Building A Better Soil: Demonstrations & Discussions Of Organic Soil Recipes

[ClosedCircuit]

I think the tide is going to change to organic once folks get smart and start reading the canna testing results. The testing process is just getting started so it may take a bit of time (year or so), but once folks start to see what they are ingesting as "medicine" from the hydo grows there will be a change to organically grown.

The process has already happened with veggies...

Healthier, tastes better, and the most important part, cost will change how the market reacts to organically grown in the near future.

Funny I got called "old school growing methods" the other day for growing organic.. Yep just like mother nature I'm "old school" and staying that way too.

I'm all about feeding the soil and get out of the way....

My friends that call me old school order from the dispensaries, then try and compare to organics, I don't even think they know what "curing" means tbh, and the canna smells like chemical candy from 7-11; "smell that, you weed doesn't smell like that". Hahaha thank you very much, I'm glad for that and OH I guess they didn't try any organically grown Blackberry Kush or Purple Kush or whatever berry strain I have in my jar.

My point is, organics will grow in popularity just like organic veggies and grass fed beef did. Sooner than later, did you take a look at the prices for that "juice" at the hydro store? I'd be having to pay $700-$1000 a round for that crap, unless it's going to make a 3-4 fold increase in yield (and it wont), no way no how is this financially sustainable, and that's not mentioning bio-sustainability.

With that margin in cost of chems/hydro (not counting all the extra work) in comparison to organics its just a matter of time, at the end of the day costs of operation will run the market. We already have stores selling stuff for soil growers. It's called the feed store or your local garden nursery. I can get most everything I need to grow locally, if we lived farther out in the country there's even more options at the feed stores. I do have to send out for neem tho!! neemresource.com way cheaper and better than local so worth it for me.

Its funny you get called old school because alot of people grow like you do out in CO. For many people that's the only way. But I have found that alot of people working in dispensaries aren't typically as knowledgeable as the average grower unless they grow themselves.

 

[Heirloom]

Thank you for the neem (and karanja) source bobrown14!

Old school. LOL. Get this, I read somewhere on the interwebz someone called organic growing a fad. A fad?? OK, sure. Longest lived fad in human history besides the use of fire and shelter. A fad. Sheesh.

Unfortunately my feed stores are farmers co-ops. And farming here means chemicals. Potassium Nitrate, Ammonium Sulfate, Magnesium Oxy Sulfate...the list goes on and on. They have 2lb Espoma SRP, gypsum, alfalfa pellets...and not much else I would use. Nurseries can be just as bad, though I can find Dr. Earth and DTE brand fert mixes.

 

[bobrown14]

Thank you for the neem (and karanja) source bobrown14!

Old school. LOL. Get this, I read somewhere on the interwebz someone called organic growing a fad. A fad?? OK, sure. Longest lived fad in human history besides the use of fire and shelter. A fad. Sheesh.

Unfortunately my feed stores are farmers co-ops. And farming here means chemicals. Potassium Nitrate, Ammonium Sulfate, Magnesium Oxy Sulfate...the list goes on and on. They have 2lb Espoma SRP, gypsum, alfalfa pellets...and not much else I would use. Nurseries can be just as bad, though I can find Dr. Earth and DTE brand fert mixes.

I guess I'm lucky in that there are a lot of farmers here near us that are 100% organic and many of them have been that way for generations.

Stick with what works... family run farms. They all know how to compost and buy proper feeds for the animals.

You're feed stores should have kelp meal - it's something even the chem farmers need to keep the animals healthy.

Rabbit food can be used as mentioned, alfalfa pellets. Find a local farm that has rabbits - they will have everything organic and ask them where they source feeds and organic inputs for gardening and buy rabbit "berries" I'm sure they will be glad to share.

Heck we even have Llama farms here and they are 100% organic farmers as the poop is like rabbit poop. No burn don't even need to compost it, same as rabbit berries.

