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container Basic container mix question

EMN1-SS

EMN1-SS

So I'm in coastal Carolina, where it's relatively warm and humid. I'm about to mix up some container mix, and I've been staring at the screen for so long trying to figure out what to make that I'm dizzy, haha.
So here it is. I'm thinking:
1 part peat
1 part perlite
.5 part bagged topsoil
.5 part mushroom compost
Some dolomite lime

Does this sound like something I can ride out the season with the occasional feeding of fish emulsion as needed? I've been reading topic after topic, and my head is spinning. I'm trying to stay relatively organic and most importantly, cheap enough that the Mrs. doesn't kill me.
I know this is all dependent on figuring out what works for me, I just want to make sure I have the general ratios right so I'm not missing something important.

Also, are parts determined by weight or volume?
 
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Having grown a few peppers in pots I never use "soil" as it compacts too much as opposed to "potting media". My basic ingredients are in this thread, Five Year Old Potting Soil Rejuvenation, along with a pic of my 2015 line up. A good article for a beginner on ferts is Fertilizing Container Gardens: A Beginner’s Guide and you'll note the last line reads, "Don’t, however, just dump your garden soil in a pot. Do use a potting mix, any potting mix—homemade is good.' Cost is an issue but a poor crop after a seasons worth of work far outweighs a few extra bucks making sure your plants have happy roots that are aerated and can take up the nutes you paid for!

Good luck!
NECM`
 
For many years Ive had good results with the 5-1-1 mix. Five parts of triple ground pine mulch that I get from a local nursery, one part ground peat moss, and one part perlite. Also, some dolomitic lime. I also add one part of aged cow compost that comes from a local farmer, but its not necessary.

I would think nurseries in Charleston would have pine mulch just like here in upstate S.C.
 
kentishman said:
For many years Ive had good results with the 5-1-1 mix. Five parts of triple ground pine mulch that I get from a local nursery, one part ground peat moss, and one part perlite. Also, some dolomitic lime. I also add one part of aged cow compost that comes from a local farmer, but its not necessary.

I would think nurseries in Charleston would have pine mulch just like here in upstate S.C.
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Yes I use a variation of that and buy a fine forest humus and substitute that for the pine bark fines. I use this with all my fruit tress, berries, vegetables, peppers etc.......
 
Surprisingly, I've had some trouble finding pine fines. The closest I could fond was "Small nugget pine mulch", so I went with the topsoil instead
 
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
`
Having grown a few peppers in pots I never use "soil" as it compacts too much as opposed to "potting media". My basic ingredients are in this thread, Five Year Old Potting Soil Rejuvenation, along with a pic of my 2015 line up. A good article for a beginner on ferts is Fertilizing Container Gardens: A Beginners Guide and you'll note the last line reads, "Dont, however, just dump your garden soil in a pot. Do use a potting mix, any potting mixhomemade is good.' Cost is an issue but a poor crop after a seasons worth of work far outweighs a few extra bucks making sure your plants have happy roots that are aerated and can take up the nutes you paid for!
Good luck!
NECM`
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This is really good stuff, thank you for the reply!
 
I'll echo the other statements about 5:1:1 mix. This will be my 5th year in a row using it. It's very fast draining and can dry out pretty quickly, so you'll have to water more frequently, but I've had great success with it

Smaller Batch (will fill 3 or 4 five gallon buckets):
-2 cubic ft (1 bag) pine bark fines/nuggets/mulch
-4-5 gallons sphagnum peat (two 8qt bags)
-4-5 gallons perlite (two 8qt bags)
-1 1/2 cups dolomite lime
-1 cup slow-release (granules) fertilizer (Osmocote or whatever)

Bigger Batch (will fill roughly 25 five gallon buckets):
-Eight 2cu ft bags pine bark fines
-3.8cu ft brick sphagnum peat moss
-4cu ft (2 big bags) perlite
-12 cups dolomite lime
-8 cups slow-release ferts

Just make sure you screen out the sapwood, because it'll rob the plants of Nitrogen. I start using this mix once my plants are in 0.75 - 1 gallon containers. Once they get transplanted to 5 gallon buckets, that's when I start hitting them with liquid ferts (Dyna-Gro or whatever you choose)
 
My local nursery sells triple ground pine mulch in bulk. I get a scoop in my pickup and it lasts a few years. Since there are plenty of pine trees in the Charleston area, Im surprised that a place like Hyams doesnt sell the stuff.
 
