Soil Questions
- Thread starter theG3RMAN
- Start date
Unicorn poop (worm castings) is widely accepted…
a common problem with DIY approach to adding amendments is you can run afoul of Mulders chart. Say an enterprising gardener reads a blurb online about benefits of wood ash, then proceeds to modify their soil. Ash is great stuff but it must be mixed in proper proportion to other components in the soil mix.
same goes for wood chips. it’s great stuff but consider that raw or un-mulched wood chips can tie up all of the nitrogen in your soil mix to help rot or compost the wood chips but now that N is unavailable to your crop.
anywho my point is don’t experiment with your soil mix, follow a well known and trusted recipe
welcome aboard theG3rman!
a common problem with DIY approach to adding amendments is you can run afoul of Mulders chart. Say an enterprising gardener reads a blurb online about benefits of wood ash, then proceeds to modify their soil. Ash is great stuff but it must be mixed in proper proportion to other components in the soil mix.
same goes for wood chips. it’s great stuff but consider that raw or un-mulched wood chips can tie up all of the nitrogen in your soil mix to help rot or compost the wood chips but now that N is unavailable to your crop.
anywho my point is don’t experiment with your soil mix, follow a well known and trusted recipe
welcome aboard theG3rman!
Hello Everyone!
I am getting ready to swith to 7gal fabric pots. I primarily use ProMix and Perlite. Any tips on what else I can mix in to my medium. What kind of mix is everyone making? Thank you for any advice
nothing wrong with that mix.
what are you running for nutes ?
it's a neutral mix so it all comes down to nutes. you could amend etc, but it all depends on your personal grow style and goals.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Here's a bunch more info about my custom soil mix... HERE.
1 part Peat Moss, 1 part Perlite and 2 parts compost are the base mix. To every 10 gallons of the base I have a list of nutrients and amendments that are added. They are based on what is in the super soil mixes developed by Clakasmas Coot and Sub-Cool from years ago. Some of the amendments can be hard to find. With a bit of searching acceptable substitutions are out there.
That is the starter.
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
If you think about this, a good soil made by a well known company is manufactured to certain specifications for a reason. Many of them are blended specifically to grow pot in. They make the mix for you that in their minds, is perfect. Look at the Fox Farm Ocean Forest mix. It has coco, sphagnum and all sorts of other organics in it. Why mess with perfect, especially if you don't personally know how to adjust the water retention rate, the flow through rate, the cation exchange capacity and all the other factors that go into making a good soil?
I use 100% FFOF, because I know exactly how it is going to work. I know it has good stuff in it. It needs no other help until maybe the 2nd or 3rd use, and then I add some more perlite. I don't want to corrupt the FF mix with what some other company thinks is the perfect soil, because then I end up with an unknown. For seedlings, I use FFHF, 100%, because it was made for that purpose... again, no mixing needed or wanted.
I use 100% FFOF, because I know exactly how it is going to work. I know it has good stuff in it. It needs no other help until maybe the 2nd or 3rd use, and then I add some more perlite. I don't want to corrupt the FF mix with what some other company thinks is the perfect soil, because then I end up with an unknown. For seedlings, I use FFHF, 100%, because it was made for that purpose... again, no mixing needed or wanted.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
My recipe is promix HP High perosity I don't add perlite instead I add crushed oyster shells ,KIS nutrient pk, bio char, insect frass and home made worm castings for my water or microbiology feed is in the picture the citric acid for pH down baking soda for up in my water that's what I use anyways so far so good anyways 
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
That's if I need more soil usually I reuse the old soil roots and all cept for the obvious big stuff same recipe
I add both.. I always add perlite/vermiculite in the end to everything I mix (unless it’s already had perlite added and I’m recycling)
Oyster shell is nice for aeration but doesn’t hold up well enough and leads to compaction in containers way too often for me. I still use it because it’s calcium supply, trace, and micros, plus it’s ability to buffer it’s area is sublime.
I’m always concerned about aeration and oxygen in the root zone though. I would rather have too much than too little. You can grow monster plants in small containers if you’ve got good aeration. Last grow though I used too much. The plants were huge, produced well, and were high quality but I was watering every day and almost three times a day in flower.
- Thread starter
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I’m switching to organic promix/perlite and Geoflora nutes. Going all organic. First time ever. I figured I’d give it a whirl. Tired of crazy nutrition programs. So much work. Geoflora seems easy enough and great ingredients.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
I add perlite to reused soil I prefer pumice it stays put where as perlite floats and the mining process is less detrimental but it more costly up front I mix the oyster shells in the HP because it's already pourous as hell,but like I said for me the pro mix HP is high perosity i use the Bio char for water retention and a wetting agent like yucca because that HP is VERY pourous . All good stuff in this conversation
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
You gotta read the 3 book series but at least this book for sure to understand organic gardening
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
A soil test is really helpful depending on how into growing you are it tells you the whole story about your soil
that's organic based nutes, not an organic grow. folk running geo have liked it. most reported issues related to underfeeding due to the nute taking time to become available.
I add perlite to reused soil I prefer pumice it stays put where as perlite floats and the mining process is less detrimental but it more costly up front I mix the oyster shells in the HP because it's already pourous as hell,but like I said for me the pro mix HP is high perosity i use the Bio char for water retention and a wetting agent like yucca because that HP is VERY pourous . All good stuff in this conversation
I’ve heard good talk about pumice. I don’t have the perlite floating issue very much. I don’t mind it though. It’s free aeration and gives microbiology a free ride through the container when it floats up. Vermiculite has been on my mind recently as well.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
Watch the heavy metals in certain organic based products if you are trying to get healthy bud to consume that is clean go with a organic or vegan soil mix I tried a couple of the organic based nuts to find out they weren't organic at all!!! BEWARE!! RESEARCH!!
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
Myself I just don't use vermiculite because it's just another added cost that isn't necessary and remember KIS, keep it simple!
This. However, it is a stepping stone toward organic. I’ve said this a few times but there’s levels to organic. There’s organicish where you just use OMRI stuff, or organic feeding programs. This is what Geoflora would be.
Then there’s actual organic where you’re adding the inputs/amendments and building the soil yourself.
Yes! Also make sure you’re double triple checking the labels.. just because it says OMRI doesn’t mean it’s safe/good to use. If you’re using a medium once with no plans on recycling then you can use whatever you want but if you’re gonna be recycling which is what every organic grower should really try to do if they can then you need to be extremely vigilant about what actually goes into your stuff.
There’s stuff with OMRI labels I would never use then there’s stuff that explicitly states “Not for organic” that I most certainly use in my organic grows.
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
If you are new to organic growing aeration will be the least of your problems it's a learning curve you'll do fine once you get the hang of it ask Alot of questions here there's Alot of good knowledge on this site Have a good one 
seaofgreen18
Well-Known Member
OMRI is just a label to raise prices. Just so you know that you can get the same quality no heavy metals without the label just pick a good and trustworthy grow supplier. I recommend KIS organic I'll put a link up if you are interested in researching suppliers fast shipping good price and QUALITY support
