Perlite and beyond: the pros and cons of various drainage and aeration amendments

[heady blunts]

$140/cuyd...could be worth it.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Hello all,

I am building a raised bed container approx 3'X9'X22"H.

I have to provide soil -soilless fill.

The local provider of "good organic soil" here in the heart of the redwoods wants $140 a yard for his top of the line stuff containing about 25 organic ingrediants such as
blood meal
bone meal
bat guano
chicken compost
mushroom compost
gypsum
perlite
ewc
redwood compost
and mycorizzal(sp) inculatant
and other things not mentioned.

Now I need two yards but refuse to pay almost $300 for two cubic yards.

I can get compost (chicken-aged), blood and bone meal, bat guano, ewc, dolomite.

I can get perlite also but I have a few yards of river gravel (1/2" to 1" dia.).

Can I use this in place of perlite?

If so, what ratio would you recommend?

minds_I

Good Christ, that's a hell of a price! What's he doing, using only soft, young virgins of noble birth to mix it by hand?

I get excellent quality topsoil, I'll have to find the brochure to see what's in it exactly, but it's organic and microbially active, for $33/yard cu + delivery (delivery charges depend on how much I get, if I get <5yds cu then it's $50, if >5yds cu--10yds cu =$100 delivery). However, sometimes I get my guy on a good day, and the last time I got a delivery of topsoil I paid $350 for 10yds cu.

In my opinion $140/yd cu is OUT-FUCKING-RAGEOUS. You should be getting a blow job along with the mix for that price, honestly.

 

[heady blunts]

$33/yd3?!?!! that is outrageous. you could make a nice business buying yards from that guy, then packaging them and selling bags of soil mix.

that cannot be a fully amended premium potting mix.

unless you have sea's hookup (it may COST a sexual favor to get a deal like that), $140/yd3 isn't terrible.

if you were to buy a yard of ffof (16 x 1.5 ft3 bags) it would probably cost you around $200.

if you were to buy all the ingredients to replicate this mix, you might end up saving $20 per yard, but then you gotta run around sourcing all the materials and spend a couple backbreaking hours mixing and hauling.

if you're gonna be harvesting lbs of cannabis from these 2 yards of soil, $300 seems like a rather minor investment.

of course, all this assumes that the mix is excellent. gl to you!

 

[moses wellfleet]

Good Christ, that's a hell of a price! What's he doing, using only soft, young virgins of noble birth to mix it by hand?

I get excellent quality topsoil, I'll have to find the brochure to see what's in it exactly, but it's organic and microbially active, for $33/yard cu + delivery (delivery charges depend on how much I get, if I get <5yds cu then it's $50, if >5yds cu--10yds cu =$100 delivery). However, sometimes I get my guy on a good day, and the last time I got a delivery of topsoil I paid $350 for 10yds cu.

In my opinion $140/yd cu is OUT-FUCKING-RAGEOUS. You should be getting a blow job along with the mix for that price, honestly.

i like it when the ladies talk dirty like this especially when its true... what does gypsum do for organic soil is it a drainage amendment too?

 

[SeaMaiden]

I use gypsum to break up my clay soils, and to add Ca without it being CaCO3 (carbonates, because my well water is already very high in carbonates).

I still can't find the brochures on my guy's soil mix or compost. But I'm looking!

 

[RockyMountainHi]

You should be getting a blow job along with the mix for that price, honestly.

Now it begs the question,,, is SeaMaiden concidering exploring different career paths?

and where SeaMaiden shops because I ain't gettin no BJ's with my topsoil! LOL



As was mentioned before, depending on the crop,,, it could be concidered cheap.

I used to think FoxFarms was crazy at $24 a bag, - till I grew in it the first time.
If yer growing catnip, it's pricey, but I can tell you it grows crazy catnip... just ask my kitty!

 

[sgapetti]

has anyone used LECA? it is hydroclay that has been crushed until the particles are roughly the same size as chunky perlite. the nice thing about it: it doesnt breakdown like perlite so you can reuse it. i reclaim it by floating it out of my old soil mix

forgive me if this has been mentioned before i have not had time to go through this whole thread yet!

I am interested as well on using hydroton as drainage media in my soil, any input on this

 

[ixnay007]

yeah i couldnt buy calcined DE, it is listed in a couple of places as floor dry type stuff but not in stock, or they send you a bag of inferior stuff that turns to paste when it gets wet.

greens horticulture sell seramis which is expensive and actually the same thing as sophisticat pink non clumping cat litter - it is calcined clay or danish molar clay.
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/lightweight-non-clumping-pink-cat-litter-30ltr-by-sophisticat-15257
i think tesco do an own brand type one as well.

VG

Yeah I noticed you mentioned that, I've seen cat litter with a similar cat on the front, I'll see if I can't find that in a pet store around here.

For the moment I'm still in italy, but there's a pet store within walking distance so I'll see if they can get it if they don't carry it.

 

[moses wellfleet]

Now it begs the question,,, is SeaMaiden concidering exploring different career paths?

and where SeaMaiden shops because I ain't gettin no BJ's with my topsoil! LOL

where i buy my organic soil i have always wondered why the attractive sales rep always has soil on her knees.... thanks to this thread i am beginning to understand!

 

[h.h.]

Let's give the gals a break.

 

[heady blunts]

did this just get stickied?

way to go mad! you're on a roll!

 

[SeaMaiden]

Now it begs the question,,, is SeaMaiden concidering exploring different career paths?

and where SeaMaiden shops because I ain't gettin no BJ's with my topsoil! LOL



As was mentioned before, depending on the crop,,, it could be concidered cheap.

I used to think FoxFarms was crazy at $24 a bag, - till I grew in it the first time.
If yer growing catnip, it's pricey, but I can tell you it grows crazy catnip... just ask my kitty!

where i buy my organic soil i have always wondered why the attractive sales rep always has soil on her knees.... thanks to this thread i am beginning to understand!

Hee! Now you know what my hold on my husband is.

 

[h.h.]

Hee! Now you know what my hold on my husband is.

On his wallet?

 

[SeaMaiden]

It starts with a 'w'! I'm too cheap to do much damage to a man's wallet. More often than not, I'm the one saying, "Do we really need to spend the money on ______?"

I was really just trying to say that $140/yd cu is an outrageous price and you should be getting something extra paying that much, whatever rocks your world.

 

[Bullfrog44]

I would pay 140$ a yard all day long if it was a fantastic mix. I get Roots Organic bags for just under 10 bucks. (which is a great price) Now each RO bag has 1.5 cubic ft of soil, and a yard has 27 cubic ft of soil. So that makes 18 bags in a yard, 180$ a yard. I would bet money that the mix stated is better than RO bag from the store, and cheaper. Most people pay at least 15$ for RO, so that price sounds better and better.

I wish my local soil shops would offer a premium mix like this. I have a hook on a soil company up in the emerald triangle that has mixes like this, but I would have to drive 5 hours in a dump truck that eats gas.

 

[ixnay007]

Well, it's one thing to buy small batches (a bag), but when you're getting large amounts like that you'd expect some sort of discount, imho.

 

[Bullfrog44]

The 9.60$ I pay a bag is the price per bag when buying a pallet, so the yard is still cheaper than the discounted bag price.

 

[SeaMaiden]

I can't bring myself to pay those prices, I just can't. I thought $33/yd was too much! But it grows such damn good food & cannabis, and after trying to do my own mix, I think it's worth it.

 

[jaykush]

i wouldn't pay 5$ for commercial compost. you all are crazy.

 

[SeaMaiden]

You can call me whack-a-doodle, but don't call me crazy! Indolent, perhaps, even. But not crazy.