jamboss
Well-Known Member
here's a bunch of soil mix recipes and other stuff i found on the net. Happy Growing!!!
5 parts soil. Normal commercial potting soil should be fine.
5 parts perlite. This enhances aeration of the soil-mix, helps prevent over-watering by increasing drainage and reduces soil compaction. Perlite can be replaced with coarse vermiculite or crushed expanded clay balls (mica, leca, geolite).
Optional:
2 parts composted organic matter. This can be normal household compost. If you can find composted worm castings, seaweed or composted manures (chicken, horse) they can also be used for extra kick. Non-composted manures make the soil-mix too 'hot' for the plants and should be avoided.
Original recipe - as it was given to me1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix
2 L Bone Meal - phosphorus source
1L Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups dolmite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
1 tsp fritted trace elements
1/2 - 1 bag chicken manure (steer, mushroom, etc) - nitrogen & trace elements
- Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use.
Revised recipe - after several failures due to bad manure sources, I now use the following recipe. Results have been excellent and the clones seem to take off right away instead of having a slow growing settling in period.
1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft)
8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source
4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups dolmite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
1 tsp fritted trace elements
4 cups kelp meal.
9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings
- Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use.
Substitutions - The original recipe was a success, but I simply needed to experiment. In addition, sometimes not all ingredients were always available. Therefore, here are some possible additions and/or substitutions. Descriptions to followBlood & Bone Meal - when trying to cut costs
Kelp Meal - contains over 62 trace minerals. Good supplement for manure or for reducing the manure content to speed up availability of soil.
Worm castings - excellent source of micro nutrients
Bat guano - excellent for top dressing a week into flowering
Seabird guanoBugs
On a couple of occasions, I've ended up with fungus gnats with this soil mix. They are more of an irritation than anything but may harm weak or young plants. Some have said that putting a layer of sand on top of the soil in the pots stops the gnats from reproducing. Others can get rid of them by doing a soil drench with diazinon or malathion.Personally, I prefer to simply introduce fungus gnat predators (Hypoaspis miles). Once established, they not only control fungus gnats, but also thrips and mites. When there is no insect food available, they survive on dead plant material, so remain even after pests are gone to prevent future infestations. Actually, since they have been introduced, I've had no pest problems in over a year and I don't filter my intake. I got mine from Westgro (1-800-663-2552) and they have sales offices in Delta, Victoria, and Kelowna.
Update: they did nothing to prevent a mite infestation in summer of '89 and were destroyed in the mite war. They will be re-introduced after mite war is finally over.
Recycling Soil
add blood meal, steamed bone meal, and rock phosphate at the rate of 1 cup per cubic foot of
potting soil. I add fine dolomite lime at the rate of about 1 1/2 cups per cubic foot. I add kelp meal at
about 2/3 cup per cubic foot. I also like to add plenty of coarse vermiculite. I use plain potting soil to
germinate in and transplant into this mix after about two weeks. Once transplanted and established, I
only give my plants plain water for the duration of the cropping period without suffering any nutrient
shortage.
6 parts potting soil
2 parts perlite
1 part vermiculite
1 part chicken manure
1 small handfull lime
that is the basic organic mix. plants are watered daily... every third watering use fish emulsion 5-1-1
at 1 tbsp. per gallon. continue this until the second week of the flowering cycle when stretching
stops. then mix fish emulsion 5-1-1 with alaska more bloom 0-10-10 at a ratio of 1 teaspoon 5-1-1 to
two teaspoons 0-10-10. this will give you a 5-21-21 ratio. use this every third watering until the last
week and a half of flowering... for the last week and a half use plain water. right at the beginning of
the flower period (sometimes) add a small amount of lime to your water for one watering to counter
any acids that may have built up during the vegetative phase. also sometimes i used to substitute the
5-21-21 mix with chemical 10-60-10 (schultzes super bloom) at 1/2 teaspoon per gallon for two
waterings at about week 4-5 of flowering. if there is any yellowing before say week 5 1/2 simply use
more 5-1-1 and less 0-10-10. this method resulted in hightimes centerfold plants.... very vigorous. in
three gallon grow bags NL#5 vege'd for 30 days yield 1 1/2 ozs. of smooth sweet potent smoke.
some strains did closer to two ounces per plant. 2x250w MH. 1 plant per 1 1/2 feet sq.
bottom line is you really don't need exotic ingredients to grow killer weed. i'm sure that wormcastings
etc. will do the trick for you... but don't feel bad if they're not available in your area... or are beyond
your budget. this simple mostly organic set-up will give you EXCELLENT results with common,
easily obtained cheap ingredients.
