85.5 Gallon Organic Soil Build

Hey Guys, Im getting ready to toss my Hempys For a ROLS/no till garden.
I just wanted another set of eyes or 20 to look at the grocery list to make sure my math isnt off or im missing something. Most of it is amendment amounts to buy. Ill try to keep this short and to the point. Im using IntheGarden's Organic from GC.

12 7gallon fabric pots total. = 84 gallons
3.8 cft Peat moss
3.8 cft Super Course Perlite (I have plenty lol)
90 lbs earth worm castings. (Im thinking thats 30 gallons of EWC, 30 lbs being 10 gallons)
10 lbs Dolomite Lime Plus Magnesium and Calcium

Amendments (2-3 cups total mix per cubic ft)
Crab shell 4lbs
Kelp Meal 10.5lbs
Happy Frog Tomato and Veg 8lbs
Alfalfa Meal 5lbs

Minerals (4 cups/ cubic ft.)
25 lbs Glacial Rock Dust
20 Lbs Azomite
(i guess im assuming that 1lb of dust = 1 cup. Not for sure. If thats true then i need 44 cups hoping im wrong on this)

Cover crop of white dwarf clover.
Water only

Looking forward to the input, hoping im calculating to much. lol.

m4s73r said:

Hey Guys, Im getting ready to toss my Hempys For a ROLS/no till garden.
I just wanted another set of eyes or 20 to look at the grocery list to make sure my math isnt off or im missing something. Most of it is amendment amounts to buy. Ill try to keep this short and to the point. Im using IntheGarden's Organic from GC.

12 7gallon fabric pots total. = 84 gallons
3.8 cft Peat moss
3.8 cft Super Course Perlite (I have plenty lol)
90 lbs earth worm castings. (Im thinking thats 30 gallons of EWC, 30 lbs being 10 gallons)
10 lbs Dolomite Lime Plus Magnesium and Calcium

Amendments (2-3 cups total mix per cubic ft)
Crab shell 4lbs
Kelp Meal 10.5lbs
Happy Frog Tomato and Veg 8lbs
Alfalfa Meal 5lbs

Minerals (4 cups/ cubic ft.)
25 lbs Glacial Rock Dust
20 Lbs Azomite
(i guess im assuming that 1lb of dust = 1 cup. Not for sure. If thats true then i need 44 cups hoping im wrong on this)

Cover crop of white dwarf clover.
Water only

Looking forward to the input, hoping im calculating to much. lol.

Click to expand...

Looks good. The only suggestion I have would be to swap out the dolomite lime for oyster shell flour. Not the end of the world if you can't source that though. Assuming that the peat hasn't already been limed, I would go with about a 1/2 cup per cf of the lime. Mix that all up, then wet it down with a compost tea and let it sit for 4-6 weeks and you should be golden.

Ok so the oyster flour is 36.84 for 6 lbs. If thats enough then i could do that, if not, the lime is MUCH cheaper. as i would have to buy 2 boxes of the flour. at $73 Or the lime for $16. Kind of a no brainier at that price difference.

m4s73r said:

Ok so the oyster flour is 36.84 for 6 lbs. If thats enough then i could do that, if not, the lime is MUCH cheaper. as i would have to buy 2 boxes of the flour. at $73 Or the lime for $16. Kind of a no brainier at that price difference.

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I wouldn't sweat it then

3.8 cft Peat moss $27.95 Local
3.8 cft Super Course Perlite 0
90 lbs earth worm castings $109.08 Amazon
10 lbs Dolomite Lime Plus Magnesium and Calcium $16 Amazon
Crab shell 4lbs $13.07 Amazon
Kelp Meal 10.5lbs $32.85 Local
Happy Frog Tomato Veg 8lbs $23.9 Local
Alfalfa Meal 5lbs $12.95 Local
25 lbs Glacial Rock Dust $36.24 Amazon
20 Lbs Azomite $19.95 Amazon
12 7 Gallon Pots $49.43 Hydroponics.net

Total Shipping is included. $341.42


A cost break down. Let me know if i can do
better some where else

m4s73r said:

3.8 cft Peat moss $27.95 Local
3.8 cft Super Course Perlite 0
90 lbs earth worm castings $109.08 Amazon
10 lbs Dolomite Lime Plus Magnesium and Calcium $16 Amazon
Crab shell 4lbs $13.07 Amazon
Kelp Meal 10.5lbs $32.85 Local
Happy Frog Tomato Veg 8lbs $23.9 Local
Alfalfa Meal 5lbs $12.95 Local
25 lbs Glacial Rock Dust $36.24 Amazon
20 Lbs Azomite $19.95 Amazon
12 7 Gallon Pots $49.43 Hydroponics.net

Total Shipping is included. $341.42


A cost break down. Let me know if i can do
better some where else

Click to expand...

