Soil from scratch?

[Psilocybist]

Hi dear grower community, ladies 'n' gentlemen, dear friends and enemies !

I have a major problem mixing my first pot soil, the problem is I can't buy any premixed soil bags, and many of those items listed in supersoil mixes by brand names only. cuz I don't live in USA, and can't order anything online from known markets named in recipes

Anyone can guide me finding all required soil parts/materials for a good super soil WITHOUT NAMING BRAND NAMES ?
like a soil mix only using organic materials, but please do not give me a to-buy-list of fox, bloom, .etc
sorta things I can find or make.
i'm gonna make my own blood and bone meal. have access to lime, epsom, worm casting, bird's guano, perlite, composted leaf, cow manure (leached and composted).

Plaese help me out, my seeds are gonna get delivered to me in a week or so.

 

[baxbax]

Re: Soil from scratch

just see my same topic its easiest soil mix you can do and i gonna to do this next year
How to mix peat moss as substrate

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

Still think my soil isn't complete.
I'll be more than happy and thankful if someone with a good knowledge of soil would chime in.

I need a mix proportion for the following list, to make a good super soil :

• Perlite
• Coco
• Blood meal (which i'm gonna make myself)
• Bone meal (also gonna be made by myself)
• Ag lime (NOT dolomite)
• Bird Guano
• Composted leaf
• Composted Manure (cow manure)
• Epsom salt
• Mycorrhiza fungus spores (Amanita species. probably inject directly to the soil?)
• Many types of fertilizers (powder), 3-5-4, 18-18-18, 10-12-8 etc.

if anything else is required to be added , please name them, and PLEASE don't give me brand name.
i don't know what's inside those bags, and can't order them. (my country)
so name the material/substance/thing directly, not brand names please.

Tried to PM VillageIdiot, but my post number limitation doesn't allow it.
so, If someone could relate this thread to him, it will be great.

Thanks

 

[Racer1921]

Re: Soil from scratch

Ok mate.
Its quite common 50/50 perlite n soil.
But if you want premo from your stash id suggest 18,18,18 fert. Only a cup. 30% perlite 50%soil 5% WORM CASTINGS. 5% BIRD guanas and 10% well composted manure.

But coco on its own is fine.
Soil n perlite is fine.

THE GREEN RACER.

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

Ok mate.
Its quite common 50/50 perlite n soil.
But if you want premo from your stash id suggest 18,18,18 fert. Only a cup. 30% perlite 50%soil 5% WORM CASTINGS. 5% BIRD guanas and 10% well composted manure.

But coco on its own is fine.
Soil n perlite is fine.

THE GREEN RACER.

Thanks for the reply.
I'm tryna mix some soil.
what you mean by "Soil" when you say 50% Perlite and 50% soil ?

what soil? outdoor garden soil ?

that's like saying, Perlite+Soil = Soil !!!

 

[Racer1921]

Re: Soil from scratch

Out door garden soil can work fine if its quality. Maybee i miss understood you. I thought you didnt want brand names

THE GREEN RACER.

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

ah, so you had a premixed soil bag in mind, and just avoided telling me the brand name?
I meant to say, instead of giving me those premixed bag names, tell me the ingredient or the contents. so that I can mix it myself.

 

[santb]

Re: Soil from scratch

Mate, you got every thing you need. Make your mix about 30-50% coco, 15-25% perlite and the rest is handfuls.. That is my Standard Unit of Measure! Seriously though, don't over-think it. Strong stuff like blood and bone, guano, epsom and your lime- don't go overboard. The rest, you can use as much as you want. Experiment! I use about 50% coco in my mixes with no probs. The roots love it and it's easy to water. You can always add extra stuff or fertilizers.. but you can't take them back.
Allow the mix to sit for a few weeks in a tub or bin if you can stand to stop yourself popping them beans as soon as they're in your hands..
Have fun!

 

[santb]

Re: Soil from scratch

Forgot.. Don't add too much of your powder ferts at first. Maybe none. Let the other stuff do its work; you can add extra ferts in the water or on top of soil later if you need it..

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

Thanks,really helpful.
The last question :
how to tell if a coco coir sample is of good quality or not?
is there something showing its quality ? cause I talked to some flower-grower guy who orders some bags of imported coco (from Sri Lanka) and he said the majority of imported coco bags sold in my country are of low quality.

I don't know what makes a coco good and what makes it bad quality. any idea?

 

[santb]

Re: Soil from scratch

Unfortunately, it'll be the price. The good stuff will just look and feel better; a bit finer, no 'chunks', nice even colour.. but you won't know that til you open it! Buy compressed bricks, if you can. You just add water and it absorbs/expands. Any of the more expensive brands will be fine. If it has on the label that's made to some Dutch standard, that's what you want.

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

well the ones I'm about to buy are bricks.

Now I got my soil recipe, thanks to you, and others.
but still waiting for my seeds to be delivered (it's been a month)

Special to you santb, and baxbax
Gonna stick to this website from now on till the end of my life.

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

Baxbax, I can't reply to your private message yet. funny rules.

I used the following soil mix for my pots.
the mix is still being cooked (?) since i'm waiting for my seedlings to get bigger before transplanting them to this mix.

It's neither a totally hydro, nor a totally soil mix.

and for seeds germination, I used this mix : Coco-Manure-Perlite, proportions : 8-1-2 respectively. (no other additives)

 

[Conradino23]

Re: Soil from scratch

Coco coir is an inert medium, but very porous. It provides a lot of aeration by itself so I'd skip perlite in this case. If you lean more towards dirt I'd make it 52% peat moss and 14,5% coco by the way.

 

[Psilocybist]

Re: Soil from scratch

what do you mean "if i lean toward dirt" ?

 

[Conradino23]

I mean if you want your medium to resemble soil more especially adapt to organic grow, otherwise you're gonna have to go hydro way, they are two very different techniques.

 

[Psilocybist]

Well I prefer a more soil-like mix. though my mix seems more hydro.

I have Peat moss, but it's the kind that doesn't get hydrated easily after drying. don't know if all peat moss are like the one I have, but it's not easy at all to hydrate it.

I agree I have high aeration and drainage with that mix. my worry now is, I don't have a pH meter for the moment, and prefer my soil mix to be less hydro-like to get rid of pH controlling priority.
Do you think by adding some loamy soil here, I can make it a more dirt-ish mix ?
what do you suggest ?

 

[Conradino23]

If you cut the loam with coco or perlite or biochar and then add some worm castings and calcium carbonate and a touch of gypsum you have a perfect mix to start a LOS grow.

 

[Psilocybist]

LOS ? (sorry, i'm not good at memorizing/using acronyms)

 

[santb]

conradino is right; he knows what he's talking about!... Adding coco will help with water retention. EWC is good for food and microbial life, and the gypsum and calcium will add calcium, as well as important minerals... That's a great soil mix in itself.. Change it up as you get more experienced!