sun "Sun Gro Horticulture" Grow Mix

[Super Hots Canada]

Since I just started learning about peppers and taking a real interest in growing plants as of this past Spring/Summer I've certainly stumbled over a lot of hurdles in that time.
 
Well in the past couple weeks, since I finally got an HPS light set up, I started to realize that it wouldn't be long before I would need to be transplanting most of my plants and that I simply didn't have the soil to accomplish it. Going from store to store in my area I almost started to build towards a panic in the past week as I quickly discovered that all the places I'd gone to get soil before (Central Supplies, SuperStore, even Walmart) simply don't sell soil once the Fall comes around (which explains why they all dropped their prices majorly back in October).
 
Given our climate, it really isn't surprising - but it still wasn't something I had even thought to consider, so I didn't stock up. And to top it all off - I ran out of my last bag of 4-in-1 soil & black earth this past week when I transplanted a young Super Chile (which I started just over a month ago for my girlfriend) and one of my larger Naga Jolokia's.
 
Here's the sort of soil I've been using (had to take a photo since they don't list it on their website grr):
 

 
.. But before letting myself truly panic and resort to begging for solution ideas on here, I decided to try one last place - a local garden & greenhouse operation. Their website doesn't really list that they sell soil, but they do stay open year-round, so it was worth a shot.
 
So yesterday afternoon I gave them a call. And as it turns out they don't sell the type of mixtures I've been using -and-  they don't sell the size I'm used to getting, either. Instead, what they sell is whole bales of compressed soil mixtures that are big enough that I was only able to fit -3- in a small Toyota Echo. lol
 
During the off-season it's just the older couple that owns the business that take care of it, rather than the employees they usually have on hand during the warm season and they're basically "on call" - meaning I had to give them an idea of when I'd be able to stop in and work around when they'd be available. Luckily, they were able to be around this morning - which was perfect since Friday's are when I bother to leave the house and run errands (the joys of working from home).
 
So now I've found a source of soil where I get it by the bale for $31, rather than paying $2-4 by the bag. (and then later today I discovered I may be able to get the same product even cheaper from a place that is easier to reach AND the same place offered to help me sell my seeds when I'm ready to start selling!)
 
I transplanted my largest Habanero plant tonight, using the new soil, into one of the largest containers I currently have (see the picture above - pop can placed beside it to give size perspective) and the soil I used barely skimmed the surface of one of the new bales I bought. Comparatively, with the soil I've been using, it would've taken at least half a bag to fill the container.
 
Here is the exact type of soil I bought today:
 

Sunshine® Mix #4 / LA4 (click for details)
 

 
 
... SO. With all that rambling out of the way, I have a few questions:
 
1) According to both places I can get this it's a much higher quality product, and based on the fact that it has perlite (which I've often seen mentioned on here) I'm gathering it's true. Is this what I ought to have been using in the first place?
 
2) I noticed that even though I pressed this soil down some (as I've done with my other soil) when I transplanted my Habanero, that it is -much, much- lighter than the soil I've previously used. Given this, is there anything noticeably different I ought to be on the lookout for? i.e. Will it compress a lot more than the other soil as time goes on, due to watering?
 
3) Usually when I transplant I add Tomato Feed (5-7-7) and Super-phosphorus pellets. Is it still a good idea to do this?
 
I'm sure these are probably rather loaded questions, but I appreciate any advice.
 
Thanks as always, folks!

 

[Brain Strain Pepper Head]

I have used Sunshine 4 before but you have to add a lot more perlite to make it very airy. I buy the biggest bag of perlite and mix it with the sunshine 4 in a kiddie pool and add bone meal, epsome salt, blood meal and worm castings. Peppers hate wet feet so add plenty of perlite or Pine Bark as this stuff compresses over time.

 

[Super Hots Canada]

I have used Sunshine 4 before but you have to add a lot more perlite to make it very airy. I buy the biggest bag of perlite and mix it with the sunshine 4 in a kiddie pool and add bone meal, epsome salt, blood meal and worm castings. Peppers hate wet feet so add plenty of perlite or Pine Bark as this stuff compresses over time.

 
Well so far I've never had perlite in my soils -at all- before, so I'm guessing this will be a vast improvement. lol .. The exception is my 3 Habanero plants when I first got them as seedlings back in the summer (from the same company I just bought this soil from).
 
