Hot Soil Mix? - Need Input

Whatup! I just mixed up some . . . it's called super soil now, I suppose? I've been studying up for a month straight now. My terminology is probably all off, so bare with me. First Grow

This is my mix. I think it's hot, but so am I. ZING! It's a mix mash of shit I've found at the 20 some box stores they have between my house and work, and some things I ordered.

Seriously though, I think it's hot on the ammendments. I may add some more straight promix.



18 parts Pro Mix Ultimate Organic - Menards had this, haven't found much on it, giving it a go.
6 parts EWC
10 parts Perlite
2 part Peat Moss (I felt it needed some extra . . . humus is the word?)
2/3 cup Lime - There's already some in the ProMix and I'm running brita filtered tapwater which still comes out at a php of about 8.

I had a quart mason jar laying around and all I wanted to fill was a 5 gallon bucket, so it worked out well. Came out to about 3 gallons or so unwetted.
Then, I think I may have gone a bit crazy on the ammendments.

1 cup BuffaLoam - Menards find. I dunno. Had Norwegian Seaweed. Some micro nutes. It's 1-1-1 so why not?
2/3 cup bone meal
1/3 cup Indonesian Guano (P)
1/3 All Purpose Guano
1 cup Mexican Guano (N)
2/3 cup Jamaican Guano(P some K. . . or is that the Indonesian? I put my shit away and I'm stoned.)

So I got the GO Box as kind of an emergency kit and nutes booster (I know I can make teas, but I just wanted some liquid nutes on hand for randomness that may come up, and I wanna take this crazy chemistry slow. Although maybe this is making this more complicated. I digress.)

Added straight to the soil mix the following all in tablespoons from the GO Box.

2 x Diamond Black
1 x Bio Marine
1 1/2 x Bio Weed
1 x Bio Root


So. Am I dooming myself before I even germinate in these rockwool cubes? Gonna let it cook for 2 weeks.

(I've got a grow box that I built that is bad ass. I may need to stick to carpentry.)

With all that cook for at least 6 weeks. Longer would be better

Let it cook longer? I'm taking a stab that it will keep it from getting a pocket of something that would burn the hell out of it? I think I see where you're coming from on that.

You turn the soil a couple times a week. If its hot. The longer it cooks, the more everything breaks down and becomes less hot.

Only way I'll know it's hot is trial and error?

Baby Cheesus said:

Only way I'll know it's hot is trial and error?

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Keep pile moist...DO NOT SATURATE!!! You could also throw in some of this in to speed things up, if you have rice.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG4M71vMbTs

you let the soil sit, or "cook" to allow the ammendments to break down and become bioavailable, they need time for bacteria and fungus to break them down. think of ammendments as your food, soil microbs as your digestive system, and the plant as your body. 2 weeks is not enough time. 4 weeks bare minimum, when I make soil I plan around it having to sit for 8 weeks before use

Baby Cheesus said:

Only way I'll know it's hot is trial and error?

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Pretty much, just like most of life.

Snag some kelp meal. Not enough K in any guano.

I'd add enough of the Pro Mix to make 5 gallons un wetted. It will get smaller when you wet it and it will tone the amendments down some. It's not overly hot, but it is spicey @ 3 gallons.

But, you do need more K and Kelp meal has so much more than just K. It's one of the VERY few things I order online since there is really no substitute for it.

Wet

Yeah I've been debating what to use for my potash. Noticed there wasn't much added with anything. I think I covered the micro nutes with them being in just about everything else I've put in so far. Straight up kelp meal is the best? I was already eyeing a bag at the brew and grow when I picked up the bone meal. Didn't grab it cause I wanted to research what is out there. They had some stuff labeled as straight potash and what not. I think there's some in the promix I got and the buffaloam, but I totally agree that it tastes like it needs more K. Oh, stick with adding some kelp meal because of the microbes it adds too? Like I said, I think I'm probably half educated in this.

I've got the mix cooking now, I'm probably gonna toss another 2 quarts of Pro Mix, and kelp meal. I think there's kelp or at least "Norwegian seawead" in the buffaloam and promix. Probably just 2/3 a cup to stick with my measurement system. By the way, if you're thinking to yourself "that's a pretty odd way of parting out your soil", I completely agree. I was high, it worked. Gonna do a buffer of pro mix around the rockwool cube when I'm ready to put it in the supersoil too. I've got .3 gallon air pots for a scrog or sog grow. (depends how many fems I get)

Then the box, where I've rigged up about a 26,000 lumen cfl fixture in a 2 square foot area. (kept under 400w)

Of course I have rice. Who the fuck doesn't have rice?

