Organic Soil Mix

mrbong73 · Mar 15, 2011

I wanted to share my new mix that I am working on for my next round.

Please feel free to comment or discuss organic soil mixes in general.

Base Mix:
(1x) Bio-dynamic compost.
Contains: Dairy cow manure, straw, vineyard wood chips, and biodynamic concentrations of yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle, dandelion, and oak bark.

(1x) Agrowinn Earthworm Castings
(1x) Pumice
(1/2x) Alaska Peat brand Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss

Liming agent/calcium:
3 cups Oyster Shell
2 cups Gypsum

Mineral component:
6 cups Azomite
1/2 cup K Mag (0-0-22)

Meal Mix:
2 cups Alfalfa Meal (2-0-0)
1 1/2 cups Neem Seed Meal (5-1-2)
1 cup Soybean Meal (7-2-1)
1 cup Fish Bone Meal (3-18-0)
1 1/4 cup Misc Mix (have listed elsewhere under flower top dress post)
1/2 cup Kelp Meal (1-.5-2.5)

That all mixed comes to about 30 gal. (2 15 gal nursery pots)

I am currently sourcing crab meal and fish meal for next re-charge.

I am hoping this will serve as a good base mix for a recycle program.

Thanks for looking.

Udyana Peace · Mar 16, 2011

You should bag it and sell it. If FFOF is priced at $15.00 (around here anyway) then your mix could easily sell for $45.00 and it would still be a bargain.

I have yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle and dandelion seeds germinating now for transplanting into a raised bed that has been set up just for growing these plants both for fermented teas as well as biomass for thermal compost.

UP

mrbong73 · Mar 16, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
You should bag it and sell it. If FFOF is priced at $15.00 (around here anyway) then your mix could easily sell for $45.00 and it would still be a bargain.

I have yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle and dandelion seeds germinating now for transplanting into a raised bed that has been set up just for growing these plants both for fermented teas as well as biomass for thermal compost.

UP

UP,
Thank you for your comments.
You probably recognise the mix. I changed it to fit what I had on hand. Have you had a chance to see the Malibu Compost yet?

Udyana Peace · Mar 16, 2011

Yes - it arrived on Monday. I have 2 plants in a soil mix using this compost as the humus component.

I mixed 2x re-charged soil, 1x organic rice hulls and 1x Malibu Compost - a bit of kelp meal, neem meal, crab meal and some oyster shell powder and several cups of glacial rock dust. That's pretty much it.

I'll keep you posted and thank you very much for bringing the information forward. Quite a unique product to say the least.

UP

mrbong73 · Mar 16, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
I have yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle and dandelion seeds germinating now for transplanting into a raised bed that has been set up just for growing these plants both for fermented teas as well as biomass for thermal compost.

UP

I recently planted a couple yarrow plants also. There are 6' tall dandelions and I think stinging nettle at a park near my house. They are growing under a natural stand of coastal oak that was left alone by the city during development. The leaf litter and top soil is absoultely teeming with life.
You may recognise my tea brewer also.

Udyana Peace · Mar 16, 2011

mrbong73

I finally pussied-out and got the 'mother of all air stones' - 7" x 1.5" - it ain't the 'real deal' but it's definitely easy to clean by simply soaking it in AEM (straight!!!) for a few hours and then hooking up the air pump.

I doubt that any bio-film can survive that treatment! We'll see I suppose. I've only done an alfalfa & kelp meal tea which I've applied. I have a real AACT brewing now so I'm excited to see if this massive amount of air bubbles works as well as the conventional PVC air harness generally recommended and used - for good reason.

Again - we'll see! LOL

UP

mrbong73 · Mar 16, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
mrbong73

I finally pussied-out and got the 'mother of all air stones' - 7" x 1.5" - it ain't the 'real deal' but it's definitely easy to clean by simply soaking it in AEM (straight!!!) for a few hours and then hooking up the air pump.

I doubt that any bio-film can survive that treatment! We'll see I suppose. I've only done an alfalfa & kelp meal tea which I've applied. I have a real AACT brewing now so I'm excited to see if this massive amount of air bubbles works as well as the conventional PVC air harness generally recommended and used - for good reason.

Again - we'll see! LOL

UP

I think I saw that somewhere. Nice. I thought I saw that you are pushing massive lpm through it too. How is the spillage factor?

Does it (the airstone) float?

MrB.

Udyana Peace · Mar 16, 2011

mrbong73 said:
I think I saw that somewhere. Nice. I thought I saw that you are pushing massive lpm through it too. How is the spillage factor?

Does it (the airstone) float?

MrB.

Actually there is no spillage factor if I keep the water level at 4 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket. What I don't know is whether or not the additional number of bubbles is a benefit over the PVC harness system. One thing to keep in mind that these air stones are not for aquariums but rather for ponds found on farms and ranches.

I'm running an air pump rated @ 81 lpm - snerk. Next time I buy one of these small pumps I'm going to knock off 30-40% of the lpm/gpm rating when figuring out the size I need. Maybe more.

We're in the process of installing 11 raised beds (3 more to go!) and I'm going to use this air stone with a 200 lpm pump to brew 40 gallons of compost tea to kick-start the organic soil that we're bringing in to fill them (about 10 c.y. or so).

Then they'll be topped off with organic thermal compost and then mulched with organic oat straw. I'll hit them again with compost tea to get the top end up and running.

That's the plan anyway.

The organic soil (certified by the state regulatory agency) is made from top soil, forest floor humus, organic orchard cuttings, white oak bark, organic steer manure, organic shitake mushroom compost, pumice, sharp sand and mycorrhizal fungi added. Not too shabby for $45.00 per 1 c.y. from my perspective. While not perfect it's better than what you normally get form a landscape supply company.

Another agriculture research station being set-up by my wife. SMOJC!