I'm not sure pine bark is really an option since I'm growing indoors, is it? Either way, I just bought 3 bales of this mix today and now I'm broke again, for a while. So what I have will have to do in terms of the bark/perlite. *nod*
 
I have epsom salt, and I was originally spraying my plants with it on occasion, but I can say I saw a noticeable difference. I never tried mixing it into the soil, though. Any suggestions? (i.e. do I mix it in dry, or as a water solution?)
 
I usually do add Bone Meal, but I'm fresh out at the moment - sadly.
 
I haven't used Blood Meal, yet. I didn't want to risk having too much nitrogen in the soil, so I guess I was erring on the side of paranoia by completely avoiding it. Any suggestions for using the two? .. With the Tomato Feed & Bone Meal I've usually tossed in a handful or two for a container around 2-3 litres in size and maybe half a handful (total) for a small seedling pot.. It's really been guesswork on my part, on that front.

 

[Brain Strain Pepper Head]

• 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil or 2 bags sunshine mix 4
• 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
• 5 lbs steamed bone meal
• 5 lbs Bloom bat guano
• 5 lbs blood meal
• 3 lbs rock phosphate
• ¾ cup Epson salts
• ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
• ½ cup azomite (trace elements)
• 2 tbsp powdered humic acid

This is the same basic recipe I’ve been using for the past 15 years. The hardest ingredient to acquire are the worm castings (especially since many people don’t even know what they are. FYI: worm poop). But don’t decide to just skip them: Be resourceful. After all, worms comprise up to ¾ of the living organisms found underground, and they’re crucial to holding our planet together. Also, don’t waste money on a “soil conditioner” with worm castings; source out some local pure worm poop with no added mulch.

 

[Super Hots Canada]

 

• 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil or 2 bags sunshine mix 4
• 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
• 5 lbs steamed bone meal
• 5 lbs Bloom bat guano
• 5 lbs blood meal
• 3 lbs rock phosphate
• ¾ cup Epson salts
• ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
• ½ cup azomite (trace elements)
• 2 tbsp powdered humic acid

This is the same basic recipe I’ve been using for the past 15 years. The hardest ingredient to acquire are the worm castings (especially since many people don’t even know what they are. FYI: worm poop). But don’t decide to just skip them: Be resourceful. After all, worms comprise up to ¾ of the living organisms found underground, and they’re crucial to holding our planet together. Also, don’t waste money on a “soil conditioner” with worm castings; source out some local pure worm poop with no added mulch.
 

 
Thanks for the list/recipe and advice - I'll have to keep that in mind.
 
Unfortunately, with my limited funds -and- it being winter, I likely won't be able to obtain much of that till the warm season comes back around.
 
So -very- glad I'm growing indoors - in the last couple of days it's been around -19*C to -30*C (-2.2*F to -22*F) outside.. And just last week we still had early-fall temperatures (50-60*F).. Nova Scotia weather can be very random and crazy. lol
 
As for the worms - quite agreed that they're crucial. I'll likely have to hunt around for those castings. The owner of the place I just bought the soil from is VERY knowledgeable & has decades of experience with gardening, so I'm sure he'll have some good idea.

 

[Brain Strain Pepper Head]

Indoors just put those in your Sunshine mix and don’t over water and you will be fine I would add banana peels, egg shells, epson salt and coffee grounds then for my ferts. You have to grow according to your budget especially if you’re married as I am. I have to get creative to keep this hobby.

Yes I am growing indoors too. I started in November and can't plant outside until June so I am getting a really big head start. Heres some of my setup
 
 

 

[Super Hots Canada]

You definitely have much more space to work with than I do, by the looks of it.. My two current spaces combined are -maybe- around the size of that corner..
 
I'm not married, BUT I do live in a house that is around 90 years old - it looks much bigger on the outside than it is on the inside and it was built rather strangely by modern standards. For instance, the main floor is probably around average height, but the upstairs - where my bedroom & grow spaces are - has a ceiling that's probably just over 6'. Even if I manage to build a larger space in our basement (which has limited space, as well), the ceiling there is just as low as the top floor.
 
My -hope- is to focus on producing pods for seeds for now, rather than selling pods, since I have such limited space, and continue to do web development and hope to build up my business and save up/get support to build an actual greenhouse. *nod*
 
The space that has my HPS light is actually 1/3 of my own bedroom that I've closed off (see my glog - link is at the bottom of each of my posts). lol