- Thread starter
- #101
I couldn't really say. My pH pen hasn't been used is 2 years. Pro-Mix tries to buffer theirs between 5.5-6.2. I assume Faux-Mix® is in that same range since I've never had an issue with it.
Making your own soilless mix aka Faux Mix
- Thread starter farside05
- Start date
I couldn't really say. My pH pen hasn't been used is 2 years. Pro-Mix tries to buffer theirs between 5.5-6.2. I assume Faux-Mix® is in that same range since I've never had an issue with it.
grow boy420
Well-Known Member
Making my own soil-less mix (aka Faux-Mix)
Not everyone has access to Pro-Mix, but most towns have a Home Depot nearby. Here's my attempt at making a Pro-Mix HP copy.
First lets start with the ingredients:
1 - 3 cubic foot bale of Peat Moss
1 - 2 cubic foot bag of Perlite
1 - 6.75 pound bag of Espoma Garden Lime
I'm making 20 gallons worth of soil-less mix. The kind folks at Premier Tech Horticulture tell us that Pro-Mix HP is 65-75% Peat Moss, the rest is Perlite. I'll measure out three 5 gallon containers of Peat Moss and one heaping 5 gallon container of Perlite. That will give me approximately a 70/30 mix of Peat Moss to Perlite. I compact it with my hand as I fill each 5 gallon grow bag. I want to make sure I have enough to fill each pot after it gets wet and settles.
Next I'll hydrate the Peat with some water. Peat can be hydrophobic (repels water) when its moisture content drops below 30%. Mine was real dry so it took plenty of wetting and hand mixing to get it all wet. In hindsight, it would probably be easiest to do wet and mix in stages, like every 5 gallons of Peat added.
Now its all moist. Hehe, I love using the word moist and how it sets some people off.
Now its time to add the perlite. Here's the heaping 5 gallons of Perlite.
I pour the Perlite over the 15 gallons of moist Peat and mix it in by hand.
Time for Lime. Researching plenty of .edu (University websites) on how much Lime to add to a soil-less, Peat based mix, I find a consensus of 2 tablespoons for every gallon of soil you desire to make. I am making 20 gallons, so that's 40 Tablespoons or 2 1/2 cups worth of Lime.
I sprinkle in half the Lime and hand mix it all in. I wore gloves at this point since Lime can be rough on exposed skin. After it was sufficiently mixed, I repeated the process.
At this point I filled my 4 grow bags. I had a little left over, which is better than being short. I ran about 3 gallons of water through each with the garden hose to make sure it was all good and wet and to get the lime working. The fine folks at Premier Tech Horticulture also tell us on their website that it takes Pro-Mix about 3 days of being wet for the Lime in it to stabilize the pH of the media. So I'll let it sit for a couple days before using. My seeds haven't sprouted out of the Jiffy plugs yet so that's just fine. It took me about an hour and a half to do. Cost was about $38 for the materials. There should be enough Peat Moss for 2 batches, Perlite for 3, and the Lime will go a long way (guessing 5 or so).
gotta try this sometime..maybe not right now..its too cold and looks like an outdoors project.
- Thread starter
- #103
I suppose one could do it indoors if they had a big bin to mix it in, but yes, even then it's easier to do outdoors. Once I just sprayed a spot in the driveway clean then poured it all out on the concrete and mixed with a shovel and rehydrated it with the hose. That works too if you don't have a bin. Not that you could use that method in northern climates where one may have snow right now.
I’m making mine in my house just on the floor behind the wood stove. A popular place to hang out right now with the cold snap.
- Thread starter
- #105
I’m making mine in my house just on the floor behind the wood stove. A popular place to hang out right now with the cold snap.
I got a Tent Chicken but you got a Soil Rabbit!
He can do no wrong in there.
Skybound
Well-Known Member
FWIW, I mix my Faux Mix by hand in a 50 gallon tough tote and I do a whole bale to a whole bag, just slowly and carefully to not cause dust clouds from the peat. Once the peat, perlite and limestone is evenly mixed dry, I add it my water. I do half bag each to mix the bottom layer, than again for the top layer. Where there's a will, there's a way.
- Thread starter
- #108
Easier said than done. Everytime I make a batch I'm blowing dirt boogers out of my nose the next day.
Skybound
Well-Known Member
Easier said than done. Everytime I make a batch I'm blowing dirt boogers out of my nose the next day.
Same same!
Pondwater
Well-Known Member
Farside im making soiless mixes and didnt know..Making my own soil-less mix (aka Faux-Mix)
Not everyone has access to Pro-Mix, but most towns have a Home Depot nearby. Here's my attempt at making a Pro-Mix HP copy.
First lets start with the ingredients:
1 - 3 cubic foot bale of Peat Moss
1 - 2 cubic foot bag of Perlite
1 - 6.75 pound bag of Espoma Garden Lime
I'm making 20 gallons worth of soil-less mix. The kind folks at Premier Tech Horticulture tell us that Pro-Mix HP is 65-75% Peat Moss, the rest is Perlite. I'll measure out three 5 gallon containers of Peat Moss and one heaping 5 gallon container of Perlite. That will give me approximately a 70/30 mix of Peat Moss to Perlite. I compact it with my hand as I fill each 5 gallon grow bag. I want to make sure I have enough to fill each pot after it gets wet and settles.
Next I'll hydrate the Peat with some water. Peat can be hydrophobic (repels water) when its moisture content drops below 30%. Mine was real dry so it took plenty of wetting and hand mixing to get it all wet. In hindsight, it would probably be easiest to do wet and mix in stages, like every 5 gallons of Peat added.
Now its all moist. Hehe, I love using the word moist and how it sets some people off.
Now its time to add the perlite. Here's the heaping 5 gallons of Perlite.