Those castings really set you back. Have you checked around locally to see if anyone has some good compost?

Also, if you can hit up a rock quarry or a place that does granite conter tops you could score some free fines.

I've used this place in the past before I found my free source of rock dusts. Not sure if it will save you any $$, but it's another option.

http://www.rockdustlocal.com/store.html


.

m4s73r said:

Hey Guys, Im getting ready to toss my Hempys For a ROLS/no till garden.
I just wanted another set of eyes or 20 to look at the grocery list to make sure my math isnt off or im missing something. Most of it is amendment amounts to buy. Ill try to keep this short and to the point. Im using IntheGarden's Organic from GC.

12 7gallon fabric pots total. = 84 gallons
3.8 cft Peat moss
3.8 cft Super Course Perlite (I have plenty lol)
90 lbs earth worm castings. (Im thinking thats 30 gallons of EWC, 30 lbs being 10 gallons)
10 lbs Dolomite Lime Plus Magnesium and Calcium

Amendments (2-3 cups total mix per cubic ft)
Crab shell 4lbs
Kelp Meal 10.5lbs
Happy Frog Tomato and Veg 8lbs
Alfalfa Meal 5lbs

Minerals (4 cups/ cubic ft.)
25 lbs Glacial Rock Dust
20 Lbs Azomite
(i guess im assuming that 1lb of dust = 1 cup. Not for sure. If thats true then i need 44 cups hoping im wrong on this)

Cover crop of white dwarf clover.
Water only

Looking forward to the input, hoping im calculating to much. lol.

Click to expand...

holy crap! nah man, one cup of rock dust isn't a lb, if you are going no-till, i'd get some greensand for some of your minerals too, also I really like neem meal, it has a good amount of micros in it, not to mention its great for pest prevention, and breaks down nice and slow too.
Check craigslist for EWC, may get lucky there, with that much peat you may want some oyster shell dust too, and maybe oyster shells for aeration, the crab meal will help stabilize the peat going acidic.
I may get some hell for this, but I don't know how much better a bagged EWC is, over a bag of compost.... Fresh is another story, but bagged, you may want to go half castings and half compost, mushroom compost works well also.
For a no-till I would def get some bio-char, a must have for no-till, imo.
Also remember, a 7 gallon pot won't hold 7 gallons (I know it's stupid), so you may be getting a lil extra, plus in my experience with no-tills you want at least a ten gallon, or maybe 12, I use both 12 and 15 gallons for my indoors.

greasemonkeymann said:

holy crap! nah man, one cup of rock dust isn't a lb, if you are going no-till, i'd get some greensand for some of your minerals too, also I really like neem meal, it has a good amount of micros in it, not to mention its great for pest prevention, and breaks down nice and slow too.
Check craigslist for EWC, may get lucky there, with that much peat you may want some oyster shell dust too, and maybe oyster shells for aeration, the crab meal will help stabilize the peat going acidic.
I may get some hell for this, but I don't know how much better a bagged EWC is, over a bag of compost.... Fresh is another story, but bagged, you may want to go half castings and half compost, mushroom compost works well also.
For a no-till I would def get some bio-char, a must have for no-till, imo.
Also remember, a 7 gallon pot won't hold 7 gallons (I know it's stupid), so you may be getting a lil extra, plus in my experience with no-tills you want at least a ten gallon, or maybe 12, I use both 12 and 15 gallons for my indoors.

Click to expand...

I was thinking about getting some neem meal. May just have to find a place to get it. Amazon has it in only 40lbs bag.
I have searched long and hard for local compost/ewc. Sadly, cant find a good source. So im stuck on ordering it. But its a one time deal as i will be utilizing my own worm farm for teas/topdressing. On amazon EWC is $36 for 30 lbs. Mushroom is $18 for 10lbs. (Charlies Compost)
Im going to assume that Biochar is Charcoal Soil Conditioner?

Thank jorge that 1lb isnt 1 cup. So help me out, how much should i be getting?
85.5 gallons divided by 12 pots is 7.125gallons. I also have around 6 gallons of old soil that i can mix in (old FFOF that was used) bringing me to 7.625 gallons. It sounds like your saying i should be aiming more at 120 gallons in 12 gallon pots. Giving me 10gallons of soil per pot. So i would need an additional 3.8 cft of soil.

