Tell me your Light Soil / Soiless recipe!

Hey IC,

I've been growing in soil for years and need a new medium recipe to work with.

I usually make a mix of Light potting soil, peat moss, perlite/vermicullite, blood and bone meal and a dash of dolomite lime - every now and then I'll add worm castings.

I'd like to go soiless or at least work with a medium that isn't majorly soil based.

Also, I've never done a side ny side grow with and wothout the bone and blood meal - you think I shoud bag these additives all together?

So, tell me what you use and have had success with - also let me know what you feed with, in what dosages and how often. Do you feed with every watering? Every other?

I just finished typing complete soilless directions and fertilizer directions in the thread: What nutes are best. Somebody requested this. Check out that thread on page 3. You can find the thread easily because it is still current. You can also find the thread by using the search feature, choose advanced, then pick by title only and enter "what nutes are best"

20% EWC
20% perlite
60% Pro-mix HP

2 TBSP dolomite/gal and 1 TBSP each of bloom and veg guano/gal of soil. Pretty simply and it works quite well. Heres some LSD at day 24 growing in this mix.

Thanks guys,

SproutCo- So you use 50% Perlite, 50% composted Pinebark and 2lbs of Lime per cubic yd of soil mix, yes? Did I get that correctly?

I would probably go with the peatmoss instead of the pine bark, as I doubt I could find it....so I would do 30% Peatmoss and 70% perlite.

What advantages does perlite have over vermiculite?

Do you feed with every watering? At what strength? How often do you water?

My original soil mix was 1 part 1/4"-3/8" composted pinebark + 1 part perlite + maybe a little peatmoss for more moisture retention. You could use 1 part peatmoss and 2 parts perlite. Both mixes are fluffy and have good aeration for indoors. Indoors, plants do not dry out like they would in the sun and heat.

You would use 2 pounds of lime per cubic yard of pinebark and 3 pounds of lime per cubic yard of peatmoss(1 pound of powdered dolomite lime is about 1 1/2 cups or 72 teaspoons). This is a low rate of lime because it is better to underlime than overlime. No lime is needed for vermiculite or perlite. 1 pound of gypsum per yard is added for sulfur(1 pound powdered gypsum = 2 cups or 96 teaspoons). Make sure it is powdered dolomite lime. There are 27 cubic feet in a yard. On a small scale, you could put the bark or peatmoss in a bucket. Measure the radius of the bucket and height. Radius x radius x 3.14 x height = cubic inches 1728 cubic inches is a cubic foot For example, we want to add 2 pounds of lime per yard. The bucket is 14 inches in diameter and 12 inches high. 7 radius x 7 radius x 3.14 x 12 height = 1846 cubic inches 1846/1728 = 1.07 cubic feet 1.07/27 yards x 72 teaspoons x 2 pounds = 5.7 teaspoons of lime mixed into the bucket. If you used a square shape, length x width x height = volume in cubic inches. The final soil mix is not limed only the acidic components that need lime like the bark or peatmoss. Once you have the lime and gypsum added to the peatmoss or bark, mix well with the perlite or vermiculite (like you wanted to use) and water thoroughly, let sit for a week. Take 1 part soil and 1 part distilled water and stir. after 30 minutes use your ph meter and test. More lime can be added if needed. You should aim for 5.6 to 6.2 ph with 5.8 best in the nutrient solution and soil.

If mixing your soil is a hassle try fafard 3 or promix. Fafard for sure adds lime and gypsum to there mixes. Promix also has lime added but may not have gypsum. Some of the promixes are too heavy and retain too much moisture because they contain alot of peatmoss. Promix hp (or high porosity) may be there best mix to try. You could easily just add more perlite to further add aeration to these mixes if needed like what lemonade is doing.

The original peatlite formulas were 1/2 peatmoss + 1/2 perlite or 1/2 peatmoss and 1/2 vermiculite. The guys name was Boodley at Cornell university that created them. Both mixes are heavy and probably retain too much water for indoor use but are good for outdoors in hot weather. Thats why I use perlite instead of vermiculite indoors because it does not hold too much water. Today, pinebark is added to soilless mixes because it suppresses disease and can be found cheaper than peatmoss. 35% bark or more is good.

