Soil Mulchy. Need Help.

[Bakataha]

I bought this bag of kelloggs patio plus organic potting soil, and I was wondering what amendments I should add to it to make the soil soft, and more fluffy?

 

[ArcticOrange]

Rice hulls if youre wanting more drainage

 

[ArcticOrange]

I also like coco fiber in my soil mix

 

[Bulldog11]

Or you could just buy quality soil to begin with....... Kellogs is crap.

To make that mix better, add 33% compost, and 33% peat or coco and 33% perlite. That will help. Then some ag lime, and some kelp and rock dust. good luck

 

[Bakataha]

Thank you guys for the suggestions. This is only my first grow, so i just went with some soil people said was alright for budding on a budget, since I'm moving out this year, I didn't want to spend too much bread. I was originally going to go with Fox Farms Ocean Forest, or Happy Frog, but I just didn't feel like it was appropriate to drop 25 bucks a bag for my first grow. I figured I would just use kelloggs, since it has a lot of ingredients that ocean forest has, believe it or not. @Bulldog11 thanks particularly for the percentages! Those are going to help me out a lot. Thanks guys, and any help is always more than welcome

 

[Bakataha]

Also, I forgot to mentiom I'm living in so cal, with VERY ARID, AND HOT 95+ summers, so I feel like the mulchy soil will definitely help keep some water down in my fabric pots.

 

[Bulldog11]

Sounds weird, but make sure to mulch that mulchy soil, lol. Good luck.

 

[Bakataha]

I was planning to throw some of this edna's best on top of it because it's literally might as well be mulch.;):)
(Pic with seedling is in ednas best "mulch soil") potting soil (organic)
Also, I erected this guerilla greenhouse as I like to call it, out of some pvc and a big sheet of plastic. I put gravel on the floor, and I'm going to keep the dirt under that moist, so that will provide me with some decent humidity.

 

[Seamaiden]

Also, I forgot to mentiom I'm living in so cal, with VERY ARID, AND HOT 95+ summers, so I feel like the mulchy soil will definitely help keep some water down in my fabric pots.

Sounds weird, but make sure to mulch that mulchy soil, lol. Good luck.

I actually use that "soil" AS mulch. D'oh! It's very splintery.

Also, I forgot to mentiom I'm living in so cal, with VERY ARID, AND HOT 95+ summers, so I feel like the mulchy soil will definitely help keep some water down in my fabric pots.

Oh... I feel I really must recommend to you, with everything inside my being, to not use fabric pots in this scenario. You are going to go through so much water! I suggest covering the pots, since you've already got them filled, with white plastic. Wanna know what I like to use? Those soil bags, cut open and turned inside out. The plastic totally withstands the heat and the sun and it's going to help do two things--prevent such rapid evaporation as you're going to get, and keep the root zone cooler.

 

[Bakataha]

Thank you @Seamaiden. That's a genious idea. I originally bought the fabric pots for the specific reason of keeping it cooler lol. I read they retain heat/cold, but oh well. They're super cheap, on the bright side and with your suggestion I can still use it :). I was going to cut my 'soil' with some long cut peate moss, and more compost, or maybe some top soil, to give it some more fluff.

 

[Seamaiden]

I think what Bulldog recommended will work well for you. Don't toss that soil when you're done with the grow, either. Use it in your beds, as mulch, or if it's broken down a bit more then reammend it and it may just get better. IIRC, caregiverken started out using that particular 'soil' and he killed it.

 

[Bakataha]

It's the very first grow! Lots to learn, and experience, and things to experiment with. Already feels like I've learned a lot in just this short amount of time, but there's so much more! It's already becoming a hobby :) I can't wait to move out even more now because I'll be able to have more growing freedoms. I'm limited to outdoor right now, but I plan to always stick as many plants as I can, and just experiment! Soil is just one of the many! Love this forum, really friendly, and helpful community of people on here. I have to say I'm impressed :)