Lets Make Soil

[Terps]

Instead of starting a new thread i hope you dont mind Siris if i throw my mix up for other to critisize..

Base:

35% peat moss
35% vermicompost
20% pumice
10% Biochar

Amendments:

Kelp - 1/2 cup per cf
volcanic rock dust - 1 cup per cf
insect frass - 1/2 cup per cf
gypsum - 1/2 cup per cf
limestone flour - 1/2 cup per cf

1 cf = 7.5 liters

I plan to top feed with EWC, kelp, insect frass, alfalfa & comfrey.
I'll also feed vermicompost tea.

 

[Photosynthesis]

Instead of starting a new thread i hope you dont mind Siris if i throw my mix up for other to critisize..

Base:

35% peat moss
35% vermicompost
20% pumice
10% Biochar

Amendments:

Kelp - 1/2 cup per cf
volcanic rock dust - 1 cup per cf
insect frass - 1/2 cup per cf
gypsum - 1/2 cup per cf
limestone flour - 1/2 cup per cf

1 cf = 7.5 liters

I plan to top feed with EWC, kelp, insect frass, alfalfa & comfrey.
I'll also feed vermicompost tea.

Not much of an NPK profile to your amendment list. Go check out my thread with all of my recipes, and you will get an idea of what I use. That doesn't mean it's the best, or everyone should use it. It just means it can help you with a starting point.

I don't get the use of pumice. Never have. You can up your kelp to 1 cup, your gypsum to one cup, but you need something things like fish meal, crab meal, fish bone meal, rock phosphate, alfalfa meal, or something. You are going to be feeding your plants every other day once the little bit of nutrients that are in their get used up.

Insect frass is over priced shit. Literally. I wouldn't ever recommend it. Have you seen corn farmers in Iowa dumping tons of insect frass on their fields? Probably not for good reason.

What are you trying to achieve with the insect frass?

 

[Terps]

I'm using pumice as its supposed to house more microbial life but i might change my aeration to half pumice half perlite as the cost of pumice is quite high in the uk.

If i upped my gypsum to 1 cup would that not be too much calcium as i also have 1/2 cup per cf of calcium carbonate? also it has alot of sluphur which worries me.

Tbh i used fish blood and bone meal, bat guano etc in my last mix and suffered from alot of fungus gnats and thrips. I also used neem which didnt do anything for pests thats why im going for insect frass because it has chitosan which is a great pesticide plus it has an NPK value of 3-2-3 not to mention a shit load of beneficial bacteria.

My vermicompost is homemade and im hoping that should cover some NPK values.

I dont mind feeding often thats the point in keeping the starting mix light so i can try and control the amount of nutrients in the soil from topfeeding.

 

[xmobotx]

terps

your mix will be fine. you provided for top-dressing alfalfa & comfrey both of which are complete "feeds." in fact, don;t worry about "feeding" you could even forego the kelp in your mix if you're top dressing it {or, have it in the mix but don;t top-dress kelp}

if you have the insect frass, fine but, don;t bother purchasing it. as chitin goes, crab meal would be a fine alternative also

 

[Scrappy4]

Instead of starting a new thread i hope you dont mind Siris if i throw my mix up for other to critisize..

Base:

35% peat moss
35% vermicompost
20% pumice
10% Biochar

Amendments:

Kelp - 1/2 cup per cf
volcanic rock dust - 1 cup per cf
insect frass - 1/2 cup per cf
gypsum - 1/2 cup per cf
limestone flour - 1/2 cup per cf

1 cf = 7.5 liters

I plan to top feed with EWC, kelp, insect frass, alfalfa & comfrey.
I'll also feed vermicompost tea.

Be sure to charge your bio char. If not it will rob N from your mix. A soak in high N will do it, I used fish. I prefer pumice or lava rock over perlite, but either is fine. Something to consider too, bio charge will raise ph over time. I have it in my mix and like it, just thought I'd point that out, it might not fit all situations.

 

[Terps]

terps

your mix will be fine. you provided for top-dressing alfalfa & comfrey both of which are complete "feeds." in fact, don;t worry about "feeding" you could even forego the kelp in your mix if you're top dressing it {or, have it in the mix but don;t top-dress kelp}

if you have the insect frass, fine but, don;t bother purchasing it. as chitin goes, crab meal would be a fine alternative also

Thanks for the confirmation mate i was worried i could be adding too much calcium to the mix.

