Mixing soil...

[BORNaSMOKER]

GROW SHOP USERS, WHERE DOES YOUR SOIL COME FROM??

Anyone here know how they mix soil when it's made? i.e. where do they make promix and how.

Just curuious as I want to make a 'large' batch maybe 2000 litres or so a time...

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

best answers....

Concrete Mixer

Compost Tumbler

Have it Premixed (this could look suspicious if you have things like perlite in it)

 

[guest2012y]

Get a tarp and lay it on the ground. Spread all you want to mix over the tarp and start folding it in,spread out the mix several times and repeat the folding action.....or buy/rent a portable concrete mixer.

 

[Darwin]

I can't positively comment on a huge company like Promix but I do know some nursery owners and they make their own mixes use large cement mixers.

Hope that helps.

 

[City Twin]

Yep. Darwin beat me to it.

Cement mixer or other tumble drum with paddles. Mix 'em up quick.

 

[jaykush]

they have giant machines that are designed to mix soil, simple as that.

 

[gaiusmarius]

you can buy premixed earth at big garden centers or nurseries, you can get it by the tuck load if you need it for a new garden or so. i'm sure if you talk to a company selling soil, they will even mix you up a batch to your specs.

 

[VerdantGreen]

as already said, at home a cement mixer is your friend if you are mixing large batches. you can get topsoil and various stuff delivered and they will mix it for you but its unlikely that they will have all the ingredients you want. asking for 20% perlite may raise a few eyebrows

 

[big ballin 88]

20% perlite seems like a lot of wasted space VG....Get that bulk density up!!

I know that some companies have no problem making custom mixes for larger sizes. Theres some good companies in the PNW that use great starting materials. They' can help you come up with an optimal mix that its light, yet holds water while not losing precious root space.

A good mix to look at is Secondtry's from here

That is the mix i use and love it. I basically followed it word for word instead of just a bas. The key is the aged screened pine bark, biochar and humic sources.

 

[VerdantGreen]

hi BB, BaS and i are from the UK, where growing is illegal, so my little joke about perlite was a veiled warning not to ask for suspicious soil mixes to be made to order - but having said that landscape/soil suppliers wouldnt have such things in stock anyway.

but i dont see perlite as wasted space at all, my soil mix has 30% perlite and, whilst it is inert, it does serve a lot of useful functions, and it is easy to recommend to people because it is a 'standard' thing that can be easily sourced and will have a consistent quality - which i think is important.

im glad you are getting good results with secondtry's mix - you should post some pics on his thread. the problem i see with it is that 'aged pine bark' is a pretty wide terminology and not in common use horticulturally, so actually sourcing a reliable supply woud be next to impossible in the UK and quite hard im sure in the usa - especially as it has to be above a certain chipping size and below a certain size. secondtry posted his recent grow on another forum and it failed at the seedling stage because (he said) the bark chippings he was supplied turned out to be part hardwood bark which is no good - which goes to show the potential pitfalls of using obscure bulk ingredients that are not specifically produced for the purpose you are using them for. but each to his own
im more of a soil man than soil-less anyway tbh.

cheers

VG

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

thanks for all the replies... i will look in to it?

do you think it's suspicious to use old soil with perlite in the garden?

 

[VerdantGreen]

that depends BaS. perlite is recommended as a great amendment for clay (thats the type of soil i have in my garden).

i think one of the best covers, whether you grow inside or out, is to be a keen gardener. i grow a lot of produce and have a very nice garden with lots of ornamental plants too. im always doing something out there and i have plants etc delivered regularly, so i doubt someone would see perlite in my garden and be suspicious. but i guess if you have a totally unkempt garden and big piles of old potting soil lying around for no reason it may be a bit incriminating...

 

[gaiusmarius]

still, it is true that most soil mixes you see that have perlit in them are growing cannabis. so having all your garden beds with those shiny white perlit bits in it will be a clear sign for any ripper that you might be growing pot. for some reason i haven't come across any other soil mixes that include perlit except for cannabis plants. although i imagine it must have some normal gardening use too.

peace

 

[CT Guy]

I use compost tumblers to mix my soils. Like Jay stated, there are large machines that perform this function when you get to larger scales. If you are serious about it, send Clackamas Coot a PM, I feel like he would know resources in this regard.

