Needing real world advice for soil mix!!

[blueridgegrow]

I have read several forum posts, articles, etc. on grow mediums and they are all very informative but I have had trouble getting the suggested soils or soil ingredients suggested. I live in the southeast and ideologies and laws regarding marijuana are behind the rest of the country and still very negative. As such, finding a grow shop is nearly impossible and difficult at best ( a long drive to a larger city). With that in mind, can you make any suggestions of a soil mix recipe that uses the things commonly found at a Lowes or Home Depot in the south (Black Kow - composted cow manure.5-.5-.5, Baccto Potting soil - a peat based soil mix .5-.5-.5, Miracle Grow products, mushroom compost, perilite). I am currently using a mix of 40% Black Kow, 40% Baccto Soil, and 20% perlite and some dolomitic lime to offset some of the acid in the manure and peat. What are your thoughts on the mix? I think I need more perlite because the mix seems a little heavy. How would you change? Do you think I will need more nutes as I go or can I use plain fresh water? I have emulsified fish fertilizer and molasses on hand....any thoughts on those and if/how they might be used with the above mix?

Thank you in advance,
Blue Ridge Grow

 

[TanR]

Morning Blue Ridge,

Pretty new to growing indoors so I’m not sure how valuable this will be.

I face the same issue of premium grow medium availability issue a little west of the Blue Ridge area, and likewise had to do the best I could with the selection at Lowes/Home Depot and a local nursery.

I think your current mix will work just fine but agree that more perlite might beneficial. I might alter your mix to favor more Bacto (big Bacto fan!) and less manure compost also (such as 40% Bacto, 30%-35% perlite, and 25%-30% compost) but my change would be very minor.

I’ve found it beneficial to mix my soil and “cook it” for a while before use. I use large 40 gallon or so plastic totes from Wal-Mart. I added some Espoma Bio-tone starter plus with mycorrhizae (Lowes), Worm Castings (Amazon), Azomite (Amazon), Gypsum (Amazon), and Pennington fast acting lime (Lowes). These totes have lids so after mixing the soil and amendments and watering it down a little I put the lid on and let it compost for a while. Every 3 or 4 days, I turn the mix in the tubs and check the moisture. If it’s dried out more than “forms a loose clump when a handful is squeezed” then I add a couple of quarts of water with a shot of molasses. The lids aren't truly air-tight.

I discovered a very minor gnat problem in my plants and bought some mosquito dunks to treat –worked well BTW. I’ve been adding those to the water I add to the tubs every week or so to hopefully prevent any gnats that might develop in there.

I’ve read that Promix HP is a great base medium and actually used the stuff years ago landscaping, but can’t seem locate any now.

Good luck and happy growing!

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Most manures such as black kow you may find to be with in the nuetral to mild alkline range of PH... also contains low NPK & more likely some trace micro nutrients.


As for the baccto compost & i do believe that is preloaded with slow release nutrients & may last a good few weeks !

I would be inclined to use perlite & would be very tempted to track down some worm castings


Baccto 50%
Black Kow 20%
Perlite 20%
Worm Castings 10%

A dash of dolomite lime for good measures.


ya more likely get away with very little nutrient feeding whilst in veg tho with such a mix & if you feel nutrients are required from mid to late veg i would suggest no more than 50% strenght of nutrients required for the vegging period, if using MG micarle grow stuff i may go as low as 1/4 strenght to be on the safe side !

Commnece as normal for flowering with nutrients.

 

[blueridgegrow]

Commnece as normal for flowering with nutrients.

Thanks FD, what would you suggest for flower cycle? Any good bets where to look for worm castings?

Thanks TanR!!

I appreciate the input guys!!

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Hang on a mo, gonna eat some pizza before i reply to ya question at hand !

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I would check out home depot i'm pretty sure they stock black kow, worm castings all in their garden section.


Other wise it may be a case of ordering online for a home delievery & more likely worth while get some nutrients from an online hydro shop, heres the link to the Sponsors : 420 MAGAZINE ® theirs quite a few hydro shops in their which help support our forums.

 

[TanR]

Blue,
I haven't ever found any worm castings at Lowes or Home Depot or local nurseries in my area. Found some for a great price on Amazon. I don't remember exactly, but something like 20 pounds for maybe $20'ish.

 

[JJ Bones]

I would go with something like this: Kellogg 3 cu. ft. All-Natural Garden Soil-685 at The Home Depot

Then order small 12 quart size bags of Happy Frog and mix them together. Of course include mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria as well.