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First try at a no dig soil mix


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 I'm still waiting for most of my ingredients to arrive but I've made a spreadsheet with my current thoughts on what I should put in. 

 

Too many ingredients is my first thought but what the hell. I'll be making a 160 litre batch as that is my container size.

 

I have deliberately gone heavy on the drainage (Scoria/Rice Hulls) because the rice hulls will be mostly gone in 12 months.

 

I haven't listed Aloe powder even though I will be adding some.

 

Please feel free to comment/ suggest variations to either ingredients or proportions.

 

 

Input name                            % of blend    total litres

Worm castings                         17.00         27.20

Compost                                    8.00         12.80

Clay                                           1.00           1.60

Sphagnum peat moss                26.00         41.60

Scoria 5mm                              23.00         36.80

Rice Hulls                                 12.50         20.00

Kelp Meal                                  0.60             0.96

Fulvic Acid Powder                     0.60           0.96

Oyster Shell Flour                       0.80           1.28

Malted Barley Grains                  1.20           1.92

Bat Guano                                 1.20           1.92

Neem Meal                               0.60           0.96

Biochar                                     2.00           3.20

Volcanic Rock Dust                     1.00          1.60

Fin & Feather Meal                     0.30          0.48

Palagonite                                 0.60          0.96

Gypsum                                    1.00          1.60

Crustacean Meal                        0.60          0.96

Coffee Grounds                         1.00           1.60

Bokashi one                              1.00           1.60                  

 

Total                                     100.00         160.00

Edited by ozraptorismine
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Looks more like a 120l mix.

 

It's close to a 40\40\40 l mix.

 

I decide on total volume first and amend to suit.

 

For every 60l I use a cup of a lot of amendments.

 

This will work fine, I'd up the rockdust, right up.

 

I'd up the oyster shell flour too or add some dolomite.

 

I don't take into account the volume of the amendments.

 

Cup is about 250ml.

 

I'd swap some rice hulls for more bokashi too.

 

What crustacean meal are you using?

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looks good:)

 

different opinions around, but i've always found good success in doing a approx 1/3 aeration, 1/3 worm castings/compost (good idea to have two different types) and 1/3 peat moss. i look at biochar and rice hulls as aeration. i look at amendments as add-ons after the base 3 parts are sorted - usually done per cup. :). biochar for me usually makes up about 5% of the aeration component. i don't use bat guano or feather meal (or even alfalfa anymore) but have been told that they require a bit of time to breakdown (sometimes called 'cook') so that the plants can use their nutrients.

 

i use a fair bit more MPB and Basalt dust than in your recipe ... i think .:) coffee grounds also tend to make the soil more acidic, which could be balanced with your lime component. personally, i'd add small amounts to your worms, if you want to add this ingredient. alfalfa also works better in my experience going through worms, instead of straight into the soil ... different strokes, but all seem to end up in similar places.:)

 

it looks good ... i reckon you will grow some lovely plants. :)

 

______

 

just found my old and pretty simple soil recipe, if interested as a comparison ... has done a fair few cycles and i reckon it is getting better with age. similar to Carbcon, i use cups for amendments and have always converted cubic feet into about 28-30 litres.

 

1:1:1:

CSPM (Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss)

Pumice (sourced from clean beaches - way lighter than commercial)

Compost - Vermicompst (from cow shit)

Amended per cuF with:

1/2 cup Neem
1/2 cup Kelp
1/2 cup Lime (from cuttlefish bones)
2 cup MBP

1/2 Gypsum
4 cups Basalt/Palagonite
4 cups Biochar (ends up being about 5% of total mix)

Edited by pug1010
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Looks more like a 120l mix.

 

140 litres of the big 3 and 20 litres of amendments

 

It's close to a 40\40\40 l mix.

 

I decide on total volume first and amend to suit.

 

For every 60l I use a cup of a lot of amendments.

