soil potting soil mix

Balduvian

Balduvian

ok so this year i thought for my soil mix id do this combo, just want you opinion on the mix and compost im using.
 
peat moss
peralite
worm castings
custom compost (kelp, fish meal, peat moss, glacial rock dust, rice hulls)
bone/blood meal (handfuls)
and maybe add
rabbit compost or chicken compost
 
what do you think?
good?
bad?
any thoughts on ratio or if the custom compost isnt good let me know
 
This is my first time making my own mix so still a rookie, but that looks like a good mix to me. Best advice I could give would be to mix a batch then get it tested to see what/if anything you need to add. Not sure what it would cost in Canada, but it only cost me $16 here including postage and that includes a report on what to add (if anything) for additional nutes if one is low. 
 
Nothing wrong with adding ANY of that stuff,Just consider it takes time to let all the stuff you add to your soil to get balanced out.
Everything HAS to be plant usable no matter when you added the stuff.
 
A lot of stuff works if used right.
 
I assume you are talking a potting ,mix?
 
Rice hulls are like bark in soil mixes-need a LOT of nitrogen...as it breaks down.
 
My Brother in Law brings me rice hulls from where he works.
 
The pile he gets them from is mostly composted.
 
Once they suck up nitrogen as they break down,they turn into time release nutes.
Rice hulls do seem to break down faster than Bark.
 
As a side note,Rice hulls from the dryers AND spent grain from a brewery mixed together seem to be great for soil additives.
 
Spent grain CAN/WILL stink a lot IF you get it from the brewery at the wrong time(Wrong time = REALLY nasty smelling stuff).
I don't understand the chemical VS Organic stuff.
Chemicals are instant gratification.
 
MOST organic stuff needs to be applied at the right time to do it's thing.
 
To confuse things,foliar feeding is considered as cool.
 
To me,the runoff is doing the work.
Roots are designed to do their thing,
Leaves are designed for Photosynthesis.
A lot of the grow stuff is geared to pot,NOT peppers on the net.
To  make things A LOT worse,Vendors are miss leading customers/buyers...Lots of $ is changing hands AND a lot of the pimps are trying to get another pimps sales.
 
I was only posting about what my source IS/WAS for rice hulls the way I leaned FOR MY GROW to use them.
I used to get pickup loads for free when I needed them.
For an IN ground soil mix.
 
I did find a mix of rice hulls AND spent grain was a GREAT soil additive for raised beds OR in ground.
It seems that a LOT of stuff is crap when actually added to soil or a compost pile.
Once the ingredients get together/compost things get REALLY GREAT.
 
In the Adobe soil here IT TAKES TONS of stuff to -OVER THE LONG RUN - to build up your soil.
 
As a side note,My Uncle Raised Rabbits for years.
He also grew a garden to help feed his kids (13).
Rabbit crap is cool IF IT hasn't been flooded in rabbit pee first.
Pee soaked poop is WAY acid.
 
To put things in perspective,Rabbits in the higher tiers of the cages had their poop drop down through the cages wire.
the stuff at the bottom of all the cages needs to be composted a few weeks before it is cool for plants.
BUT a lot of the rabbit PEE was soaked up by the rabbits under the ones on top.
 
Also the rabbits were fed Alfalfa,both bales AND pellets (depending on price).
They were also fed scraps from the garden.
 
Sounds good to me. If this is going in pots mix it all up well and moisten it to the consistency of a damp sponge and let it sit for 30 days minimum for the nutrients to cycle.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Sounds good to me. If this is going in pots mix it all up well and moisten it to the consistency of a damp sponge and let it sit for 30 days minimum for the nutrients to cycle.
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well ive been out of work due to port strike so i dont know if ill be able to get it all mix and let it sit for 30days, will that be bad?
 
Balduvian said:
well ive been out of work due to port strike so i dont know if ill be able to get it all mix and let it sit for 30days, will that be bad?
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That depends on how "hot" you make it with those ingredients. How much of each were you planning on using?
 
was probably going to do something like
1/3 peat moss
1/6 peralite
1/6 worm castings
1/3 compost mix
then handfuls of maybe bone/blood meal
 
I would mix 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 compost/worm castimgs (humus) personally but that's up to you. Do you already have the bone and blood meal? If you do that's fine but alfalfa meal and kelp meal would be better choices but that's OK.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
I would mix 1/3 peat, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 compost/worm castimgs (humus) personally but that's up to you. Do you already have the bone and blood meal? If you do that's fine but alfalfa meal and kelp meal would be better choices but that's OK.
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i have not purchased the bone and blood meal.. thank you ill probably get alfalfa and kelp instead...
also after going over it i was going to do what you said
1/3 peat
1/3 perlite
1/3 compost/worm castings

they will be put into 15 gallon smart pouches
 
Sounds good. That should basically give you a water only soil that doesn't need anything else.
You could top dress it once during the season with some more EWC (Earth Worm Castings) but nothing else will really be needed.
That's the beauty of organic growing as you don't need to check pH, PPM or any of those other things and you can use the same soil next season as well. ;)
Also you can mix this soil and let it sit like I said while the plants grow in another medium. Have you started the seeds?
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Sounds good. That should basically give you a water only soil that doesn't need anything else.
You could top dress it once during the season with some more EWC (Earth Worm Castings) but nothing else will really be needed.
That's the beauty of organic growing as you don't need to check pH, PPM or any of those other things and you can use the same soil next season as well. ;)
Also you can mix this soil and let it sit like I said while the plants grow in another medium. Have you started the seeds?
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ya i got them all growing in 1 gallons right now, about 8" tall or so, that soil i can use again you say?
what about adding nutrients every like 2 weeks well organic stuff like kelp
 
also would it be ok to mix let sit for as long as possible and plant anyway?
 
Balduvian said:
ya i got them all growing in 1 gallons right now, about 8" tall or so, that soil i can use again you say?
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Yes the soil can be used over and over again it may just need a bit of amending again.
 
 
what about adding nutrients every like 2 weeks well organic stuff like kelp
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It would be better to just put enough to begin with and it will last you the entire grow. Organic growing is not like inorganic.
You can top dress if you like but if there is enough in the soil to begin with it's not necessary.
 
 
 
also would it be ok to mix let sit for as long as possible and plant anyway?
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You could probably get away with that as nothing in your mix is very hot so to speak.
It's just better to mix it and dampen the soil so that the microbial life goes to work creating the soil food web.
 
Proud Marine Dad said:
Yes the soil can be used over and over again it may just need a bit of amending again.
 
It would be better to just put enough to begin with and it will last you the entire grow. Organic growing is not like inorganic.
You can top dress if you like but if there is enough in the soil to begin with it's not necessary.
 
You could probably get away with that as nothing in your mix is very hot so to speak.
It's just better to mix it and dampen the soil so that the microbial life goes to work creating the soil food web.
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k ya i have a bunch or organic ferts was just wondering if i t would be good to use, spent like $150 of 6 different types for throughout the season
 
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