Uk Compost Choice

[fliege]

Hello,

I made a bad compost choice (it was hot) in my first UK indoor grow and I don't want to repeat the error. This time I'm thinking of growing in John Innes seed sowing compost () and Perlite. The composted is listed as having a neutral pH and low nutrient content, so that sounds good to me. Anyone tried it? I was thinking of growing autos in it and supplementing with feed as needed.

 

[crimsonecho]

This is a seedling formula. If you go with this, you will need to do full feedings after a couple of weeks. Just wanted to let you know.

Do you have a nutrient line at your disposal?

Personally, i would go with rich compost but put in less of it into my mix. Then topdress as needed while supplementing with teas and molasses and kelp extract.

 

[fliege]

Do you have some Canna Terra Vega, but frankly I'd prefer to have the soil be rich enough not to need much fertilising. Last grow I mixed about 30% to 50% nutrient-supplemented fertiliser with some regular compost and this fucked everything up.

Do you have a specific recommendation for "rich compost"? I'm not sure in the UK what is best. I was hoping to just sparsely need to supplement if at all.

 

[chemistry]

Go coco and feed regular.

 

[crimsonecho]

Do you have some Canna Terra Vega, but frankly I'd prefer to have the soil be rich enough not to need much fertilising. Last grow I mixed about 30% to 50% nutrient-supplemented fertiliser with some regular compost and this fucked everything up.

Do you have a specific recommendation for "rich compost"? I'm not sure in the UK what is best. I was hoping to just sparsely need to supplement if at all.

What was your mix actually? Just compost and fertilizers? Any aeration material? Anything to thin out the compost, like peat or coco? You can grow in straight compost if you like but have to add shit ton of aeration because compost holds so much water and some will burn if your compost is too strong.
Get yourself some unfertilized peat, ewc and an all purpose compost like the ones sold at the site you posted the link of and aeration material. This basic mix should work well. Browse the site there are good mixes posted up on the site. I’ve been mixing my own medium too and gotta say, i like my mix aswell. Bit too hot but when you go 50/50 with unfertilized peat when they’re seedlings and then 100% rich mix when they get a little bigger, they seem to like it.

 

[fliege]

I was thinking of just adding a good deal of Perlite to thin out the compost. I will look later today exactly what I tried this time around and post back. I have Northern Lights and Shiva Skunk in the tent. The mix I used this time has screwed the NL and I don't think I'll get much from them but the Shiva seems tougher and budding acceptably.

My next grow may be my last for some time and so I don't want to fuck up again.

 

[crimsonecho]

I was thinking of just adding a good deal of Perlite to thin out the compost. I will look later today exactly what I tried this time around and post back. I have Northern Lights and Shiva Skunk in the tent. The mix I used this time has screwed the NL and I don't think I'll get much from them but the Shiva seems tougher and budding acceptably.

My next grow may be my last for some time and so I don't want to fuck up again.

Then go with a tried and true method. Look up organics threads, there are many recipes you can go only water with.
I have the luxury of experimenting so i use a very hot mix and if it goes into flames, i can always dial it back next grow.
Growing in straight compost and fertilizers is a very risky way to grow imo. Most will burn or get stunted growth. The root hairs decay when there is too much fertilizers and this is what stunts the plants.
Again post your complete mix and lets try to pinpoint the problem.

 

[oldskol4evr]

Then go with a tried and true method. Look up organics threads, there are many recipes you can go only water with.
I have the luxury of experimenting so i use a very hot mix and if it goes into flames, i can always dial it back next grow.
Growing in straight compost and fertilizers is a very risky way to grow imo. Most will burn or get stunted growth. The root hairs decay when there is too much fertilizers and this is what stunts the plants.
Again post your complete mix and lets try to pinpoint the problem.

i like what you had to say,only one thing that sticks out,he has to know exactly what the ph of compost is,dont freak hear me out,they make a kit that you use to harvest your compost for use,with that said and im in same boat ,dont have cash for trinkets,but remember this,peat moss is used to drop ph levels,wood ash raise it,i use wood ash because it doesnt stay in the soil as long as lime,lime and bone meal clash,bone is great for flowering on out if you dig,in all my mixs i stay at a 6.5 ph,some plants want more ,some less ,just comes down to strain,in that event,then you add nutrients to adjust,but never under or over 6.5 for the flowers,i make my own compost as well,when i think it is ready to spread,i put some bean seeds in there,beans grow fast,so by judging how fast or not the test dummy does is when i use the compost,i think that damn test is solvita,but they have soil and compost test you do at home,trick is the 250 for the kit,so the bean planting works well for a broke dick hahahh,last season i went to kiddie wood chips used on school yards,and it has been the best in my opinion for air,in clay soil works like a charm,i even made a little to do in the tent and rocked out very well,i dont like perlite so the chips were the best for me,i cant get down that hill to the garden very often and the chips absorb any moisture to include and nutrients,so turns out as great amend,anyway long drug out example ,i suggest check your ph and see which way you need to go for that ideal 6.5 and adjust from there,if you dont know your ph of any media or water,banging head against a wall that dont give,hahahah

