Need a little help with my soil mix

[Gangabiss]

I'm just about to make a flowering soil mix and I need some advice.

The mix will consist of:

30l soil
70l perlite
40l worm castings

I'll also be adding some bat guano and dolomite lime and I will let it all sit for around 2 weeks to ferment before using it.

How much bat guano and lime should I add to get my plants through until week 6-7 in flowering without having to use any nutes? I don't want to go overboard and burn them as this is my first time using bat turd...I have a 1kg tub, will this be enough?

I also have a packet of blood & bone meal...should I toss some off this in aswell or would that be too much?

Thanks a bunch

peace

 

[Suby]

Your base mix should be more soil than perlite,

more like

70l soil
30l perlite
40l worm castings

There is no recipe you can mix that will be able to get your girls through all of flowering without any teas, MJ is just too damn demanding fert wise.
If I where you I you use bonemeal and bloodmeal in the mix and not use the guano, keep the guano to use as a tea because it will not burn as a tea but can as a soil ammendment, you'll have better control on the feed rate that way.
With guano a little goes a loooooong way, it is very rich.
I don't see a source of K in your mix, you might want to look into some liquid seaweed and kelp meal that you can add to your soil for micros and K.

Suby

 

[Gangabiss]

I appreciate your advice about the perlite but I will be using 50% simply because I need to have very good drainage, so reducing the amount is really not an option.

I have no experience using teas of any kind on my plants...could you tell me how much I should use and how it should be prepared? Do I just use it like regular nutrients and feed them the tea every week?

How much of the blood and bone should I add to the mix? I will have a look and see if I can pick up some kelp meal also...how much of that should I add?

Thanks for the reply

 

[Suby]

Here is my tried tested and true recipe, a soil mix is alot like cooking, the fun is dialing in the recipe.
I like this mix because it is simple, cheap to make, and relatively complete even without the use of teas at least for awhile.

back to business..

60% ProMix HP + Mike
30% perlite
10% worm castings for micros and BB

To each gallon of this mix I add:

2 TBS/gal dolomite lime
1 TBS/gal blood meal
2 TBS/gal bone mean for P (flowering mix only)
1 TBS/gal kelp meal

The most important step is now to compost your soil mix for 2 weeks before using it, you want to wet the mix to create an environment where the beneficials in the soil start munching on the soil elements and creating a stable environment with some nutes ready to go for a well rooted clone.
I use LiquidKarma for a wetting mix @ 1TBS per gallon (some B1 goods right there ), as instructed by the wise ones.

I use Mike with every transplant, i transplant 3 times and flower in 5 gallon pails.
I feed a microbial tea every watering with no nutes just EWC, LK, and molasses, to me this is a base.
I use a stong N tea once towards end of veg and a strong P tea about 3 weeks into flowering every 2nd or 3rd watering until about 10 days before harvest.
I use liquid seaweed lightly and regularly as K is essential throughout and as a bonus over other mineral sources of K kelp is rich in growth hormone and micros.

here's how to brew an effective tea.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket with water and use an airstone connected to an air pump to aerate the water for 24hrs, this will evaporate any traces of chlorine in the water wich can kill beneficial bacteria.

Ingredients (these are for 4 gallons of water)
This is a base tea, you can water with this every watering.

4TBS of worm castings
4TBS of molasses
1-2TBS lquid seaweed
2TBS of liquid karma (optional, substitute for humic or fulvic acids)

To feed the plants you add to your base tea:

2-3TBS of either high N or P guano

I don't use a cloth bag to hold the solid ammendments, I just dump everything in because I find it brews much better and the solids have a better contact and surface area with the rest of the brew.
The only drawback to the "no pouch method" is it can clog you airstone, what I do is keep the airstone suspended as opposed to sitting on the bottom.
Once everything is setup and the ingredients are brewing keep it bubbling for 24-48hrs loosely covered in a dark place, after 2 days you should have foam at the top.
Use guanos only when you want to give them a boost and not everytime as guano is high release, I use guano once high N in veg and 3-4 times during flowering, the rest of the time just use the basic elements and skip the guano.

this should give you a push in the right direction, check out the OFC thread it has ALOT of good info and we like to answer any ? you might have.

Try the amount perlite you posted, you can always cut back at flowering unless you like watering every day, you could use coir coco and cut back on the perlite.