I'm getting into kelp meal a lot lately and have been reading up on uses and benefits. There's a fair amount of farmers that have switched to kelp and got rid of the chems and its been going on for 50+ years now. Reason they switched is economics and health for the farmers and the animals, imagine that!!

 

[Llama]

I guess I'm lucky in that there are a lot of farmers here near us that are 100% organic and many of them have been that way for generations.

Stick with what works... family run farms. They all know how to compost and buy proper feeds for the animals.

You're feed stores should have kelp meal - it's something even the chem farmers need to keep the animals healthy.

Rabbit food can be used as mentioned, alfalfa pellets. Find a local farm that has rabbits - they will have everything organic and ask them where they source feeds and organic inputs for gardening and buy rabbit "berries" I'm sure they will be glad to share.

Heck we even have Llama farms here and they are 100% organic farmers as the poop QUOTE]

Huh????

 

[SBG]

Hey I think I've smoked with that Guy.

 

[Llama]

I was talking to a friend who is a real soil scientist.(He actually makes a living at it) He sent me this little guide to making soil. It's very easy to understand. It's a long read but it's worthwhile. Hope you all enjoy.

Happy Bacteria A Company Solving for X in Agriculture

• Organic soil can be recycled over and over and over and over. • In fact, it gets better over time.

• Organic soil amendments take a long time to break down, some take years. Far longer than a grow.

• A plant uses a small amount of the elements available. • Therefore, there is still significant amounts of elements still present in the soil. • Soil can be used for several grow cycles without and additional amendments

• If your garden is No-Till, then don’t follow this. • Just Top Dress with some extra goodies every so often.
• Revitalizing your soil is an Art not a ‘Science’

• The suggestion I make here are good. • However, it’s not a science and your plant may require something a little different.
• If your plant showed any kind of deficiency, you will need to amend to correct. • At the end of the day, trust your gut. • Follow the formula

• The ONLY thing you should absolutely add more of is Humus. • Plus whatever aeration needed to offset the humus

• Keep a supply of amendments in various stages of decomposition.

• Lightly re-amend after each grow.

• After harvesting - pull out the root ball

• The stuff hanging onto the roots is bacteria and fungi.

• Dump the remaining soil into a suitably sized container.


• You can either chop up the root balls and mix with other soil.

• If your grow container is big enough, just use the root ball as a filler.

Amending
• Compost / Worm Castings aka Humus

• 1 part of Humus / 4 parts of old soil

• Aeration - ½ of total humus added

• if you added 10 gal of humus add 5 gal of perlite or rice hulls - similar

• Kelp meal - 1 cup per Cubic foot of soil

• Dry organic fertilizer - ¼ ~ ½ cup per cubic foot of soil

• Lime - sweeten with ¼ cup per cubic foot of soil
Non-Cook formula you don’t have to sit and let it cook unless you added any extra amendments if you added, you wait.

• If you add anything “extra” or

• more than ½ cup of dry organic fertilizer per cubic foot you will need to let it cook for 2~4 weeks prior to use.

Nuggets of Info
• This is the time when you can add any new amendments you want to add.

• I suggest you add 1~1 ½ cups of additional amendments.

• You will need to allow the soil another 2~4 weeks of cooking to allow the amendments to break down.

• Let's say that you started with the base soil amended with only kelp meal and dry organic fertilizer, and now you want to several "extra" amendments (or just one, whatever you like). Make a blend of all the amendments you want to add, using equal portions of all amendments with a double portion of kelp meal. Now add 1-1.5 cups of this mix to your organic soil and allow to cycle for 2-4 weeks, or more (the longer the better).

Soil Phases
• Soil has 2 very distinct phases.

• Solute

• Solid

Solute

• In this phase we talk about Nutrient Cycling. • Bacteria and enzymes work to both build up and break down the elements/ compounds. • The resultant viscus bacterial slime serves as the liquid from which both the plant(s) and members of the microHerd absorb nutrients.

