BEST Soil Mix, Whatcha got???

[B. Friendly]

I am a ProMix guy looking to build my own soil next run.

If you had a 3.5 month grow what soil would you use, create???
Any help would be great, feel that my liquid program is complete, now looking to increase my quality, taste, yield with a proper SOIL FORMULA
typically go a 4-5 week veg and a 10 week flower
Thanks in advance

Here's what I came up with after running this thread, just to save some reading:

MY MIX: Amounts for 50 – 2gallon pots
3 parts peat 2.2cu.ft
3 parts perlite 50 Litre
2 parts coco 1 Brick
1 parts topsoil
1 part wormcasts, from Gaia 30Litre Bag
1 part Gaia FERTILIZING SOIL CONDITIONER 4-4-2
30Litre Bag
1 part potting soil 25Litre Bag
1 part vermiculite
1 part mushroom compost 20Litre Bag
14 Parts x 4L(ice cream bucket to ration parts) = 56Litres x how every many grams per litre below to get the below sums...

450g Gaia 4-4-4 All Purpose 8g/litre = 450g’s @5 mixes = 2250g’s
280g Kelp meal 5g/L = 280g’s @ 5 mixes = 1400g’s
110g GROW,Gaia Seabird guano 2g/litre= 110g’s @ 5 mixes = 550g’s
280g FLOWER, Gaia High P guano 5g/L = 280g’s 1400g’s
225g dolomite lime 4g/litre = 225g’s @ 5 mixes = 1125g’s
110g ?rock potash 2g/L (included in Gaia All Purpose) 550g’s
110g ?rock phosphate 2g/L (included in Gaia All Purpose) 550g’s

http://www.gaiagreen.com/products/

*Note: Do not over water! Do not let your soil completely dry out! Maintain moist but not soggy soil for happy healthy plants.

and some water crystals (As needed, mainly for outdoor grows)

the bat guano amounts change a little with strain. for instance the Blueberry has less N guano in the mix - but that standard mix has worked for pretty much everything i have grown and i just refine it a little as i get strains dialled in.
feeding is often not necessary but i use biobizz bloom sometimes if i think they need it and molasses at 1 teaspoon/gallon a couple of times in late flowering. bear in mind i also use big pots for the cab size - 4 gallons each atm
(from VerdantGreen, best, cheapest mix I have ever seen!!) See his results for yourself!!
Important
Mix it really well, When you think its good mix it some more!

 

[bulkybud]

I use promix with several minor amendments.
Here are some of my favorites:

-Bone meal: I find it gives a nice even P throughout flowering.
-Langbeinite: the Mg and K make a difference when liquid ferts fall flat.
-Dolomite lime: I don't use liquid calmag because my water contains some Mg and Ca. So it is essential to put some DL in the mix to make up for potential defiencies in veg and flower.
-Wormcastings: a little of everything...N,P,K, micros, etc.

I still use Thrive Alive, Liquid Karma, PBP, molasses, KoolBloom when needed. But I have cut down considerably on liquid nutes and have noticed improved quality in the bud. My yields have suffered very little, so all in all its a win-win to use amendments in the pro-mix, if quality is what you're after.

Happy growing B. Friendly

 

[B. Friendly]

what amendments do you add???

 

[Iron_Lion]

Easy as 1....2......3


1 part fox farm ocean forest

1 part fox farm light warrior

1 part fox farm planting mix

8 tbls dolomite lime per 3 bags mixed


This is by far the best soil mix I have ever used, there is magic in this 3 part soil system. Plants require little more than just water and the occassional tea.

 

[freeganja]

Hey Irie_Lion How many watts did you use for those plants? They look great

 

[Iron_Lion]

Hey Irie_Lion How many watts did you use for those plants? They look great

Flowered under a 250 hps for first 10 wks, finished at 13.5 under a 600 hps

 

[B. Friendly]

come on how about good humates? silica? mineral deposits? what amendments are good for this stuff????? Anybody

 

[B. Friendly]

gotta be more out there than Iron Lion with amendment suggestions?????

 

[darwinsbulldog]

hey iron lion nice grow you've got there! just wondering what that set up with the white bag ontop of the pot is i've never seen that before? keep unleashing mate

darwin

 

[B. Friendly]

that looks smart iron lion. looks like he uses the white bags first and transplants into the pot under by cuttina hole in the bottom of the bag? is this correct iron lion???

 

[kp^]

I came in to gain interest in what soil mixtures others were using for mothers... As soil mixtures may be diff from veg to flower plants, but what about mums? Maybe a new thread....

 

[okanogan green]

Hi there. Check out Subcools Soil Mix. Everything necessary for plants from start to finish. Tailor made for growers who may just be able to just water when necessary from veg to bloom. I tried this last season and had heavy yeilds and no problems. Lots of benifits to Worm castings as non burning N source. Mushroom Compost is also good to use as an amendment or top dressing. Low N Bat Guano top dressed or lightly tilled into surface also works well before you intend to flower for multiple budsites and heavy flowers. Regards.

