Newbie Soil/Fert Composition.. how am I doing?

Hey all,

I am about to start my first grow op and I have formulated what I think will be a healthy fertile soil and vegging fertilizer mix, let me know what you think!

Soil:

50% sphagnum peat moss
30% Organic Eko compost
20% perlite

Vegetative Fertilizer Mix:

3 parts Cottonseed meal 18: 7.5: 4.5
1 part Kelp meal 1: .5: 2.5
.5 part rock phosphate 0: 1.5 : 0
.5 part greensand 0: .75: 4.5

This amounts to a 19: 10.25: 11.5 mix, with a solid variety of micro and macronutrients

I was planning on adding an unknown amount of dolomitic limestone (suggestions?) as well as diluting the solution in water 3-4 times (again suggestions?)

My research has led me to believe this should be a solid start for my vegging plants. Also, I am a vegan so I had to exclude blood/bone/fish meals which I know to be excellent sources of N. Please give me suggestions as to what I may need more/less of, or if I am completely off base!

Thanks guys and happy growing!

What is the NPK for EKO compost?

You want a faster integrating P source. Rock phosphate is cool but it takes a while to release. Would guano violate your vegan grow? If the EKO is high in P, disregard this. No need worry about adding too much greensand, or kelp.

Add the dolomite. Peat degrades and becomes more acidic, the dolomite counter acts that and maintains a ph buffer. Plus it has all sortsa cool stuff fro the plants in it.

You're not really off base. Below here is a list of a formula similar to 3LB but what could be maybe more "Veganized". Take the ratios from this.
- 50 gals peat-based mix (promix, sunshine mix, MG Organic, your 50/30/20 sphag, eko, perl mix)
- 30 lbs worm castings ( may not need if the EKO compost is more complete)
- 4 cups greensand/dolomite/kelp meal/cotton seed meal/rock phosphate/ some P fert that doesn't involve animals I know they exist easily, I'm just high.
- Perlite
- 2 cups Epsom salts

You're probably fine with what you have, but I'm just being picky and throwing out ideas. Vegan organic growing sounds so nice.

Alfalfa is a great source of N. It high in N and adds Triacontanol which is great for the roots. I don't know of a good source of fast P that is not animal based. I guess nature is not vegan.

Yeah I knew overall I was going to have to make some compromises to keep everything healthy and as close to vegan as I can do. I actually have some 0-5-0 bat guano that I bought for flowering but will include in the soil mix now as well. I figured for guano, it occurs naturally and the bats themselves aren't being harvested or in cages, so I can deal with it being technically non-vegan.

I was planning on mixing up the soil, wetting it, and letting it sit for a week or so to let everything break down and become available to the microorganisms/ plants. Also, I cant seem to find the NPK of Eko compost, neither on the bag or on their website... all I know is it 25:1 carbon to nitrogen. As for the fertilizer mix, how often and how much do you think is necessary to keep the soil healthy?

Thanks for the help guys and hopefully I'll be back with some pictures and a positive update!

Nice, i need 2 start making my own soil becuase fox farms is 2 dam exspensive.

cxper said:

Hey all,

I am about to start my first grow op and I have formulated what I think will be a healthy fertile soil and vegging fertilizer mix, let me know what you think!

Soil:

50% sphagnum peat moss
30% Organic Eko compost
20% perlite

Vegetative Fertilizer Mix:

3 parts Cottonseed meal 18: 7.5: 4.5
1 part Kelp meal 1: .5: 2.5
.5 part rock phosphate 0: 1.5 : 0
.5 part greensand 0: .75: 4.5

This amounts to a 19: 10.25: 11.5 mix, with a solid variety of micro and macronutrients

I was planning on adding an unknown amount of dolomitic limestone (suggestions?) as well as diluting the solution in water 3-4 times (again suggestions?)

My research has led me to believe this should be a solid start for my vegging plants. Also, I am a vegan so I had to exclude blood/bone/fish meals which I know to be excellent sources of N. Please give me suggestions as to what I may need more/less of, or if I am completely off base!

Thanks guys and happy growing!

Click to expand...

I'd do a gallon test batch of your growing media to check runoff pH before adding any lime. Most fortified potting soils are pH balanced which offset the low pH of peat moss.

milkmilk said:

Nice, i need 2 start making my own soil becuase fox farms is 2 dam exspensive.

Click to expand...

Not to hijack the thread but my growing media for outdoor containers:

25% Gardner & Bloom potting soil (fir bark, forest humus, peat moss,perlite, chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, oyster shell, dolomite lime)$6.50/2cf
25% peat moss $11.95/3.8cf bale
25% perlite $18.95/4cf
25% decomposed cow manure $15/pickup load

6.5 runoff pH, $3.22 per cf for 18 25 gallon smart pots. Supplements limited to AACT teas drench and foliar sprays.

cxper said:

Yeah I knew overall I was going to have to make some compromises to keep everything healthy and as close to vegan as I can do. I actually have some 0-5-0 bat guano that I bought for flowering but will include in the soil mix now as well. I figured for guano, it occurs naturally and the bats themselves aren't being harvested or in cages, so I can deal with it being technically non-vegan.

