What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Proven, CHEAP...Outdoor Soil Formulation?

Blaze215

Blaze215

Active member
Hi Folks,

Anyone have a real good CHEAP soil recipe for outdoors? I am looking to plant 18 girls this upcoming season and don't want to go broke doing it!

The plan is to put them into 100 gallon grow bags and them sit those on top of a pallet for drainage.

The more "hands free" just add water the better.

Thanks,

215
 
niceeven

niceeven

Member
Well, Blaze215 the first question I would like to ask you is this: What do have access to near where you live? and what is cheaper?

Exemple: We have numerous bogs where I live. I can easily get a pick up truck load of freshly dug peat moss but other places its not obvious. Local products that's what will make it cheap!

Tree nurseries/ farms hardly ever purchase ready made potting soil for their needs, they all make their own. You need to experiment with what is available. Generally speaking (trees, not weed) it's something like 1/3 peat 1/3 sand 1/3 top soil. Potting soil is just peat and perlite, ( with lime to balance) do you have access to rice hulls (I have never used them but I hear they work for water retention, IE replacement for perlite) , are there farmers selling alfalfa or hay compost near where you live? Will you have to use top soil and hope to "fluff" it up with 50% coco coir? I do that for my vegetable gardens all of the time. There are so many ways to do it.

The one thing you need to remember is the soil mix needs to be balanced for drainage and porosity first, then you add your nutrients. I have a fairly good experience with added dry amendments (trees, veggies and weed) and in my experience I can rarely pack more than about a month worth of nutrients in my soil. Afterward, many switch to liquid ferts (commercial or home made teas) but I have had good success using more of the same dry amendments as top dressing. But that work best when I inoculate these with a compost rich in micro organisms. These will make the nutrients available faster. I use sea soil and worm castings. There can be quite a bit to it brother, quite a bit to it!!!
 
AlexTrebek

AlexTrebek

Member
I cut my dirt 3/4 Dirt - 1/4 Coco

I sometimes even go up to 40% Coco, the growth speeds and the ability to never accidently overwater with it really outclass other drainage ressources like perlite. Coco is readily available too.
 
G

_ganja_

New member
AlexTrebek said:
I cut my dirt 3/4 Dirt - 1/4 Coco

I sometimes even go up to 40% Coco, the growth speeds and the ability to never accidently overwater with it really outclass other drainage ressources like perlite. Coco is readily available too.
Click to expand...

Where would one find coco assuming there are no hydro stores nearby? I have heard of people using MG Moisture Controll for this reason but have also heard it's their hottest soil mix (not for seedlings at all).
 
Hash Man

Hash Man

Member
This depends on your definition of "cheap". In the end, if you spend money now, you will get more later... Also, even though people on here say you can grow outdoor with a watering and forget mentality, you will get more if you use soluable nutes... I tried many years to create a mix that didnt need soluable nutes and never had as much success as when I added soluable nutes to the mix. This being said... Use good, new, bagged soil... like fox farms or amazon bloom, and add a bunch of stuff to it... Use tom hill's mix, or try earth juice rainbow mix grow and bloom... plus guanos work well. In the end, if you give the plants a lot of nutes and love you will be successful. Here is an example in 300's using rainbow mix grow and bloom + dyna grow and dyna bloom. I spent around $500-$750 per pot altogether.

 
K

kamyo

Well-known member
Veteran
If I was growing as much as you, I'd probably try to amend the native soil with coco like mentioned above and mix in some food. For what I do (a lot smaller, maybe 15 plants in 1-3gal), I usually just pick up Sunshine #4 bales and mix in granular fertilizer like FF Happy Frog or something. I've also become a big fan of top dressing. Not the cheapest, but it does the job.
 
Blaze215

Blaze215

Active member
Hash Man said:
This depends on your definition of "cheap". In the end, if you spend money now, you will get more later... Also, even though people on here say you can grow outdoor with a watering and forget mentality, you will get more if you use soluable nutes... I tried many years to create a mix that didnt need soluable nutes and never had as much success as when I added soluable nutes to the mix. This being said... Use good, new, bagged soil... like fox farms or amazon bloom, and add a bunch of stuff to it... Use tom hill's mix, or try earth juice rainbow mix grow and bloom... plus guanos work well. In the end, if you give the plants a lot of nutes and love you will be successful. Here is an example in 300's using rainbow mix grow and bloom + dyna grow and dyna bloom. I spent around $500-$750 per pot altogether.

