Well said, Spicy. Worm casting is THE most nutrition substance known to man. Rabbit manure in a kiddie pool with a lb. of red wiggle worms will damn near grow a steel fence post. Throw away all the meters, water, ph, etc. with this start-up soil, mother nature keeps a perfect balance. Add some pure aleo vera, fish emulsion, greensand, thrive, seaweed, ground eggshell, stone ground, zeolite, blood & feather meal... shit !!! the babies will do amazing things. There is some fairly good, even impressive pre-mixed stuff. ie; Roots, Ladybug products, Living Earth products, Earth Juice, etc. 80% rabbit/worm farm soil, 20% pre-mix. Mix 'till you puke (a lot), & your set. Rain water is seriously awesome. Well water is second best. Shake up water to infuse oyxgen, temp-68° to 72°. I spend a week soaking plastic watering jugs (fill, soak, empty...10 times before I, or my babies consume the content. Plastic is toxic to organic life. Peat moss, sorgum,etc. WILL NOT promote microbial life, it KILLS microbial life..., use zeolite & worms to 'work the soil. Interesting fact. Different manures contain different types of bateria. Different types of bacteria breaks down the soil in different ways... is that cool or what? Wihh a 5 gal. pail of rabbit, I would add 2 single handfulls of various non -toxic manures, ie; sheep, duck, chicken, horse & cows. If you want "GOOD SHIT", use good shit. With this info, 12 lb plants is not just a dream. See dirtdoctor.com for more info. Hope this helped.