Solid aka C.E.C. Cation Exchange Capacity

• The ‘AAA Farm Club’ or Reserves.

• For example: The Ions of a nutrient absorbed to the soil’s CEC cannot be stripped or leached away with water, even lot and lots of water.

• These Ions are held in the soil by a electrostatic charge ( + ) and are available to the microHerd and can pass across the root membrane and into the plant.

• So now the light bulb goes on and you create a soil ‘mix’ that is very high in O.M. (organic matter)

• At this point in time, you need to consider how you are going to sweeten the soil to offset the the bacterial action.

• Remember, bacteria secrete very powerful acids and over time these acids will cause the soil pH to drop.

Making Soil Sweet


• So, we got this high OM soil but didn’t put anything in it to offset the bacterial action. This is where lime, gypsum, etc come in.

• When plants and/or members of the microHerd strip/absorb the Nutrient (+ charged) cations from the ‘soil solid’ (- charged cations) OR from the Solute, they exchange them for Hydrogen ions (+ charge)

• The vast majority of nutrient ions are Cations, then the net change of the soil’s pH will trend towards acidic over time.

• We have to neutralize this. This is where liming agents enter the picture.

Deep End of the Pool •

Liming agents Neutralize Hydrogen in solution.

• Thereby negating their influence on soil solution pH.

• The Solid phase (C.E.C.) also has the ability to ‘buffer’ the pH of the soil by absorbing hydrogen out of solution and ‘binding’ it so that it no longer has an effect on pH, and ultimately nutrient uptake by plants and microbes.

Petticoat Junction
• With a high OM soil mix, you have very little to neutralize free hydrogen in the soil solution. The only OTHER place that it can go is to the soil's CEC. After a few grows in the same soil, your CEC is probably "full" of hydrogen ions, and is no longer able to buffer H+ out of the soil solution.

• That being said, the soil solution (where plant/microbial nutrient ion exchange happens) is also saturated with excess soluble hydrogen.

• pH is nothing more than a measurement of the concentration of hydrogen ions in solution. Think of this concentration as "x" amount of hydrogen ions in "x" amount of space. If the available "space" is filled with mostly hydrogen ions (+), they tend to REPEL nutrient cations (also +) so that they are unable to be adsorbed by the negatively charged nutrient adsorption sites on the plant root. This is how/why low pH results in nutrient "lock out".

Adjusting pH

• Generally speaking farmers, both Organic & Conventional use either sulfuric or citric acid as their buffer (sweetner).

• Both are approved NOP

• ‘High End’ ‘Professional’ soil mixes (Sunshine Organic Grower’s Mix) generally use gypsum as their sweetener.

• It is used as the coagulate in soy milk, so we know it’s safe. • Gypsum - calcium sulfate with the formula CaSO4. • Elemental Calcium (Ca++) Sulphur with 4 oxygen atoms

• As we already know, Calcium (C++) is a base alkaline. This means it can, if need be, be utilized by the microHerd to lower the pH of the soil.

• Sulphur is broken down by the microHerd as well and this produces sulfuric acid.

• The Cations in the soil which affect the soil’s pH carry a ‘ + ’ charge, which means it is held in the rhizosphere by the ‘ - ’ charged ions.

• eg: humic & fulvic acids along with clay particles • these acids come from your EWC & compost.

• This electrical charge dynamic is what literally holds the 6 basic soil cations in place even when you flush with water.

6 Basic soil Cations Alkaline

• Magnesium (Mg++) • Calcium (Ca++) • Potassium (K+) • Sodium (Na+)

6 Basic Cations Acid base

• Hydrogen (H+) • it’s the Hydrogen (H) that is the ‘H’ in pH • Aluminum (Al+)

Electrical charges

• When plants are exposed to massive amounts of water (flushing), very little minerals are being removed because: • They are held in place first by this electrical charge • Secondly by the slime the bacteria create which envelopes the minerals, humus, and such.


Chemical products

• These products carry a Negative charge.