The cation exchange capacity of the soil
When small quantities of inorganic salts, such as the soluble mineral matter of soil and commercial fertilizers, are added to water they dissociate into electrically charged units called ions. The positively charged ions (cations) such as hydrogen (H+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca++) magnesium (Mg++), ammonium (NH4+), iron (Fe++), manganese (Mn++), and zinc (Zn++) are absorbed mostly on the negatively charged surfaces of the soil colloids (microscopic clay and humus particles) and exist only in small quantities in the soil solution. Thus, the humus-clay colloids serve as a storehouse for certain essential ions (cations). The negatively charged ions (anions), such as nitrates (N03-) phosphates (HPO4--), sulfates (SO4--), and chlorides (Cl-), are found almost exclusively in the soil solution and can therefore be leached away easily with overwatering. The roots and root hairs are in intimate contact with the soil colloidal surfaces, which are bathed in the soil solution, and therefore nutrient uptake can take place either from the soil solution or directly from the colloidal surfaces (cation exchange). The soil solution is the most important source of nutrients, but since it is very dilute its nutrients are easily depleted and must be replenished from soil particles. The solid phase of the soil, acting as a reservoir of nutrients, slowly releases them into the soil solution by the solubilization of soil minerals and organics, by the solution of soluble salts, and by cation exchange. A more dramatic increase in the nutrient content of the soil solution takes place with the addition of commercial fertilizers. As plants absorb nutrients (ions) they exchange them for other ions. For example, for the uptake of one potassium (K+) ion or one ammonium (NH4+) ion, one hydrogen (H+) ion is released into the soil solution or directly into the soil colloids by the process of cation exchange. Similarly, for the uptake of one calcium (Ca++) or one magnesium (Mg++) ion, two hydrogen (H+) ions are released by the root. Thus, as the plant absorbs these essential cations, the soil solution and the colloidal particles contain more and more hydrogen (H+) ions, which explains why the removal of cations (ammonium (NH4+) nitrogen is a good example) by crops tends to make soils acidic, i.e., having a low pH. Also, as the plant (absorbs essential anions such as nitrates (NO3-) and phosphates (HPO4-), the soil solution is enriched with more and more hydroxyl groups (OH-) and bicarbonates (HCO3-), which explains why the removal of anions (nitrate (NO3-) nitrogen is a good example) by crops tends to make soils alkaline, i.e., having a high pH.
TOPIC - IMGC, Mirage, Sugar&acid mix(nestaa juice)
*Very simple mix that will blow You away if you strive for optimum flavor in your
buds. Most Brewery shops have powdered citric acid, then you need the raw,
unprocessed cane sugar(the brown rock sugar that still contains molassis). Mix 1 dry
ounce of each into 500ml's of warm h2o and mix well. I add 5ml's per gallon of res.
every res. change. It drops PH considerably the 1st day or 2 then stabilizes. Citric
acid is a good ph down, but it doesnt last as long as phos. acid. I feed it to them
always and switch to a clearing solution the last 7-10 days of flower. I have never
had buds so tastey and "odoriforous", I'm sold big!
LUMIE I'd be happy to help pay for that bottle of Avid Bro! I'd like some in the
chamber, locked and loaded, ready for the bastards to show there ugly heads again.
How's that reefer tea coming? I wonder if breaking it down w/ aerobic bugs would be
the best way to extract the goods? My wheels are turning big, Talk w/ ya soon I
hope.
TOPIC - NL, casting ratio
DATE - 04:37:26 5/06/99
FROM - ~shabang~
Hey man, I've gotten the mix down to the height of simplicity.
Put on a good dust mask. Take 1 bag of fine dry castings, 25 pounds.
mix with 1 bag, 8 dry quarts, Scott's perlite
and 1 bag, 8 dry quarts, Scott's vermiculite
add in a liter to a liter and a half of dolomitic or agri lime
and two to three liters of hydrated polymer crystals
Water and plant.
5 parts soil. Normal commercial potting soil should be fine.
5 parts perlite. This enhances aeration of the soil-mix, helps prevent over-watering by increasing drainage and reduces soil compaction. Perlite can be replaced with coarse vermiculite or crushed expanded clay balls (mica, leca, geolite).
Optional:
2 parts composted organic matter. This can be normal household compost. If you can find composted worm castings, seaweed or composted manures (chicken, horse) they can also be used for extra kick. Non-composted manures make the soil-mix too 'hot' for the plants and should be avoided.
Original recipe - as it was given to me1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix
2 L Bone Meal - phosphorus source
1L Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups dolmite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
1 tsp fritted trace elements
1/2 - 1 bag chicken manure (steer, mushroom, etc) - nitrogen & trace elements
- Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use.
Revised recipe - after several failures due to bad manure sources, I now use the following recipe. Results have been excellent and the clones seem to take off right away instead of having a slow growing settling in period.
