Trying my first too soil mix

[Dirt Weed]

Good morning fellow AFn'er. I joined a little while ago and have been reading everything I could on organic growing. I have decided to try L3V3R'R soil mix however I currently don't have my own compost. Instead of compost I used Roots Orgainc at 1.5 cf bag mixed with 1 cf bag of mushroom compost and about .75 cf of peat moss as the base, everything else is the same and I guessed at the amount of crushed oyster shells, the recipe called for one bag but the bag I got was a 50 pound bag and I thought that might be too much, so I weighed in 7 pounds.

the question I have is "did I change enough to cause the mix to be out of balance nod if so what would I need to do to correct it"?

right now I'm waiting on the water to dechlorinate to finish the mis and start the cook off.

any help would be greatly appreciated...
again thank you in advance...

 

[A4]

Being that oyster shell takes time to break down you haven't done anything to throw the mix out of balance. Had you dumped extra gypsum or lime in there that would be different as they are both relatively quick acting, compared to oyster shell anyways.

If you have the money and availability I would make a earthworm casting tea to start the mix off with. That really gives it a good jump start with the microbes. Very simply, 1 cup earthworm castings in a 5 gallon bucket and bubble it for 24 hours.

 

[Dirt Weed]

Being that oyster shell takes time to break down you haven't done anything to throw the mix out of balance. Had you dumped extra gypsum or lime in there that would be different as they are both relatively quick acting, compared to oyster shell anyways.

If you have the money and availability I would make a earthworm casting tea to start the mix off with. That really gives it a good jump start with the microbes. Very simply, 1 cup earthworm castings in a 5 gallon bucket and bubble it for 24 hours.

Thank you you for the quick response and I'll need to get some more EWC. Glad to hear that I didn't screw things up already. So instead of just adding water to moisten to start the cook

 

[A4]

Your welcome! Yes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using plain water to start the mix with but you will get it off to a faster start using EWC, glad to see you know the acronym as well. The more diversity of microbes you can get into your mix, the better. I like to use a gallon of my garden soil and a gallon of forest soil, something from around a good decomposing tree but that is all just add ons and not necessarily needed.

 

[Dirt Weed]

I was planning on using the mix as a tea after it was done, would it be advisable to use it as a tea now or just use the EWC to start off with. Also is there a section that teaches us how to build a balanced mix or how we amend to achieve a balanced mix or is it simply by experience and asking question from the experts?

 

[A4]

I am not too sure what mix you are asking in the first part of your paragraph. Could you ask that question in more detail? The way I read it, you were going to set aside some of your soil mixture to use as a tea throughout the grow? If so, that is perfectly acceptable though if your mix is up to snuff you shouldn't need that much nutrients throughout the grow which I suppose leads to your next question. How do you know when your mix is good? That is nearly impossible to do in all honesty. There are too many variables including your plants. What may work well for one plant may not work so well for the next.

I have been working on a base mix for seven or eight months now. It is extremely time consuming to do right and as each mix had progressed I send a sample off to be tested so I know exactly what the nutrient availability is. That being said, I can give you my exact recipe and if you mixed it and sent it off it make be completely different. Why? Because the local ingredients you have may not(and probably won't) be the same as I am using. So my local bone meal, kelp meal or alfalfa will probably not contain the same breakdown as yours so it is always going to be off some. So my recommendation if you are interested in growing long term with minimal hassle would be to choose a soil recipe that you feel comfortable with, make sure you can get all of the ingredients local, mix it, and have it tested. Once you have a baseline to start with, on your next batch add the amendments needed according to what your soil test said and mix it again. Send that off for testing, by the second one you should be pretty close to perfect on your base. You may have to send it one more time but may not. Once you have the soil tested and you are sure it is within the parameters you are looking for then you can begin making it every time consistently. Then you can begin seeing how each plant reacts to it, some you may have to add more N to it or Mg to it, some it may be too hot for. So, you can begin taking notes and knowing how to adjust your mix according to plant type.

That is my system, hopefully it answers some of what you were asking. Best of luck, and I am always available via PM should you have any in depth questions you would like answered.

 

[Dirt Weed]

Yes Sir you nailed it. As far as soil testing is concerned, how would one approach that? Not saying that I will do that in the near future but having the resource available should be a good thing.

Once again a "Big Thank You" for your advise and guidance...

 

[A4]

Good deal. Glad I was able to help.

So, the deal with testing. It is nothing out of the ordinary for farmers to test their soil at the end of every season so they know exactly what needs to be added for the following season. They take a few samples, send it off to be tested, the lab replies back within a week and lets them know exactly how much N, P, K, Mg, Ca, basically everything that needs to be added to the soil. This is where us organic pot farmers have dropped the ball really. We have listened to a bunch of sales pitches about needing to buy "organic" nutrients in bottles or that we need to purchase some "special" mineral mixture from the Rev or someone else pushing their wares on us when in all actuality cannabis is a crop just like any other. We can ammend it the same as we do tomatoes, etc, etc without spending an arm and a leg on a bunch of overhyped BS.

Let me come down from my soap box and say, you don't need all of that stuff. There are labs all over the country that tests soil for gardeners and farmers. The people I use is Logan Labs in Ohio. They come highly recommended among all types of organic farmers and really do a wonderful job at a cheap($30) price. So for the cost of a bag of soil you can have your own tested and know exactly what you need to add to it to make it perfect! Whoever you choose, make sure they use a saturated paste test and not an acid test. There are quite a lot of labs still using an older acid test that has been shown not as reliable as a saturated paste test.

 

[Dirt Weed]

Fantastic... I will do the research locally and find a lab to do the testing.

The information you have provided is priceless and I am really glad that I was directed to this site/forum.

I fear my knowledge has out grown my experience by researching soils thru this site, so I think it's time to get dirty and see what I can grow and how well I can grow it. One day you may consider writing a book, and if you do, I want to be first on the list to purchase a signed copy if possible....

 

[Dirt Weed]

Okay peeps got a question. While the soil is "cooking" will it increase in temperature like a compost pile, mine really hasn't done that yet, slightly warm at best. The weather here has been unseasonably cool for the last month and has been raining for the last 4 days, today I uncovered the tumbler for more air. I I started the cook off with a EWC tea brewed with zero water in a 5 gallon bucket for 24 hours as recommended.
just curious as I don't want to waste 6 weeks if it hasn't even started cooking like it's supposed too.

again any help is greatly appreciated.