Making a organic soil mix

[Hovz]

Hello everybody I'm here to get some opinions and be critiqued to ensure i make a good soil mix.

LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.

I searched and could not find powdered dolomite lime, I bought some Agricultural limestone which i've read is like dolomite lime. It is a sand like texture and it has 21.60% calcium and 13.03% magnesium which i read was good because it should be about a 2:1 ratio of cal : mag.
Should i use the same 2 tablespoons per gallon?

RECIPE #1
1 tablespoon blood meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
2 tablespoons bone meal per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
1-tablespoon kelp meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix or Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract as directed
(OPTIONAL) 1 tablespoon per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of Jersey Greensand to supplement the K (potasium) in the Kelp Meal and seaweed extract.

I have the blood meal, bone meal, and kelp meal, but didn't get the jersey greensand, does anyone suggest i use it? I've read burnone say it is not needed.

So i plan to follow this soil mix using sphagnum peat, perlite and EWC or Mushroom Compost.
I can't wait to start my first organic grow, i have some clones about to take root, I know i need to Stir and mix it a few times a week so the bacteria can get oxygen and break down the bone meal and make it available. My question is, if i dont have liquid karma, will using water bubbled with a airstone still allow the bacteria to break down the bone meal and allow the lime to better adjust the ph of a peat based mixture?
Im excited to start growing healthy plants.

 

[VerdantGreen]

water would be fine, if you really want to add something to help the microbes a little molasses - 1teaspoon/gallon wwould be ok i think.

V.

 

[BurnOne]

Make sure your lime is dolomite (dolomitic) and powdered or pulverized or you're asking for trouble.
Follow the recipe EXACTLY.
Burn1

 

[Mr-B]

I had the same problem finding the powdered version so I took the pelleted and crushed it to a fine powder in a bowl then used it.

I didn't know if the pelleted version was stronger than the powdered version so I used half of the recommended amount.
Plants are looking great so it must be ok.

Hope this helps a little.

B

 

[maryjohn]

Pelletized is much weaker than powdered, not stronger. And there is no benefit to crushing it.

 

[Hovz]

Okay well i guess i'll have to keep searching for dolomite, i want to follow the recipe exactly. last time i drove 60 miles to the city to find that home depot no longer carries it. Maybe I'll try fred meyer or look for a garden store. I found some on amazon.com but the shipping is more than the 4lbs of lime. Any who i want to get my soil mixed ASAP, My second 600w hps should arive today along with a bunch of fun stuff like CAP Day/Night Temperature Control. If i'm gonna make this mix i wanna gonna do it right. So since i wanna run off tap water should i get a res ready with airstones in the bottom ready to go? Then i can just bubble for 24 hrs and be ready to innoculate the soil. I also bought some stuff for the roots and bacteria from GH called sub culture-M and sub culture-B
would this stuff be beneficial at all? I still need to pickup real dolomitic lime, EWC or compost. Thanks for the replies, ill be around this forum for a while.

 

[maryjohn]

I would spend more time finding good compost.

What brand pelletized? Espoma is dolomite for instance, and you would just need to use more volume to compensate for all that clay.

I'm all for following the directions, but that should not be an impediment.

 

[OPT]

There are a few places you can find the lime for cheap, though, yes...the shipping might be 5-10 bucks, but it's highly worth it. It is also referred to as "Garden Lime". Even though you might spend an extra buck or two on it now, it'll go a long ways. The bag i bought isn't even half gone. Same goes with all the organic ferts you will be using, 1 box goes a long way. Make sure you dampin the mix and aerate it daily to keep that herd going, at least 2 weeks before you are ready to us it, so keep that in mind.

Your are wise to follow the directions exactly, as far as mushroom compost goes, i'm not sure, never used it. I've used the recipe you have 5-6 times and i get better with it each go around. I just recently ordered some greensand to complete the mix, hopefully it will supplement the kelp meal well, sounds like it is highly encouraged.

Are you planning on using any liquid seaweed or liquid karma?

I hear nothing but good things about molasses, I'm eager to use it this time around as well.

Good luck sir,
OPT

 

[Hovz]

I'm gonna pickup some jersey green sand, dolomite lime, liquid seaweed, molasses, and probably just some EWC to complete the mix, it might take me a week or so.

 

[vonforne]

I'm gonna pickup some jersey green sand, dolomite lime, liquid seaweed, molasses, and probably just some EWC to complete the mix, it might take me a week or so.

Drop the greensand.......it will not benefit you until the next crop or beyond.

Use your resources to get Kelp meal, you can get that at Lowes made by Espoma. EWC is a must. Try looking at the local University or County facility for recycling they might have it and fresh compost also.

