BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
I thought it was.....what is in it that makes it not organic - I thought it was pretty much Moss, Perlite and the mycro stuff?
And here I thought I was organic.
Canadian Growers Group & Friends
- Thread starter Herby Paisley
- Start date
And here I thought I was organic.
top soil with cow poo is organic... sheep poo.. dont use dog poo...
Moss takes a long time to break down, that is why there are peat bogs many meters deep. coco coir takes even longer. Both have no nutrient value, also perlite.
Do a search for living organic soils for some recipes.
I make my own soils for outdoors using peat moss, compost (dry leaves, grass & garden waste) cow manure, sandy topsoil, perlite, wood ash & lime
Gee64
Well-Known Member
There is a company in Vernon BC that makes a nice organic Promix/Sunshinemix type product called Bluesky High Porosity Soil Bale with myco. Its great for cloning into or as a base for a home made mix. $37.50 Cdn for i believe 107 litres.
And many, many hundreds of years to make. They limit the annual harvest to try to make it more "sustainable " but ...
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
OK, all valuable information, but what part is not organic. Maybe I am not understanding organic. I was going with the assumption that as long as it was a natural product it is considered "organic"
That is what I do as well but I use the HP instead of peat.
Sounds like great stuff and great price - now - just try to find it. I tried their store locator and it showed me where I was...I already sort of knew that!!!
It looks like I have a lot more "larnin" to do!!!
Thanks for the response.
Promix HP is peat based.
I use an organic Promix blend, and all their organic blends are labelled, and OMRI listed.
They probably didn't bother to get the HP listed as it has no nutrients and you're required to use fertilizers to grow in it, where the organic crowd are mostly looking for soils that don't require feeding.
Plant Dad
Well-Known Member
That's Mycorrhizae.
Getting sick of the PM, now I have fucking soil mold. Getting sick of it all!!!
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
Scott should be happy to hear that!!! I was hoping it was something good.
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
Thanks Mel - but doesn't everything require feeding? These "soil mixtures" that everyone is making are made up of cups of this and buckets of that.....all feed of some sort. I've just read a book about organic soil - most of it above my pay grade and retention power - but from what I understand even orgainic soil needs to be fed to keep all them little critters happily munching away down there.
I sometimes feel like I'm on a runway train headed for the gulch. But I've gotten off track before!!!
There are some organic soil mixes that don't require feeding, but that's partly down to the size of the pots used as well as how long you're planning to grow.
Most recommendations are to use about 55 litre pots for TLO/LOS grows. There are sometimes recommendations to use compost teas to refresh microbe populations but as I understand it you're trying to make sure that everything the plant and microbes will need is in the soil from the start.
Edit: Sorry, I didn't read that carefully enough before responding. If you're counting the amendments as feeding, then yes, it does need to be fed.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
I only use peat moss in small silver dollar sized blobs on top of a solo cup to pop seeds in.
Its sterile so the microbes inside the seed have no competition and can flourish as the seed pops.
One small bag for orchids lasts me years.
I use coco as my carbon source in my pots.
Its renewable and works better.
Perlite is for drainage.
Plus if you recycle your soil the peat moss will eventually break down and plummet your soil ph.
Coco won't.
I just bought last week some pro mix HP at Canada tire they seem to have it around all the time...$44
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
I went to one store and asked the guy and he looked at me like I had three heads - he actually seemed pissed when I told him he had three (bales not heads) He said "It's outside in the snow - we don't even sell that this time of year - we have the little bags - why do you want it?" Well, screw you too!!
I went to another store where I knew where they kept it outside and loaded one in the car. Was real temped to just drive home...but I went in and paid.
I went to another store where I knew where they kept it outside and loaded one in the car. Was real temped to just drive home...but I went in and paid.
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
Sorry if I ask too many questions.
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
Well crap!!! More stuff to watch for!
Gee64
Well-Known Member
BuzzzD
Well-Known Member
Hold my beer!!!!
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Hello Youtube? Action!!
Peat moss is acidic, & buffered with lime, to bring it ph neutral. You can add lime or wood ash to old soil (grow media) to bring it back