Hows this soil mix look?

[mikedablow]

Hows this soil mix look? Its to big of a grow to go with a bagged soil mix so this is what I came up with... input would be appreciated

Size: 10 Plants
Soil: (50 cubic ft. per plant)
15 cubic ft. loam (30%)
25 cubic ft. peat (50%)
5 cubic feet perlite (10%)
5 cubic feet Vermiculite (10%)
6 pounds dolomitic lime
10 pounds hydrated lime
Pot: 6ft. diameter, 18” high (chicken wire pot draped in burlap)

Fertilizer: Advanced Nutrients 3 stage Heavy Harvest

 

[fisher15]

Dry ferts?

I'd reccomend coco in place of peat. Also maybe 40/40 with the loam.

had to edit, loam...ideal mix of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter.

Also, sounds like you have plenty of access. Why not keep it organic, build a healthy, living soil and feed with compost teas?

 

[nomaad]

somebody is planning on growing some monsters. is this in a greenhouse? for next year? are you in the southern hemisphere?

 

[3rd I]

First get rid of the hydrated lime and only use dolomite lime...second do yourself a favor and read the Organics for Beginners thread in the Organic Soil forum...you will learn so much from that thread, i know i do on a daily basis...as fisher said use teas if you can...you will also find a ton of info on them in the Organic Soil forum

Here's a recipe for making LC #1 mix 15 gallons at a time...7.5 gallons coco, 4.5 gallons perlite, 3 gallons EWC (about 15lbs), 2 cups dolomite lime, 1 cup blood meal, 2 cups bone meal, 1 cup kelp meal, 1 cup greensand, 3 oz. polymer crystals

 

[mikedablow]

I dont plant on going organic .... not that im agianst it but I just think in certian situations dry ferts are much easier. I dont plan on lugging an extra 100 pounds of soil amendments to my site when I could bring a kilo of heavy harvest and get the same results.

Cost is also a factor ... each pot is 50 cubic ft. of soil, its not like were dealing with 5 gallon buckets. Coco is expensive compared to peat thats why I mainly used peat. 15.00 per 4 cubic ft. versus 36.00 for 4 cubic ft. of coco. Do you really think the coco is worth the extra 800.00? I would need 200 cubic ft of it....

I would consider adding polymer cyrstals but I'm not sure at wich rate to add it. I already have verm for water retention.

And why loose the hydratyed lime? The soil is going to need to balanced and I dont see why hydrated lime wouldnt be a good choice. It is supplemeneted by dolimitic so it can keep its balance. If I were to loose the hydrated lime I would have to tripple the amount of dolimitic which means more heavy bags being carried to the site. On a big scale like this 20 pounds of dolimitic lime versus 10 pounds hydrated lime makes a big difference ... thats an extra 100 pounds of lime that needs to be carried.

I'm open to suggestions but I do not want to go organic and I just want everyone to keep in mind the size of this grow in relationship to the soil I chose. It has a lot to do with cost and weight of items.

 

[fisher15]

Well dude, growing big plants isn't cheap. Maybe you should downsize your planters.

So you're going to bring in 15 yards of soil but can't haul the dry nutes? Am I missing something here?

If you fill your 6' diameter, 18" height planters to the brim, it's just over 42cf. That's a difference in three yards, over ten planters.

Also, I don't know where you are but coco is around $15 for the dte 4.5cf bale in norcal.

I use oyster shell lime, no dolomite or hydrated and do fine. How are you watering?

Oh, and you may get good results with the AN, but they won't be the SAME. Good luck.

 

[3rd I]

For the coco...as fisher said buy 5kg compressed blocks they expand to about 4.5 cu.ft. depending on manufacturer, come with handles and you can carry 4 at a time, that's what 18 cuft per trip, $14.95 each here...for the lime we want dolomite not hydrated, they are different...oyster shell lime is good to go too just no hydrated

Check out my thread bro...i hauled tons of stuff into the bush...i mix 15 gallons at a time in 20gal trashcans, just doing 15 at a time makes it easier to mix...for the polymers use at the rate suggested per gallon of soil mix

It can be done