Hey everyone, I’m putting together some soil for my outdoor run this year. Wanted to post so anyone can let know if I’ve overlooked something or I’m off track. Thanks in advance!
I’ve done several years and lots of runs with peat moss as a base with lots of success. I wanted to give coco a try this time around.
I’m going to be using the soil in sub-irrigated planters, outdoors in southern Ontario. I’ll be running some CBD auto strains and a regular Bubba Kush.
Each planter has space for 10.5 gallons of soil. There’s a water reservoir below (about 20 litres, close to 4 gallons) and this leaves about 1 inch space at the top for mulch.
The 10.5 gallons is about 40 litres. Here’s my planned recipe:
45% coco coir (from canna coco bricks)
33% rice hulls (aeration)
17% trio compost (high quality source)
5% charged biochar
3/4 kelp meal
1 cup Gaia green all purpose
1 cup Gaia green power bloom
1/3 cup Gaia green rock dust blend
1 cup worm castings (homemade)
1 tablespoon humic acid
2 tablespoons fulvic acid
5 grams Dynomyco
The Gaia green mix works out to a 3:6:4 NPK. The rock dust blend gives guaranteed calcium, magnesium, iron and other trace minerals/elements.
Worm castings gives nutrients, but the main purpose is to add various microbes. I’ll also be adding in some worms with the castings (red wrigglers).
I’ll top dress if needed, especially with some worm castings to water in microbes.
I have some left over Promix HP, I was thinking of replacing 1/4 of the coco wit my the peat moss. Thoughts?
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I grow in Coco with a little perlite, We have seen many people have trouble finding the pH level that Coco mixes like. If you keep that in mind then go for it and have fun.
Plain coco is like hydro and likes 5.5 to 5.8 pH .
Soils do better about 1 full point higher around 6.5 to 6.8.
Your mix will have a sweet spot, but what that is I cant predict.
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Are you going to let this cook for a min before you plant? That humic acid is like crack lol… a little goes a long way… i havent tried the Gaia green but ive seen some great results with it.
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Yeah I’ll let it cook for about 2 weeks. 2 weeks because I’ll put my seeds in to start by then, that’s about the time it’s safe for me to not have frost.
I know the mix will be hot, I’ll add a small section of peat moss with a bit of Gaia green all purpose where I put in the seeds to germinate, so they don’t get burned by the mix.
I’ve used Gaia green for 3 years now, it’s fantastic. Super easy, well rounded blend. Every plants been healthy, and no deficiencies, since I started. I tend to grow smaller plants relative to their pot size, so top dressing is minimal for me, once every 3-4 weeks to be safe.
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I am a nube and was wondering if you also supplement liquid nuted while growing in amended soils. Currently I’m growing in coco-loco but have started using bio buzz, recharge and some blackstrap molasses.
You certainly can supplement with liquid nutrients.
Recharge is fantastic. I don’t have experience with the others you mentioned.
I wouldn’t supplement just for the sake of it though.
How long in the grow do you only use water? Or is there a need to add liquid nutrients?