Click to expand...
Hash,

Your trees are insane partner. I am certainly not opposed to used liquid nutes but I would think the cost could become prohibitive.

What is Tom Hill's mix that you have referenced?
 
odogyouknow

odogyouknow

Member
So Hash Man,


You worked the dry rainbow mix into your 300's in the 2nd year of tom's mix, or was it new bagged soil?

Also, do you go full strength with both the dry mix and your solubles's? or do you go like half or three quarters strength with both. Looks like your dialed in. Awesome.
 
Hash Man

Hash Man

Member
odogyouknow said:
So Hash Man,


You worked the dry rainbow mix into your 300's in the 2nd year of tom's mix, or was it new bagged soil?

Also, do you go full strength with both the dry mix and your solubles's? or do you go like half or three quarters strength with both. Looks like your dialed in. Awesome.
Click to expand...


I used new bagged soil this year for around 3/4 of each pot, and filled the other 1/4 with soil from last year. Also, I went WELL over the recommended doses fro both the rainbow mix and the dynagrow. I think the rainbow mix says to use one cup per foot of plant growth every 30 days. I was doing this every two weeks. Also, I was feeding up to 30-40 ml/g of dynagrow through my fertigaters. I went by ppm, not directions, but be careful and read your plants. I never would have fed this much if they werent loving it. I also used a TON of other stuff... including foliars, cleaners, and pest/disease managers....

I broke the bank and nearly went broke making all this happen... But it was all worth it now. When I compare this year to the last few years, I have been wondering why i didn't break the bank sooner to make this happen. Good luck. Hash Man.:ying:
 
C

curiousmycoguy

Member
Peat, coco, EWC, cow shit, perlite, and a tiny amount of vermiculite +rainbow mix, dolomite lime, kelp meal, and a bit of guano is what I used this season


Let it cook for about a month or so
 
odogyouknow

odogyouknow

Member
Ahhhh, I see!

So you kept continually adding the dry grow as the season progressed.

I put out my first plant this year in a 100 gallon pot with kind of the same thinking after I saw how well Nomaad did with dry grow in his mix (age old I think), but I could only get to my plant once every week MAX so I put in a GRIP (maybe 10 - 12 cups? I forget) in the beginning. I saw some weird "taco" shape to my leaves as a result I think, maybe too much N to begin with.

By the way, I remember last year in the big plants thread you used Tom's mix straight up, how did you do with it compared to this year?
 
Hash Man

Hash Man

Member
odogyouknow said:
Ahhhh, I see!

So you kept continually adding the dry grow as the season progressed.

I put out my first plant this year in a 100 gallon pot with kind of the same thinking after I saw how well Nomaad did with dry grow in his mix (age old I think), but I could only get to my plant once every week MAX so I put in a GRIP (maybe 10 - 12 cups? I forget) in the beginning. I saw some weird "taco" shape to my leaves as a result I think, maybe too much N to begin with.

By the way, I remember last year in the big plants thread you used Tom's mix straight up, how did you do with it compared to this year?
Click to expand...

yep, I used the rainbow mix grow in veg and bloom in flowering. I tried to get age old, like nomaad did, but couldnt source any in the time frame needed, this is when i found rainbow mix, which i believe is superior and for sure is cheaper... It contains benificials, which age old no longer offers. Yes man, last year I used Tom Hill's mix, but used a local chicken manure. I had issues with time and motivation last year as well, and it showed in my plants and yield. This year, I was on point and had everything ready in time, so the reason this year was so great is because of the effort put into the plants. Many on ICMAG love Tom Hills Mix, others did not seem to do so well with it. I understand how to work Amazon Bloom and Fox Farms from years of experience with them, and I tend to go with what I understand, so that would be my advice to you. Next year I will be using Fox Farms becase I like the perlite in it, plus it comes 64 bags to a pallet, as compared with 50 per pallet for Amazon. Hope this helps. Hash Man.:tiphat:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top