compost

just happened to see it at the garden store

is it good for anything?

You must be super careful with mushroom composts! High in "salt"! It will kill germinating seeds and seedlings - it's that high!.
There was a big mushroom farm near me for some years.....They had trouble getting rid of it....

NPK of about .7 - 0 - .7

 

[hillbill]

Some mushroom compost is great and some can be horrid apart from chemical concerns. Much is packaged too wet or gets wet and sour. Anaerobic.

Better composts are becoming more available around the country and over time I have settled on Back to Nature Cotton Burr Compost and Black Kow manure for a couple that are really good every time.

 

[greg nr]

fwiw, build a soil sells a kit of nutrients and amendments that can be mixed to 1 part sphagnum peat moss, 1 part compose/ewc, and 1 part aeration (they recommend rice husks). It has a lot of what you folks list in the recipes above.

I was thinking of it for my next grow. I just have to find the bulk ingredients locally first..

https://buildasoil.com/collections/amendments/products/the-clackamas-kit

Anyone try this? Not having to cook/ferment the soil is very convenient.

 

[SouthCross]

is a smart pot worth multiple uses?
or is it a 1 time use?

Wash it after use. Use it till it falls apart. Inside grows, they are said to have a life span of about 5 years. I set mine out in the sun to sterilize after use. Turn them inside out and let the sun bake it. Shake out any soil dust left over.

Or you can take them to a laundry mat and wash them like underwear. No joking. No fabric softener. Lol

 

[Dr. Who]

fwiw, build a soil sells a kit of nutrients and amendments that can be mixed to 1 part sphagnum peat moss, 1 part compose/ewc, and 1 part aeration (they recommend rice husks). It has a lot of what you folks list in the recipes above.

I was thinking of it for my next grow. I just have to find the bulk ingredients locally first..

https://buildasoil.com/collections/amendments/products/the-clackamas-kit

Anyone try this? Not having to cook/ferment the soil is very convenient.

Build a soil is quality stuff! They have a great attitude on organics and some of the best components out there!

As for rice husks and other "natural" aeration choice's. You'll need to replace them about very other to every run. Depends on what you use. Another good one is the little white lava stones made for aeration.....it's just that perlite is cheap....

 

[hillbill]

Perlite was cheap here like $15 and then it was within a couple years it is $39/4cf. Just was at Build a Soil site and they could see some of my money in the future.

 

[im4satori]

that's ironic

I just left my local garden store and the guy who was helping was telling me to watch some thing called build a soil on sound cloud
he gave me the info I got it wrote down somewhere

going to the store and viewing all the amendments and viewing labels helped a lot

so ive been confused over pot size

it appears that 10 gallons is not ten gallons when it comes to pot sizing and whats worse is theres no standard

one manuf. calls this 5 gallons and another calls it 7 gallons but its really only holds 3 wtf


I ended up getting the #20 smart pot which actually does hold 20 gallons lol or 2 bags or 3cubic ft

its huge.... 19" across the bottom ... I woud think you could grow a fucking 30ft tree in this thing

i would think its over kill but theres no harm in extra space
but I may need a dolly to move them lol

im going to rap a bungi cord around the bottom to tight these branches down and take out some of the height

 

[im4satori]

im sorry if I asked already
I cant remember

what are your thoughts on azomite and vermiculite use?