I can go up to a 10 gallon fabric pot. Cant find 12 gallon, and 15 is more then i want to do deal with.

m4s73r said:

I was thinking about getting some neem meal. May just have to find a place to get it. Amazon has it in only 40lbs bag.
I have searched long and hard for local compost/ewc. Sadly, cant find a good source. So im stuck on ordering it. But its a one time deal as i will be utilizing my own worm farm for teas/topdressing. On amazon EWC is $36 for 30 lbs. Mushroom is $18 for 10lbs. (Charlies Compost)
Im going to assume that Biochar is Charcoal Soil Conditioner?

Thank jorge that 1lb isnt 1 cup. So help me out, how much should i be getting?
85.5 gallons divided by 12 pots is 7.125gallons. I also have around 6 gallons of old soil that i can mix in (old FFOF that was used) bringing me to 7.625 gallons. It sounds like your saying i should be aiming more at 120 gallons in 12 gallon pots. Giving me 10gallons of soil per pot. So i would need an additional 3.8 cft of soil.

I can go up to a 10 gallon fabric pot. Cant find 12 gallon, and 15 is more then i want to do deal with.

Click to expand...

Ok, hang with me here.....

I used 50lbs of rock dusts the last time I made a batch of soil. I made 24cf total, and I add 3 cups per cf. So 50 lbs is roughly 75 cups, or .66lbs per cup.

Based on that, you have apx 60 cups of rock dusts to work with. You are amending a smidge under 12cf of soil, which should require right around 40 cups. IMO you're more than covered, with some to spare

Ok so 25 pounds would be the correct amount for the amount of soil i have. So ill do 30, 10 each of azomite, GRD, greensand.

Edit, I can get greensand and rock phosphate locally. Would these 2 work rather then the rock dust and azomite?

Yo first check locally on each ingredient, if you can't source them and your willing to pay for shipping, check out buildasoil website, they got the complete mineral and nutrient mix at a much more reasonable price with free shipping imo
Amazon taxes on shipping..

it's the worm castings that will bite u if you don't already have your own.

foreverflyhi said:

Yo first check locally on each ingredient, if you can't source them and your willing to pay for shipping, check out buildasoil website, they got the complete mineral and nutrient mix at a much more reasonable price with free shipping imo
Amazon taxes on shipping..

it's the worm castings that will bite u if you don't already have your own.

Click to expand...

Some one didnt read post 5

m4s73r said:

Some one didnt read post 5

Click to expand...

ActUally not only did I read post five, and yes maybe there's some repetion, but I offered you a much cheaper route, a cheaper route with less guess work.
Trying to help you save money so u can channel your extra funds too quality ewc and start the basics like your own worm bin.

m4s73r said:

Hey Guys, Im getting ready to toss my Hempys For a ROLS/no till garden.
I just wanted another set of eyes or 20 to look at the grocery list to make sure my math isnt off or im missing something. Most of it is amendment amounts to buy. Ill try to keep this short and to the point. Im using IntheGarden's Organic from GC.

12 7gallon fabric pots total. = 84 gallons
3.8 cft Peat moss
3.8 cft Super Course Perlite (I have plenty lol)
90 lbs earth worm castings. (Im thinking thats 30 gallons of EWC, 30 lbs being 10 gallons)
10 lbs Dolomite Lime Plus Magnesium and Calcium

Amendments (2-3 cups total mix per cubic ft)
Crab shell 4lbs
Kelp Meal 10.5lbs
Happy Frog Tomato and Veg 8lbs
Alfalfa Meal 5lbs

Minerals (4 cups/ cubic ft.)
25 lbs Glacial Rock Dust
20 Lbs Azomite
(i guess im assuming that 1lb of dust = 1 cup. Not for sure. If thats true then i need 44 cups hoping im wrong on this)

Cover crop of white dwarf clover.
Water only

Looking forward to the input, hoping im calculating to much. lol.

Click to expand...

very very cool! I'm excited to see your bounty I've got two wooden pallets outside using the same no till methodology. worm towers can prove to be pretty useful for no till purposes.

foreverflyhi said:

ActUally not only did I read post five, and yes maybe there's some repetion, but I offered you a much cheaper route, a cheaper route with less guess work.
Trying to help you save money so u can channel your extra funds too quality ewc and start the basics like your own worm bin.

Click to expand...

