I want to build my own soil. I bought some peat moss today with cocoa chips , I have to get some perlite today. 1st Can I use those ingredients to make good soil ? If so whatās the ratio of mixture?
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Adding those will assist in drainage, but not really add anything NPK wise.
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If you are growing outdoor, you can mix those things with fertile farm soils and compost, possibly some well rotted manure and a cup of limeā¦ and make a real nice soil. Ideally I make stuff up like that in the fall and let it stand over winter, but you could do a hot mix and be ok too.
Conversely, if this is for indoor, you will want to follow a suoer soil recipe and not use any outdoor soil products.
I agree with cannabian you need at least some compost unless you plan on feeding them salt based nutes from day 1 like hellraiser ,I would think a ratio of roughly 50% peat 30% compost and 20% chips would get you going for the first 2-3 weeks then start your fert regiment
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Do you want a medium to grow plants in or do you want a medium to feed and support the plants. Very different approaches.
The first is pretty straight forward. What substrate do you want to use, what drainage characteristic do you want, and the nutrient regime to match the first two. The latter can run the range to very complex soil building with many different possible routes or, on the other end, open a bag of this and that, follow prescribed formulas that have been tested and proven.
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Youāve got what you need to start putting together a soilless mix.
I agree that anything youāre mixing yourself you wanna plan to let it mellow out for 6 weeks or more before you use it.
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All winter I have been dumping my used soil and run off water in the backyard where I will be putting my out door plants this summer. Hoping it charges the soil in my garden.
Not much in that used soil thatās gonna charge anything upā¦ itās used. Till in various poops with that used soil and youāll have something good. Earthworm castings, composted cow manure and a few good scoops of composted chicken poo will do ya right
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Was all miracle grow soil. Figured thereās gotta be something left to it. And with using miracle grow I figure thereās also gotta be some in the runoff. Better in the garden than down the drain. Just less top soil I gotta get to fill in the removed grass.
Hey-
There was a member of the forum that made his own soil. A lot of people have used it with success. If you look up garrigans soil recipe you can find it pretty easy. Mr Garrigan recently died from Cancer. He is greatly missed. To find his recipe, up at the top there is a magnifying glass. Click on it and enter āGarriganā and you will see the thread with his recipe, and thereās another thread with a tea recipe too. Good luck! Peaceā¦
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@patchman I will save you the trouble because I saved the recipes
@garrigan65 ās soil recipe:
Full Recipe
8 1.5 cubic ft bags of Roots Organics soil or a high-quality organic
potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil)
25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
5 lbs steamed bone meal
5 lbs bloom bat guano
5 lbs blood meal
3 lbs rock phosphate
Ā¾ cup Epson salts
Ā½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
Ā½ cup azomite (trace elements)
2 tablespoons powdered humic acid
1/2 Recipe
4 1.5 cubic ft bags of Roots Organics
12.5 to 25 lbs of organic worm castings
2.5lbs steamed bone meal
2.5lbs bloom bat guano
2.5lbs blood meal
1.5lbs rock phosphate
3/8 cup or 6 tablespoons Epsom Salts
1/4 cup or 4 tablespoon sweet lime (dolomite)
1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons azomite (trace elements)
1 tablespoon powdered humic acid
1/4 Recipe
2 1.5 cubic ft bags of Roots Organics
6.25 to 12.5 lbs of organic worm castings
1.25lbs or 20 ounces steamed bone meal
1.25lbs or 20 ounces bloom bat guano
1.25lbs or 20 ounces blood meal
3/4 lbs rock phosphate
3/16 cup or 3 tablespoons Epsom Salts
1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons sweet lime (dolomite)
1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons azomite (trace elements)
1.5 teaspoons powdered humic acid
1/8 Recipe
1 1.5 cubic ft bag of Roots Organics
3.125 to 6.25 lbs of organic worm castings
.625 lbs or 5/8 lbs or 10 ounces steamed bone meal
.625 lbs or 5/8 lbs or 10 ounces bloom bat guano
.625 lbs or 5/8 lbs or 10 ounces blood meal
3/8 lbs or 6 ounces rock phosphate
3/32 cup or 1.5 tablespoons Epsom Salts
1/16 cup or 1 tablespoon sweet lime (dolomite)
1/16 cup or 1 tablespoon azomite (trace elements)
3/4 teaspoon powdered humic acid
This better
Soil Recipe to be mixed with 1 to 1/1/2 cu ft of base soil
.3125 lb or 5 oz Fishbone Meal 3-16-0
.3125 lb or 5 oz Steamed Bone Meal 2-14-0
.625 lb or 10 oz Bat Guano 0-7-0
.3125 lb or 5 oz Blood Meal 13-0-0
.3125 lb or 5 oz Feather Meal 12-0-0
.375 lb or 6 oz Colloidal Rock Phosphate 0-3-0
1 tbsp Potassium Sulfate 0-0-53 (potash, Langeinbrite)
1 tbsp Souluble Kelp Powder 0-0-17
1 tbsp Mycorrhizal Fungi (300 spores per gram)
3/4 tsp Powdered Humic Acid (90 % pure)
1 1/2 tbsp Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate)
1tbsp Sweet Lime (Dolomite)
1 tbsp Asomite (Trace Elements)
6.25 lbs Worm Castings
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Thanks beardless!!
Do you use this recipe? I may have to switch. My two tries with build a soilsā recipes are not producing for me. Peaceā¦
This is the mix that I have used the last couple of times. When transplanting into it I use some starter mix to provide a transition buffer to this āhotā mix. I started using advanced nutrients Iguana organic line. I still started pretty early with it despite the ability of the soil to carry them longer. At transplant to 5 gallon bags I fed at 600-700 ppm and increased to 800-850 in early flower and stayed in that range through out the grow.
Why no composted manure indoors? Iām currently using 60% composted manure mixed with 20% perlite 10% vermiculite and 10% peat, thereās peat in the bags of composted manure too.
Iām getting good quality and good yields, but Iāve had some bumps on the road too. Iām up for a change if it will improve my results.
So why are outdoor products not recommended for indoor?
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Well primarily because of bugs like fungus gnatsā¦ and other critters that might be in the mix. I really would rather not have to worry about bugs indoors. That way when I transfer my
when the light hours are goodā¦ the plants have a good start with no setbacks. They dont mind peat based soiless mix for the first whileā¦ that plug essentially is inertā¦ void of any nutrients by the time I plant em in May. Then they go into straight organic soil and only organic foods from May to Novā¦that gives the plants more than enough time to go from synthetically made nutrients to being fully organic. I dont do synthetic weed!
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