My original mix was to contain crab meal and oyster shell flour but theyre both hard to find in the uk so i went with frass and lime flour as an alternative.

Btw why shouldnt i top dress with kelp? Does it take too long to break down?

Be sure to charge your bio char. If not it will rob N from your mix. A soak in high N will do it, I used fish. I prefer pumice or lava rock over perlite, but either is fine. Something to consider too, bio charge will raise ph over time. I have it in my mix and like it, just thought I'd point that out, it might not fit all situations.

Thanks scrappy last time i charged my char with some biobizz bottled nutes but this time i was going to mix everything together, wet it all down with a compost tea and leave it for a couple weeks to charge.

Would thay way work too?

 

[xmobotx]

what i am saying about kelp is: if it's in your soil, you don;t need to top-dress it. if you don;t mix it w/ your soil, it works wonders as a top-dress

it just doesn't need to be applied redundantly. the single biggest mistake people make is using too much amendments

when i mix soil, it does seem like lots of Ca is going in there ~& it is; but that Ca isn't all available & Ca is very important

 

[Photosynthesis]

To each their own, but If you send your soil mix to a lab I would bet it is lacking.

 

[Photosynthesis]

I have never charged my biochar. I mix it straight in a new mix, and have never had any issues. I have yet to use it in a situation where it "caused" a problem. I use 3mm biochar. I believe that if you used the giant chunks there could be an issue, however most people use the smaller size.

I'm sure you won't listen to this either.

 

[milkyjoe]

You said yourself gonna be light on N. So, imho, charging that biochar would be a most excellent idea.

And what lab test is it you belief in. I would bet short on Ca and micros but I am an albrecht guy. But that is simply my opinion...not everyone here feels that way. And this is the internet...ultimately I have to admit to myself...wtf would my opinion matter to a random stranger

 

[Microbeman]

Just to be up on terms; biochar - charged

char - uncharged

 

[milkyjoe]

Thank you. I was completely ignorant.

 

[xmobotx]

To each their own, but If you send your soil mix to a lab I would bet it is lacking.

following a more conventional soil recipe i found my nutrient load to be more than double the necessary levels. halving that mix w/ seedling mix gets great results. of course, that soil worked well for years before i got it tested. i started having problems & i only ever did micro topdressings

I have never charged my biochar. I mix it straight in a new mix, and have never had any issues. I have yet to use it in a situation where it "caused" a problem. I use 3mm biochar. I believe that if you used the giant chunks there could be an issue, however most people use the smaller size.

I'm sure you won't listen to this either.

that would certainly be fine if enough N were provided. did you use a product or make your own? it sounds like a product may be pre-charged?

hotter mixes do work but you can get some decline from too hot just like you can from too little

kinda like weird likes to say; come in from the under-feed

 

[Photosynthesis]

following a more conventional soil recipe i found my nutrient load to be more than double the necessary levels. halving that mix w/ seedling mix gets great results. of course, that soil worked well for years before i got it tested. i started having problems & i only ever did micro topdressings



that would certainly be fine if enough N were provided. did you use a product or make your own? it sounds like a product may be pre-charged?

hotter mixes do work but you can get some decline from too hot just like you can from too little

kinda like weird likes to say; come in from the under-feed

No it was not precharged. I was getting it by the pallet straight from the guy who made it. He would even drive out to deliver it.

I did do the compost tea charge thing, but then tested it without, and saw absolutely no difference. So I decided to save a step.

To be fair I do apply compost tea on the regular to my soil anyway.

 

[moses wellfleet]

I see quite a few folk recommending against bonemeal, is that because of the risk of N clawing?

 

[heady blunts]

mostly cause the meat industry is super sketchy.

bone meal is made from the cheapest factory farmed cows. mcdonald's shit. so not only is it full of bad karma from the inhumane conditions they are raised in and the ecological damage that high density livestock farming causes, but you also have to assume they come from the most sickly cows that didn't get okayed for ground beef, pet food, cambell's soup, etc. plus all those animals are chock full of antibiotics and growth hormones that will likely be persistent in their byproducts.

that's what goes through my head anyways...

 

[ValleyKush]

 

[moses wellfleet]

Aha thanx, makes sense. So fish bonemeal doesn't necessarily have different proprieties it is a more ethical source?