what Soil recipe to use?

[dfar]

hey guys and gals

I', having a difficult time figuring out in what proportions i should mix my soil for use in a indoor MJ grow. I was wondering if anyone could shine a little light my way : :

my seeds are already in germination so i need to use what i already have bought; oh ya i plan on growing organic and fertilizing with teas

promix
worm castings
vermiculite
perlite
dolomitic lime
blood and bone meal (7-7-0)
peat moss
high P bat guano (flowering fertilizer)
blackstrap molasses

so i was thinking about what i have been reading and thought a mixture of

2 parts promix
1 part perlite
? part bone/blood meal
2 parts worm castings

would be alright, or should i just use straight promix/perlite/worm castings for early seedling growth?

thanks in advance for help

Dfar

[Foster]

I'd suggest leaving out the bone and blood meal unless you plan on a long term grow. Both take quite some time to break down and may not be available for the plants in a short term environment.
The Promix, Perlite, castings sounds great. The amount of perlite kind of depends on how light you want your mix and how often you want to water. The higher the amount of perlite, the more often you'll water.
With mature flowering plants of any size that may mean watering more than once a day. Depending on other factors as well. Temp, air circulation etc..
Just a suggestion here and only an opinion 3 parts promix, 1 part vermiculite, 2 part perlite, 1 part castings. This will give you decent drainage with a bit better water holding capacity.

[dfar]

hey foster

thanks alot for the post, you've been an awesome resource for information and truely helpful in my pursuit

thanks so much

[Foster]

My pleasure friend. Wishing you the best of luck in your pursuit of "happiness"

[Psoulocybe]

Foster ++

May I recommend a high N guano to use with castings for your teas. I use Mexican bat guano, I think it's 10-1-1.
What are you using for containers? I started using grow bags and will never go back... so cheap, easy to conform to other shapes.
Sounds like you have a good medium, what do you have going for lights?

Good luck!

[DrDee]

Hi Dfar,
I did organic soil grows for years but am doing hydro now. I don't get into fixed recipes too much. Kind of a "follow my gut" sort of guy. Just make sure that the ph is in range. Mid to high 6 should be fine. and enough drainage (perlite or other soil aerator) so they don't get waterlogged.

Be very careful with your seedlings because they get nutrient burn very easily. They don't need any nutes until you have a couple sets of leaves or if yellowing occurs. If you overnute young plants, you'll see twisting leaves. And even worm castings can do it...so go light with the little gals.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. Good luck with your grow.
Peace,
Dee

[Dank Side Of The Shroom]

we do all are indoors grows with either straight promix. the big white and orange brick one. or we use one bag organic ocean forest to one bag organic sunshine mix.

[dfar]

thanks guys

Psoulocybe, i plan on using a 400 watt HPS for veg growth and 400 watt MH for flowering (since i got both very cheap) this is my first grow so i don't have much in the way of containers... i've seen a few threads using beer cups to start seedlings off so i'm doing that and will later transfer into square (maybe 2 or 3 gallon?) pots (maybe one transfer between like beer cup to gallon to 3 gallon pots, haven't decded yet)

thanks for all your great ideas and comments

[lysergic]

I highly recommend Fox Farm Ocean Forest.
It's all you need.
Don't even really need to use nutes.

[Foster]

You got that backwards dfar, the HPS for flowering, but I'm sure that was just a typo.

I have to agree, the fox farm ocean forest or happy frog is great stuff. If you can find it locally, get you some next time.

I personally make my own, almost exact same ingredients for quite a bit less.

I agree also with Psoulocybe, the plastic grow bags are awesome. Way less expensive than pots, re-usable, and storage space is minimal. Several hundred will fit in a shoebox.

I've thrown pre-rinsed bags into the washing machine for easy cleaning.

Also I changed the ratios of perlite and castings. I had them backward on my first post. More perlite, less castings for seedlings.