1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft)
8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source
4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups dolmite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
1 tsp fritted trace elements
4 cups kelp meal.
9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings
- Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit 1-2 weeks before use.
Substitutions - The original recipe was a success, but I simply needed to experiment. In addition, sometimes not all ingredients were always available. Therefore, here are some possible additions and/or substitutions. Descriptions to followBlood & Bone Meal - when trying to cut costs
Kelp Meal - contains over 62 trace minerals. Good supplement for manure or for reducing the manure content to speed up availability of soil.
Worm castings - excellent source of micro nutrients
Bat guano - excellent for top dressing a week into flowering
Seabird guanoBugs
On a couple of occasions, I've ended up with fungus gnats with this soil mix. They are more of an irritation than anything but may harm weak or young plants. Some have said that putting a layer of sand on top of the soil in the pots stops the gnats from reproducing. Others can get rid of them by doing a soil drench with diazinon or malathion.Personally, I prefer to simply introduce fungus gnat predators (Hypoaspis miles). Once established, they not only control fungus gnats, but also thrips and mites. When there is no insect food available, they survive on dead plant material, so remain even after pests are gone to prevent future infestations. Actually, since they have been introduced, I've had no pest problems in over a year and I don't filter my intake. I got mine from Westgro (1-800-663-2552) and they have sales offices in Delta, Victoria, and Kelowna.
Update: they did nothing to prevent a mite infestation in summer of '89 and were destroyed in the mite war. They will be re-introduced after mite war is finally over.
Recycling Soil
- Used soil - Reusing soil has a few downsides such as it makes it easier for diseases, viruses, and pathogens from entering your garden. Also peat based soils break down and become acidic. If you fertilize with chemicals you'll end up with salt buildups that will slow growth. Unless you like to take chances, have a good eye, and a good horticultural understanding, you may be better off with staying with fresh new soils. That said;I grow strictly organic and I've always reused my soil. I don't sterilize the soil between plantings as my soil is full of microbes and predatory bugs that keep the bad bugs under control. After each crop, I chop up the soil and root balls with the leaves, stalks, etc and let compost for about 3 months. I then mix it up and add about 2 - 3 cups of lime for every 50 gallons composted soil. I also add about 1/2 cup epsom salts, 2 liters bone meal, 1 liter blood meal, 1 liter kelp meal, 1 tsp trace elements, and enough perlite to regain the porosity of the original soil. I used to add a bag of manure, but I was getting fertilizer burn and so have stopped now. As I've been fine tuning this, the plants just keep getting healthier and I haven't had any real pest problems for quite a while.
I know this is a controversial approach and maybe even risky, but it allows me to keep my garden pretty much self contained. I don't attract attention by buying bales of soil every 3 - 4 months year around, or in the disposal of leaves and soil after each crop. It's definitely not for those who want sterile crops and those that use pesticides and chemical ferts. I believe in working with nature, not against it.
Update: After several generations, a nutrient imbalance developed which was only solved by leaching the soil thoroughly. My hunch is that one of the micro nutrients was building to toxic levels. I guess farmers don't get this problem because they have the winter rains to leach excess nutrients from their fields.
- Info from Others:
40% composted soil
30% worm castings
20% perlite
10% dolomite, guanos, goodies, etc.. i've also heard good things about "uncle
malcolm" brand soil from peaceful valley is good....
if you're mixing organics with chem ferts, the plant will use up what the chem
ferts feed it first, then partaking afterwards in the organic nutes. the beauty of
organics is it's almost impossible to burn your plants, and the taste is superior to
chem. grown plants.
i use pure blend 1 - 0.5 -1 for veg and fox farm big bloom 0.8 - 3.0 - 1 for
flowering. they're expensive but the plants really like it. sometimes i'll make a tea
out of worm castings & guano. peace
9 gallons peat moss
3 gallons vermiculite
6 gallons perlite
1 pound blood meal
1 pound bone meal
1 pond green sand
1 pound lime or dolomite lime
1 pound rock phosphate
Pinch of boron (borax is an inexpensive source) Blend these ingredients in a small cement mixer or in a large barrel with a tight fitting lid that will let you
roll it around to mix the contents. If you have to stir the ingredients in an open container, moisten them
SLIGHTLY with water to avoid breathing in clouds of dust as you work.
Do not use more than a pinch of boron. It encourages root growth, but its levels can quickly go from
helpful to harmful in the soil. Once you get the soil all mixed you can add some manure tea (see recipe
below). The lime in this mix helps to neutralize the acidity of the manure tea.
Manure Tea
10 to 15 gallons manure (combine horse, chicken, and cow manure to get a nice balance of nutrients.
5 gallon bucket of chickweed and/or stinging nettles.
