First Time organic, some homework done

[bit_toker]

Hey everyone

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a few successful soil grows under my belt and have decided to try my hand at organics, but could use a little help with my mix.

I intend to use

60% Pro-Mix bx
30% perlite
10% worm catsings

With

2 tbs/gal Bone meal (4-12-0)
1 tbs/gal Blood meal (13-1-0)
1 tbs/gal Kelp meal (1-0-2)
1 tbs/gal Greensand (0-1-5)
2 tbs/gal Dolomite Lime

I also have on-hand

High N Bat guano (0.5-12-0.2)
High P Bat Guano (10-2-1)
Cottonseed meal (6-2-1)
Epsoma Triple Phosphate (0-46-0)
Fish Emulsion (5-1-1)
And Epsom Salt
FF Grow Big and Tiger Bloom

I will be doing a SOG grow, so I'm not worried about a separate mix for veg and flower.

Thanks for any help

 

[Guest]

i think you have every thing you need. i use filthy rich potting soil add 25% worm castings and 15 to 25% perlite. i use fox farm nuits and sweet leaf when flowering. grow baby grow

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

Welcome to the club.

You seem to have your homework done. Just remember to mix the soil about two weeks before use and youare good to go.

As to using the same mix for veg and flower - I use FFOF with added ewc and perlite for both myself. Although I am using another mix in a test at the moment.


All looks good to mexcept perhaps the triple phosphate- but I have never used it.

I like to make ewc/guano/molasses/kelp teas myself to fed with.

I very well recipe is Burn1's formulas- you have just about everything except molasses and kelp.

Anyway, Burn1 will be along to provide more then I can.

Good luck and great grows.

Once again, welcome Bit toker and Grizz.

minds_I

 

[JackTheGrower]

The only red flag I have is the cotton seed meal : Be sure it's organic or toss it and go with alfalfa.

 

[bit_toker]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I just read that greensand is close to useless unless you are re-using the soil because it takes too long to break down. So my question now is will the kelp meal give me enough K? If not what should I supplement with?

Also where does the molassis(sp) come into play? Where can I get it, the grocery store? And I dont have liquid karma or fulvic/humic acid to use when I wet my mix, are these things necessary? I hope not cause the hydro store is quite a bit away.

The cottonseed meal is not organic and is already in the trash.

 

[BurnOne]

bit_toker-
All looks fine. Those bone/blood/kelp/greensand/dolomite recipes are for each gallon of soil mix as you may already know. Wet it all down until it's damp with water and molasses and turn it daily for a couple of weeks before using it.
Keep the guanos for suppliments if needed. That should do it.
For seedlings, leave out the blood or it'll kill the tender sprout.
Burn1

 

[JackTheGrower]

I consider my recycled soil healthy and organic.

I don't use bottled ferts. I use natural bulk materials materials but, anyway; I added Azomite and saw a surge in growth.
I know now that my system was hungry for minerals.

I think you can skip the greensand and use Azomite.

I like it a lot.

 

[barnyard]

ahhhh JTG, A to Z of Minerals & Trace Elements. I've been wanting to try that. Do you know how much Fe it provides?

this might help bit_toker...

go with 50% pro mix, 10% wormcastings and 40% perltie for better drainage. This mix on its own without additional ferts would work great for seedlings.

the greensand is too slow for potting soil so leave it out. Good choice going with the kelp meal for K. Alfafa provides a nicely balanced fertilizer and also includes some K

what's up with using lime? Pro-mix is already pH balance ~ just like all store bought potting soil ~ so no need to use lime. You're looking for slighty acid soil and lime is going to hold your pH too high.

People use lime with straight peat moss because peat moss on its own has a pH of like 3 or 4. The lime increases the pH of the peat moss. With store bought potting mix the pH has already been adjusted so there's no need to use lime .

so walk this way :wink:

potting soil of 50% pro-mix/40% large perlite/10% worm casting.

Fertilize per gallon potting soil

2 TBL steamed bone meal
2 TBL Alfafa Meal
1 TBL Kelp Meal

as suggested, cure for two weeks.

Once plants are established a light feeding of esposm salts every 3-4 weeks

that's all you need

happy cultivating!

 

[JackTheGrower]

barnyard:

I pride myself on providing plenty of raw materials in my planter box.

I avoid store bought bottles of ferts.

I ordered Azomite late in the season and mixed it in with a feeding mix and spread it.

I an say that I didn't expect to see stalk thickening like that.

The growth too seemed to be more than expected.

I would start out with it in the soil next time so I can manage growth in a small space.

As it is I have a bit of a jungle.

Deff.. Minerals are an important part of soil life.

 

[Jesusbuiltmygro]

Sounds like a good starter mix, but honestly I would start with a prebought soil mix for a first time organic grow.

Also it will help a lot to have a full range nutrient like Earth Juice or Pure Blend Pro to ensure your not missing anything. Just using teas with a homebrew soil mix is just stacking the odds aginst yourself, but all in all it's not hard. SOG huh well be careful remember federal limit in the US is 49 plants including clones. Kelp meal is the bomb yup, but it's nice to have liquid kelp on hand IMO. I agree extra perlite is a good idea unless you will need to leave you plants a lone for days at a time. Perlite just means you have to water more often, but you get more oxygen to the root zone.

It will also be a good idea to measure the runoff of your PH occasionally.

Just follow the masters advice here if you want a perfect step by step. Though I'd advise using containers with drainage your first grow. It makes checking PH much easier and helps prevents overwatering which is a common problem with soil grows.

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