My Mix

[Gelado`]

I've learned a little about organic gardening from ICMag and I was wondering what you guys think of my mix. My soil and coco will be recycled.

Per gallon in Smartpots:

50% peat, 40% coco, 5% large perlite and 5% cow manure-based worm compost, to which I add:

a few tablespoons each of azomite, high P bat guano, leonardite, rice husk charcoal, composted chicken manure and two kinds of granulated bio organic agricultural fertilizer made with goodies including oyster meal, fish meal, bone meal, kelp, soybean meal and bennies.

During the grow cycle I will water in worm tea, kelp, neem oil, enzymes (Bio Nova), agricultural enzymes (for rapid composting on a large scale), molasses sugar, epsom salts and a trace element mix certified for organic gardening in Germany.

Since I'm keeping my mix relatively cool, I will also water in 1/4 strength Plagron Alga Grow and Alga Bloom (1 ml per liter) a few times per cycle; otherwise I will water with pH'd water with small doses of amendments most of the time. My only non-organic amendment is pH down (phosphoric acid). I know some say not to mess with pH in organics, but I think getting my water up to the 6-6.5 range with 3-4 drops won't hurt as it is 7.8 out of the tap.

 

[xmobotx]

almost seems like a bit much but you didnt say anything about pot size & batch size

the drainage is a tad light but that is workable for outdoor or very careful watering

 

[Gelado`]

This is a small indoor grow and I'm only using a few tablespoons of each amendment per gallon--also with Smartpots they dry out pretty quickly, so too much perlite would mean I'd have to water much more frequently. I'll probably run one five gallon Smartpot with two plants, one with one plant and two one gallon pots on the side.

 

[Cep]

I like coco for indoors but it has a lower CEC than peat or other high organic matter based soils. Coco will also suck up a good amount of calcium so you might want to add more than just the oyster shells. Chicken shit in my area has 7% Ca, but you should consider gypsum and lime.

 

[EclipseFour20]

50% peat & 40% coco--that combined high rate (90%) might not be the best when you measure the grow medium's porosity and absorption percentages.

Check out the info in my earlier post in a different thread--https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5838581&postcount=17

That and working with the soil PH made a HUGE difference in my growing operation!

Cheers!

 

[vapor]

keep track of what you use and at the end of the crop see where you like to add or remove certain amendments as per your personal taste, takes time and dialing in to get organics where you personally like{likes may change over time with experiences}. Peat holds 30 times it water weight and coco 7 or 8 times roughly. I use smart pot and a basic mix of coco and peat and perls{perlite}, my 20 gal dry out every 48 hours, just let them dry it is important before you water again. I like to use a gal of compost{c/n ratio} per 19 gals of medium, a extra gal in the summer if dealing with heat. If you are using teas you and compost long enough/balanced amendments you will not need to worry about ph the microbes do the work. I have a ph pen and use it very rarely basically i use it a couple times a year to see where my well water ph is changing do to rain and winter. lime sources i like calcium carbonate/oyster shells, i like lithovit too as foliar with milks and asa biowash for soap. Good luck keep a open mind Toucan Sam says, "follow my nose! It always knows!" Sometimes followed by "the flavor of fruit! wherever it grows!"

 

[The Hummus Monk]

I would be tempted to add some dirt. Top soil.

And/or more compost...like 20% ewc or so.

 

[Gelado`]

Thanks guys, some good input. I am using MandalaMikes suggestions RE: perlite--he feels it is unncessary with good, horticultural grade potting soil and the peat I use is really good, light, airy stuff. Some of the potting soil I'll be mixing in holds far too much water for my liking, so I think cutting it with the airy peat, coco and perlite should get me where I want to go.

As for calcium--I think the plants should get all they need from the oyster and bone meal, as well as the Ca in my water supply. The chicken manure also has some Ca in it from looking at the label.

I am sticking to 5-10% EWCs because I've looked at results of a test where 10% provided the optimum growth boost. Since I'm adding amendments that will break down and provide organic matter and beneficial bacteria to the mix, I went with 5%. I will also be watering EWC tea in during the grow!

I'm now thinking of using two tablespoons of each of the bio organic agri ferts and one tablespoon of high P guano as the guano is very fast acting and pretty potent to boot! The fert manufacturers suggest using their products at 5% per gallon of media, but I'm using significantly less than that as I want the plants to use up as much of the nutrients in the medium as possible before harvest.

As for outdoor compost--I want to avoid using it because of potential bug issues indoors. Compost tends to be absolutely teeming with stuff and I don't want to have to deal with critters again after I knocked all of them out!