soil Soils and Ferts

[parker49]

1/3 Compost, 1/3 Peatmoss, 1/3 Perlite is what I use in my pots, I'll even throw in some worm castings when I have them.

So if went with this mix, how much and what type of ferts would you suggest or does the worm castings and compost take care of that.  Sorry for questions that may be obvious to many on here, but i am fairly new to growing peppers and completely new to container growing.

 

[Trickster]

So if went with this mix, how much and what type of ferts would you suggest or does the worm castings and compost take care of that.  Sorry for questions that may be obvious to many on here, but i am fairly new to growing peppers and completely new to container growing.

Well your going to get many different opinions I'm sure more people will comment on this. Here is what I do, in my pots I use my homemade compost/peat moss/perlite will add worm castings when my worm farm has produced enough. then I will start a schedule one week fish emulsion, then kelp the next, followed by compost or worm tea and that's about it for me, my peppers seem to grow just fine and produce pods. 

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

Well your going to get many different opinions I'm sure more people will comment on this. Here is what I do, in my pots I use my homemade compost/peat moss/perlite will add worm castings when my worm farm has produced enough. then I will start a schedule one week fish emulsion, then kelp the next, followed by compost or worm tea and that's about it for me, my peppers seem to grow just fine and produce pods. 

Those are some good ingredients Trickster. Parker49, as an organic grower I would say that worm castings are the most important addition to soil.....period!
Good quality compost would be second and yes you can grow on just these two things as your "fertilizer" but there are many other natural things that would make it even better.
In addition to kelp meal which is one of the best amendments I would put alfalfa meal, crab meal and a good all around fertilizer like Espoma Tomato Tone. It's up to you.

 

[Trickster]

Those are some good ingredients Trickster. Parker49, as an organic grower I would say that worm castings are the most important addition to soil.....period!
Good quality compost would be second and yes you can grow on just these two things as your "fertilizer" but there are many other natural things that would make it even better.
In addition to kelp meal which is one of the best amendments I would put alfalfa meal, crab meal and a good all around fertilizer like Espoma Tomato Tone. It's up to you.

I have used Espoma Tomato Tone with good results, have not used Alfalfa or Crab Meal I'll have to give it a try if I can find it.

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

As I said in another post Trickster, "Crab meal contains chitin, which acts as a pesticide. The chitin in crab meal stimulates soil microbes to exude an enzyme called chitinase. Chitinase breaks down the exoskeletons of many pests and their eggs (the exoskeletons and eggs contain chitin, and the chitinase breaks down this chitin)."
Good stuff and it contains calcium and other good micro-nutrients. Organic is the way to go and unfortunately too many people think it's somehow easier to keep trying to fight nature with chemicals.

 

[Trickster]

As I said in another post Trickster, "Crab meal contains chitin, which acts as a pesticide. The chitin in crab meal stimulates soil microbes to exude an enzyme called chitinase. Chitinase breaks down the exoskeletons of many pests and their eggs (the exoskeletons and eggs contain chitin, and the chitinase breaks down this chitin)."
Good stuff and it contains calcium and other good micro-nutrients. Organic is the way to go and unfortunately too many people think it's somehow easier to keep trying to fight nature with chemicals.

I didn't know that, thanks for the info. Now I'm on the hunt to find some.

 

[parker49]

Those are some good ingredients Trickster. Parker49, as an organic grower I would say that worm castings are the most important addition to soil.....period!
Good quality compost would be second and yes you can grow on just these two things as your "fertilizer" but there are many other natural things that would make it even better.
In addition to kelp meal which is one of the best amendments I would put alfalfa meal, crab meal and a good all around fertilizer like Espoma Tomato Tone. It's up to you.

I appreciate the info and I will definitely check out your suggestions and see what I can find. Do I need to go to a nursery for what you have suggested?

 

[Proud Marine Dad]

Yeah as most places like Home Depot don't carry that stuff.

 

[Trickster]

Yeah as most places like Home Depot don't carry that stuff.

All I could find was Neptune's Harvest Crab Shell 2-3-0 at my Local Agway (farm and garden center) the Hydro store wanted almost $6.00 more for the same thing.

 

[JJJessee]

I think this is a good spot to re-post a link PMD unearthed for another thread.
The first 3 posts are priceless for making, step-by-step, a good organic potting soil.
I don't know what is in the other 317 pages.
Yet.

 

[suchen]

After doing some research and still wanting to be slightly lazy, I mixed up 1 compressed bale (3.8ft3) of Nutrimix HP (high-porosity medium, basically peat moss and perlite with some lime and wetting agents), 1 bag of Dr. Earth all purpose compost, and 20 lbs of Black Hen composted chicken manure It made about 65-70 gallons of mix. That was 5 weeks ago. Since then I have watered 4 times (once every 9ish days) and used 5-1-1 fish fertilizer once. Simple as that. This soil should be good for 2 growing seasons or so, and the fish fertilizer will last longer. All told with the 5-gallon pots and everything it was about $100.
 
*edit* Forgot to add that I might in the future add more perlite to the mix. I feel that the soil near the bottom of the pots stays moist a bit too long, but again it hasn't given me any problems as of yet. Have fun out there, and don't let anything stress you out. It's a labor of love