UP

mrbong73 · Mar 16, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
The organic soil (certified by the state regulatory agency) is made from top soil, forest floor humus, organic orchard cuttings, white oak bark, organic steer manure, organic shitake mushroom compost, pumice, sharp sand and mycorrhizal fungi added. UP

Man, just bag that and sell it as BIG BUD ORGANIC SUPER DUPER SOIL and you'll be sittin pretty in no time.

mrbong73 · Mar 16, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
Next time I buy one of these small pumps I'm going to knock off 30-40% of the lpm/gpm rating when figuring out the size I need. Maybe more.

Marketing Hubris

Do you think they're that far off?
So my 50 lpm might be more like 35 max?

Mrb

mrbong73 · Mar 16, 2011

Just confirmed my order to complete my organic purchases for awhile. (yeah right)

1ea. 50lb organic Alfalfa meal (Haystack Farm, OR)
1ea. 50lb Kelp Meal
1ea. 50lb Crustacean Meal (crab and shrimp shell)
1ea. 50lb Fish Meal
1ea. 50lb Glacial Rock Dust (Gaia Green)
2ea. 1.5cf Marwest Organic Compost
1ea. 3lb Kelp Extract (Acadian)
1ea. 1lb Endo Granulated

All that delivered to my door for around $350
Not bad at today's gas prices.

Seamaiden · Mar 17, 2011

Mrbong, I'm curious about the oak bark. No issues with allelopathy using oak?

mrbong73 · Mar 17, 2011

Seamaiden said:
Mrbong, I'm curious about the oak bark. No issues with allelopathy using oak?

Seamaiden,
The Bio-dynamic compost in my mix is a bagged product that is made using the bio-dynamic composting method outlined here:

Not sure about any negative allelopathy effects from the oak bark after composting.

Udyana Peace · Mar 18, 2011

mrbong73 said:
Man, just bag that and sell it as BIG BUD ORGANIC SUPER DUPER SOIL and you'll be sittin pretty in no time.

Without 'perlite' and 'peat moss' (or even coir!!!) it wouldn't/couldn't sell. That ship sailed years and years ago.

OTOH it would be yet another way to go broke! Selling a real soil would be a losing proposition. I know of 2 people who learned the hard way.

Like one owner of an indoor garden store told him, verbatim, "Why would I want to carry a soil that doesn't need anything? Are you nuts?"

Why indeed............WPOD redux

UP

mrbong73 · Mar 18, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
Without 'perlite' and 'peat moss' (or even coir!!!) it wouldn't/couldn't sell. That ship sailed years and years ago.

OTOH it would be yet another way to go broke! Selling a real soil would be a losing proposition. I know of 2 people who learned the hard way.

Like one owner of an indoor garden store told him, verbatim, "Why would I want to carry a soil that doesn't need anything? Are you nuts?"

Why indeed............WPOD redux

UP

UP
Yeah you're right. What was I thinking?
Maybe that's the reason one of the more copied soil recipes here in stoner land has a suspicious lack of K.

Leaves room for all those expensive "Bloom Boosters" and such.
Just a thought.
Mrb

Hey any thoughts on my mix, specifically. i.e. ratios etc.
I am thinking about adding more rock dust when I get my delivery.
Also, the gypsum and oyster shell amounts.
Just curious.

Seamaiden · Mar 18, 2011

mrbong73 said:
Seamaiden,
The Bio-dynamic compost in my mix is a bagged product that is made using the bio-dynamic composting method outlined here:

Not sure about any negative allelopathy effects from the oak bark after composting.

Ah, after composting it should all be good. I don't know how familiar you are with allelopathy, I ran across it quite often in my days as a reefkeeper/aquarist. Those Sarcophytons can be BRUTAL, lemme tell ya.

Udyana Peace · Mar 18, 2011

mrbong73

Let me get back to you after breakfast & some more coffee.

I did want to give you a chance to check out the label from the company that packs the glacial rock dust, Gaia Green.

Amazing isn't it? I go even higher on that one specific amendment but I'll leave that one alone. Check out the rates suggested at Reminarlize The Earth sometime.

Remember (and this is a very important distinction), glacial rock is unlike the majority of mined amendments in that it is not from volcanic action millions and millions of years ago. Volcanos produced, among other things, deposits that are called alumino-silicates.

These clays vary slightly in their composition and therefore are called different names like, bentonite, montmorillite, kaolanite, pyrophillite, and zeolite among others. Some info to consider perhaps..........

UP

mrbong73 · Mar 18, 2011

Udyana Peace said:
Amazing isn't it? I go even higher on that one specific amendment but I'll leave that one alone. Check out the rates suggested at Reminarlize The Earth sometime.

Remember (and this is a very important distinction), glacial rock is unlike the majority of mined amendments in that it is not from volcanic action millions and millions of years ago. Volcanos produced, among other things, deposits that are called alumino-silicates.

Reminarlize The Earth

Good site. Really amazing stuff!
So I already have 6 cups volcanic dust(Azomite) should I do another 6 or 8 cups Gaia Green in the 30 gallons?

drgreenthum420 · Mar 18, 2011

organic soil

Dam man sounds like a great combo for ur organic soil u should see some great results.

mrbong73 · Mar 18, 2011

Seamaiden said:
Ah, after composting it should all be good. I don't know how familiar you are with allelopathy, I ran across it quite often in my days as a reefkeeper/aquarist. Those Sarcophytons can be BRUTAL, lemme tell ya.

Yeah I really hadn't heard of it till you mentioned. I do find reef environments to be fascinating and love to do some snorkeling in tropical settings. A nice saltwater aquarium set up can usually capture my attention for awhile too.

drgreenthumb420:
Thanks for your comments. Still a work in progress but hoping for some good results.

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