Just Add Water 2019

funkyflava

funkyflava

cantankerous containers
Since I'm starting over in 2019 I wanted to post some soil mixes found online and discuss the complexities i don't quite have a good understanding of.
Why in some of the recommended amounts i see lime amounts between 1/2 cup to 1-cup why is this?

Some of the items were difficult to locate at the local big box so i found a feed and seed that had almost everything listed. I hear these amounts could result in a hot soil mix that could lead to burn or that the soil should be diluted before use. I attempted to mix this soil back in the day which lead to me failing because I didn't combine the correct types of nutes like phosphate or triple phosphate. Then I used the wrong type of lime which led to more struggles and confusion.

My current needs are not as much as others so i am thinking of only making half of the listed recipe. What are your thoughts and opinions about supersoil? How do you correctly calculate the amount of lime when combine with all the other items? Are any of the listed items easily substituted for any future reused/mixes?

I have spent the last several months chasing PH issues and have purchased a couple of new PH pens yet i still struggle with yellowing of the leaves and lock out issues. I know these seem like redundant questions with all of the soil mixes from past post but there seemed to be a lot of differing quantities and lime amounts. Do base soils pay a large part in lime amounts when substituting things like soil conditioner instead of premix soils?

After being away from the hobby for the last several years i feel like I'm starting all over again. My old seeds not germinating makes me want to jump off a cliff. :sick3:

I bought FFOF as a base just so i don't screw this up again... I need help and I can't buy 400$ oz anymore.

8 - 1.5 cubic ft bags of high-quality base soil (Sold Separately)
1 - 30lb. bag of Worm Castings
2.5 lbs. Fish Bone Meal
5 lbs. High Phosphorus Bat Guano
5 lbs. Blood Meal
2.5 lbs. Bone Meal
3 cups. Oyster Shell
3 cups. Kelp Meal
3 cups Alfalfa Meal
3/4 cup Epsom Salt
1 cup Garden Lime
2 cups Azomite
2 tbsp powdered humic acid

8 large bags of 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 OR 5 fish bone meal OR 50/50
5 lbs Bloom bat guano
5 lbs blood meal
3 lbs rock phosphate
¾ cup Epson salts
½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
½ cup azomite (trace elements)
2 tbsp powdered humic acid
3 lbs Kelp meal
3 lbs oyster shell
3 cups alfalfa meal
 
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Sorry i was pasting out of note pad. Great point Bush Dr. I bought some Rock Phosphate would this be a good substitution? While at the feed and seed they brought up Kelp meal sourcing too because of Fukushima pollution.

I've also seen insect frass in my journey around the net.
 
I don't think I'd use hydrated lime, which I believe you've referred to as garden lime. I would definitely use Dolomitic lime flour though. It will provide all the magnesium your plants will ever need, and always keep your ph in the sweet spot! I always add some to my soil/soilless mixes. Never see a mag deficiency.
 
Wow Thanks Alabaster for the dolomite lime tip!

Annaba,

Ive been reading your post on KISS methods which made me post this today. I also saw the post on using Holly Tone in your Dirt in my Closet posts. I just wanted to find a solid starting point to build my soil and end up having a "OVERTHINK-O-THON" :slap:
 
I agree with the dolomite lime but make sure you get the powdered stuff and not the granular :puffpuffpass:
 
Years ago I did a couple 'organic vs synthetic' trials. It was the first time I ever did an organic soil. There were countless 'recipes' to be found...which one to use?:dunno: So I did some academic research on organic soils and amendments. Then, armed with that info, I took another look at the recipes, compared and contrasted them, and formulated my own based on all the information I had looked at. I looked at the entire process as having three components, which together would have to provide everything the plant would need, organically.

The soil base:
3 parts Pro-Mix BX w/ mycorrhizae (for structure, and microbes)
2 parts Pro-Mix for Hanging Plants w/mycorrhizae (for structure, water retention, and microbes)
2 parts Used soil (for structure, and microbes)
1 part Worm castings (for moisture retention, micro-nutes, and microbes)

The soil amendments:
(per 16 gallons of soil base)
- 1 cup Bone Meal (for P)
- 1 cup Blood Meal (for N)
- 1 cup Kelp Meal (for K, and micro-nutes)
- 1 cup Granulated Lime (for time release ph control)
- 1 cup Alfalfa pellets (dissolved in water) (for N)
- 1/4 cup Epsom Salts (for magnesium, and sulfur)
- 10 ounces Pyroclay (for silica, and micro-nutes) <--used in trial #2, but not in #1

Additional amendment options:
- Dry-Bar Bat Guano (mostly for additional P, but has higher N content as well)
- Liquid Seaweed (for additional K, and micro-nutes)
- Fish Emulsion (for additional N)
- Molasses (to feed the soil microbes)

I mixed up the soil base and soil amendments, and let it 'cook' for a month...to let the microbe colony establish and begin breaking down the nutrients for the plants. The guano was scratched in when the plants were put to flower. The liquid seaweed and fish emulsion were kept on hand in case a need arose...I don't think I ever needed them during the trails. And I think I used the molasses just once, half way through flowering.

