I would like advice regarding soil mixing up our own soil for outdoor.
First, I’ll spell out what we’ve done.
The main ingredient is composted cow manure, in bulk, from a local farm that sells to gardeners. I haven’t tested it for nutrient composition, but it’s rich. It still has a bit of an ammonia smell but I don’t believe it’s straight manure. I can see bits off partially composted wood chips/bark mulch in it. Anyways, it’s called “Black Gold” locally and it’s pretty potent compost, although I’m not an expert.
I tested the ph and it was acidic. About a 4.
Last year’s depleted soil tested 8+ alkaline.
What I have done is mixed some of the old sandy (alkaline) soil with the compost.
I also mixed in perlite, which has a neutral ph.
I mixed the three together, until I got consistent PH readings at 6+/- a smidge. The mixture was aprox 10 to 4 to 1 (compost to sandy soil to perlite).
Here are my questions:
Can/should we grow in this soil without adding ferts through the end of the veg stage?
Should we add anything to the mix out of the gate?
My thoughts are that the cow manure compost has good nitrogen and we probably should just let them grow, with just water and no added nutrients until flowering.
I’ve been researching and just can’t find specific answers to my questions. It seems like everybody buys their medium in bags at the grow store.
Hopefully one of y’all can help me out.
Thanks!
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Welcome to the community! I don’t know what your inputs are like, you’ll have to be the judge, for container growing more aeration is usually recommended, along with peat/coco if the compost is “heavy”
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It looks to me like a nitrogen overload. the waxy looking dark green leaves. Can u test the soil or runoff with ppm meter?
@TallChester hay I no it would have animals come around it but can use stuff to keep away but when I grow outside I mix cow manure with my soil dig a good size area and get some fish bone meal and mix it in with the soil and manure fill the hole in transplant my plants and I would take some hair from local barber shops and put some hair around my plants people have used urine but we would end up with 10 footers can’t wait to get them outdoors myself happy growing 
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It was just transplanted into the soil a few minutes before, so whatever is going on with that one isn’t from this soil mixture.
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Ok heres my questions, ive been growing outdoors for 3 seaaons now , all were fairly successful but im looking to get better quality and quanity , i only use fox farm happy frog soil , the fish emulsion when i first transplant to their forever pot and the blood meal spairingly( because im paranoid of burning them ) i want to make my own compost , i have access to coffee grounds , eggshells , banana peels , chicken poop and probably cow poop , my neighbor has cows but i dont really want to ask them because i dont know how they feel about giving it away , i forgot to mention im unemployed and can only do this on the cheap, will these thing make a good compost ,are there any other home ingredients i can use , and how to mix/ prepare/ cure the compost , thanks in advance
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None of the pictures loaded will have to repost and wait until they upload before posting
If you can get yourself 1000 (a pound) of worms you can start a vermicompost and just throw your veg and fruit waste into it and they will compost. Will take about 3 months to get castings from the compost
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