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Building a soil from scratch

Maddas

New member
Hey guys,

The climate here is a tropical one and good, clean soil is abundant. I will be mixing soil collected from around the different beaches of my choosing and soil from the mountains. I hope to capture the true elements of those different soils and bring them together in one pot. I will then be feeding them with aloe Vera and banana FPJ to encourage those beneficial soil bacteria to multiply and hence create the best soil I can. I'll leave it to rest for about a month or so with the occasional watering and adding of mulch.
Any and all advice or additions will be received with open arms (or open mind rather). Looking forward to your input guys.
 

St. Phatty

Active member
I do similar things where I live. The native soil in a lot of areas is pure decomposed granite clay, sand & gravel.

Put in on a seedling, and it's like dropping wet cement on it. Sprouts and then can't move because it's in a dirt strait-jacket.

What I do is pick an area about 4 feet diameter and dig it out about 6 inches deep, to get a pile of sand/clay/gravel.

Then I add a layer of leaves, 4 to 6 inches.

Then a layer of sand-clay-gravel.

Then another layer of leaves.

Then a layer of sand-clay-gravel.

Then cow manure, for a nitrogen source.

It's only 1/2 mixed at this point. But nature, soil settling, worms, water etc. do help out.

This is the treatment for garden areas. I give Cannabis plants a little bit more TLC.

Once a plant is established, it tends to build a biosystem around it.
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
Aloe doesn't have much food value.

Well rinsed beach sand.
Bananana PB&J? Fried.
Got compost?
Local seed ground or sprouted.
Horsetail? Local plant material? Do an inventory and use Google.
 

Maddas

New member
Thanks for your input guys. I might add a little sand to the mix, not too much though - watering and feeding would be a nightmare. FPJ, not PB&J �� Google it �� Soil is good proper soil - no clay or sand. Will be adding compost as well. As for the plant material you suggested, I'll be using moringa leaves which I have readily available in my garden. As for the aloe Vera, you may be right. I'll reassess.
 

Maddas

New member
Hey guys, thanks for the input. Might add some sand, not too much obviously. The soils I'll be using I will ensure that they do not contain any clay. Impossible to grow in such a medium. Might or might not get some cow manure in, I'll definitely think about it. I've used it before in a lot of my vegetables and it does work wonders. Not sure about this grow though. But will definitely consider. H.h do you use a lot of bottled nutrients? Or are you more into making your own?
 

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