• Look at the ingredients in a chemical “Fertilizer”

• Check the wiki and you’ll see each and everyone carries a ‘ - ’ Negative charge.

• What this all means is: when you apply enough water to get some kind of run-off, the negative ions are removed from the soil.
• This ‘run-off’ tells us absolutely nothing about the soil pH and even less (if it’s possible) about the water’s pH

• It is totally nutz on any level.

• forget science it doesn’t even pass the logic test.

To test soil pH

• If you want to test your soil's pH then dig down a couple of inches and collect a tsp. or so of soil and make a slurry with a known water source (purity, pH, blah, blah, blah) and then measure that. At least now you'll have some basis to make whatever adjustments you feel are warranted.


• The real way to test the health of your soil is to remove a large fan leaf from the plant with a substantial stem from the stalk to the leaf. Take that opening on the cut and measure the plant's pH - it should be a 6.4 pH which is the same level in the saliva of a healthy person.

 

[SweetSue]

Llama, this is golden. I'm going to reformat the hell out of it and repost.

Thank you. Please thank your generous friend.

 

[SweetSue]

I was talking to a friend who is a real soil scientist.(He actually makes a living at it) He sent me this little guide to making soil. It's very easy to understand. It's a long read but it's worthwhile. Hope you all enjoy.

Happy Bacteria A Company Solving for X in Agriculture
Friday, October 2, 2015

- Organic soil can be recycled over and over and over and over. In fact, it gets better over time.

- Organic soil amendments take a long time to break down, some take years. Far longer than a grow. A plant uses a small amount of the elements available. Therefore, there is still significant amounts of elements still present in the soil. Soil can be used for several grow cycles without any additional amendments

If your garden is No-Till, then don't follow this. Just Top Dress with some extra goodies every so often.

Revitalizing your soil is an Art not a 'Science'

The suggestions I make here are good. However, it's not a science and your plant may require something a little different. If your plant showed any kind of deficiency, you will need to amend to correct. At the end of the day, trust your gut. Follow the formula

The ONLY thing you should absolutely add more of is humus, plus whatever aeration needed to offset the humus.

Keep a supply of amendments in various stages of decomposition. Lightly re-amend after each grow.

After harvesting - pull out the root ball. The stuff hanging onto the roots is bacteria and fungi. Dump the remaining soil into a suitably sized container.You can either chop up the root balls and mix with other soil. If your grow container is big enough, just use the root ball as a filler.

Amending

Compost / Worm Castings aka Humus - 1 part of Humus / 4 parts of old soil

Aeration - ½ of total humus added. If you added 10 gal of humus add 5 gal of perlite or rice hulls - similar

Kelp meal - 1 cup per Cubic foot of soil

Dry organic fertilizer - ¼ ~ ½ cup per cubic foot of soil

Lime - sweeten with ¼ cup per cubic foot of soil

Non-Cook formula:

You don't have to sit and let it cook unless you added any extra amendments if you added, you wait.

If you add anything "extra" or more than ½ cup of dry organic fertilizer per cubic foot you will need to let it cook for 2~4 weeks prior to use.

Nuggets of Info

This is the time when you can add any new amendments you want to add. I suggest you add 1~1 ½ cups of additional amendments. You will need to allow the soil another 2~4 weeks of cooking to allow the amendments to break down.

Let's say that you started with the base soil amended with only kelp meal and dry organic fertilizer, and now you want to several "extra" amendments (or just one, whatever you like). Make a blend of all the amendments you want to add, using equal portions of all amendments with a double portion of kelp meal. Now add 1-1.5 cups of this mix to your organic soil and allow to cycle for 2-4 weeks, or more (the longer the better).

Soil Phases

Soil has 2 very distinct phases. Solute and Solid

Solute
In this phase we talk about Nutrient Cycling. - Bacteria and enzymes work to both build up and break down the elements/ compounds. The resultant viscus bacterial slime serves as the liquid from which both the plant(s) and members of the microHerd absorb nutrients.

