I need to triple my old neglected soil mix.......

What my fellow organic riu homies! Hope all is well with all of yall!!! So I am finishing up my first grow(day 50 today!!!!) and getting things together for my next. I made a some mistakes the first time(poor aeration) that I hope not make this time. So this is going to take a min so bear with me.

So i have whats left of my first soil run. Im thinking maybe 30 gallons. I need to turn this into about 80 gallons. my first mix consisted of:

33% compost and ewc
33% perlite
33%roots organic
oyster shell biochar fish bone crab alfalfa neem kelp meals(all Down To Earth products) azomite soft rock phosphate.

I dont want to use the roots organic, azomite, perlite, or srp this time. I would like to add lil bokashi, better minerals(basalt and gypsum), locally sourced EWC/inoculated and charged biochar/vermicompost. However im not sure how i should do this. I dont remember the exact amounts of stuff i used. i dont know how much of what to add esp being that i have 30 gallons of my old mix to add to..... Any help would be greatly appreciated (esp GreaseMonkeyMan!!!) BTW my old soil mix dried out a little bit. i have added some water and moistened it a little bit. Thanx folks. I really appreciate yall esp my organic buddies. PEACE!

FamMan said:

What my fellow organic riu homies! Hope all is well with all of yall!!! So I am finishing up my first grow(day 50 today!!!!) and getting things together for my next. I made a some mistakes the first time(poor aeration) that I hope not make this time. So this is going to take a min so bear with me.

So i have whats left of my first soil run. Im thinking maybe 30 gallons. I need to turn this into about 80 gallons. my first mix consisted of:

33% compost and ewc
33% perlite
33%roots organic
oyster shell biochar fish bone crab alfalfa neem kelp meals(all Down To Earth products) azomite soft rock phosphate.

I dont want to use the roots organic, azomite, perlite, or srp this time. I would like to add lil bokashi, better minerals(basalt and gypsum), locally sourced EWC/inoculated and charged biochar/vermicompost. However im not sure how i should do this. I dont remember the exact amounts of stuff i used. i dont know how much of what to add esp being that i have 30 gallons of my old mix to add to..... Any help would be greatly appreciated (esp GreaseMonkeyMan!!!) BTW my old soil mix dried out a little bit. i have added some water and moistened it a little bit. Thanx folks. I really appreciate yall esp my organic buddies. PEACE!

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Hows it going man?
Congrats on your first soil run.
So you need 50 gallons of soil.
that's about 8 cubic feet of soil.

One thing to remember, most of those nutrients that you have in your old soil are probably still there, meaning it's not going to be an inert soil, in fact often times the way organic built soils work the second and third runs are better than the first.
Unless the containers were small, then they might be almost used up.

I'd go with
15% ewc--- 7.5 gallons
20% compost---10 gallons
35% aeration--17.5 gallons
30% peat or coco---15 gallons

Biochar is good, but you can overdo it, it does affect the ph, especially if it's not rinsed and charged well. Same way wood ashes affect it. So i'd go with probably a total of 5 gallons of biochar.

the remaining 12.5 gallons of aeration you can mix/match. I like water retaining aeration mostly.
Rotten wood chunks are good too, but i'd add no more than 4 gallons of that.
pumice/lava rock is good.
perlite and rice hulls I don't prefer for reused mixes but they do work fine, but inevitably you'll wish you went with better stuff later.
For a reusable mix I don't like azomite, the aluminum will eventually breakdown with the humic/fulvic acids in the composting/aging process. For that reason I don't use vermiculite either. BUT I have zero idea if the aluminum in vermiculite is absorbable or not.
the nutrients i'd go light with.
each cubic foot adding 2.5 cups of nutrients and 1.5 cup of minerals, (oyster flour doesn't count)
half cup of kelp meal
half cup of fish bone meal
half cup of crab or shrimp meal
half cup of neem meal
half cup of alfalfa or fish meal
then half cup of rock phosphates
half cup of langbeinite (not needed but advised)
half cup of gypsum

Thanx Grease ur help on here is much appreciated. So im sure i have to let the soil sit for a little while before I use it. 2 weeks ok after i add everything? The bio char im getting is from a great local organic source and he chrges it and adds humic and fulvic acids. And i think u misunderstood me. This soil has never been used. I cooked it in june made my veg pots and when i realized it wasnt aerated enough i decided to transplant them into Roots organic. So this soil has been sitting in a rubbermaid container since then.

What do mean oystr doesnt count? U dont use it? Doesnt it help stabilizing PH?

