No-Till and Build a Soil question

[blackpulpit]

Hello all, I have well over 50lbs of Build a Soil "Craft Blend" Nutrient mix and want to start a 30gallon no-till using equal parts: Peat Moss, EWC/Compost and Lava rock for aeration as stated on the B.A.S. website.


My question is:

Is this 30 gallon of E.W.C/Compost/Peat moss/Lava rock mix.... have enough "minerals" to get through a few cycles of grows???....based upon B.A.S. recommendation of 2 cups per cubic ft of soil "Craft Blend" nutrient pack? so adding 8 cups of nutrient pack to mix roughly

"worried about minerals" or should I add a cup or 2 of more basalt, rock dust and oyster shell powder?

B.A.S. says 2 cups to re-generate old used soil, but, not sure if I need to add more minerals or enough is already in the mix (has basalt, gypsum,azomite in mix)

thanks all want to mix things right before hand and then cook for awhile.

 

[Limeygreen]

Mix, let sit until ready for use, send in for field soil test. Slow nickel has mentioned in his thread a reliable lab and his recommended soil testing but a field soil test should be done to find out saturation levels. Spectrum labs was saying about 15 usd for a soil test for nutrients which is nothing as far as soil test costs go.

Once you have your soil test, go from there and amend as needed, ideal soil book is a great investment and will tell you numbers of where you want to be, ratios etc.

 

[blackpulpit]

Thanks for the response, I can't send it in for checking since I live in Costa Rica, spoke by phone quickly to B.A.S., basically make the regular no-till recipe from site with minerals and then add in 4 cups roughly of craft blend for additives nutrient wise, they told me as far as mineral ratio in the mix it is best to use mix for nutrients and not depend on enough minerals for a long no-till grow, reason why to make no-till with minerals then craft blend mix.

 

[bismu]

On another note... Did organiclivingsoil shut down?

 

[wasgedn]

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or should I add a cup or 2 of more basalt, rock dust and oyster shell powder?

dunno bout oyster but i guess this stuff too...you can ad more rockdust yes...
i used 1,5 liter rockdusts on 50 liter soil..thats the highest amount i used ,i also have[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]some pots with less...keep the drain allright...vermiculit and perlit and silicia sand i have..

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Did organiclivingsoil shut down? [/FONT]

what do you mean ?
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[wasgedn]

Ideal-Soil-Handbook-New-Agriculture
its really in depth

 

[h.h.]

They sell you a "nutrient" mix, then they don't tell you what's in it? Sort of worthless when you end up having to guess and ask elsewhere. I would ask for my money back.

 

[blackpulpit]

They (B.A.S.) tells you everything it has in it, they don't hold back on that, question was is the minerals in the mix enough or if I should use more.

 

[wasgedn]

build a soil is top notch state of the art supply site....again use more rockdust for no till..
also i water rockdusts in compost tea....ultra fine silicia sand is my secret weapon..
dont forget covercrops....

to much rockdust is not good for drain , makes pots heavy and can make the soilmix to fine ...this is only negatives from to much rockdust...imo...

bentonit holds water but is in my mix too...

14 liter supersoil no till second run...bit less than 1,5 liter rockdust on 50 liter soil but this is the second run...

sry for doublepost but i think it helps....

 

[bismu]

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what do you mean ?
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Livingorganicsoil.org is not loading for me.... anyone else experiencing the same?

 

[KIS]

build a soil is top notch state of the art supply site....again use more rockdust for no till..
also i water rockdusts in compost tea....ultra fine silicia sand is my secret weapon..
dont forget covercrops....

to much rockdust is not good for drain , makes pots heavy and can make the soilmix to fine ...this is only negatives from to much rockdust...imo...

bentonit holds water but is in my mix too...

14 liter supersoil no till second run...bit less than 1,5 liter rockdust on 50 liter soil but this is the second run...


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sry for doublepost but i think it helps....

Keep in mind rock dust is a source of heavy metals. You may want to get a test done on the levels in your soil. Cannabis appears to be a heavy metal accumulator. Brookside labs has a test for this.

 

[wasgedn]

oh man... thanx a lot for that tip...

 

[blackpulpit]

Thanks WASUP sorry for late response to you and everyone else. I decided to do something different with all the ingredients I have and this is it, hopefully good with little organic KNF style inputs here and there as time goes on.

All under 2 600 w hps (1000w adjustable ballast)

150 gallon geo-planter 3 x 6 size roughly

1 3.8 cu ft bale Canadian sphagnum peat moss
50 gallons E.W.C.
50 gallons vegetable compost
50 to 60 gallons of mix Lava rock/dried rice hulls/large pumice/hydroton balls
15 gallons coco-chips

12 cups b.a.s. craft blend nutrient kit
5 lbs rock dust
4 lbs Oyster shell powder
3lbs basalt rock dust
8 cups gypsum
6 cups kelp meal
2 cups bat guano "Aurora" dry product
3 lb bag bio-char
1/2 bag Roots "707" I had leftover on top
wetted all down with EM-1 and mixed then added to my container
then layered hay that I soaked in EM-1 solution as well overnight.


Hopefully my calculations turn out to be about right and in time will turn into a nice permanent setup....any thoughts?

 

[Limeygreen]

I would test it, might find somethings out of balance. I assume you're using charged biochar. Might find your nitrogen go down after awhile but if you're doing those inputs shouldn't be an issue. Any thought on insect frass or crustacean meal? The chitin (broken down to chitanase) can help out for a natural boost for insect deterrence. I am not an expert just learning and going so any comments are great for me as well, don't want to steer anyone in the wrong direction.

 

[Weird]

On another note... Did organiclivingsoil shut down?

no they just like free advertisement

 

[bismu]

no they just like free advertisement

Thank you for the response, I still cannot find their website I just want to get in touch with the community I love. Any help would be much appreciated!!!

 

[blackpulpit]

Yes I forgot to say I added about 2 cups of insect-frass to the mix. I have no way to test my soil except by adding plants and watching carefully so we will see.

 

[wasgedn]

looks great from ingredients dunno bout dosis...im a meter and celcius guy...
isnt it funny that EU and germany using celcius with 0 ° as frost point...and US is using Fahrenheit which is a german name ergo german scientist...forgive me americans but 0° as frost point and 100 as boiling point looks much better as....sry for offtopic..


how long let you the mix sit or cooking?

 

[blackpulpit]

I will let this or should I say have been letting this cook for about 1 week and will leave it till after the holidays so around January 1st will start planting. I threw in some cilantro and chamomile to see how it comes out just for now, still waiting on my cover crop mix to come in then will plant that as well to start a good mulch.

 

[growingcrazy]

Thank you for the response, I still cannot find their website I just want to get in touch with the community I love. Any help would be much appreciated!!!

I am curious too..

So livingorganicsoil.org was started by gascanastan and some others, correct?

LOS.org forums are extinct...a web search redirects me to KIS organics... what gives?

KIS were you part of LOS.org?

I paid for a membership and never even received shit... still waiting on that "free" LOS tee shirt and the highly anticipated phone consult...what a joke.

I will hold further comments.