Critique this Soil Mix Recipe

Go easy on me, but tell me what you think of the proportions in this soil mix recipe. For a 4 week veg and a 9 week flower in 4 gallon pots. i also have Fox Farm GB, TB, & BB at my disposal.
More or less of what?
32 Qts Hyponex Soil -Organic material and Primarily derived from hypnum Peat, Forest products or Compost, Sand and Perlite.
32 Qts New Era potting mix - 40% peat, 35% composted organic material, 20% vermiculite, 5% sand. This is very light like a starter mix.
15 lbs worm castings
4 Qts perlite
1 cup sand
1/2 cup lime
10 Tbls Blood meal
12 Tbls Bone meal
NO MIRACLE GROW

how does the mix feel when you dig your hands into it ?

robert 14617 said:

how does the mix feel when you dig your hands into it ?

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It just sticks together if compressed, but crumbles easily. I'm very happy with the consistancy as far as that goes. Its black, but its pretty light. I'm more concerned about the amount of lime and other additives. Thank you for your thoughts.

no perlite? I do prefer it airy as possible. Downside is will need water more often. But I usually go 1 week between watering when in 4 gal pails.

Of the lime is dolomite, shouldn't be much a prob.

Mix it up with 1/2 the lime and check the pH. If its low, add more lime.

oops. missed the perlite. even read it twice. my bad

I would do 8 quarts of perlite, that will give you a better mix. That hyponex stuff gets very hard and compact when it dries out and I don't think that the 4 quarts will cover for that. Add another 4 quarts of perlite and that soil mix is good to go. Are you planning on just feeding the plants water?

tom__420 said:

I would do 8 quarts of perlite, that will give you a better mix. That hyponex stuff gets very hard and compact when it dries out and I don't think that the 4 quarts will cover for that. Add another 4 quarts of perlite and that soil mix is good to go. Are you planning on just feeding the plants water?

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agreed, im using it sparingly all the time

BigBudBalls said:

no perlite? I do prefer it airy as possible. Downside is will need water more often. But I usually go 1 week between watering when in 4 gal pails.

Of the lime is dolomite, shouldn't be much a prob.

Mix it up with 1/2 the lime and check the pH. If its low, add more lime.

oops. missed the perlite. even read it twice. my bad

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Yes, fine dolomite

tom__420 said:

I would do 8 quarts of perlite, that will give you a better mix. That hyponex stuff gets very hard and compact when it dries out and I don't think that the 4 quarts will cover for that. Add another 4 quarts of perlite and that soil mix is good to go. Are you planning on just feeding the plants water?

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More perlite is a can do. I plan on feeding sparingly with FF and molasses(not at the same time).
Thank you both.

I use the FF trio, cal mag +, and molasses. My soil mix was 50/50 peat moss and perlite but now I have it at 75/25 peat moss/ perlite

I've been growing in this mix for over 11 weeks now. I though I'd update this to share what I've learned. Things are going very well so far.
Plants can be seen here > https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/224420-adventures-grow-addict.html
But I am going to make some changes to this mix for next time.
First of all, because I only vegged for 4 weeks, this mix is a little too rich in N at the start of flower. my plants stretched more than i would have liked (after switching to 12/12) and it seemed like they were a little slow to get into flowering mode.
So I decided to make another mix that would be better for flowering. My plan being to veg in the first mix, and then transplant into the new mix for flowering. The flowering mix i made is exactly the same except...I left out the blood meal, and replaced it with Happy Frog Bat guano (0-5-0). And I'm also thinking about adding some Greensand for the K and micros. I'm still soliciting opinions on that stuff.
I did have to water once with epsom salts. I though I might of been having a Mg or calcium def starting about 2-3 weeks into flower. And for the record I have also been adding FF Organic Big Bloom (0.01-.3-.7). And the 1st 6 plants through the door also received a nice shot of molasses. lol
So...About the changes....
My Ph seems to be hovering right around 7. Which obviously is a little too high. It hasn't caused any problems but I'm going to reduce the lime from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup. Also I'm going to cut the blood meal in half. There is no doubt PLENTY of N in this mix so I'm going to cut back a little.
I have one plant (sativa dominant hybrid?) thats telling me that the flowering mix is too rich as well. So im going to cut the amount of bone meal in half on that one and see if thats better. Also, if i continue to use the hyponex soil (I probably won't) I'll skip the cup of sand because the Hypo soil has plenty of sand in it already.
So...yeah its a pretty good mix. If anything its just a little rich.
I really dig it! (pun intended)

heres one little thing for everyone around here thats chemicaly ignorant. you guys realy gota learn some fucking chemistry, it pisses me off whenever i see dolomite lime in the indoor mix.

your using dolomite lime, are you prepaired to leave the soil mix outside for a month or 6? if not, its not active and when you add nitrogen to lime you get amonia nitrate + random other chemicals.