Kelp meal is full of potassium, little nitrogen, iron, calcium, zinc, magnanese, , amino acids, and a great nutrient accumulater.

I use just crab meal, kelp meal, sometimes neem meal, home made vermicompost in my mix.

I'm no expert on these matters, just been mixing my sh*t for a year now, I would be concerned at so much P, it can stunt your sh*t.

Less is more sometimes.

I’d add some perlite in there when it’s ready to use.

Be careful and try to achieve balance with your nutes.

Am a noob myself, but experience has taught me this- don't go too much on the nutes. You already have everything in your mix. Without air, nothing works. So keep your mix aerated before/after planting. Simple mixing will do much to the microbial flaura. Freshwater with plenty of oxygen should be added to the mix. Go for a moisture content of about 10% when cooking/composting (hope that's the same).

Proper composting means it will look even textured. While planting seeds add some green leaves as well. I don't know what's in those organic products you used. Check for any nitrogen fixing bacteria- Azotobactor, Rhizobium, Bacillus, Pseudomonas,Acetobacter etc. Do provide some trichoderma or Pseudomonas along with seeds/plant-lets while planting. Protects your roots from rot and other pathogenic microbes which will kill your roots and hence the plant. Giving foliar spray of Pseudomonas/bacillus will give your leaves much health for resisting diseases.

These are my inputs for you. If there has been any mistake, please do correct me.

Peace and Love,

Toker.

The way you describe it we don't even know exactly what the total volume of mix is... unless I missed something. What does one part equal?

You'll know that the mix is really "hot" if it is actually hot. Seriously the soil will heat up initially, you could stick your hand into it and feel the warmth. You could also use a thermometer.

The General Organics Bio-Weed is a kelp extract: it contains some soluble K, carbohydrates, vitamins, amino acids, and phytohormones. The directions call for 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per gallon of water, but you mixed 4.5 tsp directly into the soil? I doubt it was too much depending how much medium you prepared, but I too would recommend Kelp meal for mixing into the soil. The Bio-Weed is good for light applications later.

The Diamond-Black has a little bit of soluble K. Blackstrap molasses has a notable K content, you could use it each watering (1/2 to 1 tbsp per gal). There is also sulfate of potash, sulfate of potash magnesia, Excelerite and Azomite also have some soluble K, and greensand although it might not be very effective.

There are a few things with N-P-K and fertilizer labeling to consider: it is actually regulated by law, and most typically N-P-K is listed as Total Nitrogen, Available Phosphate (P[SUB]2[/SUB]O[SUB]5[/SUB]), Soluble Potash (K[SUB]2[/SUB]O). So, N is expressed as Total Elemental Nitrogen; it maybe further listed as water soluble\insoluble portions or alternatively listed as Ammoniacal Nitrogen\Nitrate Nitrogen. Phosphorous is expressed as the oxide equivalent of the amount of water soluble phosphorous, plus the amount of phosphorous which is citrate soluble. Finally, potassium is expressed as the oxide equivalent of its water soluble portion.

Other elements may be described as Total and/or Water Soluble or otherwise, but Total P and K contents typically are not described. Furthermore, these amounts listed in the guaranteed analysis typically reflect the minimum percentage of what is being described. Laws regarding fertilizer labeling requirements may vary between regions.

In a soil mix like this which is alive with microbial activity, nutrients are being converted between forms, retained in microbes, and elements made plant available which would otherwise not have been. Therefore, even though a nutrient isn't listed on the labels N-P-K doesn't necessarily indicate that it is entirely devoid of that nutrient.

Herb Man said:

I'm no expert on these matters, just been mixing my sh*t for a year now, I would be concerned at so much P, it can stunt your sh*t.

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Mycorrhizal fungi are also stunted by too much available phosphate... they are stimulated by lower soil concentrations of phosphate as they would much rather go seek P for the plant. Phosphate is an anion, so it isn't attracted by soil particles (cation exchange capacity), but instead it may react with other elements in the soil and form insoluble compounds (precipitate). Fungi can go after these compounds, including large organic complexes and break them down into plant usable forms.