 

[mjr99]

Flowered under a 250 hps for first 10 wks, finished at 13.5 under a 600 hps

wholly shit man those look rediculous. how much weight came off each one of those plants?

i bet about the same as one of my plants that would take up 4x as much room.

 

[DimitriKing]

I use a similar mix to one of blazes recipes, its the first time ive tried it and it seems to be working incredibly well..;

1 bag of plant magic plus soil
1 bag of plagron batmix
1 cup of calcified seaweed (or dolomite lime)
1 cup of blood meal
1 cup of bone meal
20-30% chunky perlite

the mix was a bit hot to start with so i'd maybe recomend cutting the 1 cup's down to 3/4 of a cup depending on the strain.. i am using powerplant which doesnt like heavy feeds, the plagron batmix is horrendously expensive so maybe i'd try cutting that out using 2 bags of plant magic and adding my own guano. that said the growth rates and health of the plants are excellent.

 

[DimitriKing]

pics

pics

here is a pic @ week 2 of flower



and another @ week 4 note there is some yellowing of the leaves i think is mostly due to over watering for about 6 days from improperly setup irrigation (any other opinions would be greatly appreciated) hopefuly it wont affect yields to much



oh.. and they get watered with small quanititys of 3 different brands of seaweed extract and bio bizz bio heaven every other watering, and the occasional aact compost tea. made from wormcastings and molasses half diluted with water. hope that helps...

 

[Iron_Lion]

hey iron lion nice grow you've got there! just wondering what that set up with the white bag ontop of the pot is i've never seen that before? keep unleashing mate

darwin

Pretty much like B.Friendly said, thats an original haze x skunk, it grew rapidly and adfter a few weeks flowering in a 3 gal bag I knew that just would not be enough to complete its 22 week life cycle so I cut the bottom off the bag and transplanted it into a larger pot. The OHxSk had such minimal nutrient requirements that pretty much just the soil alone was all it needed.

wholly shit man those look rediculous. how much weight came off each one of those plants?

i bet about the same as one of my plants that would take up 4x as much room.

Every plant from my last run yielded a minimum of 2 zips, the highest being 2 and a 1/2 zips.




I like the Fox Farm soil mix because it contains everything from oyster shells, coco coir, peat, guanos, fish and crab meal, forest hummus, sandy loam, EWC, kelp meal, beneficial microbes, humic acid and its ph balanced. It really takes the guess works out of making a good soil. I have never had plants this healthy before I started using this mix.

 

[darwinsbulldog]

aahhh ok b friendly, so the roots just grow down into the soil below? cool, thanks for that

 

[SupraSPL]

@OP I wanted to replace pro mix with a plain homemade mix also (I may be misunderstanding your original post). The plain mix is nice because it can be used for germinating seeds or even cloning and then later on mixed with targeted ferts, like what Lion suggested. I don't use fancy soil mixes, just a touch of organic liquid ferts does the job and is easily adjustable for different parts of the cycle. I have tried FFOF and it was great, but its a bit hot for seedlings and its about 4X the price of my mix.

Premier Pro Mix is made from 5 ingredients: peat, perlite, vermiculite, dolomite lime and wetting agent.

I got some soil mix ideas from reading Al (Tapla) of Gardensweb.com. I have been working with a mix using plain Premier peat, diatomaceous earth, dolomite lime and organic wetting agent. The DE can replace the perlite and vermiculite and arguably does a better job. Peat is sold at Lowes and Home Depot. Diatomaceous Earth is available in 25 lb bags from Napa (#8822) as an absorbent. You can get 40lb bags of dolomite lime from garden centers for $4 or small bags sold as "Garden Lime" from Epsoma. A 40lb bag is practically a lifetime supply for an indoor grower. Organic wetting agent is available as Earth Juice Assist or Coco-Wet.

Dampen the peat with water and wetting agent, add the lime and DE and let is sit loosely covered for a week or two. If you crush up the lime into smaller bits it will act faster to stabilize the PH of the peat. Unfortunately I don't have exact measurements to offer because I adjust the mix as necessary. The more DE, the faster it will drain and dry out but also the happier and more efficient the root system. I also water in a bit of wetting agent every watering and feed lightly with every watering.

This works out about half the price of a bale of pro mix, but I prefer DE over perlite, not to mention the organic wetting agent so there are more benefits than cost savings. Good luck!

 

[B. Friendly]

good info everybody, few good mixes for sure, thanks ya'll

 

[mjr99]

I'm just a noob basically, but i can keep a plant green. I use about 80% promix bx and 20% perlite. I transplant 3 times and pretty much only water/feed every 7-8 days.