What To Amend Outdooor Soil With?

[TheTrippyHippie]

Hello folks, starting to plan out my grow for this season carefully. I live up in the Tri-State area and will have two 5 plant plots this summer. I'm not going to be using pots I plan to transplant my babies directly into the ground after hardening them off/starting them indoors.

My question to you is what kind of organic matter should I buy to amend the soil that i dug up for the hole? I know the soil wont be super rich here so what should I add to make it a good quality soil? I have a idea on some things i'll purchase like..

Dolomite Lime (Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphorus (increased microbe development))
Worm Castings (Phosphorus, Potash & Nitrogen and Ca+Mg)

what else would I need to provide my plants you think??/

 

[redeyedfrog]

Start with poo! Any kind of poo, cow, chicken, sheep.
Composting material is always good, blood n bone, fish emulsion,seaweed, and some kinda medium for drainage, pearlite, vermiculite.theres a bunch of other stuff you can use as well and there's somr threads on organic soils here. Always lets your soil preparation sit and cook at least 3-4 weeksto begin to break down so it's not too hot.

 

[TheTrippyHippie]

Start with poo! Any kind of poo, cow, chicken, sheep.
Composting material is always good, blood n bone, fish emulsion,seaweed, and some kinda medium for drainage, pearlite, vermiculite.theres a bunch of other stuff you can use as well and there's somr threads on organic soils here. Always lets your soil preparation sit and cook at least 3-4 weeksto begin to break down so it's not too hot.

Thanks for the advice. I have been really looking into fish emulation and fish scraps to amend my plot. And I agree about letting it settle so it's not so hot. I will probably amend my garden soil around April while I start my seedlings off indoors.

 

[northeastmarco]

Fish emulsion and scraps are good but expect animals to come and check out and dig around your plots.

 

[TheTrippyHippie]

Fish emulsion and scraps are good but expect animals to come and check out and dig around your plots.

Yes, this would be a huge problem where I am. Thanks for stepping in with the advice. Rodents and Coons would be a issue for sure.

 

[northeastmarco]

Yes, this would be a huge problem where I am. Thanks for stepping in with the advice. Rodents and Coons would be a issue for sure.

The emulsion would be better than scraps.maybe you could put some chicken wire over hole with tent stakes to make it harder for them to dig.you will need wire anyway for deer ,right

 

[redeyedfrog]

Yeah just don't go too heavy. I'd start popping seeds indoors March for a April planting. Unless last frost is later.

 

[TheTrippyHippie]

Yeah just don't go too heavy. I'd start popping seeds indoors March for a April planting. Unless last frost is later.

Here where I am at we can expect a frost up until May 7th. So i'll probably germinate April 5th and plant in solo cups on the 7th and keep em indoors until May.

The emulsion would be better than scraps.maybe you could put some chicken wire over hole with tent stakes to make it harder for them to dig.you will need wire anyway for deer ,right

And I will not have a fence, It would be ideal but there is no way for me to transport the fence without looking like a sketch ball. I have some homeade remedies using chili powder and even some store bough repellents. I'm planting pretty heavy so I am willing to lose a couple.

 

[northeastmarco]

Here where I am at we can expect a frost up until May 7th. So i'll probably germinate April 5th and plant in solo cups on the 7th and keep em indoors until May.



And I will not have a fence, It would be ideal but there is no way for me to transport the fence without looking like a sketch ball. I have some homeade remedies using chili powder and even some store bough repellents. I'm planting pretty heavy so I am willing to lose a couple.

Backpack

 

[TheTrippyHippie]

I may end up going with Bat Guano instead of the Fish Emulsion for the fact that predators may be a risk. Also the naturally occurring ratio is a bit higher for Bat Guano in most products.

And probably Kelp Meal as a Potash soil supplement.

 

[*BUDS]

Backpack

I agree but make sure its a real backpack and load it up.

Not the little ones some growers use -

 

[*BUDS]

Make sure you use plenty of garden lime when using organic ferts. Also water crystals, mulch and osmocote 3-4 month.

 

[topcat]

You might want to take the "veganics"(Organics section) route to avoid animals.

 

[calicocalyx]

SInce you're hiking it in, I would go with adding perlite to break up the heavy soil, dry guanos (avoiding scavengers digging) and lime to amend with maybe fish bone meal in the bottom of the hole for flowering, and maybe something for moisture retention, depending on soil structure.

 

[doublejj]

You might look around for a local rabbit farm, they produce a perfect organic fertilizer.......
http://www.penrynrabbitfarm.com/organic-fertilizer.html

 

[churchhaze]

Avoid predator shit, and stick to vegetarian shit, like chicken or worm.

Composted lawn clippings is also great, but many other types of leaves are prone to the same types of pests weed gets, so I just throw those out.. Wood ash will add potassium and balance the acidity of the shits..

 

[getawaymountain]

Yes, this would be a huge problem where I am. Thanks for stepping in with the advice. Rodents and Coons would be a issue for sure.

anything with fish and blood meal will get dug up in most places outside as i have found out the hard way and coons are usually the culprit here

 

[oldtimer54]

anything with fish and blood meal will get dug up in most places outside as i have found out the hard way and coons are usually the culprit here

I concur with getaway about the blood& bonemeal I'd stay away from those products...I'd also try and incorporate the native soil with any amendments you're planning on adding.....the more u do early on will just make it easier on you.....don't wait till the last minute to start preparing......make sure there is nothing overhead that can fall on your crop...also make sure their not in a low lying area where water can flood them in a rain. Choose your spots wisely ....any questions u may have we can discuss just PM me....good luck to you my friend .

 

[nomofatum]

Depends on what the soil looks like. Do you need to add air and drainage?

I would bring a bag of powdered nutes (maxigrow/maxibloom/jr peters) to enrich, and if needed a bag of perlite to add aeration/drainage.

 

[TheTrippyHippie]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I'm definitely going the veg organic route due to the predator issue here in the pines. I also have a decent amount of time to find and prepare my plot and will be posting pictures once I come across a good spot.