Solid aka C.E.C. Cation Exchange Capacity
The 'AAA Farm Club' or Reserves. For example: The Ions of a nutrient absorbed to the soil's CEC cannot be stripped or leached away with water, even lot and lots of water. These Ions are held in the soil by a electrostatic charge ( + ) and are available to the microHerd and can pass across the root membrane and into the plant.

So now the light bulb goes on and you create a soil 'mix' that is very high in O.M. (organic matter) At this point in time, you need to consider how you are going to sweeten the soil to offset the the bacterial action. Remember, bacteria secrete very powerful acids and over time these acids will cause the soil pH to drop.

Making Soil Sweet

So, we got this high OM soil but didn't put anything in it to offset the bacterial action. This is where lime, gypsum, etc come in. When plants and/or members of the microHerd strip/absorb the Nutrient (+ charged) cations from the 'soil solid' (- charged cations) OR from the Solute, they exchange them for Hydrogen ions (+ charge)

The vast majority of nutrient ions are Cations, then the net change of the soil's pH will trend towards acidic over time. We have to neutralize this. This is where liming agents enter the picture.

Deep End of the Pool

Liming agents Neutralize Hydrogen in solution, thereby negating their influence on soil solution pH. The Solid phase (C.E.C.) also has the ability to 'buffer' the pH of the soil by absorbing hydrogen out of solution and 'binding' it so that it no longer has an effect on pH, and ultimately nutrient uptake by plants and microbes.

Petticoat Junction

With a high OM soil mix, you have very little to neutralize free hydrogen in the soil solution. The only OTHER place that it can go is to the soil's CEC. After a few grows in the same soil, your CEC is probably "full" of hydrogen ions, and is no longer able to buffer H+ out of the soil solution. That being said, the soil solution (where plant/microbial nutrient ion exchange happens) is also saturated with excess soluble hydrogen. pH is nothing more than a measurement of the concentration of hydrogen ions in solution. Think of this concentration as "x" amount of hydrogen ions in "x" amount of space. If the available "space" is filled with mostly hydrogen ions (+), they tend to REPEL nutrient cations (also +) so that they are unable to be adsorbed by the negatively charged nutrient adsorption sites on the plant root. This is how/why low pH results in nutrient "lock out".

Adjusting pH

Generally speaking farmers, both Organic & Conventional use either sulfuric or citric acid as their buffer (sweetner). Both are approved NOP. 'High End' 'Professional' soil mixes (Sunshine Organic Grower's Mix) generally use gypsum as their sweetener. It is used as the coagulate in soy milk, so we know it's safe. Gypsum - calcium sulfate with the formula CaSO4. Elemental Calcium (Ca++) Sulphur with 4 oxygen atomsAs we already know, Calcium (C++) is a base alkaline. This means it can, if need be, be utilized by the microHerd to lower the pH of the soil. -Sulphur is broken down by the microHerd as well and this produces sulfuric acid.

The Cations in the soil which affect the soil's pH carry a ' + ' charge, which means it is held in the rhizosphere by the ' - ' charged ions, eg: humic & fulvic acids along with clay particles. These acids come from your EWC & compost. This electrical charge dynamic is what literally holds the 6 basic soil cations in place even when you flush with water.

6 Basic soil Cations: Alkaline

Magnesium (Mg++), Calcium (Ca++), Potassium (K+), Sodium (Na+)

6 Basic Cations: Acid base

Hydrogen (H+) *it's the Hydrogen (H) that is the 'H' in pH * , Aluminum (Al+)

Electrical charges

When plants are exposed to massive amounts of water (flushing), very little minerals are being removed because:
- They are held in place first by this electrical charge.
- Secondly by the slime the bacteria create which envelopes the minerals, humus, and such.

