Purpletrain
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I use RO water. Nope, nothing else needed, although I have experimented with two feedings of powdered BudSwell. I did not notice any difference in the final outcome. FWIW, I have been using Sunshine Mix as of late because it's what's easiest to come by at the moment. Also, I forgot to mention that I often supplement the mix with a bag of perlite to offset the worm casts, which tend to make the mix a bit too heavy.
Thanks to those who commented on my post. In general, I am striving to both simplify and improve this mix. For example, I am not 100% sure that I need blood meal, as the steamed fish bone meal contains a fair amount of nitrogen. In any case, somebody mentioned that I may be using too much lime, and that very well could be the case given that Pro-Mix is already limed. Another consideration raised by the same individual is that lime may be high in heavy metals. I am not saying that they're wrong, but I have not found any data suggesting that this is the case. Any such info would be greatly appreciated. The State of Washington hosts an excellent database in regards to this subject. I find it fascinating that different brands of the same ingredient, take kelp for example, contain very different levels of heavy metals. I was pleased to find out that the brand I favor, (Epsoma), tests favorably.
BTW, "my" mix is just my spin on the Vic High / BCGA mix. I know that SubCool has riffed on this mix too, although he has proceeded in the direction of greater complexity. I have no idea which approach is superior...lol
I think that Purpletrain might be on to something with his septic system microbes. They are OMRI certified, and check out this quote from the Byo-Gon webpage:
"In addition to its remarkable ability to treat septic systems and clean drains throughout the home, Byo-Gon PX-109® Organic is a powerful and safe stimulant for the home garden composter. The organic solution speeds the process of composting, which makes the home compost pile more efficient and increases the benefits to the home gardener."
I may have to add a bit of this into my organic equation...
I also love Purpletrain's soil building methods, although they would be difficult in my situation, as I am an urban/apartment dweller. And finally, I did not know that an EC meter could be used to gauge the "potency" of an organic mix. Thanks for that!
Don't kid your self a good ec / ppm meter and a ph meter should be the first investment for any person thinking of growing it comes in handy for everything .
Like for what i just used it for , its great for teas , figuring out how much plants are actually eatting, possible other issues
TBH all you need is 2 totes one is compost bin and another is worm bin and your set apartment dwelling or room rentals etc
i do not use by gon but wanted to post it to show that something simple and as well rona / homedepot purchase and rather affordable compared to online beanie prices
Everything has become a real marketing scam as well as many claims and no peered reviews a person has to really think before getting trapped into the game
Uh... you do realize that you're not really measuring those organic teas accurately using that meter though, right? I mean, yeah, you're measuring something, but it's not an accurate way to measure organic molecules. At all.Don't kid your self a good ec / ppm meter and a ph meter should be the first investment for any person thinking of growing it comes in handy for everything .
Like for what i just used it for , its great for teas , figuring out how much plants are actually eatting, possible other issues
PPM meter comes in handy for pretty much anything
I have worm farms but that has got nothing to do with ppm
So lets break this down parts per millon is just a indicator allowing you to keep things nutrient levels teas pretty much anything you can make into a liquid
Teas can burn the hell out of anything i have made teas that stopped the ppm reading over 2 so in other words 2000 + parts per million
and why so many mention watering your teas back to like 3 cups of water to 1 cup of tea pour a pure tea into your soil is looking for trouble
If you do not have a ppm meter or Ec your guessing that an be deter mental to plants health
wouldn't you think ???
when do you know your compost is ready to go into your soil /???
when we throw scraps veggies the decomposition process begins new microbes start ph fluctuates this is why you read in organic soils expect a downward health trend at the beginning when everything establishes
with having a ph meter i can now guage when my compost is ready with ph stabilizing like above picture i posted
there are many benifits having a ppm and ph meter
for instance coffee grinds you be shocked even at the level of parts per million you an get it up to
For me its just a guage that allows me to run my organic gardens on a tighter ship
@Homesteader I'll take your advice on the coir, I have a good amount of it, and I do have some kelp. Cow manure from a friend of mine. I've built a soil from The Rev, I like it, just wanna try to build my own this time and compare the two plants. Thanks.@Hyman I suggest more of a base. Add more coir or go with some peat but I think you need more of one or the other. some kelp would be good if you can get some. If you go peat, I doubt it will be enough to need lime but make sure you check your PH after. Looks good though. Your manure?
I think I've worked out a soil mix for my first run at 100%* organic, guess it depends on the question at the bottom but here's what I got so far:
1/3 (1/2 promix & 1/2 coco) + 1/3 organic rice hulls + 1/3 (1/2 Roots organic earth worm castings + 1/2 Malibu compost if I can find it and if not I'll use local nursery organic compost)
For each cubic foot of the above, I'll have these amendments: 1/2c organic neem seed meal, 1/2c organic kelp meal, 1/2c organic insect frass, 4c mineral dust ( 1/2 glacial rock dust, 1/6 organic oyster shell, 1/6 organic basalt, 1/6 of green sand) I also have some organic arctic humus to add, but not sure how much.
I'm going to inoculate all my seedling roots with Mycogrow Soluble from fungi.com.
I had a couple of questions about this mix, am I adding the correct amount of insect frass, arctic humus and green sand? Is glacial rock dust organic? I got this from BuildASoil but it doesn't mention being organic. Other suggestions to my mix are also welcome!
Oh ya, I have some gypsum too but not sure how much to add
ph of water dont really matter with organics done right.you can toss the ph meter.and sleep peacefully at night.Am I wasting my time if I'm going from Red Cups to 1gal to finish in 3gal smart pots? I heard that organic soil needs to be in large pots in order to be effective by just adding water. Speaking of water, I can't believe how much is wasted with an RO filter! Is buying distilled water really the only other option if I want live organic soil and we are in a drought?
While your statement concerning organics done right and you can throw away your Ph meter is partially correct, I would say well yes most of the time. ....... But that decision would have to be based on the water source used for irrigation/feeding.ph of water dont really matter with organics done right.you can toss the ph meter.and sleep peacefully at night.
ph of water dont really matter with organics done right.you can toss the ph meter.and sleep peacefully at night.
While your statement concerning organics done right and you can throw away your Ph meter is partially correct, I would say well yes most of the time. ....... But that decision would have to be based on the water source used for irrigation/feeding.
If the water used had a high level of alkalinity over time you would drive the Ph into dangerous levels in the rhizosphere/rootzone. :D But if the source water isnt over burdened with high alkalinity water then yes organics done right, doesn't require as much monitoring of ph as one would think. Please dont confuse alkaline water within Ph range of 7.0 and up with water that has high alkalinity.
Here is the link to the thread I posted some time back with put everything in perspective. https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...-effects-of-water-with-high-alkalinity.77509/
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