Custom soil recipe with local sources, what do you think ?

J

juansensor

Active Member
Hi guys!

I'm trying to create my own soil recipe with the amendments I can source locally. I based my mix on the famous BuildASoil basic recipe.

This is the recipe for 1 cubic foot:

Base soil:
- 2/3 used soil (used BioBizz light mix so 33.3% peat, 33.3% compost, 33.3% perlite)
- 1/3 worm castings (80%) + biochar (20%)

Amendment:
- ½ cup alfalfa pellets (2.5 – 0.5 – 2.5)
- ½ cup malt sprout pellets (4 – 1 – 6)
- ½ cup neem cake (4 – 3 – 2)
- ½ cup kelp meal (1 – 0 – 1.5)

Minerals/ soil conditioner:
- 2 tbsp humic- fulvic acids (1 – 0.2 – 0.3)
- 1 cup lava rock (0 – 1 – 2.7)
- 1 cup bentonite (0 – 0 – 0.5)
- ½ cup gypsum
- 2 tbsp epsom salt

One thing: as I'm going to water with tap water (no chlor in it) that contains 90 ppm Ca, I decided to cut the gypsum dose from 1 cup to 1/2 cup.

I'm just curious about what you guys think about it ? :-)

Cheers
 
I could get some blood and bone meal but I prefer not to for ethical reason.
I do have some high P bat guano which I wanted to keep for a top dress for flower.

Do you think the mix might run low on calcium ? Thought the gypsum + tap water would cover that.
 
Depends on how long you are keeping the soil I suppose..

The soil I make is for long term beds, they need amended every year with organic matter..

I can understand ethical reasons for not wanting bone and blood meal but maybe look for alternatives for these as they do add a nice kick to your soil.

Also what type of alfalfa pellets are you using?

I got mine from a local feed store, like a 50lb bag for cheap.. I use more then 1/2 of a cup of these pellets but with the amount of soil I mix up I didnt really measure.. It was around a gallon ziplock bag full of pellets per bed. I think this could be user adjusted really..
 
Playk328 said:
Depends on how long you are keeping the soil I suppose..

The soil I make is for long term beds, they need amended every year with organic matter..

I can understand ethical reasons for not wanting bone and blood meal but maybe look for alternatives for these as they do add a nice kick to your soil.

Also what type of alfalfa pellets are you using?

I got mine from a local feed store, like a 50lb bag for cheap.. I use more then 1/2 of a cup of these pellets but with
Click to expand...
gotta agree. I've had limited long term success using only neem/kelp/alfalfa and coconut meal based mixes in the past without any heavier amendments such as blood/bone meal. I always have to top dress more than id like, and timing (or my lack of) becomes critical. I always seem to end up with N issues if I leave out the blood/bone, buts that's probably more on me due to shit schedules.
 
As far as gypsum and calcium, it's a good source and I also added it to my soil, but I did add other things that will break down later, such as greensand and eggshell powder, it takes a long time for greensand and eggshell powder to break down and be readily available.
 
Neem at 4-3-2 is interesting. I wish I had the tools to measure nutrient content myself. The neem meal I use states 6-1-4, and use it as a base for pest and nutes. It would be great if I could verify it having more P.
 
If I remember right Kyle Kushman has a vegan style as well, I don't know what he uses but it's suppose to be animal free if I remember right.
 
Another additive if its an option for you would be some food grade DE, this is also a good additive for pests and some extra silica :)
 
But overall you should have a good base mix, the rest is additives that will help for long term uses..

I kind of cheat a bit, I use Gaia Green for all those amendments..

I pre mix the pellets, composts, manures, perlite, pro mix hp, epsom salt, gypsum, eggshell powder, bat guano, castings, bunny poop "dont slack on the bunny poop, this is real good stuff".. Then when Ive pre mixed that I add in the Gaia 4-4-4 and 2-8-4.. Mix it all up..

And this years results are speaking for themselves :) Next year these inground beds will be even better..
20220816_113329.jpg
 
I'd mix up a very small test batch. I think the 30% ewc is overkill and will turn it into mush. If you add more ewc I'd also add more aeration. Mix the test batch and water it and see for yourself if it holds too much water.
 
I also use those in my compost piles as well, I go through a few bags of these pellets, luckily they are not that expensive.
 
Playk328 said:
Depends on how long you are keeping the soil I suppose..

The soil I make is for long term beds, they need amended every year with organic matter..

I can understand ethical reasons for not wanting bone and blood meal but maybe look for alternatives for these as they do add a nice kick to your soil.

Also what type of alfalfa pellets are you using?

I got mine from a local feed store, like a 50lb bag for cheap.. I use more then 1/2 of a cup of these pellets but with the amount of soil I mix up I didnt really measure.. It was around a gallon ziplock bag full of pellets per bed. I think this could be user adjusted really..
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the inputs guys

Bone and blood meal are fast release right ?
It is true that my mix only contains slow release stuff and that makes me worried.

The recipe is not meant to last the whole grow. I was planning to do this base mix and then top dress with bat guano (1 - 10 -1), malt sprout vinasse, kelp.. during the flower stretch.

Another thing is magnesium. In many recipe I see a lot of calcium rich ingredient but nothing for magnesium.
I can't understand how they don't run into issue regarding ca:mg ratio.
 
Rurumo said:
I'd mix up a very small test batch. I think the 30% ewc is overkill and will turn it into mush. If you add more ewc I'd also add more aeration. Mix the test batch and water it and see for yourself if it holds too much water.
Click to expand...

That's true I might go down to 15-20% first and then see if it's enough.
 
VincenzioVonHook said:
gotta agree. I've had limited long term success using only neem/kelp/alfalfa and coconut meal based mixes in the past without any heavier amendments such as blood/bone meal. I always have to top dress more than id like, and timing (or my lack of) becomes critical. I always seem to end up with N issues if I leave out the blood/bone, buts that's probably more on me due to shit schedules.
Click to expand...

May I ask how often you think you should be top dressing ?
 
Bone meal takes longer to break down then blood

Greensand and Bat Guano both have traces of magnesium if that is a concern, espom salts as well. Several things have traces of magnesium.
 
juansensor said:
May I ask how often you think you should be top dressing ?
Click to expand...
Depends on the ratios you pre mix with..

Example would be like a Subcool "Supersoil" mix compared to a Gaia Green amended soil.. With Supersoil the topdressing is far less but the soil is far hotter. Gaia I top dress once a month or so..
 
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