First time making my own organic medium. Did I get my ratios relatively right?

osowhom

osowhom

Well-Known Member
mwinpp said:
This is the stuff I'm using. The label says 5-10% perlite, so 3-6 litres pr bale. I'm planing on going in 7gal fabric pots as well.
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buy the big bag of perlite and put in like 5 double handfuls for the 7 gallons i did 1 and a half bricks of promix added 2 cups of guano and flower girl 3 cups of ewc and mixed it by hand in a big plastc tub so far so good
 
kratos015

kratos015

Well-Known Member
mwinpp said:
Yeah, we go to a big-ish farmers market just outside Ottawa every Saturday morning. It's good there but my wife (and 15% me) has spent 11 years now building a reputation, knowledge and a name for herself. We also have around 40 weekly customers who pickup a basket on the farm and we do "grab bags" every sunday (or monday) where people can order a one-off basket, usually priced around $35. We're also growing 18,000 garlic bulbs which are all harvested now and some are drying, getting braided, cleaned, some already sold. Life is pretty good here but it is lots of work. I'm a contractor busy building bathrooms right now and my wife is working way too much (often 12 hours/daily) and its not like its all sitting at a desk :p My best advice would be to grow nice simple/normal stuff like tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce mix, micro greens, carrots, beets, kale, herbs and that kind of stuff. Stuff that sells. I hate to say it, but at the end of the day, a crop has to be able to make $ in order for us to want to produce it. There is just too little time to grow a bunch of "fun" stuff that only appeals to 5% of your customer base. I hope that sounds reasonable and not too cynical. Facebook is a great marketing tool and see if you can get in with a farmers market local to you. We tried having an unmanned road side stand years ago and it sucked. Dont to that, lol.

That aside, thats some crazy good pricing on perlite/purmice! I just found a 9L bag tonight at Canadian Tire for $10. It's all priced around $1/litre if you can find it.

EDIT: Forgot to mention - the greenhouse is around $8k and maybe around $2k for the sand pad it sits on, pressure treated 2x6" foundation, plastic etc. It's a double walled system with a fan that continuously blows air to fill the gap between the layers for insulation. Still itwould go through a bbq-tank of propane pr night if it went down to -5c or a bit lower. Still way worth it though. I can tell you by the end of the year, but it's probably producing $300-$500 pr week in tomatoes alone in the growing season which is fairly long here (relatively, its fucking canada lol). I LOVE the greenhouse.
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Thanks for confirming a lot of my suspicions about the business. Similar to weed I figured, live and die by your reputation/consistency, don't mess with strains no one likes, don't waste time on mediocre producers, listen to your clientele, market, provide superior quality for the same price as your competition, etc.

You listed pretty much everything I've got going on at the moment, those items are always in demand, especially at my house.

Also, produce, much like cannabis, can be marketed in many different ways. Between all the stuff you can jar and pickle, pestos, salsas, and sauces, tons of ways I figured it'd be possible to offload produce.

Appreciate the input, and wishing you and yours the best.
 
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