Well if you had read my post you would see where i was getting each part. Secondly, Amazon has free 2 day shipping on almost all of my items with prime. Third. Buildasoil is not cheaper.
BaS EWC 300. Amazon, 109
BaS Alfalfa meal $10 per 6 cups, Locally 12.95/5 lbs
Bas Crustation meal $10 per 6 cups, Amazon 13.07/4 lbs
BaS Rock dust $45 for 30 lbs, Amazon $36 / 25lbs
BaS Karanja Cake $26/ 5 lbs, Amazon only has oils. Cant find local.
Bas Kelp $28 for 6 lbs, Locally 10.95 for 10.5 lbs

Not that I dont appreciate the input, but you may want to relook at things.
Going through BaS final price $485. Amazon and local $264

ekim046 said:

very very cool! I'm excited to see your bounty I've got two wooden pallets outside using the same no till methodology. worm towers can prove to be pretty useful for no till purposes.

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Agreed. Once i have my initial batch mixed up, my worm farm should produce enough for teas and topdressings.

I dont double post very often. However, I owe foreverflyh both an apology and a thank you.
FFH, I spent the better part of 4 hours looking at my shit again and looking at Build a soil. My above reaction was comparing the amendments vs amendments. After some reading of a thread on a soil mix, i came across the exact same thing as a "kit" from build a soil. and it just came in the right size for my garden. The kit is $120. While about 10 bucks more, having it all mixed ready to dump into my base is worth 10 bucks to me. So Thank you. I will be throwing a order for that in january.

http://www.missouriorganic.com/produsts-compost.html

Here is my local humus source. Its not EWC, but i may just go with it. 18 bucks for 6 ft3

http://www.boogiebrew.net/worm-gold-plus/
^
Hey man, I'm not sure if its more cost effective, but the above castings are amazing. They have rock phosphate and fossilized kelp amended in. Read on if you're interested.
...
"Our ultra-premium worm castings are produced by worms fed a specific diet rich in chitin, producing castings with an elevated level of recycling organisms called chitin degraders. This means the nutrition can now be fed to the plants far more efficiently. The result: Worm Gold Plus!

Our worms and their castings are also supplemented with extra soil super-chargers in the form of biodynamic humus soluble kelp extract (the kelp we add is fossilized kelp), along with collodial rock dust. This produces a truly superior casting, which will positively charge your soil with new life and give plants a mega-dose of beneficial biology. The potent quantities of beneficial microbes produced by the worms’ digestion help the elements in soil work together to create a healthy substrate and an optimum growing environment. By improving soil structure, Worm Gold Plus promotes better root zone oxygenation. Worm Gold Plus also provides a gentle blend of nutrition which plants can then feed on as needed for weeks on end. High quality castings are a great source of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, plus more than 50 trace minerals and micro-nutrients."

m4s73r said:

Ok so 25 pounds would be the correct amount for the amount of soil i have. So ill do 30, 10 each of azomite, GRD, greensand.

Edit, I can get greensand and rock phosphate locally. Would these 2 work rather then the rock dust and azomite?

Click to expand...

I really prefer a broad source of minerals, the more variety the better, and if you are re-using or no-tilling, then greensand is vital in my opinion.
But to answer the question, YES, they would work in lieu of rock dust/azomite.

m4s73r said:

I was thinking about getting some neem meal. May just have to find a place to get it. Amazon has it in only 40lbs bag.
I have searched long and hard for local compost/ewc. Sadly, cant find a good source. So im stuck on ordering it. But its a one time deal as i will be utilizing my own worm farm for teas/topdressing. On amazon EWC is $36 for 30 lbs. Mushroom is $18 for 10lbs. (Charlies Compost)
Im going to assume that Biochar is Charcoal Soil Conditioner?

Thank jorge that 1lb isnt 1 cup. So help me out, how much should i be getting?
85.5 gallons divided by 12 pots is 7.125gallons. I also have around 6 gallons of old soil that i can mix in (old FFOF that was used) bringing me to 7.625 gallons. It sounds like your saying i should be aiming more at 120 gallons in 12 gallon pots. Giving me 10gallons of soil per pot. So i would need an additional 3.8 cft of soil.

I can go up to a 10 gallon fabric pot. Cant find 12 gallon, and 15 is more then i want to do deal with.

Click to expand...

nah, get a bag of hardwood charcoal and bust that bitch all up, it's work but not too hard, I used a 25lb olympic weight plate and another 15 lb'er to smash em up, then soak em in a nitrogen rich tea, some use urine, I used a dandelion and comfrey tea, with a speck of alfalfa in it. Gotta precharge it or it'll rob your soil..