V

 

[DARC MIND]

I searched and could not find powdered dolomite lime, I bought some Agricultural limestone which i've read is like dolomite lime. It is a sand like texture and it has 21.60% calcium and 13.03% magnesium which i read was good because it should be about a 2:1 ratio of cal : mag.
Should i use the same 2 tablespoons per gallon?

some times agriculture limestone or garden lime can be dolomite lime. read the fine print in the back, it should tell you what the product is made of.
i believe a 2:1 ratio of cal/mag is the same as dolomite so you may already have dolomite lime stone, again read the back to be certain
i have used a sand like texture dolomite lime before, under the bag name of garden lime but was made up of dolomite lime stone and it worked very well in my experience w/ LC mix.
as mentioned if you want you can crush it into a powder witch i believe will help the microbes break it down faster..(by increasing surface area)

LC mix is great for newbs but it can also be tweaked w/ other or alternative amendments with great success. I would listen to burn1, he does not know it but he has helped me a whole lot in becoming the die hard organic gardener i am today..
best of luck and in my opinion get the greensand (if cash isent a problem), it can/will benefit the texture of your media witch will benefit the structure and feed your crop later on in flowering and or the next crop (if you wish to recycle the soil)
best of luck and happy turkey day

 

[psycho pirate]

I use:

I water it in once when I pot up to flower... My current grow is my first time using it, but it seems to be working well

 

[Hovz]

Agricultural lime, also called garden lime or liming, is a soil additive made from pulverized limestone or chalk. The primary active component is calcium carbonate. Additional chemicals vary depending on the mineral source and may include calcium oxide, magnesium oxide and magnesium carbonate.

Effects on soil:

* it increases the pH of acidic soil (the higher the pH the less acidic the soil)
* it provides a source of calcium for plants
* it permits improved water penetration for acidic soils

Lime may occur naturally in some soils but may require addition of sulfuric acid for its agricultural benefits to be realized. Gypsum is also used to supply calcium for plant nutrition. The concept of "corrected lime potential" to define the degree of base saturation in soils became the basis for procedures now used in soil testing laboratories to determine the "lime requirement" of soils.[1]

Other forms of lime have common applications in agriculture and gardening, including dolomitic lime and hydrated lime. Dolomitic lime may be used as a soil input to provide similar effects as agricultural lime, while supplying magnesium in addition to calcium.

I think i will just buy some powdered dolomite, that way i don't fuck the soil mix up and have it cost time and money for me down the road.

 

[OPT]

The most important things to get for this recipe is the EWC's and the lime to buffer the PH, as well as the trace elements and etc it has. Perlite is very important also. The rest of the things are additions, they are highly recommended but you will grow a steller crop without the greensand,molasses, etc.

Just get what you can, organic gardening is very forgiving. That's what makes it such an easy way to grow great MJ. You can read and read on this and that..and that and this, to make your organic mix broader, but when it comes down to it, the essential things like I said above is the base, and with the base alone, you can get some dank.

Good luck!

OPT

 

[ocean99]

Making the effort to find the dolomite lime is a good idea. I looked at the consistency of the garden lime around town and I can say for sure that it would have been a bitch to grind it to the consistency of the stuff I bought. The pulverized stuff is real easy to work with, mixes super easy. I also doubt I'll have to purchase any more for another year if not longer, a 50 pound bag was like 12 bucks.

Thanks again all you organic disciples, my plant is looking gorgeous.

 

[VerdantGreen]

its all down to the soil - and the environment.
if you do the work to get them both right then you'll be good.

cheers

V.

lol ocean99 a 50lb bag will last you a lifetime!

 

[xmobotx]

a 50lb bag will last you a lifetime!

lol - w/ lime it seems like you buy at least a quart to use like 2 TBS

unless you're doing a field

 

[Iron_Lion]

In my years of growing I have learned it is this simple:
1 bag Fox Farm Light Warrior
1 bag Fox Farm Ocean Forest
1 bag Fox Farm Planting Mix
8 tbls soil sweet dolomite lime

This make growing so EASY, I gave my soil recipe to a total newbie grower and even he was very successful.
The mix may be a bit pricey but its ease and results make up for the cost.
IMO the soil mix is the #1 most important factor in getting awesome buds.

 

[Hovz]

I think i got the soil mix figured out, now i gotta get my environment up to par, i got 2 x 600w hps digital ballasts. I bought two thermostats day/night one for cooling and one for heating. I will plug my 6 inch inline or a/c into the cooling thermostat and plug in my small portable heater into the heating one. This should keep everything in a good temp range. Also i got a big trash can i will use as a reservoir, i got a huge dual diaphragm 8w air pump that i will use to bubble my tap water, it really puts out some bubbles.

 

[MrFista]

You said earlier - mushroom or worm compost.

These are two completely different things. Worm castings are mandatory because of their microbial richness - massive range of benefits to be gleaned from them.

Mushroom compost is a so-so soil filler it is sterilised after being used in the industry more often than not. I never bother with it.

Compost, as in good compost, is like worm castings, full of goodies.

But worm castings are king.