Mixing a basic all purpose organic soil; feedback wanted/welcome

[TimeTraveler]

Alright, got everything planted up proper! I'm super excited to see what happens over the next few months.

Got some peppers (sweet and hot), lettuces, radishes, beans, herbs (a variety of cooking ones), strawberries, and tomatoes. Very very excited to see how they respond to the soil. I've also got a few gallons left for marijuana cultivation after my current grow is done.

 

[TimeTraveler]

Not even a week later and there's sprouts a plenty! It's looking great so far! I may have to be more picky next time I sow seeds; I didn't feel like gently germing and tending to each and every one (gardening seeds like these are WAY cheaper than pot ones, obviously), so I just sowed handfuls here and there, figuring "at least enough must surely survive for me to get a proper harvest).

Either the soil or the seeds were better than expected, because if I didn't know better I'd swear that ALL of them had germed! Sprouts are all over the place! I'm very excited that this looks to be working. I've never had success growing anything before, but I used to always rely on the lazy method of using miracle-gro and store bought ferts. Seems like that's the hard way, in hindsight.

 

[TimeTraveler]

Things are looking good already in the garden! Here's some of the first peppers growing already:

A shot of the tomatoes sprouting (I'll need to start thinning them out soon, as you can see I wasn't kidding when I said practically every seed thrived in the soil):

Lastly, another pleasant sight has been all the new visitors to my garden. It doesn't take long for the natural world to notice a new source of healthy plant growth. Numerous insects have been coming to pollinate my flowers (though I'm heading out to get some neem oil today to handle other less welcome visitors). Today while tending to it in the morning, I spotted this fearless flier:

I was practically able to poke it, I was so close, but no concern on its end; it had flowers to check out.

Very exciting, and very encouraging. It's working so well on my first try, and I've never had this kind of success even this early in the grow using MiracleGro and similar products. I'm definitely sold on organics.

 

[swampman]

Hows Everythng going so far

 

[TimeTraveler]

Hey, been busy with the real world, but thanks for asking!

So far so good; everything is thriving (got the first few radishes and peppers in, and man were they good!). It's been nice having a steady stream of fresh herbs for cooking, and everything tastes really good so far.

I've been having some problems with yields; I'm thinking there aren't enough pollinators in the area, because my squash plant has been flowering for nearly a month now and hasn't yielded a single one; same with my cucumbers.

The peppers are doing well though; more grow every day. The only downside is fresh, organic life like this slowly builds into a mini ecosystem. The plants attracted butterflies and moths, which brought spiders all over my garden. Next to arrive have been wasps; I've had to drive off five yellowjacket nests in under a month!

 

[Dirt Weed]

I can't seam to keep the varmints from eating my maters, peppers and beans. They ate all three jalapeño plants straight to the ground and the Serrano's they are just eating the leaves. Now my maters they eat just as they start to ripen and the beans they have destroyed, haven't had a single one yet. Real funny how the veggies loved the soil mix but MMJ didn't

Just another learning experience

 

[TimeTraveler]

I planted a mix of seeds and small plants from nurseries, and I'm really impressed that there wasn't any real nute burn on anything (although to be blunt, I'm not babysitting my garden like my weed, but I'm sure you all understand).

Neem oil and the locals seem to be doing a good enough job of keeping away the pests. I had a chile pepper plant and a gypsy pepper plant that lost a few branches thanks to aggressive foragers, but they're mostly recovered. There's a couple small gypsy peppers there now, and the chile plant is putting out new flowers. Exciting times!

Here's a few pics from the garden to show off its health. Firstly, the pattypan squash:

Gotta love those big ol' squash flowers, yeah!? I must say, that squash right there...without something to show scale, the picture doesn't do it justice. I've cooked with those a lot in my life, and this monster is easily twice as big as the ones I've bought in the past. Impressive!

The baby red pepper plant is coming along nicely:

I picked that lovely beauty in the foreground this morning after snapping the picture, but there's more coming. The yellow gave all her fruit up a couple days ago, but as you can see:

She's already putting out more!

 

[Eyes on Fire]

Yuuup!! there it is!!LOL!great job! pretty easy eh?!! a little reading sure ,but super simple and the best way to eat n smoke imo. soo much better.LEAGUES BETTER than your average mater or bud LOL! trust me.

 

[guerilla]

And it just gits better an easier from here....instead of slowly poisoning yer soil each year ua make it better.on the fall plant n fixing cover plants. Pick up seed mix at garden store.. cheap easy an great for n

 

[The Elvis]

That's a rock in garden TT..!