Chemical products

These products carry a Negative charge. Look at the ingredients in a chemical "Fertilizer." Check the wiki and you'll see each and everyone carries a ' - ' Negative charge. What this all means is: when you apply enough water to get some kind of run-off, the negative ions are removed from the soil. This 'run-off' tells us absolutely nothing about the soil pH and even less (if it's possible) about the water's pH. It is totally nutz on any level. Forget science, it doesn't even pass the logic test.

To test soil pH

If you want to test your soil's pH then dig down a couple of inches and collect a tsp. or so of soil and make a slurry with a known water source (purity, pH, blah, blah, blah) and then measure that. At least now you'll have some basis to make whatever adjustments you feel are warranted.

The real way to test the health of your soil is to remove a large fan leaf from the plant with a substantial stem from the stalk to the leaf. Take that opening on the cut and measure the plant's pH - it should be a 6.4 pH which is the same level in the saliva of a healthy person.

 

[SweetSue]

This is priceless. I need to share it with a couple people I know don't peruse these pages and obviously should.

Llama........

 

[Llama]

Thanks a bunch Sue.

 

[36Gr0w]

Llama with post of the year! A lot should be or become common knowledge, but most was solid gold! A million thanks my friend, for your interest, conversation, and post.

 

[36Gr0w]

I don't know what thanking a post is our does, but you got that too. You helped a chemist friend and I bridge the gap in our conversation yesterday.

 

[94xjjohn]

SweetSue (Trophy Type Person),

If I'd had you...
...in production in 1983, I wouldn't have gone belly-up with the newspaper (shopper) I had at that time.​

REFORMAT

God, I love that kind of talk from a POT grown' hottie.​

 

[ClosedCircuit]

I think I might have shared this page before in this thread, but here it is again. Its a great companion Llamas post and goes into more detail without being over complicated.

Cation Exchange Capacity in Soils, Simplified

 

[SweetSue]

One of those links that always comes in handy.

 

[jeffsmith]

Hey guys I'm new here if been doing a lot of reading over the last bit and would like to ask a little advice before I jump in the deep end!

I have a base recipe and a list of amendments. Also iv just built an act brewer and have.what I think is a balanced recipe.

Can you guys let me know if I have missed something or if my ratios are wrong please.

Ok here goes
65% peat
20% perlite
15% worm castings

With the following amendments That I can locally source

Blood meal
Bone meal
Basalt dust
Dolomite
Kelp meal
Oyster shell grits. Is this a replacement for dolomite or do I run both?
And also is it the same as crab meal?
Neemcake

I have down as maybys

Diatomaceous earth
Epsom salt
Organic rice
Green sand. Not sure if I can get this yet.
Bat guano
I know iv missed stuff and have probably doubled up on something. I have no idea of amounts of amendments. Most posts iv come across talk in teaspoons but I will be mixing a 6 to 7000ltr batch so if I can figure out for say a 100 or 1000ltr batch that would be amazing so please guide me gently lol

My biggest problem is that I use approx 2000 lets every 3 weeks.
So I want to start reammending and re using.


Act brew balanced? 20 ltr

450 mils worm castings
100 mils molasses
15 mils fish hydrolysate
50mils kelp meal
15 mils Roksolid basalt

Please let me know your thoughts

Thanks in advance
Cheers

 

[Heirloom]

These are just my opinions, as good cannabis has been grown many different ways. But here goes.

The pots you use will likely determine the amount of aeration you'll want. In plastic pots and in ground plants I am finding more aeration is needed/wanted than in fabric pots. Pearlite actually noticably degrades with time. I've settled on crushing red or black lava rock to a size no larger than about 1/2 inch.

Forget the Dolomite. You'd be surprised how much stays locked up and unused, especially in healthy soil. Use oyster shell flour as a direct source for CaCo3 and Epsom salts as your MgSO₄ (Mag and sulfur). Or use Langbeinite (aka Sul-Po-Mag). Keep the epsom handy. Never know when you might need it for foliar.

Oyster shell flour is not the same as crab meal, or shrimp meal, or crustacean meal. Oyster is essentially pure CaCO3. The meals are high in N and P with some Ca and chitin and who knows what else.