I feed my plants at every watering. You would use 50 parts per million (ppm) nitrogen for small seedlings and 100 ppm nitrogen for regular growing. In vegetative growth in good light, I might raise this to 150 ppm nitrogen. Of course, your nutrient solution would contain more than just nitrogen. The higher the nitrate nitrogen the better. Avoid urea/ammonia. 60%+ nitrate nitrogen is best.

Formulating your own nutrient solutions is fun. You will have to learn to measure your fertilizer in parts per million/so many grams of fertilizer per liter of water. You will need a gram scale and "round up" ingredients for a "recipe". Find a good hydroponic book and it should explain how to mix up nutrient solutions following a formula. If this is a hassle, try 20-10-20 peatlite/soilless fertilizer by masterblend or peters. You can find this using the internet for about $20 plus shipping for a 25 pound bag. It is 60% nitrate nitrogen and that is good. It also has elevated levels of micronutrients versus just regular formulations. You will still need a gram scale and learn parts per million. http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=31505

Ph of your nutrient solution is important. You need a good ph meter. Like I said before 5.8 ph is best. When you apply a 5.8 ph solution to the soil, the ph of the soil will rise or lower toward this. Eventually it also will be 5.8 You can use sulfuric acid to lower the ph of the solution. You can get this at the auto parts store. Just ask for battery acid or sometimes called qual. Be very careful handling. To raise the ph of the solution, use lye/sodium hydroxide from the grocery store. You will find that you need very little of either to change the ph. You may have to make a stock of maybe 1 teaspoon of either mixed with 1 gallon of water (3.8L). Then add an ounce or two of this stock to your nutrient solution. You will have to titrate/experiment on how much is needed before you find your recipe. This may take many tries at first of too much or too little.

It is probably best you do not add blood meal or bonemeal or anything else other than the lime and gypsum into the soil before you plant. You do not know how much nutrients are present and being released. You end up having to guess at what to add in your nutrient solution. By leaving out added nutrients mixed into the soil, you control what the plants get through your nutrient solution exactly.

How often to water is easy when you use soilless mix. When wet it will be heavy and when dry will become lighter in weight and color. You can just lift a pot and be able to know how much water is there. Eventually, you find a schedule when you will know when water is needed. As the plants roots fill the container, you will begin to have to water more often. As a rule, it is better to have to water more often than have the plant just sitting wet for days and not drying out. That is why you want a light fluffy soil mix.

I like 2 parts coco fiber
1 part ewc's
1 part perlite

bump. I dragged this thread up (by request) so people could see my soil directions again.

bump

Thanks for the pm and the info sprout. I'm going to have to look into this soiless mix. It's sounding a bit complicated at the moment, but I've only read through it once. Is either soil or soiless more difficult to work with for an inexperienced grower? This will be my first grow and I don't want to overwhelm myself.

Great Info - hate to admit that I just got FoxFarm Ocean Forest instead

50% oatmeal crushed to powder 40% organic soil/compost soil 10% worm castings mix let stand for 2 weeks befor planting mix 50/50 with perlite . i like this mix , and the plants luv it, it seems to hold a stable PH level whole way though grow . but may need to adjust it once from start based on mainly what soil u pick if anything u will need a more acidic soil in which case i would add herbal tea's dry about 8 tea bags per gallon of mix. lemon herbal tea is nice but u pick, sense i dont top feed i often use the lemon herbal tea as a top cover works great to control smells from the young plants

66% promix hp, 20% perlite, 24% ewc

achieving slighty higher yeilds with super expensive FFOF and Happy Frog though (added perlite)....

fed with botanicare line when needed (promix plants need food 1-2weeks sooner).

70% Fox Farm Ocean Forest
30% Light Warrior Mix

i'm relatively new but i mix:

50% miracle grow potting soil
50% sphagum peat moss

feeding 3 part flora series every 1 1/2 wks. seems to work fine
what do you guys think bout this^^^^^

FiveLeggedGoat said:

70% Fox Farm Ocean Forest
30% Light Warrior Mix

Click to expand...

Same 1 bag of OF with 2 bags of LW

I've just started using Espoma Organic Potting Mix. It's not too light and not too heavy, and the plants love it. I picked up two cubic foot bags of it for around $18.

-Funk