$50 for potting mix etc.

[tazwhacker]

Hi all,

I'm going out tomorrow with $50 to get some stuff for my soil. I was thinking along the lines of mushroom compost or potting mix. Please give me some suggestions on what I should get. My soil is a rich black loamy soil, it has lots of brackern ferns in it so I'm not sure if it is acidic or not.

 

Your suggestions will be much appreciated.

Peace out,

Marty

[pipeman]

take some of your soil to a nursery to get its PH tested. then you can buy the right mix/product to adjust PH accordingly.

[tazwhacker]

I know the ph I just want to know of some mediums to enrich the soil not cahnge the ph.

Cheers,

Marty

[Guest bacchus]

ummm marty i'm a bit confused....you said you know the ph, but don't know if your soil is acidic or not..i thought that was the same thing

 

anyhow...there are lots of soil improvers you can buy if you aren't able to make up your own....worm castings, manure, mushroom compost etc....and as far as these kinds of things go, the more you can spend the better...you will end up with a better product IMO...just use your common sense...

 

when preparing your site, work out a nice even mix of ferts/improvers to soil ratio...too much of your additives and you could burn your plants...it's best to let your site settle once you have dug it all in for as long as possible to let it all brew together

 

there is a thread on outdoor soil mixes here....Outdoor Soil Mix

 

another tip to is to go through the grow faq...pipeman is working on this forum and has gathered together some good info from members here that may answer some of your questions in future....and if you can't find it...ask on my friend

 

bacchus

[Guest Wilderbud]

$50 would get a lot of peat moss and some manure and guano and you can buy a soil PH test kit also if youre lucky.

[dexo]

outdoor weed[ive never grown indoor so i dunno] likes drainige. if you use potting mix without adiquate drainage then you get chance of root rot.

 

you said you have a loamy soil. i suggest use the soil, not potting mix. and maybe even shovel some sand thru it.

 

we have "bassendean dirt" here in xxxxxxx, its awful to grow anything apart from weed, opium, olives--stuff that thrives in dry oily sand.

 

im using bathtubs as pots--its more water efficiant than growing in the ground.

 

organic mulches tent to reduce nitrogen levels in soil so if your using them--or like you said have a loamy soil then yuo may want to increase you nitrogen.

 

insted of spending you 50bucks on potting mix buy a 20kg bag or urea, and a 20kg bag of super.[use the super till the budding faze--or to make explosives]. 20kgs is heaps and it should last a few seasons, also potash is good for budding faze. NPK blue is a good general poupose fertlizer, and the nursury wont think your a terrorist when you purchace it.

 

expensive slow release products like ozmacote are not really suited for growing dope--save you money.

[Guest Wilderbud]

20KG? How many crops are you feeding dexo?

[fossil]

Sounds like you have good soil there already. Black is good

 

Dig it down deep with a fork and get something in there for aeration and good drainage. Course river sand or gravel works well. Don't do the mushy compost thing. It is very very very acidic when it first comes off the tables, and they usually use a backhoe to mix hydrated lime through it to get the ph up. Problem is, it is never mixed in well, and they don't measure quantities. They just whack a whole lot in with the machine. Mushroom compost is cheap, but will probably give you a lot of greif.

Animal manures will hold a lot of water, and can actually give you probs as well if you don't know what you are doing. I like sheep manure. Little balls of slow release fertiliser.