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

[bobrown14]

All same genetics?


Keep an eye out for Hermaphrodites....

Light leak isn't an issue... there's the moon and street lights, if it was a thing I'd be having trouble every run. I don't keep my plants in lock-down total darkness.

Can I make a suggestion on the soil mix you are using?

You're almost there, mixing your own from scratch.... you will get better soil mixing your own and it will cost less $$. Change out Azomite for granite/basalt rock dusts, ditch the dolomite lime (its in the bagged soil part of your mix), and get crab shell meal and/or Oyster shell flour for the Ca portion. A few more amendments and you're have your own mix from scratch.

Base Mix:

So 1/3 Canadian Sphagnum Peat moss
1/3 hummus (EWC + some sort of compost - BU Blend/Coast of Main lobster compost)
1/3 aeration... per-lite etc.



then a list of amendments .... you have a bunch already.

Here's my list:
Acadian Kelp Meal @ 2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 2 Cup per cubic foot
Gypsum Dust @2 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Brix Blend Basalt/granite dust @ 2 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Oyster Shell Flour @ 2 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Notice 3 different forms of Ca (Oyster shell flour, crab shell meal & Gypusm) - we like a good bit of Ca in the soil mix. You can't add it in after plants are in the container as it will mess up the plants growth cycle if added in after. You'll be fine this run but with your mix, next run you will have a Ca deficiency.

Since you have Azomite you can sub it in for granite dust (be aware that kelp meal has those other trace minerals plants need that is also in Azomite).
I use the Basalt dust and kelp meal and no issues. You can get into trouble with micro nutrients in the wrong ratios... kelp meal has all the micro nutrients a plant needs to grow properly and in the correct ratios.

I'd just water your plants for the next few weeks and see how they respond... as mentioned, throwing out single leaves is a sign of re-veg. We see that a lot with clones taken from a plant that already has flowers on it, then the cut goes back to 24 hr light and starts with single leaves.

Go take a peak in your grow room after lights out to be sure they are actually off!

You keep lights off in the room with the grow tent right??

 

[TheFertilizer]

All same genetics?


Keep an eye out for Hermaphrodites....

Light leak isn't an issue... there's the moon and street lights, if it was a thing I'd be having trouble every run. I don't keep my plants in lock-down total darkness.

Can I make a suggestion on the soil mix you are using?

You're almost there, mixing your own from scratch.... you will get better soil mixing your own and it will cost less $$. Change out Azomite for granite/basalt rock dusts, ditch the dolomite lime (its in the bagged soil part of your mix), and get crab shell meal and/or Oyster shell flour for the Ca portion. A few more amendments and you're have your own mix from scratch.

Base Mix:

So 1/3 Canadian Sphagnum Peat moss
1/3 hummus (EWC + some sort of compost - BU Blend/Coast of Main lobster compost)
1/3 aeration... per-lite etc.



then a list of amendments .... you have a bunch already.

Here's my list:
Acadian Kelp Meal @ 2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 2 Cup per cubic foot
Gypsum Dust @2 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Brix Blend Basalt/granite dust @ 2 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Oyster Shell Flour @ 2 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Notice 3 different forms of Ca (Oyster shell flour, crab shell meal & Gypusm) - we like a good bit of Ca in the soil mix. You can't add it in after plants are in the container as it will mess up the plants growth cycle if added in after. You'll be fine this run but with your mix, next run you will have a Ca deficiency.

Since you have Azomite you can sub it in for granite dust (be aware that kelp meal has those other trace minerals plants need that is also in Azomite).
I use the Basalt dust and kelp meal and no issues. You can get into trouble with micro nutrients in the wrong ratios... kelp meal has all the micro nutrients a plant needs to grow properly and in the correct ratios.

I'd just water your plants for the next few weeks and see how they respond... as mentioned, throwing out single leaves is a sign of re-veg. We see that a lot with clones taken from a plant that already has flowers on it, then the cut goes back to 24 hr light and starts with single leaves.

Go take a peak in your grow room after lights out to be sure they are actually off!

You keep lights off in the room with the grow tent right??

Yep all ACE seed's Panama x Malawi.

For the most part they're always in the dark, but they're my bedroom where I sleep so every now and then there's a desk lamp on at the same time, and of course I don't have daylight blocked totally out. But I've examined my tents for light-leaks by standing in them during the lights out, with my windows letting in sun and the over-head light on, and it's always pitch black in them. I don't want to say it's a non-issue, but to be fair the very first time I grew, I managed to just use some thin sheets of panda-film and had lights running on the other side of it during dark period a lot and the plants did fine, so I don't think the amount of light that enters the room is an issue for these "quality" tents.

