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My Soil Mix Tidied Up and Moved For More Responce

W89

W89

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Ok I moved This thread because I only had 1 person reply to the other(Thanks Gascan..) I'm also gonna use this space to document any changes to my organic mix/compost pile etc. So here we go...

Each Part is 7 liters

2 parts Reused Soil from my first test plant contains organic multipurpose with 33% added perlite.

2 parts Coco coir

1 part Homemade Worm Casts

1 part Forest Duff( thinking of adding another part as I don't have anymore worm casts and this will help nutrient cycling as it contains lots of life.

I will be adding some more aeration to the Mix will just keep adding until I get what I'm looking for in a nice fluff consistency.(Although it is very fluffy anyway) I've got a bag of Cocoa shells that i will use as a mulch and I was advises by Jerry that It could be a good aeration amendment (Probably just to make the mix up to 1.5cuft if I don't add the other part of forest duff)

I added 4 cups of Rock dust the Forest Duff contains lots of rock dust too.

2 Cups of Kelp

1 Cup of Neem

I have ordered some Crab shells to make my own Crab Meal I will add 1 Cup.

I was advised against adding My 1 cup of Fish,Blood and bone by Gascan.

I've also ordered some fine Oyster shell grit that I will grind up into powder not sure how much I should add I was adding this for calcium and to help stabilize pH if it is needed.

I have Chicken Manure pellet Should I add some? or maybe just make a tea if they need a Nitrogen Boost?

Thanks guys I hope I get a good response for my mix.

I will post some pictures of my Mix when I get my camera back of my sister tomorrow
 
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W89

W89

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By the time I've grown the plants I just started which will be roughly 3 months my compost pile should be done, I am really happy how it's going so far it consists of:

Straw
Fall leaves
Horse shit/Cow shit
Stinging nettles/Comfrey/Fan Leaves from grows/Grass cuttings
Kitchen Scraps:Fruit/Veg/teabags
well composted wood chips

Now I've found the benifits of forest duff I might add some bacuse it's full of life, from microbes/different shredders/ all the soil food web will contribute to breaking down the organic matter and producing a great humus source hopefully
I also added a compost tea, the cheesey gunk from my LAB serum and about 6kg of rusk dusts to a 4x4 mass. I started it a few months ago and been turning and adding more stuff too it as it loses some mass... It got a little bit wet over the last couple weeks had lots of rain so I added some more straw to dry it up a little and added to sacks of horse shit to ballance out the C/N abit so it would pro add abit of heat as it was cold, I turn it once every 2 weeks and hoping to use it next round should be a real good addition to my soil it looks great at the mo really dark in color. Lots of worms have found home in it and if I see some worms in the garden I add them to the pile
 
O

OrganicOzarks

Making your own compost, and worm casting makes you feel more connected to the end product. More people need to do this.
 
V

vostok

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Way to much, a nutrient cocktail that is so easy to poison your plants with 'good intentions'
...wait an see
 
W89

W89

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vostok said:
Way to much, a nutrient cocktail that is so easy to poison your plants with 'good intentions'
...wait an see
Click to expand...

Wtf? what nutrient cocktail? 2 cups of kelp and 1 cup of neem and 1 cup of crab to 1.5cuft minimum? Please explain what you mean dude so I can remedy any potential problem
 
W89

W89

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OrganicOzarks said:
Making your own compost, and worm casting makes you feel more connected to the end product. More people need to do this.
Click to expand...

Deffo dude, Didn't want to start growing organic till my pile and castings were done but I had enough worm castings for a round and got the forest duff too so thought what the hell. The compost can go in next round....
 
W89

W89

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ClackamasCootz said:
For consistency & quality control if nothing else......
Click to expand...

Couple of the main reason I started composting was so I could get a good quality compost and know what's gone into it too..

And I feel if you start from the bottom you get a good feel for whats going on else where
 
W89

W89

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I just read some info on bamboo contains the best natural source of silica and that made me remember I trimmed a bamboo that grows in my mums garden I cut most of the leaves as it was over growing and shredded them with the lawnmower they were pretty touch leavs so it should add a good source of silica to my compost.. I was also thinking of making a bamboo leaf tea has anyone tried this?
 
W89

W89

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44 ltrs =9.7gal=1.3cuft Still to add perlite round upto 50.6ltr=11.25 gal=1.5cuft atleast
2 cups of rock dust added
Mixed thoroughly
EWC TEA started 8pm 10/01/13
 
Cann

Cann

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1 cup of neem per 7 liters seems like A LOT....I think I use 1/2 cup per cuft, which is 28 liters roughly I believe. So you are using 8x as much neem as me...
 
W89

W89

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nah dude 1 part is 7 and lil bit liters the total so far is 44 liters and I got to add my aeration yet..

i'm still waiting for some crab shells to turn up to make the crab meal.

14.6 liters used soil
14.6 liters coco
7.3 EWC
7.3 Forest duff
 
C

ClackamasCootz

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Cann said:
1 cup of neem per 7 liters seems like A LOT....I think I use 1/2 cup per cu ft, which is 28 liters roughly I believe. So you are using 8x as much neem as me...
Click to expand...
That's enough to get you where you need to be on insect and disease suppression, IMHO

That's on the organic products though - a full cup if you are using the Down-To-Earth Neem Meal which is less than 1/2 the levels on the compounds we're concerned with in our gardens.

CC
 
W89

W89

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Cootz here is my compost pile it was shrunk down alot and didnt have time today to fluff it up.. it has gone stone cold I did add some horse shit thinking it would heat up again slightly but no show... I've got a 10kg bucket of chicken shit pellets I might add some
 
W89

W89

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they are both the same pile at the same time just diff angle... it was cold to the touch 6 inches in didnt go further didnt wanna get horse shit hands on my camera lol
 
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