40% perlite in the mix is definitely the best IMO. Unless we have EWC that is of the highest quality, we need 40% perlite because not only will the peat "brick up" on you as you pointed out but this same thing will happen with most composts you see on the market.
I love the Peat from hardware stores, $17 for 3.7cuft that expands to ~7.5cuft. Can't beat it. But are you sure that's where you're getting spider mites from? Spider mites feed off of foliage, so I don't see how they could sustain themselves in peat moss unless there is foliage/plant matter involved. Do you sterilize your grow/equipment after every run?
Amend your soil with Neem/Karanja Meal, and top dress with it weekly. For whatever pests that doesn't kill off, the habanero spray has been tried and true for me. Can be used up to the last 48 hours of flower, will not hurt your plants at all. Only down side is you need to apply it 1-2 times a day.
Dr. Earth is good shit, can't say enough good things about their product. I've only switched to something else because my hardware store has 12lb bags of G&M for $17 and the price can't be beat.
As far as I can tell, you're literally doing everything right and it shows.
Just something to consider about the "excess" nitrogen. This is only an issue if you don't have enough Phosphorus in your soil mix/top dresses.
Think of your soil as a pantry, and your plant as a person. The pantry is full of nitrogen, phosphorus, etc. Just because your pantry is full of nitrogen doesn't mean you'll always eat nitrogen. The nitrogen will be bonded to the peat moss via the cation exchange capacity, and will only be used when the microbes see fit. Unless your plant's roots signal to the microbes it needs nitrogen, it won't get nitrogen unless it is made readily available and not bonded to the peat moss itself.
Hope you keep posting. There aren't enough threads like this on here anymore and I feel like this will be helpful for a lot of people.
I personally think that the first round or two it wouldn't matter since your trying to build a diverse soil and getting nutrients into your soil but after that I fell like it should be talored accordingly. Since you have the same ideas as me you should focus on nitrogen fixer less than the people who do full cycles in it. With flower you need nitrogen for the transition into flowering and maybe the first 3 weeks of flowering. If you compost all the Green material that is grown from that soil it becomes a close loop. By the third cycle your inputs should be low and definitely by the forth you should be able to do a run with only shade leaves. It's just a theory thought but I'm documenting the results.
One must top dress religiously. Composting all of the green material will bring a plethora of life/microbes into the no-till, but it will
not provide sufficient nutrition to the plants. Top dressing with amendments is something we must stay on top of consistently throughout every grow in a no-till, and on a weekly basis. You tailor the top dress amendments depending on whether the plant is in veg or flower, but one most stay on top of the top dress or there will be no food in the soil to feed the microbes that populate it.
So, with that blessings comes new challenges. I only received 300 red wigglers instead of 1,200. So I could order more but the overnight shipping because of the worms is kinda hard for me to swallow. The shipping is more than the worms. So since it's only 1/3 of the worms I have to learn about getting them to multiply rather quickly. Just so happens yesterday I became obsessed with learning the avacado tech by Blu. I heard of it but never really gave it any thoughts until yesterday. After hours and hours of researching, I understand it to the point, I have confidence in doing it. It's so simple after accepting a new way of thinking . The concert is split a avacado, separate the husk from the meat, mash or puree the meat with amendments and or what ever else you want. Refill the shell with the mash and place it face down. That's it. But your worms will compost the mash and reproduce. When you have a large population of worms your can use cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin for the shell essentially. You still do the same process with the fruit meat and mash or puree it with amendments and what not. And refill the shell and place it first down.
Add OSF to the mix and you'll see even greater results. Worms have gizzards, and as such need grit in order to actually process food. By blending the food up, you eliminate the need for the worms to require grit to actually eat the food. If you do all of what you said above, and then sprinkle Oyster Shell Flour on top of everything that you blend up you'll experience even greater results. Especially if you add Neem/Karanja Meal to the equation. Worms love that shit.
