SOIL MIX CHALLENGE for our fellow organic gardeners . . .

[theFLINTSTONERS]

Here in Bedrock we've been working on designing a complete seedling/planting mix from the "ground up" . . . starting with a peat moss base . . . and building from there . . .

we see folks from time to time who live in areas where FoxFarm / Sunshine Mix / ProMix are not accessible . . . so many of the common recipes that are used in the community may be impossible to assemble simply because some of the ingredients are not available . . .

so the challenge is to put together a superior potting mix for Cannabis from items that are normally easily available in most areas . . . using ingredients that can be found in garden centers of superstores and supermarkets . . . the soil should be suitable for seedlings and mature plants . . . and should be as complete and balanced source of plant nutrition as possible . . . a further requirement would be that the ingredients be suitable for organic / sustainable gardening . . .

over the next few months we'll be testing a couple of recipes we've come up with . . . and we'd also like to invite submissions from the community . . . we plan to try the two or three best submissions from this thread along with a recipe or two of our own . . .

when it's all done we'll report back to the community on our results . . .

then our 2nd project will begin . . . building a "supreme" potting mix using any / all ingredients available to the gardening community . . .

we'll gladly recognize that many others in the cannabis community have developed soil recipes of this type . . . perhaps the first we are aware of was Vic High's "super soil" recipe . . . Vic's original was / could be a little hot for seedlings . . . so it would need to be modified for this challenge . . . but it serves as a great example of a gardening enthusiast developing a soil recipe that's complete . . .

A simple “super soil” mix from bedrock would include peat moss, perlite, vermiculite . . . we’ve got several other common ingredients in mind to “flesh-out” things from there . . . but we don’t want to “inhibit” others by giving out list of ingredients here at the start . . .

We welcome everyone to participate in this thread . . . either posting their own recipes . . . or simply commenting on ingredients / recipes that have been posted . . .

Hopefully this will be an enjoyable thread where we can all learn and grow together . . .

 

[the undertaker]

here, try this mix out. this is what i put my seedlings in.

60% Pro-Mix HP with mychorizea

30% worm castings

5% perlite (the promix comes with perlite in it already, so adding only a little bit is necessary.

5% powder dolomite lime

after this, you can water with a tea that consists of just worm castings and molasses until they need to be transplanted

for 1 gallon of water i add

1tbs worm casting
1tbs blackstrap molasses

then the next day i add:

1tbs fulvic acid
1tbs humic acid
1tbs seaweed extract

and a little bit more molasses (1/2 tbs.) then i can use that tea the next day and i use this to dampen my soil that is composting currently for my small plants (that come out of this mix!) and that is a whole 'nother story.

 

[blynx]

This is a great idea!

No promix, foxfarms, hydro stores,etc here.

The Undertaker: I think you missed the whole point of this post. The point is to NOT use things like PROMIX (which is the #1 ingredient in your mix).

 

[Pimpslapped]

Excellent! I'm interested to see what people can come up with.

My choices around here are pretty slim as well. One big hole in my arsenal is kelp. I just can't seem to find any kelp based ferts. I've picked up some kelp (dried) from a local grocery, but I'm not really sure if that's sufficient.

 

[Verite]

Im guessing by sustainable you arent meaning recycleable since peat doesnt do that well.[ breaks down acidic otherwise I would use it. ]

Other than that I keep it real simple 60-70% perlite, 15-20% worm castings, and 15-20% dark quality top soil.

 

[Guest]

Im guessing by sustainable you arent meaning recycleable since peat doesnt do that well.[ breaks down acidic otherwise I would use it. ]

Other than that I keep it real simple 60-70% perlite, 15-20% worm castings, and 15-20% dark quality top soil.

how often do you water??? thats a lot of perlite

 

[Verite]

Fully rooted, every other day.

 

[theFLINTSTONERS]

Im guessing by sustainable you arent meaning recycleable since peat doesnt do that well.[ breaks down acidic otherwise I would use it. ]

peat will work . . . see our comments after the ingredient list . . .


we've ended up with the following ingredient list . . . all should be available at places like the Wal-Mart or Home Depot or Canadian Tire kind of "big box" or "super" stores . . . (we call them stupid stores - but hey . . . they provide a variety of ingredients in one place and are universally available across North America . . . )

peat moss
vermiculite
perlite
dolomite lime
alfalfa meal - alfalfa pellets
bone meal
composted manure / topsoil / compost / wormcastings if available
sand
diatomaceous earth

peat is more recyclable than many people assume . . . it's not that difficult to adjust for it's tendency to become acidic as it breaks down . . . it's never become a problem with us . . . and we've been recycling soils for years . . .

dolomite lime provides calcium and magnesium . . . including bone meal and Diatomaceous earth assures that plenty of calcium is available to help balance out the tendency of peat to be acidic . . . and the bone meal also acts as the primary source of Phosphorous . . . the DE provides micronutrients in addition to calcium . . .

alfalfa meal isn't as widely available as pellets . . . but it's preferred for simplicity . . . pellets need to be dampened and broken down to mix evenly in soil and work properly . . . however pellets are often "fortified" with chelated micro-nutrients so there's probably advantages to using them . . . but it can be messy getting them properly broken up and mixed in to the soil . . .

we'd love to include worm castings in our recipe . . . but we don't see them available in many "big box" style stores like Wal-Mart . . . sometimes they are but sometimes not . . . so those will be included in our "deluxe" potting mix . . . but not our simple one . . . and instead will include humus and manure or a similar inexpensive composted material to "innoculate" the soil mix . . .

The manure/compost and alfalfa are the primary sources of nitrogen . . . bone meal provides the Phosphorous . . . the manure/compost helps provide Potassium (and much more) . . . Potassium is also a component of the alfalfa . . .