As far as my mix goes, I can only deviate from it so much because of cost issues. I know you're going to tell me it pays off in the long run but I just basically can't afford the initial investment for so many different ingredients, and that's why I went with the one Bio-Live box that had most everything I needed in it. I could add a few more singular ingredients along-side of that, but as the Down to Earth sources are often $10-$14 a piece, every ingredient added quickly builds up the cost.

Most of the ingredients I selected I did so to avoid shipping and inflated online prices, and really that Malibu compost doesn't really seem to be something that I could afford to add into this mix so I'd probably keep with just the EWC. Adding on to that, I haven't been able to find a better deal on EWC online than the bag I can find in my store, but that brand also comes with kelp meal and rock dusts in it and I wonder how that disrupts the micronutrient ratios. I only added Azomite because it was $3 so I can just nix that next time.

I also found a better source of peat moss and could afford to add the Oyster shell mix for pH buffering instead, but I don't think I can afford all those ingredients, so using the Bio-Live to supply most of what's needed is crucial for this to remain economically viable for me. The Sunshine Mix #4 I hoped would be a cheap source of peat moss with dolomite lime in it already so I didn't have to buy anything else, but I think the peat moss I've found is cheap enough that a 4 cu ft. bale plus a box of Oyster shell flour is cheaper than a 4 cu ft. bale of Sunshine Mix.

I still have half the bale of Sunshine Mix left over :/

 

[Radogast]

Could it possibly be related to the way I sexed them? I had a bunch of males in there and flipped to 12/12 and just waited about a week and threw all the plants I didn't see pistils on out, then flipped back to 18/6 for about 3 or 4 weeks. Just flipped them back to 12/12 about a week ago, give or take a couple days. So technically they've been flipped twice.

Ding Ding Ding ... I believe we have a winner. 12/12 then 18/6 then 12/12 . Reveg leaves. from the 18/6 in the middle.


I don't know much about reveg except it really, really slows down growth - personally, I would never do what you just described.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Ding Ding Ding ... I believe we have a winner. 12/12 then 18/6 then 12/12 . Reveg leaves. from the 18/6 in the middle.


I don't know much about reveg except it really, really slows down growth - personally, I would never do what you just described.

I've sexed plants like this in the past with no problems but thought maybe it confused this one or something, but it's weird because the leaves didn't change when I switched back to 18/6 and really they'd hardly even started flowering at all--I flipped back to 18/6 at the earliest sign of pistils and veg'd them out for about 3 weeks and didn't see these leaves dropping numbers until about a week after the second flip to 12/12.

I've only seen the leaf-number drop like this in the past one time previously, and before it had ever been flipped. At that point I just assumed it was due to plant stress since there was no other probably answers.

 

[SweetSue]

bobrown...... Have I told you lately how much I love you?

Ok..... I have a diagnostic problem that may benefit from your experienced eyes. The victim is growing in soil treated with Doc Bud's HBB kit, and she's one of a group of HB plants in at least 7 grows showing signs of the same distress. We haven't gotten the help we'd hoped for from the HB Lab site and Graytail suggested asking here. Not a bad idea that. We're growing in an organic soil, and that's what you guys specialize in.

This is my Malawi. She started showing this after her first CAT drench, and that appears to be the same timeframe the others had their problems pop up. My mystery is I have two other girls being raised in the same soil and with the same nutrient loads, and they look like catalogue candidates.

We're pretty sure it's a root zone concern. It's a mystery as to what caused it, but at this point I'm more concerned with what you'd do if this was your baby. Then we can attempt to dovetail that into what we do with the kit.

I'm also interested in any thoughts as to what conditions would cause such discomfort in a plant.

Thank you in advance for your time. I'm really wondering if I should put her out of her misery, or possibly chop her off at the damage line and let the rest mature without the damaged tops. There's a definite dividing line on the plant, which is kinda weird to me, but there it is anyway. The bottom of the plant is unaffected.

I would expect the whole plant to be affected by root zone problems. Is this standard? Or does this suggest that at that point in the plant's timeline something went drastically wrong? Graytail suggested a potential decrease in the cations we're releasing at the CAT drench, which would result in starvation. Kinda makes sense, but then I have these two.

