Outdoor Grow.. What should i add to the soil??
- Thread starter Dr Dro
- Start date
Seamaiden
Well-Known Member
It would be difficult to advise you on how to amend the soil without knowing what it's like. For instance, my soil isn't soil at all, it's clay with FUCKING ROCKS, I'm amazed ANYTHING grows here, yet people have home vineyards and apple orchards and all kinds of stuff. In the mountains the geology is a little topsy turvy.
In any event, you'll want to mix a little of your native soil with the mix you purchased. You do this so that when the roots hit the new soil they won't "avoid" it (yes, this can happen) and stick to growing in the mix. If your native soil or the mix needs more nutrients, I love being able to put in stuff like kelp, bone, and blood meal that slowly release their nutrients, pretty much as the plants need them. This lets me take a more hands off approach (which is very much my style). Does that help at all?
In any event, you'll want to mix a little of your native soil with the mix you purchased. You do this so that when the roots hit the new soil they won't "avoid" it (yes, this can happen) and stick to growing in the mix. If your native soil or the mix needs more nutrients, I love being able to put in stuff like kelp, bone, and blood meal that slowly release their nutrients, pretty much as the plants need them. This lets me take a more hands off approach (which is very much my style). Does that help at all?
Dr Dro
Active Member
i live in northern ohio and my soil is basically clay and shit...lol
how much of the original soil should i put back in?
also i know about kelp, bone, and blood meal... but how much do i want to add to the soil?
if i add these(bone,blood,kelp meal)can i still use alaska fish fertilizer?
how much of the original soil should i put back in?
also i know about kelp, bone, and blood meal... but how much do i want to add to the soil?
if i add these(bone,blood,kelp meal)can i still use alaska fish fertilizer?
nofearacer87
Active Member
I am wondering about these same things =/
And what else are some other things i can put in my soil that will release the nutrients over time and allow me a more "hands off" approach
And what else are some other things i can put in my soil that will release the nutrients over time and allow me a more "hands off" approach
Seamaiden
Well-Known Member
You can use the fertilizer, but definitely, DEFINITELY dilute it, by half at least for the first dose, then personally I'd alternate that with clean water if going with soil amendments. One thing that's never mentioned here, but should be, is that nitrogen can be found just in water in the form of nitrate (that's essentially an end product of the oxidization of ammonia, which is often the means by which ferts get nitrogen).
As for the others, they usually tell you how much on the bag, and they're assuming the plants are being planted in ground. For instance, my blood meal says to use something like 1 Cup meal for every 20'sq. scratched or turned into the surface of the soil about 3" deep (this is from my faulty memory, but bear with me). I'm planted in pots, so I roughly calculated how many cubic feet are in a 2'x10'x3" plot and used the appropriate amount for how much soil I had (I had 4 cubic feet of soil). That adds up to 5 cubic feet (see this volume calculator, and remember that 3"=0.25' when figuring).
All of these products, and more (you should check out Subcool's Organics, and I can't remember where the soil recipe is, but oh well, you work with what you've got, right?). Bat guano is another one that's good to just mix into the soil. Worm castings are also good to mix in, and for clay, these plants that I've grown seem to appreciate sand. Their roots seem to grow through the sand more easily than loamy soil mixed with perlite.
Crap, am I making sense?
AHA! Found it.
https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/44686-subcools-super-soil.html#post478850
As for the others, they usually tell you how much on the bag, and they're assuming the plants are being planted in ground. For instance, my blood meal says to use something like 1 Cup meal for every 20'sq. scratched or turned into the surface of the soil about 3" deep (this is from my faulty memory, but bear with me). I'm planted in pots, so I roughly calculated how many cubic feet are in a 2'x10'x3" plot and used the appropriate amount for how much soil I had (I had 4 cubic feet of soil). That adds up to 5 cubic feet (see this volume calculator, and remember that 3"=0.25' when figuring).
All of these products, and more (you should check out Subcool's Organics, and I can't remember where the soil recipe is, but oh well, you work with what you've got, right?). Bat guano is another one that's good to just mix into the soil. Worm castings are also good to mix in, and for clay, these plants that I've grown seem to appreciate sand. Their roots seem to grow through the sand more easily than loamy soil mixed with perlite.
Crap, am I making sense?
AHA! Found it.
https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/44686-subcools-super-soil.html#post478850