Old Timer need some soil advice

[gtillen]

OK, Here's the story; I am making my own soilless potting mix for an indoor (4x4 Mylar tent with 16 plants in 3 gal black nursery pots will be under a 1000 watt HPS) SCROG grow. The screen will be 12" above the medium.
I have been an avid organic gardener all of my life and have been growing pot for 40 years, but only outside in the ground. This is my first indoor grow in containers. So I need some coaching from you guys with more experience in this area. Using what I already have around the shed, this is the mix I am planning (mothers and seedlings are vegging under CFL's and are about ready to clone so I still have a little time to tweak this mix before I actually combine the ingredients). I don't want to screw it up because I am making a large batch and bagging it for future use. Here it is;

8 cubic ft of compost (black humic compost, I bought a trailer load from a landscape supplier)
2 cubic ft of Canadian Peat Moss
40 pounds (3 or 4 cubic ft?) of worm castings (I have a total of 80 lbs)
1 cubic ft of well composted chicken manure (I have 3 cu ft total)
16 quarts of Perlite
5 lbs of pelletized Garden Lime
4 cups bone meal (I have 5 lbs)
4 cups blood meal (I have 5 lbs)
1 lb Rock Dust minerals

I would really hate to go thru all that work and have it fry or overwhelm my plants. I would like to adjust the proportions so that I don't have to buy to much more stuff.
Well, there it is. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Deacnbleu]

Sounds like a great mix to me, but I might go less on the chicken manure. Since you are going from outside soil growing to growing in 3 gallon pots, some of that mix may be a bit overwhelming, especially in nitrogen.
Personally, I use Fox Farms soil & Perlite and 1/4 recommended ferts for veg and 1/2 of the higher P during flowering and get very nice results. Sativas tend to like much lower nitrogen levels while the afghani & indincas tolerate it better.
For indoor grows, it's very easy to over water too. I drilled holes in the sides of my containers and use a number 2 pencil, stick it in the side, if it comes out mostly dry then I water. Water really collects in the lower 1/3'd of the containers. I lost a couple plants early on by watering on a schedule instead of a need basis.
I have only 4 successful harvests under my belt, nothing compared to your experience outside.
Hope you find something useful in my rant.

 

[gtillen]

Alas, a thoughtful response. Thanks very much! You bring up some great points! I am glad i am doing all of this well in advance of planting time, because i was able to dump out one of the pots and inspect the medium after a good watering. I was way to soggy for my liking! So, I dumped out all 16 three gal pots, mixed in an additional 32 quarts of Perlite ($18.00). Then i drilled about a dozen 3/8" holes in the bottom of the pots. I was using coffee filters to cover the drain holes- I tossed them and cut out a piece window screen fabric to line the bottoms, then added about an inch of clay gravel in the bottom of the pot. After a thorough mixing I added the "soil" back into the pots. A lot of work but better now than when the plants are in! I guess that is what I will stick with and hope it works out. (unless I get other good suggestions? - I still have a few weeks until the clones will be ready to go into the pots) Oh, and I will definitely use your great idea of drilling a hole in the side to check moisture! (perhaps one near the bottom and one near the center of the pot?)
P S, Steely Dan is one of the best bands ever in my humble opinion. Does that have something to do with your name, Deaconbleu?

 

[gtillen]

Incidentally, I intend to water with compost/worm casting tea (that I am brewing myself in an aerated drum) instead of any commercially made liquid fertilizers. I would like to hear any comments any of you have on that subject as well.

 

[Deacnbleu]

Oh yes my brother, Steely Dan is the reason for the name. "They have a name for the winners in the world, I want a name when I lose. They call Alabama the Crimson tide, call me Deacon Blue."
On the holes in the side, I drilled three on each side from the bottom to just above the center for checking the moisture. Those are in addition to the holes at the bottom for drainage of course. It also helps aerate the soil as I have fans near the bottom for intake.
I'd like to follow your progress on the worm casing tea. I tried lots of ferts in my short time of growing and now I use very little with better results. I ruined many plants by following instructions on the labels and when I dumped them out I found the same problem as you, mud in the middle. I grow in a very small area and not near as many plants as you, I'm sure I have a lot to learn.
Keep me posted.

 

[Deacnbleu]

By the way, I have an entry in the Plant of the Month and Nug of the Month contest. Check them out.

 

[gtillen]

“Throw out your gold teeth and see how they roll, the answer they reveal, life is unreal”…. I shall keep you posted! I just cut 35 clones last night so while they are rooting and vegging I am placing a group of seedlings of unknown genetics (from a bag someone gave me) on a 12/12 light cycle and will test the whole “set up”. By the time I get the bugs worked out the AK-47 and LSD clone will be ready to go in. I will check out your bud/ plants and get back to you.

 

[Deacnbleu]

Sometimes that bag seed is a helluva surprise. I sent some seeds to my bro, on the island he has been growing the same sativa strain for years, he loved them.

 

[gtillen]

Ya, a guy gave me a little sample bag to try. Must have been 50 seeds in it. But the weed had a really heady smooth high. I liked it so much I decided to grow it and see what it looked like. Not sure if these kids will be the same as there Ma but it will be fun trying to find out!

 

[Velodrone]

Hands down one of the best mixes there is brother. It's hot, really hot. Either vary the ingredients to mellow it out a bit or use this soil as an additive to your base soil.

I think we all know where this "Super Soil" recipe came from!

8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil)
25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
5 lbs steamed bone meal
5 lbs Bloom bat guano
5 lbs blood meal
3 lbs rock phosphate
¾ cup Epson salts
½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
½ cup azomite (trace elements)
2 tbsp powdered humic acid

 

[gtillen]

So nice to find someone else in the know! Your recipe is very similar to mine, isn't it? I put some vegetables in pots using my mix as a test. So far they seem to be doing fine. I did modify it with additional perlite and a layer of gravel at the bottom of the pots. That improved drainage considerably. Your mix sounds awesome! Main difference seems to be I used composted chicken poop where you used guano in a smaller amount. Thanks for the reply, Bro!

 

[Velodrone]

Yea, Subcool knows his stuff for sure. There is no way that I could claim that as my mix!(As much as I might like to)

Hope that your mix works well. DocBud has some excellent posts on soil in his journals! Might be worth looking at!