Finally going organic, please critique my soil mix

[Thoth]

The gypsum is for calcium and ph. No real reason why I went with gypsum over dolo lime, I just kinda did. If I'm low on mag, I'll just add some epsom salt to my tea recipe.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Gypsum is also a source of sulfur.

 

[Dirty White Boy]

Powdered gypsum is great stuff. Used it more for boomers then ma dope though. I always dug me sum Sul po mag. It's works fantastic as a foliar as well. Add a pinch of kelp and you got yourself a pretty nice bug/mold preventive. Really gives the taste n smell a kick too.

 

[Cjgrow]

Where are you located? Getting a good compost source is pretty important.

Add some oyster shell to that mix and it's perfect

 

[legaleyes13]

Good worm castings/compost is key. I usually have good luck on craigs list if I have to out source. Its easy to make very productive worm farms and the best part is you know exactly what's in them. Most castings I've bought from stores is lacking in minerals and micro life.

I just read through my post my fault. I mix up to 1tbs of kelp and at max 2tsp sul-po-mag per gallon of compost I'm using for the top dressing. Once mixed I top dress with a 2" layer over the pot. For best results cover the compost top dressing with green leaves especially cannabis leaves for the plant specific micro life growing on them and biodynamic acclimators such as comfrey and stinging nettle leaves. Though covering it with anything is better than nothing. It might seem somewhat overwhelming the options but your mix is solid and will only get better and better the more time you run it. No til is great because you don't disturb the soil food network by recycling. Microlife wants to be undisturbed. After a while your soil will literally be moving with life.

You might have mentioned this already. What size pot are you using?





At low amounts I think most things are ok but in his mix I really think its unnecessary. I'm just a soil freak and avoid as many X factors as I can. If it looks like I'm running short on anything I bubble 1/4 kelp meal with a TBS of molasses for a few days and all issues should be taken care of.

Well at least we agree on something lol. Insects are great their so underappreciated. I bet you have some happy chickens. Really if we cared more for our planet we would cut out 90% of beef and replace it with insect protein. But I don't know very many who would be cool with that.

I'm using a 4x4 geopot bed, and I'm perpetual so running my own worm farm that I'll have to harvest every 18-20 days is more work than I'm willing to take on. I have no real idea how much worm castings it would take to top dress up too 2'' in a bed that size.

I won't have any problem sourcing good compost, but everything I've heard suggest topdressing with worm castings or at worse vermicompost.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[legaleyes13]

Where are you located? Getting a good compost source is pretty important.

Add some oyster shell to that mix and it's perfect

I can get good compost, just not worm castings in particular.

 

[Myco]

Thanks man, no dolo it is. Oyster shell instead...

If you don't mind me asking, do you have your own worm farm? I don't and don't wanna deal with the extra hassle of maintaining and harvesting fresh castings... So I'll either find a worm farmer or use store bought... I really don't wanna use store bought.

Good choice!

No sir... if I had more free time I would consider a worm farm... but until then I have a couple friendly worm farmers where I can source quality EWC, by the yard ;)

I used store bought castings years ago back when I was mixing smaller batches. But $40-50/cu ft. for the hydro shop EWC is outrageous. Though I was also able to source better deals through a couple feed/farm stores... I suggest checking craigslist for local worm farmers, feed stores, etc. I'm sure you can find good deals somewhere...

Good luck!

 

[Cjgrow]

Get some worms and feed the compost too them or you could just use the compost. It's a really good idea to have some worms around tho cus they are good to add to your bed.

 

[Tnelz]

The gypsum is for calcium and ph. No real reason why I went with gypsum over dolo lime, I just kinda did. If I'm low on mag, I'll just add some epsom salt to my tea recipe.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Hey brother mix sounds great. I'm sure u will get these comments or already have but gypsum is a good additive for a calcium and sulphur source but it's pH neutral. I'd add a cup of dolomite lime per cubic foot. Maybe a tad more to be safe. I think u should rock though bro. I'm subbed. Have a mix I just put together myself that I'll be putting some girls in in another week or so. Good luck!

 

[Seamaiden]

:)

At low amounts I think most things are ok but in his mix I really think its unnecessary. I'm just a soil freak and avoid as many X factors as I can. If it looks like I'm running short on anything I bubble 1/4 kelp meal with a TBS of molasses for a few days and all issues should be taken care of.

Well at least we agree on something lol. Insects are great their so underappreciated. I bet you have some happy chickens. Really if we cared more for our planet we would cut out 90% of beef and replace it with insect protein. But I don't know very many who would be cool with that.

Hey brother, that's the thing, I think, about organic cultivation methods--it allows a great degree of what I will call artistry.

I would be all over the invert protein IF it came in the form of garden snails. I flippin' LOVE escargot and know how to clean out wild-caught snails. And, of course, where I live? NARY a single garden snail, nary a single one!

Try playing around with other sugars. ;)

I can get good compost, just not worm castings in particular.

Then start up a small colony of mealworms for their frass, perhaps? They're damn near carefree. In fact, my granddaughter has a "new" colony because she wanted a pet while she's visit. I just grab a plastic container, a carrot, some wheat bran, oatmeal and dig out some bugs and we're off to the races. If you order online you pretty much only get the juvenile worms, so you'll have to feed those and wait for them to pupate into adults, let those reproduce, but within a couple or three months you'll have a self-sustaining colony of DRY bugs, not wet. Feeding them is different from worms, though, because you only use 'dry' veggies, never wet veggies.

 

[Cjgrow]

Hey brother mix sounds great. I'm sure u will get these comments or already have but gypsum is a good additive for a calcium and sulphur source but it's pH neutral. I'd add a cup of dolomite lime per cubic foot. Maybe a tad more to be safe. I think u should rock though bro. I'm subbed. Have a mix I just put together myself that I'll be putting some girls in in another week or so. Good luck!

Oyster shell or cac03 is mo bettah than dolo

 

[Seamaiden]

Oyster shell or cac03 is mo bettah than dolo

Why is it better?

 

[Tnelz]

Oyster shell or cac03 is mo bettah than dolo

Don't disagree. Better product overall I suppose but also harder to get. Not saying it's hard to get but harder than dolomite lime. Good suggestion though.

 

[Tnelz]

Find the lime works perfectly well though.

 

[Seamaiden]

Why is oyster shell flour any better than dolomite lime?

 

[Cjgrow]

The ratio of mag/cal isn't very good, unless you have a soil test that shows you need more magnesium. You need much more calcium than magnesium. Personally I've tried both and much prefer straight calcium carbonate/osf