[Phungivore]

i got a whole different approach then foster.

i like to add blood and bone meal , but i recycle my soil so if something is slow release then it will still be in the soil, i mix based on what i thought was missing from last grow with batch of soil.

initially per 2 cubic foot of soiless(coir,peat ,perlite,vermiculite,promix)

to that i like to mix in 2-4 gallons of compost(vermicompost,mushroom compost,chicken manure, cow manuare)prefer vermicompost then go down the list from best to worst in my opinion

i mix
1c alfalfa meal
1c bonemeal
1c blood meal
1c fish meal
1c kelp meal
1c soft rock phosphate
1c jersy green sand
1c peace of mind fruit and flower blend
2c humic acid ore
1c azomite
1.5c dolomite
1c wheat germ

then i will let the soil brew so to speak for 2-3 weeks minimum turning every 2-3 days to mix in oxygen.( some times i like to use aerobic compost teas to water them with too to kick them microbes density up a notch.

then i feed as needed , black strap molasses,Epsom salts, sea solids ,nutritional yeast, Alaska fish emulsion, or down to earth Fish and kelp , or foxfarms grow big to feed for veg
then for bloom pureblend pro ,guanos of varying types then will ad the others as needed to get nitrogen levels tailored to strain being grown,

FYI if ya use this mix for seedling i would mix 50/50 with soiless

[Foster]

Great info there Phungivore, and our approach is not so different as it seems.
I was basically talking about the initial mix for tender seedlings. Upon txplant I too use kelp meal, fish meal, wheat germ, fungal and bacterial additives, silica, alfalfa meal, granular molasses (if i can find it), and castings.

The bone and blood meal would work great if the soil were to be recycled. Most of mine goes to the outdoor flower beds where i do add the bone and blood meal yearly lol.

As with anything dfar, the mix and ratios are a personal preference thing. And this will take time and experience to determine what works best for you and your environment. Factors like heat/temp, airflow, humidity, plant variety, length of grow, and the method you use (SOG, SCROG, etc..) all will help determine what works best.

And with the vast knowledge available through the folks who have posted in this thread, you will be on your way to a successful harvest in no time. Best of luck Foster

[ShroomGuerilla]

Promix and Botanicare Pure Blend
most of the time for me.

However, I like a nice guano tea.

There is a great pre-mixed shit cocktail
called "The Shitz", I use it on my outdoor crops.
Works like a charm when mixed with promix,
or made into a tea.

[Foster]

thats "The Shitz!" Looks like some good stuff. Thanks for chiming in SG, You are another one of the very knowledgable folks I spoke of .

This place rocks, so many great minds, and such excellent advice and tips from all. dfar will be a pro in no time.

[dfar]

hey thanks again guys for your input i mixed my seedling soil vis a vis fosters sugestion (3 part promix, 1 part perlite, i part vermiculite, 1 part castings).

I germinated the seeds in a paper towel and had a 90% germ rate (9/10)
Its been about 2 and a half weeks now and they seem to be doing great in the mix... they have 2 sets of nice dark green leaves and they seem to get larger and fuller each passing day. (sorry no pic at this time, i have to get a new camera)

i'll try to find a cheap camera to keep you guys up to speed on my progress and so you can diagnosis any future problems i may encounter (hopefully not)

thanks again guys for sharing your insights and wisdom

Dfar

[Foster]

Cool dfar, good luck bro.

[weeeeeee]

Originally Posted by Foster

I'd suggest leaving out the bone and blood meal unless you plan on a long term grow. Both take quite some time to break down and may not be available for the plants in a short term environment.
The Promix, Perlite, castings sounds great. The amount of perlite kind of depends on how light you want your mix and how often you want to water. The higher the amount of perlite, the more often you'll water.
With mature flowering plants of any size that may mean watering more than once a day. Depending on other factors as well. Temp, air circulation etc..
Just a suggestion here and only an opinion 3 parts promix, 1 part vermiculite, 2 part perlite, 1 part castings. This will give you decent drainage with a bit better water holding capacity.

so what you are saying about the bone and blood meal taking a long time to break down what would that mean to someone like me and most who recycle their soil?

[whatchamacallit]

Means the nutrients will be readily available in the soil later in the grow and in future grows, rather than locked up in a form unusable to the plant.