Uncooked soil dilemma

[Timmo]

I've got a bunch of seedlings (5 wks old) that are bursting out of their 4" pots, but I only yesterday got my soil mixed up and I'm nervous about transplanting into it. Here's my mix:

30 gal base (equal parts peat, perlite, and compost)
3/4 c soil sweetener
9 c EWC
1 c bat guano
1 c fish bone meal
2 Tbsp Ful-Humix
2 c Azomite
2 c basalt dust
2 c kelp meal
2 c alfalfa meal
2 c crab meal
2 c neem seed meal
1 c mycos
3/4 c yucca powder
2 c diatomaceous earth

I've been reading that soils like this need to cook for at least a couple of weeks before use. Is that because it's too hot to use immediately, or because the nutes aren't available until the microbes have had a chance to do their thing? I made a similar batch a few weeks ago and transplanted some bigger plants into it, and it took almost a week before they showed any sign of enjoying the new dirt.

So... If I go ahead and put my seedlings into it, am I risking burning them with too much nute love, or starving them for the next week or two?

If it's because the soil is too hot, would adding uncharged biochar help? I just made a big batch of biochar that I'm itching to use.

If it's because the nutes aren't available yet, could I transplant and just supplement with some liquid fert for the first week? Maybe just a dilute foliar of Earth Juice Grow?

Should I mix up a different batch or (gag) buy some ready-made to get these babies potted up and just save my soil for next time?

I'm pretty new to the soil-making game, and I'm totally enthused but not fully up to speed yet on how it all works.

 

[TanR]

Hi Timmo.

Belated welcome to the site!

Do you know or believe the compost was aged/mature? I ask because as I look at the nitrogen sources above other than the compost, the bat guano is the only other thing I see posing an immediate "too hot" danger and it is ammended in a small enough quantity as to not pose a significant risk.

If you feel the compost was mature - I would not hesitate to use that soil immediately.

Be well and happy growing!

 

[Sejd2131]

I think you`ll be fine. I would however watch the wetness of your plants, make sure they`re dry.. Great mix..

 

[Timmo]

The compost is very mature.

So, just for my theoretical edification, is the purpose of aging the soil to let the microbes go to work? In other words, will the soil actually become more potent with time?

 

[Timmo]

Never mind the last question. Thanks for the reassurance, TanR and Sedj. I went ahead and repotted. I discovered that I had a 5-gallon bucket of nearly the same mix left from another repotting a couple of weeks ago, so I used that for some of them. We'll see if there's a noticeable difference.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

i mix my top alf plain bottom hotter , then you can let it cook while transplanting or even dropping in a seed , soak the bottom half with compost tea , keep the top a tad dryer so roots will make it down to the goddies below

 

[Timmo]

When I discovered that I had a bucket of more aged soil, I thought about layering, but I'm only going into 1 gallon pots this time around, so there didn't seem like much point.

 

[Timmo]

The kids look happy. No obvious difference between the two batches.

5 days ago, just after repotting:

This morning:

 

[NuttyProfessor]

looking much better