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 ghost01
Stranger
Registered: 11/13/18
Posts: 7
Last seen: 5 years, 9 months
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 Help me build a stellar soil. :) 
#834805 - 11/19/18 02:08 PM (6 years, 1 month ago) |
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Hey all,
I am looking to build my own Organic Super Soil. I have one made (and I'm using some pre-made stuff)
but this is will be for next season, I have a few composting barrels that I need to fill up so I figured I'd get em filled up and started for next season.
I usually go with the base ingredients from TGA Subcools recipe:
The Basic Recipe
- 15 cubic ft soil. (I'm using SunGro Sunshine Mix No.4)
- 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 TBS powdered Humic Acid
Here are some thing's I am adding to it:
- 3 Cups Yucca Root Extract (Granules)
- 3 Cups of Powdered Aloe Vera
- 1/2 Pound Green Sand
- 3 Cups Silica Soluble Powder
- 3 Cups Langbeinite
- 10 Pounds Charlies Chicken Compost
- Great White Mycorrhizae
- 1-2 cups Horticulture Charcoal Powder
- 1/4th cup Ocean Mineral Organic Fertilizer (Over 90 Minerals and Trace Elements All Water Soluble.)
- 1/2 pound of coarse sand
- 2 cubic feet of vermiculite
- 4 cubic feet of Coarse Perlite
- Miracle-Gro Water Storing Crystals, 12-Ounce
- 1 Pound Bentonite Powder
- 1 Pound Gypsum
- 1 Pound Diatomaceous Earth
I also compost all the fresh cut grass from mowing the lawn, as well as put in shredded tree limbs (just the small dead ones that fall off in winter. Plus I compost my leftovers/throwout stuff. Coffee grinds is a huge one, Not sure if there is "Too Much" when your composing coffee grinds b/c thats my main throwaway, prob a pound per 2 weeks.)
So That is my additions essentially, which I usually augment throughout the season with freshly brewed compost teas.
My question is does anyone know of any good nutrients/additions (Organic only) that promote better growth, I'm willing to try new things. I know that Yucca root is a fairly new thing. It contains a few plant stimulants and acts as a surfactant Which has a few benefits.
I'm especially interested in a natural/organic additives which can increase bud density, terpene production, and create more plentiful bud sites. Since I do not use any chemical fertilizers or additives, I'd like to make up in some small way the lost weight from switching to organic only.
Don't get me wrong, Organic is a billion times better in every regard, smell, flavor, health, enviromental impact, etc... Purpose being I'd like to test some new thing's and see if anything has a significant impact, or at the very least produces healthier, happier, bigger plants.
Edited by ghost01 (11/19/18 03:11 PM)
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paradoxfound
Stranger
Registered: 10/20/18
Posts: 7
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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 Re: Help me build a stellar soil. :) [Re: ghost01]
#834810 - 11/19/18 06:03 PM (6 years, 1 month ago) |
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I would get rid of the Epsom Salts. I don't know why it is such a popular addition to soil mixes, but it contains wayy too much Magnesium and people use it with it's calcium in mind.
It seems like you probably will have too much magnesium and not enough calcium in this mix.
I'm not a fan of Azomite because it contains losely bonded Al which can oxidize and become mobile.
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ghost01
Stranger
Registered: 11/13/18
Posts: 7
Last seen: 5 years, 9 months
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Re: Help me build a stellar soil. :) [Re: paradoxfound]
#834818 - 11/19/18 09:37 PM (6 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
paradoxfound said:
I would get rid of the Epsom Salts. I don't know why it is such a popular addition to soil mixes, but it contains wayy too much Magnesium and people use it with it's calcium in mind.
It seems like you probably will have too much magnesium and not enough calcium in this mix.
I'm not a fan of Azomite because it contains losely bonded Al which can oxidize and become mobile.
What do you mean by Al in azomite?
Hmm I suppose I could reduce the amount of Epsom salts, but I've always had good results using it. There are actually two sources of calcium:
The Gypsum, and the Oyster Shell Flour
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paradoxfound
Stranger
Registered: 10/20/18
Posts: 7
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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Re: Help me build a stellar soil. :) [Re: ghost01]
#834821 - 11/20/18 08:29 AM (6 years, 1 month ago) |
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aluminum. It's very present in azomite and very mobile, especially at more acidic pH. Which you shouldn't have a problem.
Yes, I saw that. I would up the gypsum for sure. Oyster Shell Flower is not very available in terms of Ca. The carbonates in it boost up the pH which precipate Ca out of solution making it unavailable to roots. And you have lime in your base mix as well.
I would get rid of the Epsom salts completely, as well as the langbeinite. The compost you are adding should have enough Mg and K in it so you shouldn't have to worry about adding them. I would also make the gypsum a more important aspect of your soil. The Ca from gypsum is extremely available to plants.
Also I would remove the perlite and substitute either rice hulls or a volcanic basalt of a similar gradation. Perlite also has a lot of aluminum in it. I don't use it anymore. Also the dust is terrible for your lungs.
It's not a bad mix. I would fuck with the ratios a little bit, set up a collection of pots to see what the effects of altering different amendments are and see how it goes from there.
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