Same soil, same drench schedule, for the most part. Only one victim among them. She got her CAT drench from a different bottle than the others. I'm not sure that's the concern, but it appears to be the only difference. I'm trying hard not to get lost in the confusion of letting coincidence determine causation. There are so many variables it can be frustrating to pin a cause down.

Any thoughts?

 

[Van Stank]

Ding Ding Ding ... I believe we have a winner. 12/12 then 18/6 then 12/12 . Reveg leaves. from the 18/6 in the middle.


I don't know much about reveg except it really, really slows down growth - personally, I would never do what you just described.

I had a blueberry clone that I took around day 25 of flower and it took forever for her to reveg....about 30 days. Very slow growth rate after that for another couple weeks and then it finally exploded. Very stressful on the plants but its where the "monster cropping" came from. Lots of crazy side branching without any topping or fimming.

But Rad is definitely right, that is the cause of your funky leaves.

 

[TheFertilizer]

bobrown...... Have I told you lately how much I love you?

Ok..... I have a diagnostic problem that may benefit from your experienced eyes. The victim is growing in soil treated with Doc Bud's HBB kit, and she's one of a group of HB plants in at least 7 grows showing signs of the same distress. We haven't gotten the help we'd hoped for from the HB Lab site and Graytail suggested asking here. Not a bad idea that. We're growing in an organic soil, and that's what you guys specialize in.

This is my Malawi. She started showing this after her first CAT drench, and that appears to be the same timeframe the others had their problems pop up. My mystery is I have two other girls being raised in the same soil and with the same nutrient loads, and they look like catalogue candidates.

We're pretty sure it's a root zone concern. It's a mystery as to what caused it, but at this point I'm more concerned with what you'd do if this was your baby. Then we can attempt to dovetail that into what we do with the kit.

I'm also interested in any thoughts as to what conditions would cause such discomfort in a plant.

Thank you in advance for your time. I'm really wondering if I should put her out of her misery, or possibly chop her off at the damage line and let the rest mature without the damaged tops. There's a definite dividing line on the plant, which is kinda weird to me, but there it is anyway. The bottom of the plant is unaffected.

I would expect the whole plant to be affected by root zone problems. Is this standard? Or does this suggest that at that point in the plant's timeline something went drastically wrong? Graytail suggested a potential decrease in the cations we're releasing at the CAT drench, which would result in starvation. Kinda makes sense, but then I have these two.

Same soil, same drench schedule, for the most part. Only one victim among them. She got her CAT drench from a different bottle than the others. I'm not sure that's the concern, but it appears to be the only difference. I'm trying hard not to get lost in the confusion of letting coincidence determine causation. There are so many variables it can be frustrating to pin a cause down.

Any thoughts?

Well, my first thought... "Hey look, you have re-veg leaves looking too... Hey, we're BOTH growing a Malawi derivative from ACE seeds?" But maybe that's just all a big coincidence, or maybe there's something in the away Malawi responds to stress. I dunno, but that caught my eye.

Also that discoloring, I've seen that kind of leaf yellowing before through my last grow when I was dumping tons of molasses into my teas. Then once I started using superthrive too, I started getting those weird little yellow spots on the leaves, looked like the plant was putting warpaint on.

Anyway, sorry probably not helpful, but those are my thoughts.

 

[bobrown14]

bobrown...... Have I told you lately how much I love you?

Ok..... I have a diagnostic problem that may benefit from your experienced eyes. The victim is growing in soil treated with Doc Bud's HBB kit, and she's one of a group of HB plants in at least 7 grows showing signs of the same distress. We haven't gotten the help we'd hoped for from the HB Lab site and Graytail suggested asking here. Not a bad idea that. We're growing in an organic soil, and that's what you guys specialize in.

This is my Malawi. She started showing this after her first CAT drench, and that appears to be the same timeframe the others had their problems pop up. My mystery is I have two other girls being raised in the same soil and with the same nutrient loads, and they look like catalogue candidates.

We're pretty sure it's a root zone concern. It's a mystery as to what caused it, but at this point I'm more concerned with what you'd do if this was your baby. Then we can attempt to dovetail that into what we do with the kit.

I'm also interested in any thoughts as to what conditions would cause such discomfort in a plant.

Any thoughts?

First thought when seeing those leaves is light burn from an IPM with oil in it... but spots looks the same so likely not unless you tell me you sprayed her first or last or somehow didn't get some oil in the spray well mixed.

That said and get your hanky out... you know what I'd do.... All other girls look spectacular, don't let one bad apple soil the bunch as they say. <-- see what I did there.