 

So in a 150l mix you would add 2.5 cups which equals 0.625 litres, I'm only less than that with the fin & feather meal.

 

This will work fine, I'd up the rockdust, right up.

 

OK, but what do I reduce? My rockdust/palagonite/fin & feather/bat guano total 3.1% of the mix; how high a %age do you suggest?

 

I'd up the oyster shell flour too or add some dolomite.

 

Up it by how much? For every increase there has to be a corresponding decrease somewhere as my container is 160 litres.

 

I don't take into account the volume of the amendments.

 

Cup is about 250ml.

 

I'd swap some rice hulls for more bokashi too.

 

What crustacean meal are you using?

 

https://www.organicgardeningsolutions.com.au/products/crustacean-meal-pure

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i don't use bat guano or feather meal (or even alfalfa anymore) but have been told that they require a bit of time to breakdown (sometimes called 'cook') so that the plants can use their nutrients.

 

The slow release aspect was one of the reasons I chose them, this soil is for next summer's crop.

 

i use a fair bit more MPB and Basalt dust than in your recipe ... i think . :) coffee grounds also tend to make the soil more acidic, which could be balanced with your lime component.

 

What is MPB? The coffee grounds are likely to come out to offset increases elsewhere. I wasn't putting it in for the worms but the advertising was "coffee grinds will promote microbes and mycelium within your soil mix as it releases its nutrients" and they claim that it does not affect the Ph

 

it looks good ... i reckon you will grow some lovely plants. :)

 

______

 

just found my old and pretty simple soil recipe, if interested as a comparison ... has done a fair few cycles and i reckon it is getting better with age. similar to Carbcon, i use cups for amendments and have always converted cubic feet into about 28-30 litres.

 

Yes a cubic foot is 28.3 litres, I've converted everything to litres for convenience, I don't want to muck around with cups and cubic feet.

 

 

 

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There's nothing wrong with your proposed mix.

I'm only looking at it and what I would change for me, in my location I guess, that I know to work with my compost etc

 

The fin and feather if from ogs is very slow release.

 

I have used up to 3-6 cups of azomite\basalt\vrd per 60l.

Some people use more.

 

I used the the oyster shell at whatever the ogs label said for soil mixing. There was only a lil bit left, I threw that in too.

 

You have some leeway with the quantities, it doesn't have to be dead exact.

The 1\3 ratio is good, tad Hussey goes up in the peat and down in the castings, 17% iirc.

 

It's going to be all about your compost, how you look after and introduce new beneficials to the soil, amazing how little a good soil needs, but a little of a lot is good.

 

Mix of hulls and Scoria the go I reckon, I wonder how long they will last and if indeed an aeration problem occurs due to their breakdown.

 

Good work!

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i don't use bat guano or feather meal (or even alfalfa anymore) but have been told that they require a bit of time to breakdown (sometimes called 'cook') so that the plants can use their nutrients.

 

The slow release aspect was one of the reasons I chose them, this soil is for next summer's crop.

 

i use a fair bit more MPB and Basalt dust than in your recipe ... i think . :) coffee grounds also tend to make the soil more acidic, which could be balanced with your lime component.

 

What is MPB? The coffee grounds are likely to come out to offset increases elsewhere. I wasn't putting it in for the worms but the advertising was "coffee grinds will promote microbes and mycelium within your soil mix as it releases its nutrients" and they claim that it does not affect the Ph

 

it looks good ... i reckon you will grow some lovely plants. :)

 

______

 

just found my old and pretty simple soil recipe, if interested as a comparison ... has done a fair few cycles and i reckon it is getting better with age. similar to Carbcon, i use cups for amendments and have always converted cubic feet into about 28-30 litres.

 

Yes a cubic foot is 28.3 litres, I've converted everything to litres for convenience, I don't want to muck around with cups and cubic feet.

 

Good Point.

 

So a lot you read is in cubic feet, like put said 28.3l which I round up to 30l and always mix in multiples of 30 for convenience.

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