I was planning on mixing up the soil, wetting it, and letting it sit for a week or so to let everything break down and become available to the microorganisms/ plants. Also, I cant seem to find the NPK of Eko compost, neither on the bag or on their website... all I know is it 25:1 carbon to nitrogen. As for the fertilizer mix, how often and how much do you think is necessary to keep the soil healthy?

Thanks for the help guys and hopefully I'll be back with some pictures and a positive update!

Click to expand...

I threw guano out there since it isn't made FROM an animal, like bone/blood meal. It was the only P additive that I could think of that is organic and isn't a meal. On a personal side note, the guano in some areas is harvested from caves where the ecosystem depends on there being a cave floor covered in guano. If these areas are over-harvested, the ecosystem in that area will collapse. I'd rather buy meals made from ground up cows/horses than buy guano because the guano (like peat) isn't a quickly renewed resource, nor is it actually recycling because the guano is used as it lays on the cave floor.

You don't want to ingest animals, I don't want to ruin where the animals live. Whatever. It's all personal.

As far as the fert mix, how much of the soil mix are you going to make up? That will partially determine how much of the fert mix you need to make. As far as how often, I refresh my bin (with 3LB mix posted before) once a year.

cxper said:

Hey all,

I am about to start my first grow op and I have formulated what I think will be a healthy fertile soil and vegging fertilizer mix, let me know what you think!

Soil:

50% sphagnum peat moss
30% Organic Eko compost
20% perlite

Vegetative Fertilizer Mix:

3 parts Cottonseed meal 18: 7.5: 4.5
1 part Kelp meal 1: .5: 2.5
.5 part rock phosphate 0: 1.5 : 0
.5 part greensand 0: .75: 4.5

This amounts to a 19: 10.25: 11.5 mix, with a solid variety of micro and macronutrients

I was planning on adding an unknown amount of dolomitic limestone (suggestions?) as well as diluting the solution in water 3-4 times (again suggestions?)

My research has led me to believe this should be a solid start for my vegging plants. Also, I am a vegan so I had to exclude blood/bone/fish meals which I know to be excellent sources of N. Please give me suggestions as to what I may need more/less of, or if I am completely off base!

Thanks guys and happy growing!

Click to expand...

My family and I are vegan too and I started a set up just recently and have a grow journal going for it. I am growing my ladies in Fabric SmartPots with Eco-Friendly Growstones as their medium. GrowStnoes are 100% recycled lime-soda bottle glass so that means there is ZERO animal product in them. In veg I have to flush them once DAILY with the Vegan Compost Tea Grow nutes series that General Organics makes - an amazing nutrient company in my opinion. Once in flower they will be flushed twice DAILY (because they are under 1000watt HPS and dry out very fast) with the General Organics Vegan Compost Tea Bloom nutes series.


6 different strains of Vegan ladies!!

Blue Moonshine Vegan girl!

Eco-friendly 100% recycled lime-soda bottle glass GrowStones

General Organics Vegan Grow and Bloom nutrients along with CaMg.

My PH is always perfect for my grows - 6 - 6.1 - something General Hydroponics and General Organics are known for. I have NEVER needed an adjuster.

Hope this helps!

You will need the lime, cottonseed meal is also acidic and needs (IIRC), a bit over 4lbs of dolomite lime to neutralize 100 lbs of the meal.

I use ~1 1/2 cups of dolomite lime (powdered), per cf of mix.

Wet

Hey guys back with an update! I just mixed all the soil and fert and am going to get plants today. To make 10 gals of mix (2 pots worth) I ended up using 5 gal peat, 2.5 gal compost, and 2.5 gal vermiculite. To that I added 1/2 cup fertilizer mix (to be sure I don't overdo it) and 4 TBSP dolomite lime. The soil read 6.5 when distilled water was added, so I think I'm lookin pretty good!

As far as my plants I'm growing a few hybrids (Ft Collins Cough x Afghani) and (Bubblegum x White Rhino) as well as a few power plant.

Thanks for the help guys!

If you are into pure organics ( no mass produced bottled products ) you can use your own urine for a very fine source of NPK especially nitrogen, as high as 49%. Mixed 0ne part urine to 5 or 6 parts water will prevent fert burn. Ignore those who dislike this idea ( too smelly, too gross, etc. ) the smell is negligible, and only truly noticeable on the day you apply. Also, I adding 10% washed masonry sand ( unwashed can have high concentrations of clay ) will give you a soil in which plants roots can move freely, and water disperses more evenly and drains very well. If you have access to a chicken coop ( or other poultry ) some of the manure enriched straw can be mixed in soil which you would prepare now for later use ( time in soil will release nutrients, the longer left standing the better ). I have a compost pile in backyard, and raise ducks, so I add their coop litter to pile, along with veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, hair etc. A properly prepared compost pile ( Oh, and pissing on compost will add nitrogen, and alleviate the yuck factor of applying directly to plants ) will give you wonderful mix of nutrients and many minerals as well. mixed with potting soil and you have great growth medium. I know there are commercial products which provide much of what plants need, but if you can do a compost pile, why pay for what you can produce yourself for free?