The one time I tried Diatomaceous Earth (DE) as an amendment it acted like glue. I'll never use it again. Same for a buddy who tried it (unbeknownst to me). If you were thinking of using it for the clay content, there are better options. Pottery stores sell different clays and one or two are popular as amendments. After looking locally for boutique clay I've gone back to regular top soil for my clay. It's free.

If you are morally ok with using Ag animal byproducts (blood, bone) then those are OK. Guano too. It's not sustainable. But to each their own.

Bone and blood and guano can be replaced with neem and crab/shrimp. If you're trying to give the soil lots of sources of the same thing, then you're on the right track. If you want to avoid having too many fertilizers around, you can narrow it down now.

My current list looks like this:

Peat
Worm castings/manure
Lava rock
Biochar (activated & prepared)
Top soil

Alfalfa meal
Neem meal
Crab & shrimp meals
Kelp meal
Langbeinite
Oyster flour
Gypsum
Basalt (I have Cascade Minerals and C.B.D....others are on their way)
Azomite
A dash of SRP


As for your ACT, the basalt won't help. That is a long term, slow release soil building amendment. Also, you will likely end up having a couple recipes for brewing. I suggest you look up microbeman's website and read/reread the info there. What you add to your brew depends on what you want to give the soil.... more food or more active microbes etc.

IMHO biochar and basalt are the two best things that can be used for soil that is intended to be reused. Many report that the soil gets better with age, use and proper amending.


Welcome to 420 Mag jeffsmith! Glad to have you aboard.




EDIT: Disclaimer.....I may have forgot something. I did this before coffee......

EDIT 2: I use molasses occasionally too.

 

[Heirloom]

Some resources I've used (and one I have not)

Rock Dust Local - Home Great lab analysis sheets on lots of different rock dusts plus several dusts available from different sources.

Prices for Organic Gardening Minerals, Trace Elements and Fertilizers 2009 Have not ordered from them, but if I cannot find another retail source of Tennessee brown SRP I will be ordering.

Boogie Brew | Make Your Plants Dance! Best price I can get in my state for the Cascade Minerals. CBD is similar to cascade, but I am trying to source different dusts from all over the States. If your going to use several different dusts, READ THE ANALYSIS on it. You might be adding a lot of arsenic or lead if you just throw everything in there.

I'm currently using Down To Earth (aka DTE Brand) fertilizers sourced through a not so local hydro store that's open to learning about soil/organics.

 

[SweetSue]

Heirloom, way to step up to the plate buckaroo. Started my day off with a big smile.

Jeff, obviously, if you have more questions, jump back into the conversation.

 

[Robert Celt]

Hey guys I'm new here if been doing a lot of reading over the last bit and would like to ask a little advice before I jump in the deep end!

I have a base recipe and a list of amendments. Also iv just built an act brewer and have.what I think is a balanced recipe.

Can you guys let me know if I have missed something or if my ratios are wrong please.

Ok here goes
65% peat
20% perlite
15% worm castings

With the following amendments That I can locally source

Blood meal
Bone meal
Basalt dust
Dolomite
Kelp meal
Oyster shell grits. Is this a replacement for dolomite or do I run both?
And also is it the same as crab meal?
Neemcake

I have down as maybys

Diatomaceous earth
Epsom salt
Organic rice
Green sand. Not sure if I can get this yet.
Bat guano
I know iv missed stuff and have probably doubled up on something. I have no idea of amounts of amendments. Most posts iv come across talk in teaspoons but I will be mixing a 6 to 7000ltr batch so if I can figure out for say a 100 or 1000ltr batch that would be amazing so please guide me gently lol

My biggest problem is that I use approx 2000 lets every 3 weeks.
So I want to start reammending and re using.


