tutorial All about soil - A great resource I thought I would share

Ian S said:
 
 
The Fens are probably the most fertile area in England (The Fens, also known as the Fenlands, is a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region.) this soil is full of sand, also I would be surprised if plants growing in Trinidad don't have traces of sand in their soil      
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     Sand definitely isn't optimal (compared to perlite or something). But it's cheap if available locally, and it'll get the job done if you need to aerate a bunch of clay and silt (ie. loam). 
     Plus it'll keep your plants from tipping over when they get huge!
Ian S said:
 
 
The Fens are probably the most fertile area in England (The Fens, also known as the Fenlands, is a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region.) this soil is full of sand, also I would be surprised if plants growing in Trinidad don't have traces of sand in their soil 
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     Also, you just described the central sands region of Wisconsin, more or less. Very productive land for potatoes, corn, beans and peas. It is a big ancient lakebed (Glacial Lake Wisconsin was drained during the last glaciation) full of sand on top of gravel. 
     Some areas are almost devoid of organic matter and look like a clean beach. As a former coworker told me "The only thing this dirt's good for is keeping the plants from tipping over." Other areas had decent alluvial silt and clay mixed in if they were near where and ancient river flowed. That soil had some serious capability.
 
Ian S said:
Sand mixed with perlite, now your talking lol
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5/16" red lava rock. Now you are really talking and you will get the advantage of basalt from the rock. :cool:
Also it doesn't float like perlite. I will never go back after lava rock. It is heavy though so that's it's only negative.
My 17 gallon containers were about 96 lbs each.

Ian S said:
 
 
The Fens are probably the most fertile area in England (The Fens, also known as the Fenlands, is a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region.) this soil is full of sand, also I would be surprised if plants growing in Trinidad don't have traces of sand in their soil 
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That is out in nature, I am talking about soil in a pot.
 
How should I store my soil in my pots now that the seasons over and plants are pulled? Should I just throw them in my shed? I may not have room for that...if I keep them outside I should cover them, right? Should I take the soil out of the pots? Make one big pile (I have about 15 7.5 gal pots) or huge bin (covered)
 
ColdSmoke said:
How should I store my soil in my pots now that the seasons over and plants are pulled? Should I just throw them in my shed? I may not have room for that...if I keep them outside I should cover them, right? Should I take the soil out of the pots? Make one big pile (I have about 15 7.5 gal pots) or huge bin (covered)
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Did you grow organic? If so I would grow a cover crop in the pots. That is what I am doing for my 17 gallon canna pots.
 
Bottom-up effects mediated by an organic soil amendment on the cabbage aphid pests Myzus persicae and Brevicoryne brassicae
 
Earthworm-produced compost or vermicompost has been shown to increase resistance of plants to a variety of insect pests, but it is still unclear whether this resistance is dose dependent and whether the mechanisms responsible are the same for insect species with differing feeding habits and preferences. Therefore, we tested the effects of plants grown in various vermicompost concentrations (0, 20, 40, and 60%) on the preference and performance of generalist, Myzus persicae L., and specialist, Brevicoryne brassicae L. (both Hemiptera: Aphididae), aphid pests. Preference was evaluated with leaf disk (apterous) and whole plant (alate) choice assays. After 24 h of feeding, there was no significant negative effect on the feeding preference noted for apterae of either species of any of the treatments tested. To the contrary, apterae B. brassicae showed a significant preference for vermicompost treatments over control leaf disks. Alate M. persicae preferred alighting on control plants over vermicompost-grown plants, but B. brassicae showed no preference toward any of the treatments tested. Both aphid species deposited significantly more nymphs on control plants than on those grown in 20% vermi-compost. Furthermore, plants grown in soil amended with 20% vermicompost significantly suppressed mass accumulation, as well as numbers of adults and nymphs of both aphid species compared to controls. These data clearly show that vermicompost soil amendments can significantly influence pest aphid preference and performance on plants and that these effects are not dose dependent, but rather species and morph dependent.
 
Got my hands on a free 2.8 cu ft (big) bag of Sun Gro Metro Mix 360 planting medium. Saw it for sale for $45. Seems to be geared to professionals rather than home gardeners. Contains: Sphagnum Peat Moss 35-45%, Vermiculite, Bark, Bark Ash, Dolomitic Limestone. It's quite loose & fluffy but without a ton of peat like some other mixes have. In moving up to 3.5" pots from smaller seedling containers, I was thinking of using this stuff & adding a little perlite & maybe some Black Kow & a sprinkle of bat guano. What say you all?
 
I have read the majority of this 9 page thread and found it VERY informative.
Lots of good, but seemingly very complex formulas for DIRT.
Not complaining, I assure you, but just do not comprehend a list of about a dozen ingredients for DIRT.
I am certainly "old school" in most things.
 
But I do need your help.
I have started my seeds in Jiffy Pellets.  Doing good after 2 weeks.
150 - 200 plants will be going into the good garden soil in the middle of May.
 
I need a soil mix AND a fertilizer suggestion for the transition between the Jiffy Pellets and placing them in the ground.
  
I have coco coir.
I have "Ace Hardware" Potting soil which is peat, sand and perlite
I am a big fan of K.I.S.S.
 
Looking forward to your help and suggestions.
 
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12 ingredients? That's KISS compared to some I've seen/used. :D 20-30 bloody ingredients.
 
If the ACE is limed and unfertilized, you could buff with 10-20% coir (flushed well if bricked) and throw in a one part slow release like Espoma, Aptus, etc, or water in a one part solution like Dyna-gro.
 
If you're into amendments..
 
The one that I'd put above the others is kelp meal, at around 1/2c per cubic foot. Crab meal is a close second. KIS Organics and Build-a-Soil supply meal mixtures for mix and water set ups. You pay a premium and it's cheaper to mix your own, but for simplicity sake they're handy.
 
Just mixed up a batch of outdoor potting soil which I am hoping works well.

4 cu. ft Klasmann base substrate 2
3.8 cu. ft Pro-mix HP
2 40lb bags mushroom compost
1 20lb bag Black Hen composted chicken manure
13 cups Tomato tone
~4.25 cups Espoma garden lime

I will be liquid fertilizing as necessary later on. Also hoping it stays fluffy and doesn't get compacted. Let's see how she runs!
 
So tomorrow I'm going to a local nursery and see what kind of potting soil they have. In the past, I just used Miracle Gro Gardening soil but as I learn more and more I realize that's not a good move. When I called them yesterday they said "we have potting soil and other stuff we can mix with it like 20-20 etc" and I'm still not sure what all that means. When I go tomorrow, what should I ask or look for? 
 
I've seen a lot of posts praising perlite so if they don't have it, I will go to home depot and pick some up. A lot of the things I see listed such as pro-mix is not sold at my home depot. Thanks 
 
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