Currently have a mix of my own vermicompost with Kellogg raised bed potting mix and worm castings mixed in between. I’m noticing red soil mites (not spider mites thankfully), spring tails, white mites, and I’ve added about 50 worms from the compost. I mulched it with garden debris and straw.
It’s been sitting about three to four weeks now and before I start my germination I wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up on the blend. It’s been watered twice with liquid kelp/worm tea/molasses and I’ve put down a top dressing of craft blend about two weeks ago.
I noticed my mix does not have very much perlite inside of it and was wondering if this would be a problem? I could still add perlite now and have roughly 2-3 weeks for whatever disturbances I may of caused to remedy themselves.
Was also curious if I could go the entire grow with craft blend and the occasional tea mix I mentioned earlier.
An yes, please keep your question about your grow on one journal! You’ll get all sorts of great info and would be nice to see everyone’s thoughts in one place!
LOL I start my new journal about one month after mylast harvest… just so I can start collection information and ideas (I only do one grow a year because it’s outdoors)
You can even have the moderators combine all your topics into one and change the title
I think that would be best to combine everything so I could assist better. All I got was add more perlite in the 5 gal pot.
Yes, you can add it in still. Dump that pot into a tote and hand mix it into existing soil. Then refill pot.
Is a 5 gal pot big enough to do living soil, yes, but it isn’t for the inexperienced. It requires lots of maintenance to keep the worms alive and the moisture level proper. I’ve done it, but maybe you’d be better with a 10 gal pot. Fill it with 7.5 gal (1 cft) of the mix. That leaves room for top dressings and 3” mulch layer. Fold the sides of the pot down to fit. This would probably give you 2-3 grows in that pot before having to up pot that into a 15 gal and repeat the process.
Craft Blend is one of the tools in my arsenal. That tea mentioned above is mostly for veg and early flower. I’d also add some Neem cake to that for the added benefits (ie NPK and pest protection). You’ll need a flower one and additional dry inputs, or you use Build a Bloom, with their schedule
Hmm I’ve never heard of neem cake before and don’t see on that list. It’s something I definitely want to look into as I don’t see an N-P-K value for the craft blend. How much should I mix with the top dress and how frequent? Thank you
Use the chart above. Probably start with 1/4 cup around the outside working in with your 5 gal, since you didn’t build the mix. Definitely get some pumice or lava in there, if you plan to run living soil, long-term.
CB - It’s all their ingredients, mixed together in a balanced ratio. They don’t list the values. Personally, I feel it’s a little light on Langbeinite for flowering.
Wait I’m not asking about craft blend, I am asking about the neem cake which you mentioned. There is no mention of it in the chart so unsure how I follow that.
I don’t know who has the money to follow that chart besides maybe large grow people. There are so many different ingredients that it almost seems to lose its enjoy ability to grow IMO
I wasn’t sure what you meant. Put that in your tea with the kelp and the EWC.
Top dress would depend on what type you buy. It would also come with instructions.
I agree, and there’s many ways to get there without doing all of that. I find it’s great for noobs wanting to get their feet wet. Eventually you move away from that and use top dressings and teas. Down to Earth makes affordable mixes and so does Dr. Earth
Sorry to keep you but does craft blend add any NPK? Because people have told me I should be fine with my soil the whole grow but fertilize before bloom. I don’t fully understand craft blend even though I purchased it lol I just saw people mention as a top notch organic top dress.
For veg, I like top CB and BioLive and water with the tea you mentioned + neem cake. Amount depends on how much you’re brewing.
For transition, I feel CB needs additional crab meal (CRM) oyster flower (OF), gypsum (GYP) Langbeinite, and fish bone meal (FBM).
This is where personal choice come into play. Stages require different inputs to hit key developmental weeks. It also takes a top dress, two weeks before required stage, to give it time to begin breaking down.