I also read the DTE neem meal is pretty weak and i need to use larger amounts. Any truth to this?

FamMan said:

I also read the DTE neem meal is pretty weak and i need to use larger amounts. Any truth to this?

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Ahh sorry man, I didn't know you had questions, if you "quote" me its comes up easier.
I meant oyster flour doesn't count as a mineral, it should be used, but I don't count it as a mineral technically.
And neem meal isn't weak at all man, it's some potent stuff, good to use for all the micros available
I didn't know your soil hadn't been used yet

I read that Down To Earth neem meal isnt as strong as other products. Might be stoner science stuff but thought u might know. So how much oyster shell per cf? Thanx big time grease.

FamMan said:

I read that Down To Earth neem meal isnt as strong as other products. Might be stoner science stuff but thought u might know. So how much oyster shell per cf? Thanx big time grease.

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I'd go with a half cup per cubic foot of oyster meal. the crab meal acts like a ph buffer also, as well as the gypsum.
Never heard anything about neem meal being any different with any brands, it's all just the byproduct of neem oil manufacturing

FamMan said:

I read that Down To Earth neem meal isnt as strong as other products. Might be stoner science stuff but thought u might know. So how much oyster shell per cf? Thanx big time grease.

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it's a 6/1/2 npk
that's about right
4/1/1
or 5/1/2
they are all about the same potency
karanja works too, just harder to find

greasemonkeymann said:

half cup of langbeinite (not needed but advised)

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Just looked this up. Im definitely getting it. I believe I ran into some mg/cal issues on the last run.

So when i add and mix all this up do you think it will be ready in 2-3 weeks? The last soil you advised me on had some cilantro, basil, and parsley doing great in only two weeks of 'cooking'. As usual thanx grease. I cant say it enough. U r the FN MAN!!!

FamMan said:

Just looked this up. Im definitely getting it. I believe I ran into some mg/cal issues on the last run.

So when i add and mix all this up do you think it will be ready in 2-3 weeks? The last soil you advised me on had some cilantro, basil, and parsley doing great in only two weeks of 'cooking'. As usual thanx grease. I cant say it enough. U r the FN MAN!!!

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I always "cook" the bejesus out of mine, but I make it in a compost, so it's a lil different because I have to wait for the leaves.
I'd say as a safe bet, in the winter, probably not in 3 weeks, but it's hard to say.
for calmag issues, the oyster flour, crab shell, and neem will cover it all. And if you use BSM for aacts the molasses has a ton of micros in it too.
I LOVE comfrey... just LOVE the stuff.. great for micros, and a humble amount of NOK as well, and it breaksdown almost in a weekend.
it is an awesome thing to add to your mix, it's sorta like a freshwater version of kelp meal.

greasemonkeymann said:

I always "cook" the bejesus out of mine, but I make it in a compost, so it's a lil different because I have to wait for the leaves.
I'd say as a safe bet, in the winter, probably not in 3 weeks, but it's hard to say.

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I got clones that will need transplant in about 2-2.5 weeks. Kinda got deadlines on my end. I feel like i stepped my game up with this mix and its goin to break down well. Lots of micro beasties!!!!

greasemonkeymann said:

And if you use BSM for aacts the molasses has a ton of micros in it too.

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Im starting a ewc/molasses tea tonite to hit the soil with tom. Im low on ewc and pumice (cant pick up til after weekend) so im not mixing everything. But i add my vermicompost to my old mix. Hopefully this will get a jump start on some micros.

greasemonkeymann said:

I LOVE comfrey... just LOVE the stuff..

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You have been screaming about this stuff for a while now. U use it in tea and as a top dressing right? Im bout to do sum research on it(i have done some in the past). I think its time a got this and some aloe goin.

FamMan said:

Just looked this up. Im definitely getting it. I believe I ran into some mg/cal issues on the last run.

So when i add and mix all this up do you think it will be ready in 2-3 weeks? The last soil you advised me on had some cilantro, basil, and parsley doing great in only two weeks of 'cooking'. As usual thanx grease. I cant say it enough. U r the FN MAN!!!

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yea the comfrey is the shit.. it breaksdown super fast, you can do teas, compost, topdress, vermicompost it, whatever it all works.
google French gardening, there is some good stuff regarding it and the other botanicals that are dynamic accumulators
its got a real nice carbon to nitrogen ratio that allows it to dissolve on it's own.
Some kind of cellulose that they apparently used to use for letter adhesives
if memory serves that is..