Looking for some advice

[Moose8810]

My wife and I built some new raised beds this year, and I'm looking for some input on amendments I should look into for now and in the future.

We've got one 18'x2' and three 8'x4' beds, about 3' high built with Hügelkultur in mind. The top foot and a half or so of the beds consist of a few inches of loam, and then each bed was topped with 4 bales of Promix BX, about 2 cuft of local seafood compost, and about 1.5 bags of Coast of Maine Stonington Blend I had left over from my first soil grow.

Our veggies are loving life so far, but I'm interested in putting in a few autos out there as well. Would the current mix be fine to plant some autos in now, or should I add some other amendments? I've read around quite a bit, but I'm having troubling narrowing down specifics. Ideally I would like to be able to plant sooner rather than later, but I understand the soil may need to cook a bit, and I don't want to waste any of my seeds if I'm likely to have issues with them.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

If you did not do Hügelkultur then all you have is a big container of potting soil. What do you know about the seafood compost? Correct theses numbers for me If I have them wrong:

396 cubic feet total for the beds.

4 bales of Pro Mix BX = 15 cubic feet
1.5 bags Coast of Maine Stonington Blend = 2 cubic feet
3 inches of Loam? = 33 cubic feet
2 cubic feet Seafood Compost

Equals 52 cubic feet, what makes up the other 344 cubic feet? Where did the loam come from virgin soil?

 

[Moose8810]

The beds themselves are 3 feet tall up to the top of the edge, they're wooden frames lined with galvanized steel. The bottom foot and a half or so is a mix of yard waste, downed tree limbs, rotting wood and other organic material. This is all topped with the loam, I'm unsure if it's from virgin soil but I know it's clean - we used 3-4 yards of it total in all four beds, filling in all the voids in the bottom layers and topping it all with a layer a few inches deep. The Promix, compost, and topsoil were all mixed together on top of the loam. My parents have used this method to great success with veggies, as we are as well so far, I just know it's likely not quite adequate for a full run with cannabis. Though their beds are quite a bit older than ours, they've only ever added things like manure and compost.

The 8x4 beds for example have, by my estimate, around 40-45 cubic ft of growing media, and the Promix bales expanded to about 7 cubic ft each. Top of the soil is about 3 inches from the top edge of the bed.

I know the added Stonington Blend is negligible, but I had it on hand and figured why not. I also have more compost on hand, and can readily get more if needed - the manufacturer rates it at 6-1-2, https://www.sunriseseafoodcompost.com/

What else do you think I should add? Is the Promix going to compress soon enough that I should add more now? I have access to just about anything, but that's part of the problem along with not being totally sure what I'm starting with

 

[Moose8810]

We had some worms delivered for the beds today, split 2k red wigglers and a couple hundred night crawlers between all the beds. Looking around buildasoil.com, I'm considering picking up a Coot's mix or two. Would going this route be okay, or should I piece it out in bulk? Any tips @Mañ'O'Green?

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

We had some worms delivered for the beds today, split 2k red wigglers and a couple hundred night crawlers between all the beds. Looking around buildasoil.com, I'm considering picking up a Coot's mix or two. Would going this route be okay, or should I piece it out in bulk? Any tips @Mañ'O'Green?

I have used several recipies for soil. The book I got started with the "double dig" method starts with testing the soil and adding organic amendments based on the results. You have to have some sort of starting point. The Build a Soil website has recipies that resemble what I used to do. I remember in the 80s I stopped using blood and bone meal due to a pathogen scare. I am sure that has been addressed by now. The thing is every method I used took at least a year before I could grow anything other than a cover crop. I hope your soil is not so "hot" you kill your worms?

When you said you got "local seafood compost" I envisioned you down at the docks shoveling a pile of ? into your truck . What you used is good stuff!

I would wait 3 or 4 months and send a good sample of soil to be tested and then make needed additions. Or look at a complete build a soil recipie and see if anything is missing from what you have added already.

The most important thing you can do now is make compost and lots of it. Adding 3 or 4 inches of compost every year is a good goal. The only thing I do not throw on the compost pile is meat and fat. It will compost but it stinks and attracts too many insects. It is good to piss on the pile. So when you have your buddies over for beer - pee away .

 

[Moose8810]

Thanks for your input @Mañ'O'Green , much appreciated! I'm not in a huge rush to get any autos out there this year - just cut down my indoor, hoping for at least a pound and half or so - just looking for what I need to do now to prep it for the future. I'll be sure to get a soil test done this fall and amend accordingly once we know what we're looking at.

I'm very curious to see how the current mix performs as the season progresses. We've planted peppers, tomatoes, melons, squash, zucchini, peas, beans, broccoli and cucumbers and they all appear to be loving life at the moment - hoping they continue without issue. I just want to make sure everything is as it should be before I start tossing expensive seeds out there.

We have friends who run a horse farm, and they're practically begging us to bring a truckload or two of manure over. We will be happy to indulge them later in the year when we prep the beds for winter, I'm planning on covering everything with a good thick layer after we're done harvesting everything this fall. After we mixed everything initially, we watered everything in well with a good dose of Recharge, then let them rest a few days before planting. Is there anything else microbial/fungal/otherwise that I should look into?

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Thanks for your input @Mañ'O'Green , much appreciated! I'm not in a huge rush to get any autos out there this year - just cut down my indoor, hoping for at least a pound and half or so - just looking for what I need to do now to prep it for the future. I'll be sure to get a soil test done this fall and amend accordingly once we know what we're looking at.

I'm very curious to see how the current mix performs as the season progresses. We've planted peppers, tomatoes, melons, squash, zucchini, peas, beans, broccoli and cucumbers and they all appear to be loving life at the moment - hoping they continue without issue. I just want to make sure everything is as it should be before I start tossing expensive seeds out there.

We have friends who run a horse farm, and they're practically begging us to bring a truckload or two of manure over. We will be happy to indulge them later in the year when we prep the beds for winter, I'm planning on covering everything with a good thick layer after we're done harvesting everything this fall. After we mixed everything initially, we watered everything in well with a good dose of Recharge, then let them rest a few days before planting. Is there anything else microbial/fungal/otherwise that I should look into?

Take all of the horse manure you can and start a massive compost pile now! The more time your compost has the better it will be. And you will need a lot of it. You are going to need about 40 cubic feet of compost every year. That means you need to start with 120 cubic feet (4.5 cubic yards) of material to start. It shrinks a lot. If you do not have a chipper/shredder it would be a great tool to have. I used to gather green material from any neighbors that don't use pesticides and bales of straw for brown material. You have to run it through the shredder a couple of times to get it small enough. Anything over 1/2" is too big and will not compost in one season. 120 cubic feet is a bin 5x5x5 feet and that is too big to work by hand. So make two bins 4x4x4 feet or 3 bins 3.5x3.5x3.5 feet. If you have a tractor with a bucket You can just use an open pile. Compost is a science project.