Feedback: TLO soil mix

S

scousemouse

New Member
Hey everyone, how's it going..?

I want to create a TLO micro-grow so I'm going to outline my plan and I'd appreciate any feedback or questions, thank you for reading.

I have a 40L plastic box with drainage holes.

Base soil:
1/3 Homemade Compost
1/3 Coco coir
1/3 lava rocks

Amendments (so far):
Homemade Bone meal
Homemade Kelp meal
Homemade Nettle meal (an idea I had, fermented nettle tea is quite common so why not dry and grind it and use it as a nitrogen amendment?)

I was also considering adding a small amount of coffee ground and heat cracking some lava rocks to make into a coarse rock dust powder.

Companion planting:
Living mulch of White Clover
Spring Onion
Lemon Balm (for no other reason than I like the smell)

Anything that you could recommend or something that I've overlooked would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
Coffee grounds are a great amendment just keep in mind that if you add a lot, you need to let the soil "cook" for a week or 2. Vegetable matter as an amendment will produce heat as it decomposes (enough to kill your plant) and also robs plants of nitrogen until decomposed.

Also, consider adding some gypsum (calcium and sulphur) or lime (calcium carbonate which will raise pH) to your mix. Bone meal is a great source of calcium and phosphorous but is slow release. And keep in mind that ANY rock based amendments are extremely slow release, on the order of years.
 
Ok here's what I use - thank Clakamas Coots and BlueJay for this recipe. I've been using this and kicking it down the road in no-til for my last 5 runs, it keeps getting better:

1/3 Canadian Sphagnum peat moss
High quality amended compost (EWC home made in my back yard) THE most important input
1/3 aeration (perlite)

If possible compost is homemade with massive amounts of comfrey, nettles, yarrow, alfalfa hay and lots of nutrient rich botanicals - with horse or dairy cow poo. If not a high quality bagged compost such as malibus that is available in my area.

The finished compost I will pre-amend in a large smart pot and let it sit (with lots of worms) until ready to use.

I add per cuF of compost:

1 cup neem seed meal
1 cup kelp
1 cup crab shell meal
4 or 5 cups (glacial) rock dust (I use 1-2 cups of glacial and basalt rock dusts)
1/2 cup gypsum
1/2 cup bentonite (I didn't use this but can be found at a pottery supply store)
I added to recipe:
1/2 cup alfalfa meal (this can heat up the mix so be careful)
 
Thank you for the help. I have done some gathering of materials and got myself some coffee grounds, I'm going to rinse them to reduce acidity, I also got some limestone dust and tomorrow I'll get some granite dust.

bobrown14 said:
Ok here's what I use - thank Clakamas Coots and BlueJay for this recipe. I've been using this and kicking it down the road in no-til for my last 5 runs, it keeps getting better:

1/3 Canadian Sphagnum peat moss
High quality amended compost (EWC home made in my back yard) THE most important input
1/3 aeration (perlite)

If possible compost is homemade with massive amounts of comfrey, nettles, yarrow, alfalfa hay and lots of nutrient rich botanicals - with horse or dairy cow poo. If not a high quality bagged compost such as malibus that is available in my area.

The finished compost I will pre-amend in a large smart pot and let it sit (with lots of worms) until ready to use.

I add per cuF of compost:

1 cup neem seed meal
1 cup kelp
1 cup crab shell meal
4 or 5 cups (glacial) rock dust (I use 1-2 cups of glacial and basalt rock dusts)
1/2 cup gypsum
1/2 cup bentonite (I didn't use this but can be found at a pottery supply store)
I added to recipe:
1/2 cup alfalfa meal (this can heat up the mix so be careful)
Click to expand...

Bobrown did you add anything in terms of a magnesium source?
 
Hey Scousemouse

I would wait on rinsing the coffee grounds, typically depending on the type, they run between 5.5 and 6.5 on the pH scale. I would combine everything, let it cook for a minimum of 2 weeks and then test the pH. If it is between 6.2 and 6.8, I would use as is. If lower than 6.0, add some lime to adjust the pH up and given the base and amendments you are using, it is not likely to be too high.
 