I've never seen leaves like that.. dont panic there's good new growth, if it continues tho, go back to thinking about giving her the chop. Give here a pep talk first, she'll come around.

Looking at it some more... could be just too strong whatever is in the drench. There's some other plants with mild tip burn, some strains don't like over feeding.

Just water FTW for several waterings and see if she doesn't turn around. No panic....

Whats up with the single leaves she's throwing out at the tops?? The plants lower growth is great and then... boom single leaves with spots, and its not necrosis so .. stick with water and see if the problem goes away. I think it will.


Good to see a bunch of folks running some Sativa... just be careful what you wish for! Wanna see panic... hahahahaha some of those Malawi freshies .... gonna get real and fast!

 

[bobrown14]

Ding Ding Ding ... I believe we have a winner. 12/12 then 18/6 then 12/12 . Reveg leaves. from the 18/6 in the middle.


I don't know much about reveg except it really, really slows down growth - personally, I would never do what you just described.

That ^^^ don't do that with your lights as Rad mentioned and keep an eye out down low for male bits.

That's some serious stress you put on your plants.

A better way is to take clones and put them under 11/13 in the cloner.

OR.. do like I do, treat them all as women until they aren't, then toss the males. The males show sex first (usually).

 

[TheFertilizer]

First thought when seeing those leaves is light burn from an IPM with oil in it... but spots looks the same so likely not unless you tell me you sprayed her first or last or somehow didn't get some oil in the spray well mixed.

That said and get your hanky out... you know what I'd do.... All other girls look spectacular, don't let one bad apple soil the bunch as they say. <-- see what I did there.

I've never seen leaves like that.. dont panic there's good new growth, if it continues tho, go back to thinking about giving her the chop. Give here a pep talk first, she'll come around.

Looking at it some more... could be just too strong whatever is in the drench. There's some other plants with mild tip burn, some strains don't like over feeding.

Just water FTW for several waterings and see if she doesn't turn around. No panic....

Whats up with the single leaves she's throwing out at the tops?? The plants lower growth is great and then... boom single leaves with spots, and its not necrosis so .. stick with water and see if the problem goes away. I think it will.


Good to see a bunch of folks running some Sativa... just be careful what you wish for! Wanna see panic... hahahahaha some of those Malawi freshies .... gonna get real and fast!

lol Glad someone else noticed!


I've been growing nothing but indicas and hybrids too long I wanted to try Sativa. This Panama x Malawi is one vigorous hybrid holy smokes. Everyone I've talked to about it said I probably waited a little long to flower and I'm probably gonna blow out my tent haha

 

[bobrown14]

lol Glad someone else noticed!


I've been growing nothing but indicas and hybrids too long I wanted to try Sativa. This Panama x Malawi is one vigorous hybrid holy smokes. Everyone I've talked to about it said I probably waited a little long to flower and I'm probably gonna blow out my tent haha

That's a thing... I'm running Sativa now and they stretch x3 or more... so 20" plant grows to the ceiling and the lights are not in the ceiling so rope and wire.

You'll be fine. Think of it as a challenge! hahahaha and get some string.

I hear you on the ingredients and cost.

I buy the cheapest CSPM I can find at Lowes or HD. As long as that's the only ingredient and the label says "made in Canada". The Peat Moss industry is heavily government controlled in Canada, so its basically all the same stuff just different bags and prices. Mycos are added to the same Peat and a fancy label that says "PRO" and a $10 bale of peat moss now costs $40. Thanks no thanks.

On amendments .. you only need 4 and you already have some.... just buy 1 at a time... they can keep well except the Crab Shell meal .... yeah need to tightly wrap that up after opening. I keep my bag outside... its alive and gross.

Kelp Meal
Karanga Meal
Neem Cake meal
Oyster Shell flour
Those are must haves and not $$

Sounds like your EWC with goodies is a good one... don't know how much of the extra ingredients are in the EWC but it's on the right track.

The Dolo lime is a no go for me in containers. The problem shows 2 grows later and we start chasing our tails and making matters worse. Outdoors go for it.

 

[Guy Cavallero]

That's a thing... I'm running Sativa now and they stretch x3 or more... so 20" plant grows to the ceiling and the lights are not in the ceiling so rope and wire.

You'll be fine. Think of it as a challenge! hahahaha and get some string.

I hear you on the ingredients and cost.