I'm not purporting this to be the 'miracle' soil...I'm just providing the information for you to compare with all that you have gotten already.:) Everything listed I've seen at Walmart, except for the guano and pyroclay, which were attained at a grow shop.

:puffpuffpass:
 
Kazzy do you have any name brands you can mention?

Butcher Bob thanks for sharing! I love the straight forward approach and being able to get supplies in a low key spot like WM. Not that its really low key I see people bickering there all the time. :unsure:
 
We found products that work for us. Not sure if you have access to them but KIS organics has a waternonly soil and one with biochar. It’s awesome. The ingredient list is posted in one of my threads.
Even if you can’t get their soil, they sell nutrient charge packs that you can add to your compost peat and castings mix.
Good luck.
:puffpuffpass:
 
funkyflava,

i too was having issues w/my mix yrs ago so i changed to promix bx and using store bought nutes. lately ive been doing a lot of research and reading on No-Till gardening and i came across a guy on utube, the Herban Farmer, that did a sub-irrigated no-till grow running several crops in the same soil. this year he is doing another no-till using blumats and he gives detail on his soil mix and links to get it. ill try it in a 15-20 gal grow bed in a month or so before i change everything over.

good luck
 
Mocheeba , you gonna` try the sub irrigation or the Blumats ....or both ? Come tax time I`m goin` to Blumats just for the ease .
peace
 
burnie,

at first im going to try the sub irrigated bed b/c when he did it he had high RH issues from being sub irrigated and here in Fl i fight low RH b/c the window a/c dehumidifies the room. im hoping my RH will rise a bit but by the looks of how easy the blumats make it i will go that rout when i convert a whole tent over. my goal is to try no-till using cover crops and seed sprout teas before the year is out and ill document it in my thread.

peace
 
Are you all building these "super soils" for lack of a better term so that you do not have to feed additionally? Or is your aim to start out with the best possible base medium and then adjust or add as needed or on a regimen?

I am starting back out in soil and using a FF Ocean and have used many times before but there is certainly not enough substance in this blend nor in others comparable on a commercial retail level to sustain a plant for more than 2-4 weeks IMO. I see depletion in 2-4 weeks of at least readily available minerals for the plant. So I will be paying attention this this thread for sure. Best of luck and thanks for the thread
 
BCW1- That is a fantastic question

I wanted to be able to take them through a short veg then flowering cycle with hopes of making it to through most of the flowering cycle (6-8wks) without adding any additional feedings. If i needed to give an occasional lite feeding i don't have any issue with that. Recently it seems like i was constantly feeding and I just wanted to but a soil that was enriched enough to make it through flowering. I have been really busy with work and don't always have the time to tend to them like i have in the past.

I was using in the past a premixed soil like Monrovia but couldn't find it and was forced to use Miracle-Gro soil. After that i fought Ph imbalances and figured it was time to look for a better option.
 
Right on. I like you am very busy with work and family that I really would love to find a true "just add water" formula. Not that I am lazy and don't want to put the work in for great results but lets face it life seems different than yesterday it seems no one has time for anything extra and we are all looking more and more for automation in every part of our lives.

I like the idea at minimum to be able to take them through veg and some of flowering. I don't think I would mind to have to feed in flowering especially when trying to capture time sensitive growth cycles like the stretch or maybe science of being able to tweak some of the growth cycles. Maybe having to feed capturing the stretch and then again at finish like some due with complex sugars and carbs I assume to again tweak or enhance flavor and bouquet qualities? Not sure but seems logical to me.

I have been keeping my eye open for one of those plastic kiddy pools you usually see at like Walmart or Menards during the summer to be able to throw in the basement and start mixing this soil blend you have here but bad time of year to shop for pools. I have made some soil mixes in the past myself but never gave myself enough room or volume to mix properly and thoroughly. I suppose I could do it on a smaller scale in tubs or something.

Keep the info coming I am learning some things from this thread : )

Thanks Funky
 
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