The vermiculite is included to increase the soils cation exchange capacity . . . and to balance the soil’s ability to hold water . . . perlite adds porosity (air and drainage) . . .

Some plain old sand is included in the mix also . . . plain old play sand will do . . . it’s cheap and serves a similar purpose as the perlite . . . it’s a natural product and we like using rock dusts in the garden . . .

After all . . . we are the Flintstoners!

Best wishes to all from your bedrock buds . . .

 

[D.W.A.I.]

alfalfa meal isn't as widely available as pellets . . . but it's preferred for simplicity . . . pellets need to be dampened and broken down to mix evenly in soil and work properly . . . however pellets are often "fortified" with chelated micro-nutrients so there's probably advantages to using them . . . but it can be messy getting them properly broken up and mixed in to the soil . . .

An alternative to messy wet pellet mashing would be to wet the pellets in a stocking while making a tea (whereby you can mash them up with a spoon in the stocking, or whatever). Then after your tea brews, you can transfer not only the softened alfalfa to your mix, but also use the biologically active water to wet your mix. Just an idea.

 

[theFLINTSTONERS]

An alternative to messy wet pellet mashing would be to wet the pellets in a stocking while making a tea (whereby you can mash them up with a spoon in the stocking, or whatever). Then after your tea brews, you can transfer not only the softened alfalfa to your mix, but also use the biologically active water to wet your mix. Just an idea.

sounds like a good idea to us . . . a nice way to make the pellets work!

 

[sackoweed]

High Flintstoners
Sounds like a great thread to keep my I on.. This threads resembles threads of a short time ago i remember. hmm anyhow... And i shall bbl peace..

sack

 

[theFLINTSTONERS]

High Flintstoners
Sounds like a great thread to keep my I on.. This threads resembles threads of a short time ago i remember. hmm anyhow... And i shall bbl peace..

sack

if there have been other similar thread(s) recently we apologize . . . we've been throwing around ideas for a while here in Bedrock . . . wanting to start a discussion of this sort . . .

 

[Dignan]

Just to toss something out there, my 2 pennies... in my area, we have two Wally Worlds and a Home DePot... neither carry: vermiculite, diatomaceous earth, dolomitic lime or alfalfa. At any time of the year. It's very strange, as per my experience in other parts of the continent, but true nonetheless.

I source them elsewhere, out of town, so no big deal... but just in case there are people out there wondering why they keep reading that all Wal Marts have this or that... you're not going crazy, some don't.

Peace-
Dig

 

[theFLINTSTONERS]

Just to toss something out there, my 2 pennies... in my area, we have two Wally Worlds and a Home DePot... neither carry: vermiculite, diatomaceous earth, dolomitic lime or alfalfa. At any time of the year. It's very strange, as per my experience in other parts of the continent, but true nonetheless.

I source them elsewhere, out of town, so no big deal... but just in case there are people out there wondering why they keep reading that all Wal Marts have this or that... you're not going crazy, some don't.

Peace-
Dig

that's pretty surprising to us . . . but there are regional differences between stores . . .

alfalfa is usually found in the pet food section . . . rather than in gardening . . .

we've found small bags of perlite and vermiculite in every one of those "big box" stores we've ever visited . . . the price is often MORE expensive than other sources . . . but a good look around has always yielded results for us . . .

small bags of DE can usually be found around the chemical pesticides in the gardening section . . . sometimes they give it a "brand name" so you have to read the ingredients to learn it's actually DE . . .

if you can find a decent sized garden center . . . whether it's a part of a "big box" store or not . . . it's always been our experience that the ingredients on our list can be found . . .

obviously we've never taken a tour of North America via Wal-Mart . . . so your mileage may vary depending on region etc it would appear . . .

 

[vonforne]

Ok, I have one for ya

Alfalfa pellets 50# bag....feed store
Lowes..Majestic earth peat moss (farfard)
Lowes...Mushroom compost
Local garden center...Organic Mucshroom compost
Local garden center...Organic composted peat
Home Depot...perlite
Local petstore.....fish meal in the form of KOI food or pond fish food
Pulverized Dolomite limestone...local farm store


And as far as the alfalfa goes...I make my own meal from pellets and an El cheapo blender











V

 

[Dignan]

that's pretty surprising to us . . .

obviously we've never taken a tour of North America via Wal-Mart . . . so your mileage may vary depending on region etc it would appear . . .

It does vary. I was as surprised as you when I moved here. I'd expand on where "here" is if it weren't for this pesky Drug War. LOL

At the nursery I can find DE and vermiculite; the hardware has perlite; the feed store has oyster shells and alfalfa (but I never checked the pet section at Wally World... I'll check). So I can piece it all together by making a few shopping stops, but I was just posting in case someone else out there was baffled that they couldn't find it all at their local Czar Mart.

Interestingly, nobody in this area has dolomitic lime... not even the nurseries. The few times I've asked why, the people have looked at me like I was nuts. Not sure why.

 

[mitsu1]

You can usally find D.Lime at places that sell lawn care products and grass seed. Or Landscaping suppliers, around here they sell peat, BX and lime...mitsu

 

[vonforne]

Dignan, go online to a garden center....Lowes and see what is offered in their online catalog. If it is in the catalog, then they will order it for you.

V

 

[Dignan]

Thanks, bro. I order a lot of my stuff online, anyway, so I'm not lacking anything I need (although I've always wondered what the magic is with ProMix and Sunshine Mix, both of which aren't available locally). I usually go through Worms Way or Planet Natural.

 

[vonforne]

I have just found a local garden center with Ferti-lom organic peat moss. I just look and look until I find all these little out of the way places most peeps would never go to. You never know what is tucked away on their shelves.

V