 

[big ballin 88]

hi BB, BaS and i are from the UK, where growing is illegal, so my little joke about perlite was a veiled warning not to ask for suspicious soil mixes to be made to order - but having said that landscape/soil suppliers wouldnt have such things in stock anyway.

but i dont see perlite as wasted space at all, my soil mix has 30% perlite and, whilst it is inert, it does serve a lot of useful functions, and it is easy to recommend to people because it is a 'standard' thing that can be easily sourced and will have a consistent quality - which i think is important.

im glad you are getting good results with secondtry's mix - you should post some pics on his thread. the problem i see with it is that 'aged pine bark' is a pretty wide terminology and not in common use horticulturally, so actually sourcing a reliable supply woud be next to impossible in the UK and quite hard im sure in the usa - especially as it has to be above a certain chipping size and below a certain size. secondtry posted his recent grow on another forum and it failed at the seedling stage because (he said) the bark chippings he was supplied turned out to be part hardwood bark which is no good - which goes to show the potential pitfalls of using obscure bulk ingredients that are not specifically produced for the purpose you are using them for. but each to his own
im more of a soil man than soil-less anyway tbh.

cheers

VG

You do have a very goodpoint, and i didn't realize he was in the UK also. I guess i was lucky with the bags of pine bark i picked up since they were all different screened sizes but nothing large, perfect for mixing in soil. I guess were just lucky here in the states.. It makes sense because i dont remember anything like what we have here, over in Ireland at least. .

At first i hated my soilless mix because it dried out so quick this was because i had no pine bark in it at all. Now my mixes hold water 2x longer at least, as well as nutrients due to being soaked in fish, seaweed and humic acid. I think of it as a natural time realease for the plants and food reserve for the micros.

I do love the APB because it maintains a larger water space/reserve for water, while maintaining some air space. I also think the roots can penetrate the wood chips and utilize the aspects of it, instead of just pieces of perlite that continually get broken down over time. Perlite works as a good wick, but doesn't hold nearly as much water, which is what i need. Maybe we have separate needs so the perlite works for you

I can see how perlite has its uses for certain people but i hate it personally. My topsoil substitute is my Homemade EWC. Just kidding its all love bro.

I use to only use soil,but have been having great results since switching and like the texture more.

I just finished a mix today and it looks just like soil, but i havent added EWC yet. There isnt even recycled soil since i had none to recycle, it went to the worms. I'll take some pics later if your interested.

Sorry BaS for getting off topic.

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

that depends BaS. perlite is recommended as a great amendment for clay (thats the type of soil i have in my garden).

i think one of the best covers, whether you grow inside or out, is to be a keen gardener. i grow a lot of produce and have a very nice garden with lots of ornamental plants too. im always doing something out there and i have plants etc delivered regularly, so i doubt someone would see perlite in my garden and be suspicious. but i guess if you have a totally unkempt garden and big piles of old potting soil lying around for no reason it may be a bit incriminating...

VG - same as, just movwd to a new house a while a go, massive garden, no real neighbours. I spend a lot of time growing produce (this is my first real year of it) and love spending time in the garden. I have my first compost underway with my grass/nettles and all my organic waste. I also grow a few other decorative plants although I am trying to concentrate on the fruit and veg (i am blessed with some humongous fruit trees which i plan on making cider out of in the autum). I just seem to have a lot of perlite mounting up, in my garden, my compost, my hoover, it's bloody everywhere not to mention the glass dust when you mix it dry!

Just want to add that I'm runnig your mix with some fantastic results - K++ to you mate! Still looking to improve though . This organic stuff is rather fascinating, way more hands on than all the hydro i used to maintain!

Big Ballin - I like the idea of the added moisture retention. No worries about being off topic.

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

Get a tarp and lay it on the ground. Spread all you want to mix over the tarp and start folding it in,spread out the mix several times and repeat the folding action.....or buy/rent a portable concrete mixer.

this is way beyond a tarp

 

[Clackamas Coot]

BORNaSMOKER

As far as mixing potting soil on a commercial level it's done with (obviously) a soil mixer which is a machine with a hopper and at the bottom of the hopper is a large cork-screw device. The bigger machines can handle 20 c.y. (cubic yards).

For the home soil mixer the use of a cement mixer is your best option as others have posted.

HTH

CC

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

Ahh thanks Clack I was wondering when your welath of knowledge would show up!! I thought as much, I was just trying to get some idea of the design.

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

just found thes... for some reason soil mixer just wasn't springing to mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53lqw3z2hZI