Worth buying BuildASoils soil?

Kind Sir

Well-Known Member
Hehehehehe, ima let you in on a little secret, most ingrediants from bas was thru concentrates. How do I know? I work at concentrates:)
I’m having trouble finding the site for whatever reason, could you link me my friend?

I was aiming to do a similar to coots recipe. I don’t want a ton of stuff, mainly quality compost and some basic amendments. I also want to use cover crops, comfrey as mulch and stuff like that.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Hell no it’s not free shipping either, must just be stupid expensive due to them having the BAS name. Thanks for showing me this man. Anything else from you guys you recommend?
Well Concentrates rips you off on shipping I see. $51.66 shipping from Concentrates, $15.67 shipping from BAS.

So 1 cu ft bag:

Concentrates = $62.46
Build a Soil = $41.81

I love Build a Soil. I have a $5 off code if someone wants to order from them. I've spent over a grand there.
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
I mixed up a batch of coots mix soil.. Coots Mix Recipe. Simple to do. Lava rock for aeration, bale of peat moss from lowes/home depot, ewc's from a local worm farm, compost from a local landscape supply. Most ammendments ordered from Amazon, Down to Earth brand. I did order a few things from BAS. Agsil 16H, Aloe flakes, Big 6 Micronutrients, and Fulvic Acid. I mixed up about 10 cu ft, but ended up adding an extra cu ft of perlite to my mix. Mixed it all together and planted a cover crop on it to get the soil life going. Water using coots watering schedule. Plain Water. Malted Barley Powder/Agsil/fulvic acid/aloe. Plain water. Neem Kelp Top Dressing or Tea. Plain Water. Coconut water. Start cycle over. Once you mix the soil, go ahead and start watering with this schedule. Thats how I've been doing it, plants are loving it :bigjoint:
 

foreverflyhi

Well-Known Member
Yea shipping isn't cheap. Honestly I cringe when I see people spend soo much on something you should buy/source locally. However, you save money on minerals and fertilizers. Coughing up that extra on shipping would be worth it buying 1 50# at a time.
I'm spoiled living in Oregon, we get things extremely cheap, especially with the no tax. But shipping out of state, not cheap.
As for ocean rich, I never realized it's not on our website. We have way more than we actually advertise online.
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
Search Facebook marketplace for compost or ewc's, never know. Thats how I found mine. Older lady, not too internet savvy, but she has an amazing garden center and worm farm. I found an add on marketplace and went and checked it out. Such a nice lady, and very fair priced on everything she sells. Ended up buying some elephant ears from her.
 

Kind Sir

Well-Known Member
I mixed up a batch of coots mix soil.. Coots Mix Recipe. Simple to do. Lava rock for aeration, bale of peat moss from lowes/home depot, ewc's from a local worm farm, compost from a local landscape supply. Most ammendments ordered from Amazon, Down to Earth brand. I did order a few things from BAS. Agsil 16H, Aloe flakes, Big 6 Micronutrients, and Fulvic Acid. I mixed up about 10 cu ft, but ended up adding an extra cu ft of perlite to my mix. Mixed it all together and planted a cover crop on it to get the soil life going. Water using coots watering schedule. Plain Water. Malted Barley Powder/Agsil/fulvic acid/aloe. Plain water. Neem Kelp Top Dressing or Tea. Plain Water. Coconut water. Start cycle over. Once you mix the soil, go ahead and start watering with this schedule. Thats how I've been doing it, plants are loving it :bigjoint:
Thanks for telling me all that. I grew a soso living soil a few years ago, so trying to figure out what I should do again and that helps.
I’m trying to give the soil everything it needs without going overboard bc I have a problem doing that.

I can’t not overthink and research every step.

1. What did you use for a cover crop?

2. I worry about buying half ass compost locally, but it’s too expensive to ship it it looks like. Thoughts?

3. can I see your plants?
 

foreverflyhi

Well-Known Member
Thanks for telling me all that. I grew a soso living soil a few years ago, so trying to figure out what I should do again and that helps.
I’m trying to give the soil everything it needs without going overboard bc I have a problem doing that.

I can’t not overthink and research every step.

1. What did you use for a cover crop?

2. I worry about buying half ass compost locally, but it’s too expensive to ship it it looks like. Thoughts?

3. can I see your plants?
Concentrates haves a ipm mix you can buy by the pound. Has a variety of cover crops like medium red clover, crimson clover, California poppyseed, about 12 different varieties in that mix.
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
First time I used a beneficial insect attractant cover crop from naturesgoodguys.com Now im using the 12 seed clover from BAS.
Too me any compost you don't make yourself is a crap shoot. I like the idea of using local stuff. It just seems like everything in that compost is going to be better acclimated to my area. Might not matter. I went to a local landscape company and got compost with some silly name like "Magic Compost" :lol: Quarter yard was the smallest I could get, but I think I got closer to a yard. Dude is in a giant machine with a huge bucket, he isn't getting out to measure my pint sized scoop. It was less than $20. Had a good look and smell, but who really knows. Also search for "black leaf mold". We've got a few people selling it around here.
Here are my plants in the coots mix right now. They were transplanted into this soil 3 or 4 weeks ago now. They have been watered with the same watering schedule i mentioned above their whole lives.

20201122_115415.jpg
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
Here's the ammendments I used
Neem/Karanja
Gypsum
Oyster Shell
Kelp
Basalt

I also grabbed some Langbeinite for flower. I mixed it into my 10 gallon pots at their final transplant right before flowering. My last grow in a different organic soil had a potassium deficiency around week 4 or 5, so I was hoping to be a little more proactive.
Langbeinite

Ive only been using this soil around a month, but the plants are growing vigorously. Im pretty new to this whole growing thing, these plants are only my 4th grow. The only reason I'm comfortable recommending this soil mixture and watering schedule is because Coots is pretty well respected, and so many people have successfully used this mixture as a base to build some great soils. I liked having a recipe from the man himself. Everyone and everywhere is going to be a little different, but this seems like a great place to start. Coots mix is based off the Cornell mix I believe it is, been used for a long time. Good luck, its all a learning process, but a very enjoyable one :mrgreen:
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Here's the ammendments I used
Neem/Karanja
Gypsum
Oyster Shell
Kelp
Basalt

I also grabbed some Langbeinite for flower. I mixed it into my 10 gallon pots at their final transplant right before flowering. My last grow in a different organic soil had a potassium deficiency around week 4 or 5, so I was hoping to be a little more proactive.
Langbeinite

Ive only been using this soil around a month, but the plants are growing vigorously. Im pretty new to this whole growing thing, these plants are only my 4th grow. The only reason I'm comfortable recommending this soil mixture and watering schedule is because Coots is pretty well respected, and so many people have successfully used this mixture as a base to build some great soils. I liked having a recipe from the man himself. Everyone and everywhere is going to be a little different, but this seems like a great place to start. Coots mix is based off the Cornell mix I believe it is, been used for a long time. Good luck, its all a learning process, but a very enjoyable one :mrgreen:
I just started adding langbeinite (sul-po-mag) to some top dressing mixes. I don't know how much they can handle at a time so I'm starting slow.
 

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
I just started adding langbeinite (sul-po-mag) to some top dressing mixes. I don't know how much they can handle at a time so I'm starting slow.
Yeah im not sure what they can handle :lol: I mixed up a couple tablespoons when I was amending the soil for the final pot. The box recommended 1-2 tsp per gallon for established container plants. I figured I would do about half that, since agsil has potassium in it as well. Ill let you know how it works out.
 
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