One of the many, many urban myths perpetuated originally by Jorge (pronounced: Whore? Hey!) Cervantes in his first 'book' - and I use that term loosely.I've never heard of not letting the soil dry out. MJ likes it arid, no? Does everyone else do the same?
That should work fine.with the neptunes harvest tea's, is it still feed every other watering for flower and every third for veg?
If you let your soil dry out then try to water it, the water will pour right through it and never wet the mix. Bad! Keep the mix damp. Dolomite lime only works when damp.
Burn1
quadracer said:Mushroom compost and worm castings are two different things. Mushroom compost is bedding used to grow mushrooms, which is mainly composed of straw, manure, and other fertilizers. Like it's been said before, it varies from place to place.
Mushroom compost is also (for the most part), completely devoid of any biological activity. Places will sterilize the compost to make sure nobody can get any spores of their strain of mushroom. Or it will be full of salts, or full of non-organic fertilizers.
NanoScrogerwhat issues have you heard about with the mushroom compost?
its way cheaper than worm castings, for sure. just curious if there are any real neg's to usin it?
NanoScroger
If you can get your hands on 'mushroom compost' which was used in an organic mushroom grow then there's probably not much harm using their 'compost' (which it isn't). It's not going to be anywhere near earthworm castings.
If you're sourcing the mushroom 'compost' from stuff coming out of a mushroom operation grown under 'conventional methods' (the legal term used in the US), then this stuff is loaded with all kinds of chemical sprays. They're one of the heaviest sprayed produce items at your local grocery store.
I'd pass and get your hands on some compost or earthworm castings.
HTH
CC
I've been gathering ingredients for my first organic mix today, a few things I had in the garage already, found a good cheap local supplier for the peat moss and mushroom compost.
For the soil mix..
Irish Peat Moss - check
Perlite - check
Mushroom compost - check, bit worried about using it as there are some negative posts about it in this forum, but its SO much cheaper for me than wormcastings, and I'm a long way off having my own compost.
Powdered dolomite lime - check.. well, mine says Garden Lime but I assume is the same thing. This is one of the things that's been sat in the garage for quite a few years, but doesn't seem to have got wet at any point - it's still a powder.
For the blood/bone/kelp..
Bone Meal - check, again have had this in the garage for about 8 years. I assume it's gonna be ok still?
Blood Meal - struggling to find this locally, except as part of a fish/bone/blood mix I have found somewhere online for "dried blood" though, which I understand is what blood meal is made up of. Would this suffice?
Kelp Meal - check, got it from a local fishing bait suppliers, if anyone in the UK is searching for it try there
Greensand - can't find it, but I've read in this thread that I can live without so it's all jiggy. Are there any alternative amendments I could use instead though?
Also struggling to find the Liquid Karma, any alternative products for us UK/EU people?
Could you guys forsee any problems using the ingredients I've sourced?
Massively appreciate this thread and everyone's input on it, I wouldn't be sat here now surrounded by the component parts of a soil mix if it wasn't for you guys!
How are earthworm castings so expensive? A bag of wiggle worm earthworm castings only costs about 10 bucks a bag. As the OP mentioned, you can find castings at Wal-Mart, it's got to be cheaper there then at a hydro store.
Dude, in my area, worm castings are £15/40 litres, and that's for Bio-Bizz worm humus, not good fresh worm compost - that will cost me £17.50 for 25 litres.
Mushroom compost on the other hand costs £2/40 litres from a local place.
If I only had a couple of plants to take care of, I wouldn't care so much, but I've got seedlings, clones, flowering plants, and outdoor plots to consider..