So I have plenty of wood ashes, mostly pine. However I don't know if I should add them or not, my soil is pretty dang rich as is. Here is what I mixed up in a big bin a few months ago. It was turned many times and "cooked" for 6-8weeks before winter hit but now it is frozen. (1 bag =1.5cf)
most of a bale Peat moss ~3cf
2 bags Mushroom compost
2 bags composted yard clippings
1 Bag Fox Farm OF
1 bag roots organic soil
1/2 bag FF Happy Frog
1 bag Mushroom compost blend (basically shroom compost before shrooms grown in it)
1 bag Sheep & peat
1 bag fluffy coco fiber
as much EWC as I could muster up I'd guess ~30lbs...
Also mixed in some
Kelp meal ~8 cups
Alfalfa ~4 cups ( I bought a50lb sack of horse pellets for 12$, soak some for 15 mins and they dissolve nicely into wet meal)
Guano-Primal Harvest 0-12-1 ~12 cups seems like a lot now but this will be for flowering mainly
Dolomite powdered ~8 cups
also threw in a sprinkle of compost starter and FF dry ferts with bacterial and mycho inoculants
So what I think is that I could maybe use a little more pH buffer in this mix and I know wood ashes should help raise pH and counteract acidity form peat and manure composting. Also adding in some K as well right? but should I bother? overkill perhaps?
I transplanted some plants into this mix straight and got some burning, though not until I also fed some tea a couple times which was TOTALLY unneccessary and foolish...I think the mix might be OK for straight water...after a flush plants recovered quickly and grew awesome for a while.
so now that since its frozen winter and I can't cook new soil up for a long time I am cutting this strong mix with "premium" bagged soils, FFOF and roots are my choices for now. It sucks to pay through the nose for expensive dirt when I already made so much way cheaper, but its gotta last me all winter and I gotta do what i gotta do. plants seem to like it well so far.
Once we thaw out I'll scoop a bunch of manure from a local farmer and get to composting that down.
So what do you organic mix-masters think, add in some wood ashes? a bit more dolomite?
all replies appreciated
cheers
most of a bale Peat moss ~3cf
2 bags Mushroom compost
2 bags composted yard clippings
1 Bag Fox Farm OF
1 bag roots organic soil
1/2 bag FF Happy Frog
1 bag Mushroom compost blend (basically shroom compost before shrooms grown in it)
1 bag Sheep & peat
1 bag fluffy coco fiber
as much EWC as I could muster up I'd guess ~30lbs...
Also mixed in some
Kelp meal ~8 cups
Alfalfa ~4 cups ( I bought a50lb sack of horse pellets for 12$, soak some for 15 mins and they dissolve nicely into wet meal)
Guano-Primal Harvest 0-12-1 ~12 cups seems like a lot now but this will be for flowering mainly
Dolomite powdered ~8 cups
also threw in a sprinkle of compost starter and FF dry ferts with bacterial and mycho inoculants
So what I think is that I could maybe use a little more pH buffer in this mix and I know wood ashes should help raise pH and counteract acidity form peat and manure composting. Also adding in some K as well right? but should I bother? overkill perhaps?
I transplanted some plants into this mix straight and got some burning, though not until I also fed some tea a couple times which was TOTALLY unneccessary and foolish...I think the mix might be OK for straight water...after a flush plants recovered quickly and grew awesome for a while.
so now that since its frozen winter and I can't cook new soil up for a long time I am cutting this strong mix with "premium" bagged soils, FFOF and roots are my choices for now. It sucks to pay through the nose for expensive dirt when I already made so much way cheaper, but its gotta last me all winter and I gotta do what i gotta do. plants seem to like it well so far.
Once we thaw out I'll scoop a bunch of manure from a local farmer and get to composting that down.
So what do you organic mix-masters think, add in some wood ashes? a bit more dolomite?
all replies appreciated
cheers