Organic Soil Mix Recipe Input / Advice

CombatVet420

CombatVet420

New Member
Hello All,

I am new to the forum and am excited to finally be a home owner and not a renter so I'm trying to dial in an awesome organic style of growing. I have been a fan of Subs super soil approach and am playing around with different mixes of my own because I like that part of the process. I'm going to list the direction I am going to go with my next grow that I get going and any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am no master gardener but have had some successful seasons both indoor and outdoor while learning the basics. Below is the soil recipe I have decided to start with.

I am getting 6 bags of locally sourced Coconut Coir Special Mix from a very reputable and local worm farm in NorCal for my base soil. Here is a description of the mix.
- This highly aerated mix contains organic worm castings from The Worm Farm, coconut coir, compost, perlite, calphos powder, azomite rock powder, glacial rock dust, and green sand.
I am also adding 40-50 lbs of quality Castings from this same worm farm.
I am also getting volcanic rock from the same worm farm for additional aeration.

As far soil amendments that I am going with for the needed organic nutrition I have decided to use 3 different products from Down To Earth Fertilizers. The 3 products are their All Purpose Fertilizer, Bio Live, and Neem Seed Meal. The ratio I'm using is 9 lbs of All Purpose, 5 lbs of Bio Live, and 3 lbs of Neem Seed Meal.
I have these amounts pre mixed in a tub and will use 3 cups per cubic foot of Base Soil after I get it amended with the castings and volcanic rock. Below is a list of what All Purpose and Bio Live have in them.

All Purpose 4-6-2 - Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Rock Phosphate, Langbeinite, Greensand, Humates and Kelp Meal
Bio Live 5-4-2 - Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Crab Meal, Shrimp Meal, Langbeinite, Humates, Kelp Meal, Mycorrhizal Fungi and Beneficial Bacteria
The Neem Seed Meal I am adding with the hopes of helping with pest prevention.

I am going to mix all of this and cook it like Sub does for his super soil recipe. Then i'm going the just add water route and occasional sugar. Any feed back or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
 
Machiavelli_719

Machiavelli_719

Active Member
CombatVet420 said:
Hello All,

I am new to the forum and am excited to finally be a home owner and not a renter so I'm trying to dial in an awesome organic style of growing. I have been a fan of Subs super soil approach and am playing around with different mixes of my own because I like that part of the process. I'm going to list the direction I am going to go with my next grow that I get going and any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am no master gardener but have had some successful seasons both indoor and outdoor while learning the basics. Below is the soil recipe I have decided to start with.

I am getting 6 bags of locally sourced Coconut Coir Special Mix from a very reputable and local worm farm in NorCal for my base soil. Here is a description of the mix.
- This highly aerated mix contains organic worm castings from The Worm Farm, coconut coir, compost, perlite, calphos powder, azomite rock powder, glacial rock dust, and green sand.
I am also adding 40-50 lbs of quality Castings from this same worm farm.
I am also getting volcanic rock from the same worm farm for additional aeration.

As far soil amendments that I am going with for the needed organic nutrition I have decided to use 3 different products from Down To Earth Fertilizers. The 3 products are their All Purpose Fertilizer, Bio Live, and Neem Seed Meal. The ratio I'm using is 9 lbs of All Purpose, 5 lbs of Bio Live, and 3 lbs of Neem Seed Meal.
I have these amounts pre mixed in a tub and will use 3 cups per cubic foot of Base Soil after I get it amended with the castings and volcanic rock. Below is a list of what All Purpose and Bio Live have in them.

All Purpose 4-6-2 - Ingredients: Fish Bone Meal, Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Rock Phosphate, Langbeinite, Greensand, Humates and Kelp Meal
Bio Live 5-4-2 - Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Crab Meal, Shrimp Meal, Langbeinite, Humates, Kelp Meal, Mycorrhizal Fungi and Beneficial Bacteria
The Neem Seed Meal I am adding with the hopes of helping with pest prevention.

I am going to mix all of this and cook it like Sub does for his super soil recipe. Then i'm going the just add water route and occasional sugar. Any feed back or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Looks like a mighty fine recipe! An occasional microbe tea should keep everything in your soil going good. Gotta love true organics.
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
i personlly would skip the all purpose stuff. and go with raw ammendments. gives you more control and will be better for reusing soil. But i think this reciple will work. i used to use coir but have switched to peat. I like it better, bigger healthier plants.

for pest prevention, neem may help. but a better pest deterant would be crab shell or anythiing with chiton. and of course save some of your EWC for a 1 inch topdress which is your nummber one pest prevention method. In fact i mix EWc, Neam, Crab, Diatomaceus earth coco coir for a custom topdress. about 1-2 inches. I cannot stress how well this works. zero fungus gnats, zero pest, zero headache!

many people hate on subs style here. im not a fan. i really have had great success with 1/3 parts each Ewc, peat, and perlite as my base. than 4-5 cups nutrients, 2-3 cups minerals/ cf, oyster shell, gypsum for ph buffering. GOOD compost is key here. in addition to your EWC. i use about 4 cups/cf. the layers thing that subcool preaches is ccounter intuitive for me. there is NO need to use SS in the bottum 1/3 and reg bagged soil for the rest or whatever. the plant knows what it wants. and will take what it wants. us humans just get in the way with our grand ideas. I mean it makes since that the plant might want a heavier amount of nutrition near middle to end of its life, BUT than what about the roots that fill the ENTIRE pots within 2 weeks of transplant. (if everything is done right). And what about soil inconsitancies. say your base is in a light mix of FFOF or ROOTs, how can anyone be sure that the soil consitancy, ph, moisture retention ec, ec will make for an easy transition for the plant as she grows. IDK, No till and recycled mixes are much better! imo

good luck Combatvet420! Glad your sticking to organics. dive deep! i try to learn something new everyday! congrats on the house, i know how i felt when i finally purchased my first home. there is truly very little to compare the feeling of owning.
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
I agree with skipping the all purpose mix and just use the bio live, and neem seed meal. remember the neem seed meal is going to have an NPK profile as well. I would say you could use the bio live at 2-3 cups per cuft; just looking at the ingredients and what I put into my mix of those individual ingredients. use the neem seed meal at 1/2cup per cu ft. you can get some rock phosphate from dr. earth for low $ if you feel you need it. i'm trying some out in my mix.

other than that, the just add water route is a great plan, and even if you want to hit them with a compost tea once every few weeks, maybe some aloe and coconut water in there as well. but don't have to. the compost tea is the only necessary thing.

Good luck, and thank you for choosing organics!
 
Dr. Who

Dr. Who

Well-Known Member
Your first run will show yellowing in bloom way to early....Too much P being thrown in....I mean I don't see you listing amounts BUT, the sum total of available P is looking kinda high with that amendment list....

Doc
 
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