I pour the Perlite over the 15 gallons of moist Peat and mix it in by hand.
Time for Lime. Researching plenty of .edu (University websites) on how much Lime to add to a soil-less, Peat based mix, I find a consensus of 2 tablespoons for every gallon of soil you desire to make. I am making 20 gallons, so that's 40 Tablespoons or 2 1/2 cups worth of Lime.
I sprinkle in half the Lime and hand mix it all in. I wore gloves at this point since Lime can be rough on exposed skin. After it was sufficiently mixed, I repeated the process.
At this point I filled my 4 grow bags. I had a little left over, which is better than being short. I ran about 3 gallons of water through each with the garden hose to make sure it was all good and wet and to get the lime working. The fine folks at Premier Tech Horticulture also tell us on their website that it takes Pro-Mix about 3 days of being wet for the Lime in it to stabilize the pH of the media. So I'll let it sit for a couple days before using. My seeds haven't sprouted out of the Jiffy plugs yet so that's just fine. It took me about an hour and a half to do. Cost was about $38 for the materials. There should be enough Peat Moss for 2 batches, Perlite for 3, and the Lime will go a long way (guessing 5 or so).
Can i just confirm as i read there is a missunderstanding with gypsum and lime.
Ive always thaught peat 70 pearlite 30 and 1 cup gypsum corrected my ph...
Online says it doesnt effect the ph..
In my main pot mix i use oystershell so that is cac02 that will ph as lime.
But my seedling mixes id always been told use gypsum...
Same to wormbins raise the ph by adding gypsum. Always assumed my soil ph metwr cheap says 3 ph was wrong but if the gypsum doesnt do anything then its probly right..altho worms arnt dead....
Seedling mix... what on eaeth do i do or know if the phs is outa whack
- Thread starter
- #111
Gypsum provides Calcium and Sulfur and is pH neutral.
Dolomite Lime provides Calcium and Magnesium and raises pH.
Oyster Shell provides Calcium and Phosphorus and will raise pH over time.
The Pelletized Dolomite Lime in Faux-Mix® is going to work faster than Oyster Shell to raise the pH of the acidic peat.
Hey Farside
I have been making my own soil mixes for the last 10 years or more and have used nothing more than hard wood ash to raise my soil ph
although I put it in my compost pile first than add to my peat
I haven't tried any on my cannabis yet but all my flowers & veggies love it
Usually I will mix about 20 - 50 liter bags to get me through planting season
I bought a cement mixer cause it was getting to hard to do in the wheel barrow by hand
forgot to add this article I found about ash as a liming agent
- Thread starter
- #113
There's numerous ways to skin the cat. By no means is my tutorial all encompassing. It's meant to give readers a way to make a simple soil-less mix, using items that are generally easy to acquire at a big box store.
I don't think there isn't a need to raise the pH of soil anywhere near as much as there is for peat (which starts at 3.0 to 4.5).
True but I am adding it 1 to 2 to new bales of raw peat moss
I do it mostly because it's free & have to get rid of my ashes any ways
The potted plants love it & always have great compliments on how well their plants did form the year before
Throw some in my gardens
Also give some to the community gardens, cause they have no budget for fertilizer
Just don't put fresh ash directly on plants. best to scratch into soil beside plants
or add in the fall
Natures & farmers fertilizer before synthetics
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
The only Pro-Mix you can find around here (SE TN) is the BX in 3.8cf and its around $45.
The bale of peat I bought to make the Faux Mix was 3.0cf. Seems to be about the standard at the big box stores. By the time you add your perlite, you end up with as much product as the 3.8 bale of Pro-Mix.
For those that don't follow my grow thread, these were the resulting plants grown in the first batch of Faux Mix. 29.5 oz off of 3 autos including a POTM. I think I'll keep mixing my own.
DAYUUUM!
Did you build your own light Farside05? IS that tent a 5x5? Beauty grow. Thanks for all the great DIY, BTW.
- Thread starter
- #117
DAYUUUM!
Did you build your own light Farside05? IS that tent a 5x5? Beauty grow. Thanks for all the great DIY, BTW.
I currently have a 3'x3' that houses a DIY strip build. The other tent is a 39"x39" @Mars Hydro that sports a Mars FC4800 and Mars fan and filter.
Of late I have been buying Pro-Mix Premium Moisture Control or Organic Garden Mix rather than making my own. Walmart has both priced reasonably and in stock locally. I've been very busy, so although my Faux-Mix is cheaper, I've been willing to buy myself out of one more chore.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
really like your DIY LED, what is that, 15 bars? Whats the wattage? Any deets are interesting to me.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
I grow in 27 gal SIPS (6 gal fertigation reservoir, 20 gal matrix) and my mix is 60/40 peat/perlite and four cups DOLOPRIL to raise pH. It's a pelletized dolomitic lime - pelletized so farmers can spread with existing machinery. It dissolves very quickly and starts raising pH much faster than I expected. I have only one full season growing tomatoes like this and now this year indoor cannabis so my experience limited. Best damn tomatoes I ever ate, I can say. My mix also includes some homegrown worm castings, aged poultry litter (1 cup per 10 gallons), and I buffer my peat with a special ultra-high cation blue clay I dig up locally. Buffered just like you would fresh coco with Cal-Nit. I fert. with Mega Crop 2 part in the reservoir, 170N ppms, elemental npk 10-5-10 atm. Still figuring out this setup. I have some KNF/JADAM ferts will be ready next round.
- Thread starter
- #120
It's the Bridgelux 3x3 build found HERE. Uses 3500k strips and is 294 watts. Years ago, when I built it, there weren't all the great strip lights commercially available. Quantum Boards were all the rage. Now there's a lot of options and there's not too much cost savings by going the DIY route.