Klompen
Active member
I was considering doing a coco-based mix on my upcoming project. Probably the main ingredients will be coco and perlite. This by itself is more like a hydroponic grow though like coco grows basically are. How much compost, minerals, peat, etc would one have to add for it to behave more like soil? What I have always loved about organic soil is that it doesn't need all the monkeying with pH, but I know with hydro setups pH is far more important. In the past I've done growing with a lot of food in the mix, but I've also seen a lot of good arguments for adding food as you go instead of starting with it in there.
I think the mix I had the most luck with in the past was about 40% coir, 20% peat, 20% perlite/diatomaceous earth, and the rest a mix of composted nutrients(bio-tone based fertilizers, worm castings, composted wildflowers, bone meal, local topsoil, gypsum, dolomite lime, llama manure, and some cattle manure all composted together for a while before being added to the mix). I was pondering maybe going for a mix with 40-60% coir, 10-20% peat, 20-30% perlite/DE, and maybe just a little compost mix of some kind. What sort of mix will give me that good organic soil behavior while giving me the good EC and drowning-proof goodness of coir/perlite?
I think the mix I had the most luck with in the past was about 40% coir, 20% peat, 20% perlite/diatomaceous earth, and the rest a mix of composted nutrients(bio-tone based fertilizers, worm castings, composted wildflowers, bone meal, local topsoil, gypsum, dolomite lime, llama manure, and some cattle manure all composted together for a while before being added to the mix). I was pondering maybe going for a mix with 40-60% coir, 10-20% peat, 20-30% perlite/DE, and maybe just a little compost mix of some kind. What sort of mix will give me that good organic soil behavior while giving me the good EC and drowning-proof goodness of coir/perlite?