from grasscity

Using Lime Indoors- Most indoor growers mix a batch of soil shortly before they intend to use it. Keep in mind that Pulverized Dolomite Lime takes at least 6 months to become fully effective. If you’re good at planning ahead then it’s ok- mix the soil and let it ‘cook’ or sit while it’s still slightly moist. It’s best to mix lime with your soil well before you even order the seeds! If you lack this type of foresight, you are better off using a commercial Cal/Mag preparation like Botanicare Cal/Mag Plus 2-0-0 at 3-10 ml per gallon of water depending on plant size and strain. Most nutrient solutions have some form of soluble lime already in the mix- it’s cheap and it works well- take this into consideration when adding Cal/Mag. These solutions are expensive compared to Pulverized Dolomite Lime and the nitrogen contained in them could potentially burn your plants or create a ‘harsh smoke’ if used late into flower… And they don’t do a damn thing for pH which must be monitored closely.

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If you’re good at planning ahead then it’s ok- mix the soil and let it ‘cook’ or sit while it’s still slightly moist. It’s best to mix lime with your soil well before you even order the seeds! If you lack this type of foresight, you are better off using a commercial Cal/Mag preparation like Botanicare Cal/Mag

Corbat420 said:

heres one little thing for everyone around here thats chemicaly ignorant. you guys realy gota learn some fucking chemistry, it pisses me off whenever i see dolomite lime in the indoor mix.

your using dolomite lime, are you prepaired to leave the soil mix outside for a month or 6? if not, its not active and when you add nitrogen to lime you get amonia nitrate + random other chemicals.

from grasscity


If you’re good at planning ahead then it’s ok- mix the soil and let it ‘cook’ or sit while it’s still slightly moist. It’s best to mix lime with your soil well before you even order the seeds! If you lack this type of foresight, you are better off using a commercial Cal/Mag preparation like Botanicare Cal/Mag

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I use to have PH problems. My ph was way to low by the end of a grow and I was getting nute lockout. Now I use lime and I dont have these problems. My ph stays just below 7. Thats why I use lime. Besides the micros and trace elements that it adds. I'm certainly not going to stop using it simply because it pisses off a total fucking asshole such as yourself. if you want to help someone, help them. Dont get pissed off calling people ignorant and telling them what THEY "gotta" do so that YOU'RE not pissed off.
Believe me, I'm pretty pissed off at a lot of things that you are ignorant about too. Like kindness and respect, and a hell of a lot more.

itsgrowinglikeaweed said:

I use to have PH problems. My ph was way to low by the end of a grow and I was getting nute lockout. Now I use lime and I dont have these problems. My ph stays just below 7. Thats why I use lime. Besides the micros and trace elements that it adds. I'm certainly not going to stop using it simply because it pisses off a total fucking asshole such as yourself. if you want to help someone, help them. Dont get pissed off calling people ignorant and telling them what THEY "gotta" do so that YOU'RE not pissed off.
Believe me, I'm pretty pissed off at a lot of things that you are ignorant about too. Like kindness and respect, and a hell of a lot more.

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i diden't say stop using it, i showed you how you need to leave it outside for 6 months or it turns your nice little soil mix to amonia (which has a PH of 6.5, water your plants with amonia..........that will "fix" your PH problem......) so ethier leave it outside for 6 months or have amonia spiked buds, thats your choice............


BTW if you ever smoked actual clean, pure good weed youd know that 90% of people fuck it up by using dolimote lime wrong...........

Corbat420 said:

heres one little thing for everyone around here thats chemicaly ignorant. you guys realy gota learn some fucking chemistry, it pisses me off whenever i see dolomite lime in the indoor mix.

your using dolomite lime, are you prepaired to leave the soil mix outside for a month or 6? if not, its not active and when you add nitrogen to lime you get amonia nitrate + random other chemicals.

from grasscity


If you’re good at planning ahead then it’s ok- mix the soil and let it ‘cook’ or sit while it’s still slightly moist. It’s best to mix lime with your soil well before you even order the seeds! If you lack this type of foresight, you are better off using a commercial Cal/Mag preparation like Botanicare Cal/Mag

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Although i do appreciate this unknown information, you dont need to be such a prick about it. It pisses me off seeing pricks like you who feel superior to other growers and instead of kindly sharing your information you try your best to make others feel stupid. Has it ever occurred to you that people are making these soil mixes because they dont want to deal with all the chemistry and measurements invovled in hydro. Try not to be such a douchebag and it seems to me (correct me if im wrong) but you yourself had no knowledge of the chemistry involved with Dolomite Lime until you read it on GrassCity. So essentially you are just spitting up info that you have heard from someone else who actually is far more knowledgable than yourself. All im trying to get at is people are on here for friendly advice not for pricks like you to put them down and make them feel stupid, especially when it seems your were also one of those chemically ignorant people aswell.