 

[crimsonecho]

i like what you had to say,only one thing that sticks out,he has to know exactly what the ph of compost is,dont freak hear me out,they make a kit that you use to harvest your compost for use,with that said and im in same boat ,dont have cash for trinkets,but remember this,peat moss is used to drop ph levels,wood ash raise it,i use wood ash because it doesnt stay in the soil as long as lime,lime and bone meal clash,bone is great for flowering on out if you dig,in all my mixs i stay at a 6.5 ph,some plants want more ,some less ,just comes down to strain,in that event,then you add nutrients to adjust,but never under or over 6.5 for the flowers,i make my own compost as well,when i think it is ready to spread,i put some bean seeds in there,beans grow fast,so by judging how fast or not the test dummy does is when i use the compost,i think that damn test is solvita,but they have soil and compost test you do at home,trick is the 250 for the kit,so the bean planting works well for a broke dick hahahh,last season i went to kiddie wood chips used on school yards,and it has been the best in my opinion for air,in clay soil works like a charm,i even made a little to do in the tent and rocked out very well,i dont like perlite so the chips were the best for me,i cant get down that hill to the garden very often and the chips absorb any moisture to include and nutrients,so turns out as great amend,anyway long drug out example ,i suggest check your ph and see which way you need to go for that ideal 6.5 and adjust from there,if you dont know your ph of any media or water,banging head against a wall that dont give,hahahah

Yeah peat is fairly acidic to begin with but you can get it readily buffered with lime and all of the packaged composts have ph values on them and they try to shoot for somewhere between 6.5-7.0 to my knowledge. But of course ph is important. I do slurry tests for my mixes before i let them cook and before i plant into it.
Perlite, i’m not a fan of either. I still use some just because i have it but actually i go more like 25% lava stones, 25% pumice, 25% perlite and 25% zeolite for my aeration materials. Also have some coir in there. Different textures and different materials helps with preventing the compaction too imo. Ah also got a bit of clay pebbles mixed into it and activated carbon. They all work well for me.
Wood chips are nice too but it will acidify the soil in the long run i think. Does it not? I mulch with wood chips tho and some gets mixed in unintentionally and seem fine aswell.
Bean trick is a good one. Definitely can be utilised in new mixes started from scratch or for a homemade compost. No way i’m gonna pay 250 for a test, even if i had the money :D

 

[fliege]

Right: the mix I used was roughly 50:50 of these two --
https://www.homebase.co.uk/westland-bulb-planting-compost-20l_p431147
https://www.homebase.co.uk/gro-sure-all-purpose-compost-with-4-month-feed-40l_p386358

Plus perlite (~1.8 L in an 11L pot).

I'll look on the organic forum too, but I thought I'd ask specifically in case someone in the UK has some good options.

 

[crimsonecho]

Right: the mix I used was roughly 50:50 of these two --
https://www.homebase.co.uk/westland-bulb-planting-compost-20l_p431147
https://www.homebase.co.uk/gro-sure-all-purpose-compost-with-4-month-feed-40l_p386358

Plus perlite (~1.8 L in an 11L pot).

I'll look on the organic forum too, but I thought I'd ask specifically in case someone in the UK has some good options.

Biobizz is available in your country i think. So does plagron and canna right? They’re all tried and true brands. You can get an already mixed soil from them. I used plagron bat-mix and biobizz all-mix in my amended soils.
They work well. Then add more perlite and/or pumice, lava stones and zeolite. 25% of it should be the 2 composts you have, 30% of it aeration, 45% of it amended peat. This is one way i’d start because this way you can utilise everything you already have.
The other way would be to just get some pre-mixed like bat-mix from plagron and just topdress with a compost designed for flowering before flipping to flower. Something with high P and K. I use 1-10-1 and 3-15-4 bat guano for flowering.
Also molasses is the shit imo. You can start from the beginning at small doses. Like a teaspoon per gallon and can move up to 2 tbsp per gallon near the end, only if the plant is comfortable with it of course.
The thing is, this is everyones personal journey so do your research and start from the basics, then you can make informed decisions. Don’t take my recipes too. These are just examples. I don’t really see what your compost has in it and the NPK values and all.
But again, straight compost, even tho one of your products are 50% peat, still too hot imo and only 10% perlite couldn’t possibly provide all the necessary aeration.

 

[fliege]

I will give BioBizz All Mix a go. I'll start them with seed sowing compost in small pots for the first couple of weeks then transition to the All Mix in 11 L pots. As I understand it, I can likely do the whole grow (autos) with minimal or no additional fertiliser. Perhaps just at flowering. Suggestions welcome, though.