After several successful seasons my plants did not thrive last year, hardly growing at all and dying. I want to replace the soil. I read that 80% organic, 20% coco and 20% perlite is an appropriate mix. How deep should I dig down? Also, I have always added some hard wood ash to the soil. Would that be good idea given the above soil mix?
Replacing my soil
- Thread starter dwlb051
- Start date
Hey 051,
Welcome! That mix sounds ok but ensure that there is some well aged mulch added or hugelkultur, hardwood ash or potash is good. Outdoor plants can get huge. A 2 X 2 X 2 hole equals out to 60 gallons of soil, this is a rather small hole for a potentially massive outdoor plant. Ratios are off a bit tho... cuz it should add up to 100% right? so something like 60% organic, 20% coco & 20% perlite.
But even with this setup you will still need to add nutes, weed plants need High N and lower PK during veg but in flower they need little to no N but higher PK plus they need calcium and magnesium throughout both veg and flower cycles, this is why most lawn & garden ferts don’t work for this crop. So check out our sponsors - Geo Flora offers a dry mix one shot and done organic top dress that’s added every 2 weeks and watered in.
my 2 cents more will jump in later
Welcome! That mix sounds ok but ensure that there is some well aged mulch added or hugelkultur, hardwood ash or potash is good. Outdoor plants can get huge. A 2 X 2 X 2 hole equals out to 60 gallons of soil, this is a rather small hole for a potentially massive outdoor plant. Ratios are off a bit tho... cuz it should add up to 100% right? so something like 60% organic, 20% coco & 20% perlite.
But even with this setup you will still need to add nutes, weed plants need High N and lower PK during veg but in flower they need little to no N but higher PK plus they need calcium and magnesium throughout both veg and flower cycles, this is why most lawn & garden ferts don’t work for this crop. So check out our sponsors - Geo Flora offers a dry mix one shot and done organic top dress that’s added every 2 weeks and watered in.
my 2 cents more will jump in later
Nunyabiz
Well-Known Member
I would do a Hugelkultur mound for outdoor.
Soil outside in a garden should not go bad after several seasons. Gardeners have their gardens in the same spot for 10 or more years without problems. Some farms have fields that they have been using for generations and they might let part of it lay fallow for a season.
What caught my attention was that wood ash has always been added to the soil. Sounds like every year you add some. That can cause problems. To much will raise the pH of the soil and that could be the cause of the plants not doing as well.
From the Co-operative Extension Service of the Oregon State University is this article on using wood ash in the garden.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ask-expert/featured/are-ashes-good-my-soil
If you are in the US you can check with that state's agricultural school at state university. They might be doing complete soil tests at a reasonable price and that would include info on the current N-P-K levels and a properly done soil pH test.
Growing outside is fun.
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