MikeUSMC said:
I'll echo the other statements about 5:1:1 mix. This will be my 5th year in a row using it. It's very fast draining and can dry out pretty quickly, so you'll have to water more frequently, but I've had great success with it

Smaller Batch (will fill 3 or 4 five gallon buckets):
-2 cubic ft (1 bag) pine bark fines/nuggets/mulch
-4-5 gallons sphagnum peat (two 8qt bags)
-4-5 gallons perlite (two 8qt bags)
-1 1/2 cups dolomite lime
-1 cup slow-release (granules) fertilizer (Osmocote or whatever)
Click to expand...
So I basically did this mix, and went with miracle grow shake and feed tomato, fruit and vegetable fert (9-4-12). I started getting pretty consistent yellowing on all the leaves, and a decent amount of leaf curl on some as well.
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Nitrogen/calcium deficiency? Could I be getting locked out by the soils ph? It was pretty immediate after repotting in this soil, so I'm fairly certain the medium is the cause
 
EMN1-SS said:
So I basically did this mix...
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I'm not the best person to diagnose plant problems, but if I had to guess, I'd say they got fertilizer burn. I also said in my post that I don't start using that mix until they're in (at least) 1 gallon containers, not 10oz (or whatever) cups. Meaning, the plants are usually a LOT bigger than that before I start using 5:1:1 (more than just a couple of sets of true leaves). That's a fairly hefty amount of ferts for plants still that small.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in, but that's my best guess
 
MikeUSMC said:
I'm not the best person to diagnose plant problems, but if I had to guess, I'd say they got fertilizer burn. I also said in my post that I don't start using that mix until they're in (at least) 1 gallon containers, not 10oz (or whatever) cups. Meaning, the plants are usually a LOT bigger than that before I start using 5:1:1 (more than just a couple of sets of true leaves). That's a fairly hefty amount of ferts for plants still that small.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in, but that's my best guess
Click to expand...
Yeah I'd definitely be careful about putting small seedlings into mix full of osmocote. I'm not sure that's the problem right now but it doesn't seem ideal for them anyway.
 
MikeUSMC said:
I'm not the best person to diagnose plant problems, but if I had to guess, I'd say they got fertilizer burn. I also said in my post that I don't start using that mix until they're in (at least) 1 gallon containers, not 10oz (or whatever) cups. Meaning, the plants are usually a LOT bigger than that before I start using 5:1:1 (more than just a couple of sets of true leaves). That's a fairly hefty amount of ferts for plants still that small.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in, but that's my best guess
Click to expand...
Best course from here? I was thinking about either mixing a couple cubic feet of Miracle Grow into the 20 gallons or so that I have of the mix I made already to cut it for when I pot up to gallon sized pots.
Do you think they'll survive that long? They're still rooting fine, just yellow and a bit slow moving. If they won't survive, I'll probably just switch them into some miracle grow. I'm annoyed at myself for screwing this up, and want to make sure I don't kill them off before I get the goods!
 
EMN1-SS said:
Best course from here? I was thinking about either mixing a couple cubic feet of Miracle Grow into the 20 gallons or so that I have of the mix I made already to cut it for when I pot up to gallon sized pots.
Do you think they'll survive that long? They're still rooting fine, just yellow and a bit slow moving. If they won't survive, I'll probably just switch them into some miracle grow. I'm annoyed at myself for screwing this up, and want to make sure I don't kill them off before I get the goods!
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Still looks great, although ill let a pro on here answer your question. What you using for a light?

Regards,
-Tristan
 
YAMracer754 said:
Still looks great, although ill let a pro on here answer your question. What you using for a light?

Regards,
-Tristan
Click to expand...
2 4ft T8 lights, 6500k about 5-7 inches from the tops
 
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