I buy the cheapest CSPM I can find at Lowes or HD. As long as that's the only ingredient and the label says "made in Canada". The Peat Moss industry is heavily government controlled in Canada, so its basically all the same stuff just different bags and prices. Mycos are added to the same Peat and a fancy label that says "PRO" and a $10 bale of peat moss now costs $40. Thanks no thanks.

On amendments .. you only need 4 and you already have some.... just buy 1 at a time... they can keep well except the Crab Shell meal .... yeah need to tightly wrap that up after opening. I keep my bag outside... its alive and gross.

Kelp Meal
Karanga Meal
Neem Cake meal
Oyster Shell flour
Those are must haves and not $$

Sounds like your EWC with goodies is a good one... don't know how much of the extra ingredients are in the EWC but it's on the right track.

The Dolo lime is a no go for me in containers. The problem shows 2 grows later and we start chasing our tails and making matters worse. Outdoors go for it.

Karanga meal... can you elaborate on that one, it's not one that I've seen before.

 

[kelticBlue]

i use the neem/Karanja Cake 50/50 mix

Karanja Cake is the residue obtained from Karanja seed kernels which have been crushed to extract the oil
Almost identical in properties to the Neem cake.
Rich in N-P-K, it is an excellent organic fertilizer. Karanja cake has been known to enrich the soil and protect the plant.

 

[TheFertilizer]

That's a thing... I'm running Sativa now and they stretch x3 or more... so 20" plant grows to the ceiling and the lights are not in the ceiling so rope and wire.

You'll be fine. Think of it as a challenge! hahahaha and get some string.

I hear you on the ingredients and cost.

I buy the cheapest CSPM I can find at Lowes or HD. As long as that's the only ingredient and the label says "made in Canada". The Peat Moss industry is heavily government controlled in Canada, so its basically all the same stuff just different bags and prices. Mycos are added to the same Peat and a fancy label that says "PRO" and a $10 bale of peat moss now costs $40. Thanks no thanks.

On amendments .. you only need 4 and you already have some.... just buy 1 at a time... they can keep well except the Crab Shell meal .... yeah need to tightly wrap that up after opening. I keep my bag outside... its alive and gross.

Kelp Meal
Karanga Meal
Neem Cake meal
Oyster Shell flour
Those are must haves and not $$

Sounds like your EWC with goodies is a good one... don't know how much of the extra ingredients are in the EWC but it's on the right track.

The Dolo lime is a no go for me in containers. The problem shows 2 grows later and we start chasing our tails and making matters worse. Outdoors go for it.

Is neem cake meal the same as neem cake meal?

 

[bobrown14]

Karanga meal... can you elaborate on that one, it's not one that I've seen before.

Karanja Meal goes hand in hand with Neem Meal in my soil mix. I don't grow without it.

Karanga Cake

Karanga Meal/Cake is the residue obtained from Karanja seed kernels which have been crushed to extract the oil.

Rich in N-P-K, it is an excellent organic fertilizer. Karanja cake has been known to enrich the soil and protect the plant. Also there are several micro nutrients beneficial to plant growth.

It's about 4.5% Nitrogen and is considered a green manure. Also promotes beneficial microbes and deters soil pests/pathogens.

Slow Release Nitrogen, Aerates, Nourishes, Promotes Plant Growth & Resistance, Improves Soil Quality.

It's about $10 for a 5 lb bag (same price as Neem Meal).

To get the organic version there are several resources.

I use - neemresource.com/

BAS (build-a-soil) has it as does KIS organics.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Karanja Meal goes hand in hand with Neem Meal in my soil mix. I don't grow without it.

Karanga Cake

Karanga Meal/Cake is the residue obtained from Karanja seed kernels which have been crushed to extract the oil.

Rich in N-P-K, it is an excellent organic fertilizer. Karanja cake has been known to enrich the soil and protect the plant. Also there are several micro nutrients beneficial to plant growth.

It's about 4.5% Nitrogen and is considered a green manure. Also promotes beneficial microbes and deters soil pests/pathogens.

Slow Release Nitrogen, Aerates, Nourishes, Promotes Plant Growth & Resistance, Improves Soil Quality.

It's about $10 for a 5 lb bag (same price as Neem Meal).

To get the organic version there are several resources.

I use - neemresource.com/

BAS (build-a-soil) has it as does KIS organics.

What do you think of KIS organics Water-Only soil bob? I almost bought some of that rather than try to mix my own.

 

[bobrown14]

Is neem cake meal the same as neem cake meal?