Keep it organic
S

 

[Gangabiss]

Thanks Suby, you've answered my questions.

peace

 

[Chiefsmokingbud]

Your base mix should be more soil than perlite,

more like

70l soil
30l perlite
40l worm castings

There is no recipe you can mix that will be able to get your girls through all of flowering without any teasSuby

Sorry but i have to disagree. My organic soil mix gets me through an entire grow.

4 bags Scotts garden safe potting soil (4 cu feet) or 29.92 gal
6 cups Scotts Bone Meal - phosphorus source
5 cups glacial rock dust (3 tbsp per gal)
3-4 cups dolmite lime –calcium/ magnesium source & pH buffering
1.5 lbs Rare earth (2-4 oz per gal)
4 cups kelp meal.
6 cups alfalfa meal
15 lb bag pure worm castings:
½ bag of cow manure (20 lbs)
2 bags perlite (16 qt)

Alfalfa Meal
2.5-1-1
Alfalfa Meal is a reasonable alternative to blood meal as a source of nitrogen and is nicely balanced with phosphorous and potassium. It's carbohydrates and protein make it an excellent soil conditioner by encouraging microbial activity in the soil. One very important ingredient is tricontanol, a powerful plant growth regulator
Kelp Meal
1-1-2
Kelp contains over 60 minerals and elements, 21 amino acids, simple and complex carbohydrates, and several
Essential growth hormones (auxins, cytokines, and
Gibberellins)

Glacial rock dust

Glacial Rock Dust can: Increase phosphorus availability. Provide an excellent source of calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium, plus trace elements and micronutrients. Increase moisture-holding properties in the soil. Improve the cation exchange capacity. Improve soil structure and drainage. Glacial Rock Dust helps restore the correct mineral balance in the soil. When the correct balance is achieved, organic matter is turned into humus and the soil becomes a favorable environment for a host of beneficial molds, fungi, bacteria and earthworms. When this happens, the living soil becomes a buffer to the many variables gardeners must contend with.

General Hydroponics Rare Earth

Derived from ancient seabed deposits of pyrophyllitic clay and blended with fulvate Ore, Rare Earth provides a slow release of Silicon, Humates and 72 rare earth minerals. Blend with rooting media. top-dress around plant stem or add directly to nutrient solutions. Rare Earth elements develop a crystal matrix within growing plant tissue, which protects the plant from heat stress and nutrient extremes by generating a protective Silicon shield. This also deters fungal disease and reduces susceptibility to insect damage by "hardening" the plant.
Rare Earth contains Pyrophyllitic Silicate Clay naturally derived from ancient seabed deposits of biologically transformed organic matter combined with Leonardite Humates.


Cow Manure
.6-.3-.3
Cow manure perhaps has the lowest of nutrients of all manures but it increases soil water retention and has a full range of trace minerals.

Dolomite lime
Dolomite Lime (Calcium magnesium carbonate) is an excellent pH stabilizer for soil. Contains calcium and magnesium. Slow acting.

Worm Castings
1-0-0
earthworm castings provide many of the essential nutrients needed for healthy plant life. Castings are a totally organic, all natural fertilizer. Odorless and non-toxic, worm castings will not burn even the most delicate plants. Castings offer a concentrated source of calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphates and potash in a form readily available to your plants. Major university research projects and testing has shown that the complete soil food biology found in worm castings will quickly control fungus problems. Within a few weeks plants suffering from fungus problems will show significant improvement that lasts. All ground fungus is quickly brought under control. Nitrogen is released in the fungus control process providing added plant growth.


Bone Meal
6-12-0
• All-natural phosphorous supplement to promote root and flower growth
• Enriched with iron for stronger, greener plants
• Controlled-release nitrogen extends each feeding for up to 2 months, with even a small amount feeding twice as many plants as other granular products

 

[Suby]

To each his own, i respect your opinion.
I grow medium sized well trained plants and suppercrop, I'm curious as to your veg time and final container size.

Peace
S

 

[Chiefsmokingbud]

veg is 1.5 to 2 mo ending in a 5gal pot

 

[Suby]

Well I veg for 3 weeks then flower in a 5gallon bucket but I've always needed to supply them with some sort of fertilizer for P and K, maybe it's strain related but I mix my soil to a medium hotness, overfertilizing is my #1 qualm with growing in general.
I see from your recipe you go alot heavier than me on the bone meal, maybe I'll try to bump my dose up.

Peace