Outdoor Mix...What do you think of this...

[Akasha]

Hey all, im new here, just getting my first grow going. I germinated 8 seeds in some paper towel, and have now transplanted them into bio-degradable jiffy pot type things. They have sprouted and formed their water leaves and are all starting to grow their first set of true mj leaves, and have been put into some larger pots with a general purpose potting mix that should be able to keep then going for a week or so. At the moment the roots are still only using the seed raising mix in the bio-degradable pots, but will reach the outer general purpose potting mix soon im assuming. I want to get these transplanted into proper holes lined with plastic, or sink some 40L pots asap, but im stuck trying to get a good soil mix going. So far, from what ive read, im thinking of using:

 

Searles Premium Potting Mix

Cow or Chicken Manure

Blood n Bone

Vermiculite

Water Crystals

 

And maybe some worms

 

Now is this too much stuff int he soil? And how would I go about deciding how much of what to put into the mix? I was thinking maybe:

 

40% Potting Mix

20% Cow or Chicken Manure

20% Blood n Bone

10% Vermiculite

 

And some space for water crystals

 

I have no idea if that would be ok, but it just seems like it would be the logical way to mix the diff parts, please let me know if anything is way out of balance etc, or if anything else should be added or taken out. Pics soon!

 

 

Akasha

Edited January 10, 2008 by Akasha

[Ozzy420]

Welcome to ozstoners 1st off.

 

The way i would mix it up is 80% potting mix and 20% perlite, with a good hand full of the water crystals all mixed up.

 

With the cow or chook poo depending on how new it is because it can burn new and young plants, i would throw a good 2 large hand fulls of it into the mix and a hand full of the blood and bone as u dont want the mix to rich that it will burn the young plants and as the plants get bigger u can add other ferts to help with there groth.

 

Every one has there own way of mixing up the mix for a soil grow and u should get a few more ppl here that will give u a bit of a run down on how they do it as well, then u can go from there on how u would like to mix it up...

[loylty gets u nothing]

id drop the vermiculite

and go with perlite..

a far more superior medium imho

the perlite will help drainage and air amongst roots

vermiculite is used more for its water holding capabiliitys

but with the water crystals i dont see any real need for the vermiculite..

 

i built up the sides of a pallet..

sealed the base and use that as a mixing arena for mediums

all the ebst

bil

[Akasha]

Awesome guys, thanks for the advice!! Seems i definately wouldve had too much blood n bone and manure. What about worm castings? Are they also as acidic? Atm im now thinking of:

 

80% Potting Mix

20% Perlite

Handfull of Blood n Bone

Handfull of Water Crystals

 

And then a Handfull or two of worm Castings maybe instead of cow or chicken manure?????

Edited January 10, 2008 by Akasha

[Ozzy420]

Yep the worm castings is good as well...

[67Special]

Welcome to OS Akasha

 

How good is the soil where you intend to grow?

 

If it's reasonably rich, well drained and has worms in it already, you could do away with the potting mix entirely imo.

 

I usually grow in plastic lined holes like what you're considering and because the soil here is reasonable, I just add the following:

 

3 or 4 shovels of mature compost for humus and good bacteria.

A big handful of dolomite to balance our slightly acidic soil and it contains magnesium which acidic soils generally lack and mj suffers without, especially when flowering.

2 or 3 shovels of old cow manure or worm cast for N.

A big handful of powdered bat shit for P.

2 big handfuls of B&B for N and a little P.

And a handful of big fat worms!

 

I try to mix all this in with the soil dug from the hole a month or so before transplanting so that the worms and bacteria can break most of it down and the dolomite will have adjusted the pH.

 

After transplanting I'll water with a brew of compost tea with molasses and kelp powder for some K, loads of good bacteria and 60 odd trace elements.

 

[Frazz]

Yea they are all good mixes, but notice where 67special says OLD cow manure well thats is even more important if you use fowl manure, as you mentioned you may ... ALL animal manures must be old / aged before use ,cause fresh manure burns plants ..

 

all is good, have fun and grow monsters Akasha

 

[double-chamber]

my parents use Yates Professional soil = is about $13 a bag but it has everyting uou mention except the perlite.

Must be great soil cause they don't have to add anything for 12ths.

[Akasha]

hmmm, interesting, anyone else got any info on this Yates stuff ^^^???

 

cheers for the info 67 and frazzle! I might give the manure a miss simply because i dont want to try do too much on my first grow and burn the roots, are worm castings able to be bought in a bag ready for use in gardens??? like, would i have to age it still or could they go straight in?

 

The soil where im growing doesnt SEEM to be very good to ME, , having said that Im no expert so im really just making an assumption based on the moisture content and the types of plats growing around. I rekon the soil would be fine, but im def gna sink pots or line with plastic and use my own soil mix, maybe add like 10% on-site-soil to make my soil go further but thats about it. Im doing it stealth style out in the bush somewhere btw, not outdoors at home. Pictures in a few hrs! gonna go water my babies quick...

 

Akasha

Edited January 11, 2008 by Akasha

[Akasha]

heres some shots if any of you are interested...