Neem and Karanja are different but as Keltic Blue mentioned we use it 50/50 as input to soil mix.

Neem seed is from the Neem Tree and pressed for oil... the "meal" is what's left after pressing, and can be soaked in water and that "tea" used the same as the oil for treatment for mites or other insect infestations as there's still some amount of oil left in the shells after pressing.

Karanja seed is from the 'Pongam' tree Same deal as Neem Seed and used very similarly in Asia.

Soap nuts is another goodie... can wash clothes dishes etc for $10 for a 6 month supply... and the grey water can be used to water your outdoor gardens. It's where the word Saponin comes from since its from the Saponin Tree! Good emulsifier... one of the best and its organic, unlike most chemical versions. That stuff they add to peat moss to help it retain water.. saponin and the chemical used is not organic. So we can water our plain old $10 bag of CSPM with soap nut water... and it's organic.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Neem and Karanja are different but as Keltic Blue mentioned we use it 50/50 as input to soil mix.

Neem seed is from the Neem Tree and pressed for oil... the "meal" is what's left after pressing, and can be soaked in water and that "tea" used the same as the oil for treatment for mites or other insect infestations as there's still some amount of oil left in the shells after pressing.

Karanja seed is from the 'Pongam' tree Same deal as Neem Seed and used very similarly in Asia.

Soap nuts is another goodie... can wash clothes dishes etc for $10 for a 6 month supply... and the grey water can be used to water your outdoor gardens. It's where the word Saponin comes from since its from the Saponin Tree! Good emulsifier... one of the best and its organic, unlike most chemical versions. That stuff they add to peat moss to help it retain water.. saponin and the chemical used is not organic. So we can water our plain old $10 bag of CSPM with soap nut water... and it's organic.

I tried to order soap nuts on KIS and it was sure a lot more than $10.

Also I meant neem seed meal vs neem cake meal. That Down To Earth box I have says it's Neem Seed Meal but it sounds a lot like neem cake meal. Says I can steep it in water to make a neem oil solution as well.

 

[bobrown14]

What do you think of KIS organics Water-Only soil bob? I almost bought some of that rather than try to mix my own.

Looks good to me... has some extras in it that I don't use - it's a slightly different approach than the method I use.


Extras I dont use:
Bone meal
feather meal
Soft Rock Phosphate
fish meal
Alfalfa meal
Natural Calcite (Ca calcium carbonate)

Those above are not needed in "my" mix as the nutrients are already incorporated in the other ingredients. There's no source of compost in that soil mix and likely why they add in those extras. Makes up for no compost and more control over the finished product.

Take a look at his "Clackamas Coot Nutrient and Mineral Kit" - that's what I use. Cheaper but you source the large ingredients locally and mix this in...

I've gotten away from bagged soils... I never had good luck with them in container gardening over the long haul. Ended up with issues that I couldn't figure out. The Coots mix I get tested every time I mix up a batch. It's spot on pretty darn close to being perfect according to the Penn State County Extension Service soil test report.

Try it out... if you're close by the source, I wouldn't ship it too $$ for ship.... unless Amazon Prime free ship... go for it.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Looks good to me... has some extras in it that I don't use - it's a slightly different approach than the method I use.


Extras I dont use:
Bone meal
feather meal
Soft Rock Phosphate
fish meal
Alfalfa meal
Natural Calcite (Ca calcium carbonate)

Those above are not needed in "my" mix as the nutrients are already incorporated in the other ingredients. There's no source of compost in that soil mix and likely why they add in those extras. Makes up for no compost and more control over the finished product.

Take a look at his "Clackamas Coot Nutrient and Mineral Kit" - that's what I use. Cheaper but you source the large ingredients locally and mix this in...

I've gotten away from bagged soils... I never had good luck with them in container gardening over the long haul. Ended up with issues that I couldn't figure out. The Coots mix I get tested every time I mix up a batch. It's spot on pretty darn close to being perfect according to the Penn State County Extension Service soil test report.

Try it out... if you're close by the source, I wouldn't ship it too $$ for ship.... unless Amazon Prime free ship... go for it.

Yeah he's a few counties over so shipping probably wouldn't be too obscene. But I have had a similar experience with bagged soils so far.

I'm still at a loss about how to find a county extension program for soil testing. People say to "call your county extension office" but I have no idea if I have one or what that actually means lol Found an outfit that will do it but they send it off somewhere for 50 bucks, and I could just do that myself. I found some kind of directory for companies that do it locally through the Washington State University program but they all cost quite a bit.