Act brew balanced? 20 ltr

450 mils worm castings
100 mils molasses
15 mils fish hydrolysate
50mils kelp meal
15 mils Roksolid basalt

Please let me know your thoughts

Thanks in advance
Cheers

Welcome to Jeff You've come to the right place, there is a wealth of knowledge and helpful members here

I will see if I can help answer some of your questions

You are planning on using peat for a base, this is good but you need to consider a couple of things using peat.

1: Peat is not easy to "wet out" which means that once dried, it prefers to stay dry and does not absorb water easily. Therefore, it is helpful to add a wetting agent. If you are wanting to stay organic, mix Aloe with your water (either plant or powdered) to wet the peat.

2: Peat has a low pH, typically about 4.3, this is much to low for growing in and will need to be amended to raise it into the 6.5 range. To do this, add approximately 545g (19 oz) of agricultural lime (as Heirloom said, avoid Dolomitic lime) per 3.8 cuft bale of peat.

To this add 3.2Kg (7 lbs) of Epsom salt per 3.8 cuft bale, this may seem like a lot but its based on the actual weight of the Magnesium in the salt which only accounts for a small percentage of the total weight. This will put the Calcium/Magnesium ratio in the proper range.

This will give you a good base will lots of Calcium with is good for plant growth and as a buffer against wide pH swings.

Next I will give you approximate weights of amendments to add to this base (per 3.8 cuft bale of peat) Some of which will add more Calcium to the mix which is OK because a high Calcium soil tends to promote healthy plants.

The worm castings are OK in the ratio you mentioned as they have various nutrient levels depending on the source.

=> Blood meal: 500g (1 lb)

=> Bone meal: 2x the Blood meal

=> Basalt dust/Green sand...unless you intend to recycle your soil, don't bother. They are a slow release/long term amendment and the minute amounts released during a single grow are not worth the time/money. I do use rock dust as a top dressing for indoor grows to prevent fungus gnats from being able to lay eggs and breed.

=> Dolomitic lime...Don't use

=> Kelp meal...great micro nutrient amendment, use approximately 4 kg (9 lbs) per bale

=> Oyster shell...use the flour if available, faster release. Can be substituted with powdered eggshell. Approximately 1-2 cups

=> Crab/Crustacean meals...the main reason for this is not the nutrients, but rather the chitin in the shells. As it breaks down it release a chemical that attacks fungus and the shells of unwanted visitors like fungus gnat larvae.

=> Neem cake/meal...I don't use it, I try to source all my amendments locally rather than have it shipped in. It is an excellent amendment though for various reasons, use at approximately 10% by weight.

=> Diatomaceous earth...the single reason to use as an amendment is for the silica content. Silica promotes strong stems and stalks. As Heirloom mentioned, some have had poor experiences with it acting like a glue. I have not run into this problem and use about 1kg (2.2 lbs) per bale of peat.

=> Guano I don't use, not needed with the other amendments and can't source locally.

=> rice I don't use for the same reasons.

Now I will add some options you don't have on your list.

=> Alfalfa meal...can be sourced quite cheaply at most any feed mill/feed store. I buy 25kg (55 lb) bags for $20 at a local feed mill. It is a good organic source of Nitrogen, Potassium and various micro nutrients and helps "loosen" the soil. Use at about 3kg (6.5 lbs) per bale.

=> Used coffee grounds...used the same as alfalfa meal for the same reasons. Can be sourced at local coffee shops (such as Starbucks) often free.

Note: when using amendments such as: coffee grounds, alfalfa meal, neem meal, kelp meal, etc...you need to cook the soil for a minimum of 2 weeks or until you can put your hand deep into the soil and it feels cool. These amendments generate heat while breaking down and get hot enough to kill plant roots.

As for your AACT...as Heirloom said, don't bother with rock dust, replace it with alfalfa meal if you can source it.

Keep in mind that all these are based on weights, and weights given are based on the average weight of a 3.8 cuft bale of peat, therefore are approximate rather than exact figures.

Hope this helps in your search If you have other questions, don't hesitate to shout out

RC