Questions about this soil mix

[fireman22]

Hey

I received this soil mixture from a local dispensary and was wondering what you guys think about it. I am going to use it for my next grow or something similar you recommend. Also what would you switch out or put in and is there anyway I can make it for cheaper?

SOHUM BAMER GOLD Organic Soil Mix
1. 1 cup of guano per soil bag (bat and sea bird guano)
2. 1 cup of trace minerals per bag ( kelp/oyster shell/fish meal/crab meal/glacial rockdust/greensand)
3. ¼ cup of lime per soil bag
4. mycroryzae- use endo species from (Plant Success)
*take cutting or transplant and dig its place in the medium and before placing the plant in its medium take 1 tsp/TSP of mycroryzae and sprinkle it directly in the soil/medium where you will place the plant and cover with plant and soil!
5. 1 bag of castings from (Natures Solutions) per 3 to 5 bags of soil
*this stuff can burn your plants if not too careful and use too much*
6. 1 bag of compost of hummus ( Alaskan Humisoil from Boun Tea)
7. use Roots Organics soil bags for the mix!

 

[StreamMagic]

Looks like a mix that will throw out some great buds! All this mix would need, If it even does, Is compost teas once a while to keep soil life in prime condition. Looking forward to your results.

Sm

 

[C21H30O2]

sounds like a solid mix, cant say for sure so make sure to let us know how they do with some pics and updates.

 

[Stoned Crow]

Seems like this mix might be a little hot. For some reason I thought Roots already had some guano added in, I've never used roots.

The cheapest organic bagged medium I can find in my parts is Black Gold at around $7.50 per cu/ft. Pro-Mix runs comparably at $11.05 per cu/ft, but Pro-Mix has a non-organic wetting agent (people in this forum use it all the time, but my theory is if you don't buy it, then they'll get rid of the non-organic wetting agent). The two Fox Farm products run roughly $13.50 per cu/ft, and Roots runs about $9.66 per cu. ft.

I don't put nearly a cup of guano per cubic foot of soil in my mix. I would guess at the most I use a quarter/half of that. I would also drop the oyster/fish/crab, and replace with more kelp, and the greensand and rock dust can't hurt.

I would also add a minimum of 5 cups of Earth Worm Casting, and add a few big handfulls of chunky perlite, and a handful of dolimite lime.

Read the first few pages of this to get a better understanding of building a soil http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=53792

A good piece of advice is to not build your soil too hot, you can always amend with guano's, kelp and others if your plants are showing any deficiencies.

 

[fireman22]

This is the tea instructions he gave me. it seems pretty simple

Teas
one cup of guano per 5 gal of water
- hot water in cooler
-stir daily at least 2 times
-aerate with pump if possible
-brew for 5 to 7 days
-check PH 5.8 to 6.2
-cool down before using
-careful with nitrogen teas (can be very hot/ water down or use half strength)


How often would I use the tea though?

 

[Stoned Crow]

Well, you're definitely going to keep the guano salesman in new shoes!! If you're putting a cup of guano per cubic foot of soil, I don't see how you won't end up burning your plants during veg with this tea.

I only use a high P guano during flower once, maybe twice if the plants look hungry, and when I do feed guano in a tea I use roughly a teaspoon per gallon of water. The rest of the time I make my teas with earthworm castings, molasses and kelp, and I'll top dress with guano & EWC at times.

Also, the only time I brew a tea longer than 48 hours is when I've forgotten about it, or didn't have time to use it. I don't check the Ph of my soil or teas.

I'm not saying your soil and tea recipes won't work, but the way I grow I'm almost positive I would burn my plants with that set up.

 

[Stoned Crow]

How long do you plan on letting this soil cook once you get it all together?

 

[fireman22]

thats the problem. First I need to get some cash together. I am planning to harvest my current grow in two weeks. The plants I will be replacing them with were just transplanted in 5 gal pots. So I will probaly only cook the soil for a week maybe. That is probably no where long enough from what I have learned so far, but what else can I do?

 

[NUG-JUG]

Seems like a good mix(glacial rock dust is hard to find) but is cooking the soil really necessary?
I highly recommend a pump sprayer as they are very easy to use and help evenly spread the tea when you foliar feed.

 

[OPT]

Sounds pretty good, good luck.

OPT

 

[Stoned Crow]

thats the problem. First I need to get some cash together. I am planning to harvest my current grow in two weeks. The plants I will be replacing them with were just transplanted in 5 gal pots. So I will probaly only cook the soil for a week maybe. That is probably no where long enough from what I have learned so far, but what else can I do?

If you want to try out this soil, just to be on the safe side, I'd idle the guano back by half and increase the kelp some when building the soil. You can always add guanos later by top dressing and tea.

What current medium are you growing in?

 

[DankByNature]

I put 1 cup of each per cu. ft. of soil - guano, kelp, dolimitic lime, GH Rare Earth, greensand. This soil is used for mature plant transplants. No problems with burns.

For seedling I use regular soil with a little wormcasting, but at first transplant they get the mix above. A high nitrogen bat guano is used for veg and a high phosphorous bat guano for flowering.
Fireman- I believe you should be fine, I have transplanted shortly after mixing soil and have not had any real problems, would perfer to let it bake, however.

 

[cellardweller]

I wouldn't use HOT water for a tea. actually never heard of such a thing..heat may kill your bennie bacteria, depending how hot the water is. Cold or room temp is fine.
The longer you can cook or compost the soil, the happier your plants will be..
like the post above me says though, use a seed starter, then transplant into that mix after pre-veg.

 

[fireman22]

right now i'm using ffof. Word. Looks like I may tone down a bit of the nutes and use it

 

[CT Guy]

I'd consider making aerated compost tea instead of guano tea. If you do make a guano tea, it's my opinion that it's much better to just extract the soluble nutrients and existing biology rather than have a brewing period where you could potentially be growing out harmful bacteria.

 

[DankByNature]

Beneficial will be more abundant at temps 80f to 110f, this is there optimal temp for multiplication.