TheCelt said:
Hey Scousemouse

I would wait on rinsing the coffee grounds, typically depending on the type, they run between 5.5 and 6.5 on the pH scale. I would combine everything, let it cook for a minimum of 2 weeks and then test the pH. If it is between 6.2 and 6.8, I would use as is. If lower than 6.0, add some lime to adjust the pH up and given the base and amendments you are using, it is not likely to be too high.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that man, saves me a job :)
 
scousemouse said:
Bobrown did you add anything in terms of a magnesium source?
Click to expand...

Yeah EWC - it has all and I mean ALL and then some of everything your plants need to flourish.

try and not overthink this (question about magnesium). Organic growing means we feed the soil which feeds the plants. A large part of that for me is earth worm castings and ACT/SST to feed the micro-organisms.

Once you go down the cal/mag route you will soon find yourself chasing your tail. Throw out the PH meters and anything you have in a bottle that you want to "feed" the plant with. Your gardening will become A LOT MORE FUN and rewarding. It's a leap of faith - trust me you will be fine without the un-necessary burden salts (fertilizer) bring to the table.

Don't forget to do an ACT with the EWC/VC very important. If you don't have an air pump just get a bucket of water and throw a few handfuls of compost in the bucket, let sit over night stir it a few times, next day add in some black strap molasses and let that go another day and then water the soil with it.

So you know; PH in organic soil is dynamic, meaning it changes all the time. When you test the soil you are testing in that exact instant and that is it. Organic soil adjusts the PH itself and fluctuates all the time, there's no need to interfere with nature in this regard - again another leap of faith.

My daily routine in my indoor garden consists of about 5-10 minutes daily and it's mostly filling a water jug with water and watering in. That's all I do...once weekly I will do either an ACT or a SST which of course takes a little more time but not much.

Last time I used a PH meter was to test my dogs urine, not kidding.
 
ACT is Aerated Compost Tea. The compost is added to water and the mix is then aerated using a small air pump. Large amounts will need a large air pump.

EWC is Earthworm Castings.

VC is Vermi Composting or something like Vermi. Spelling might not be right. Going to have to check.

SST is Sprouted Seed Tea. Selected seeds are allowed to sprout and then the seedlings are ground up and added to water in an attempt to extract the rooting hormones. Great for building roots.

PH is the measure of acidity or alkalinity of water soluble substances (pH stands for 'potential of Hydrogen'). I took the definition from the google search. It should be pH (with a lower case "p".)

Enjoy the day.
///
 
SST - teas can be made from lots of different seeds and they all have different amounts of hormones and specially enzymes.

Enzymes are really the main deal with any sprouted seed that we use in soil.

I used to do a fair amount of SSTs but started using Malted Barley ground to a fine powder - 1oz per plant every 10 days or so scratched into the soil and watered. Also add about a cup per 7.5 gal soil when I make a new batch (which ain't very often).
Malted barley is the same thing as SST - cept the sprouting process in finely controlled to create the best enzyme profile. Works very well. Shortens flower time as well as more resin production.

Also if you like making teas - Kelp Meal ground and soaked in water in a mason jar is a GREAT one. Lots of growth hormones in Kelp. Makes plants grow bigger and stronger.

Kelp meal + ewc + Vermi-compost + Malted Barley = great combo for organically grown flowers.

Vermi-compost is a method of making compost. It's using house hold kitchen scraps along with say some leaves or grass clippings etc in an enclosed container (with slits for air flow) with a lid. No animal fats. This is a cold process unlike using animal waste (brown manure) which is a hot composting process.

Vermi-compost is a great way to reduce the garbage flow in your community. Lots of mid to large towns/cities actually promote this and many will offer FREE composting bins. It's a very good way to help make the best soil you can't purchase anywhere. Best thing you make it yourself.
 
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