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what do you think of my soil?

D

DU420

I dug up this soil from behind my chook shed I removed the first inch to remove any twigs and uncomposted chook poo and underneath was rich, dark and full of worms. It ph'd at 7 so should I be able to just add some perlite to airate it alittle and help with drainage and get to growing or do I need to add anything else?
 

Connoisseur300

Smoke it if ya got it!!
Veteran
Well...It looks good. You might want to mix 1 part of your soil with 1 part of the fox farm light warrior with some perlite, green sand, kelp, and some happy frog fruit & flower. Its all organic and works great. Oh, and add some dolimite lime and it should be a nice mix. Just watch for pests using outdoor soil. you can tweak this mix with what ever you can find at your local stores.
 
D

DU420

Thanks mate I'm just trying to find alternatives to the soil I just bought as I made the newb mistake of buying a soil with ferts already in it... It's scotts osmocote plus organics potting and planting mix so I figured it would be all good being organic but I got home and kept reading I realised I should have gotten a non fertilized soil. So even though my soil ph'd at 7 I should still add some dolomite lime? Oh and this soil mix will be for my bonsai Mums in 4inch containers and I don't want monsters so are all the other amendments neccessary? Thanks for helping
 

Connoisseur300

Smoke it if ya got it!!
Veteran
I would still add the lime for mg and Cal. its not just for ph. If its just for your mothers I would grab some happy frog ocean forest organic dry fert. to add to it and you'll be growing healthy moms without the other amendments.
 
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D

DU420

Ok I've only got garden lime not dolomite lime so not as much mag but it should still do the trick right? and I've never heard of happy frog but this stuffs full of years worth of composted chook poo so wouldn't added ferts be overkill as I want to raise my mums in this soil from seed?
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
You might just add some aeration, drainage material and be done with it. Depends whats in your soil.
What do you normally use on the rest of your yard? Is it alkaline?
You may have to boost the PK and the cal mag. You might not.
Two ways to know. Get a soils test or grow something in it. Observe whats growing there now as well as whats growing in the area, then it's just a crap shoot really. Not as much of one as posting on ICMag in which case you're shooting craps in the dark.
Not knocking the forum, its just we have no idea what you have other than some good composted poo.
You may want to simply consider it ewc and us it as an additive to an established recipe.
 

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i would add some aggregate material. crushed lavarock, perlite, diatomatious earth, etc... that is if you are mixing sooil for pots.

in the ground just plop some plants in.

do not mix with commercial crap soil.
 

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
i would add some aggregate material. crushed lavarock, perlite, diatomatious earth, etc... that is if you are mixing sooil for pots.

in the ground just plop some plants in.

do not mix with commercial crap soil.

What Jay said^^^...

,,,if you feel as though the medium you've assembled is still a bit 'muddy'....add some peat moss,just ph adjust every cubic foot of peat with 1 cup dolomite,or other lime mix...or EWC/compost..
 

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
by the looks of the casting density my personal preference would be to add some peat as well as aggregates for aeration

i woudlnt add anything you dont want back behind the shed when you recycle the soil since your in a prefect position to do so
 
D

DU420

What Jay said^^^...

,,,if you feel as though the medium you've assembled is still a bit 'muddy'....add some peat moss,just ph adjust every cubic foot of peat with 1 cup dolomite,or other lime mix...or EWC/compost..

Actually its got a bit of clay in it but crumbles quite easily, all those big chunks you can see in the pics fall apart with a little pressure. So coco peat, lime and perlite and I think I should be all good I'm going to pick up some gogo juice to add some microbes to the mix too i think. Thanks for your help everyone
 
D

DU420

by the looks of the casting density my personal preference would be to add some peat as well as aggregates for aeration

i woudlnt add anything you dont want back behind the shed when you recycle the soil since your in a prefect position to do so

Thanks for the advice about recycling I was actually going to start a separate compost pile to recycle my mj soil to produce lots of beneficial microbes and worms to go into my pots.
 
D

DU420

Actually its got a bit of clay in it but crumbles quite easily, all those big chunks you can see in the pics fall apart with a little pressure. So coco peat, lime and perlite and I think I should be all good I'm going to pick up some gogo juice to add some microbes to the mix too i think. Thanks for your help everyone

It could be because the coco was still a bit moist but the mix seems very heavy and clayey. I might have to bite the bullet and get some pitting mix to blend with it or just use instead of. Has anyone used the osmocote organics planting and potting mix I just don't want to start seeds in it and end up with crispy seedlings.
 
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