Water to fill 55 gallon drum (you'll need a well ventilated area to pull this off!!)
Dump manure(s) in the bottom of the drum. Add chickweed and/or nettles, both of which are rich in
trace elements, then fill drum with water.
Once a week stir the "tea" and add water to replace any that has evaporated. You'll need a brewing time
of at least 3 weeks before using this tea in the potting soil mix.
add blood meal, steamed bone meal, and rock phosphate at the rate of 1 cup per cubic foot of
potting soil. I add fine dolomite lime at the rate of about 1 1/2 cups per cubic foot. I add kelp meal at
about 2/3 cup per cubic foot. I also like to add plenty of coarse vermiculite. I use plain potting soil to
germinate in and transplant into this mix after about two weeks. Once transplanted and established, I
only give my plants plain water for the duration of the cropping period without suffering any nutrient
shortage.
6 parts potting soil
2 parts perlite
1 part vermiculite
1 part chicken manure
1 small handfull lime
that is the basic organic mix. plants are watered daily... every third watering use fish emulsion 5-1-1
at 1 tbsp. per gallon. continue this until the second week of the flowering cycle when stretching
stops. then mix fish emulsion 5-1-1 with alaska more bloom 0-10-10 at a ratio of 1 teaspoon 5-1-1 to
two teaspoons 0-10-10. this will give you a 5-21-21 ratio. use this every third watering until the last
week and a half of flowering... for the last week and a half use plain water. right at the beginning of
the flower period (sometimes) add a small amount of lime to your water for one watering to counter
any acids that may have built up during the vegetative phase. also sometimes i used to substitute the
5-21-21 mix with chemical 10-60-10 (schultzes super bloom) at 1/2 teaspoon per gallon for two
waterings at about week 4-5 of flowering. if there is any yellowing before say week 5 1/2 simply use
more 5-1-1 and less 0-10-10. this method resulted in hightimes centerfold plants.... very vigorous. in
three gallon grow bags NL#5 vege'd for 30 days yield 1 1/2 ozs. of smooth sweet potent smoke.
some strains did closer to two ounces per plant. 2x250w MH. 1 plant per 1 1/2 feet sq.
bottom line is you really don't need exotic ingredients to grow killer weed. i'm sure that wormcastings
etc. will do the trick for you... but don't feel bad if they're not available in your area... or are beyond
your budget. this simple mostly organic set-up will give you EXCELLENT results with common,
easily obtained cheap ingredients.
The cation exchange capacity of the soil
When small quantities of inorganic salts, such as the soluble mineral matter of soil and commercial fertilizers, are added to water they dissociate into electrically charged units called ions. The positively charged ions (cations) such as hydrogen (H+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca++) magnesium (Mg++), ammonium (NH4+), iron (Fe++), manganese (Mn++), and zinc (Zn++) are absorbed mostly on the negatively charged surfaces of the soil colloids (microscopic clay and humus particles) and exist only in small quantities in the soil solution. Thus, the humus-clay colloids serve as a storehouse for certain essential ions (cations). The negatively charged ions (anions), such as nitrates (N03-) phosphates (HPO4--), sulfates (SO4--), and chlorides (Cl-), are found almost exclusively in the soil solution and can therefore be leached away easily with overwatering. The roots and root hairs are in intimate contact with the soil colloidal surfaces, which are bathed in the soil solution, and therefore nutrient uptake can take place either from the soil solution or directly from the colloidal surfaces (cation exchange). The soil solution is the most important source of nutrients, but since it is very dilute its nutrients are easily depleted and must be replenished from soil particles. The solid phase of the soil, acting as a reservoir of nutrients, slowly releases them into the soil solution by the solubilization of soil minerals and organics, by the solution of soluble salts, and by cation exchange. A more dramatic increase in the nutrient content of the soil solution takes place with the addition of commercial fertilizers. As plants absorb nutrients (ions) they exchange them for other ions. For example, for the uptake of one potassium (K+) ion or one ammonium (NH4+) ion, one hydrogen (H+) ion is released into the soil solution or directly into the soil colloids by the process of cation exchange. Similarly, for the uptake of one calcium (Ca++) or one magnesium (Mg++) ion, two hydrogen (H+) ions are released by the root. Thus, as the plant absorbs these essential cations, the soil solution and the colloidal particles contain more and more hydrogen (H+) ions, which explains why the removal of cations (ammonium (NH4+) nitrogen is a good example) by crops tends to make soils acidic, i.e., having a low pH. Also, as the plant (absorbs essential anions such as nitrates (NO3-) and phosphates (HPO4-), the soil solution is enriched with more and more hydroxyl groups (OH-) and bicarbonates (HCO3-), which explains why the removal of anions (nitrate (NO3-) nitrogen is a good example) by crops tends to make soils alkaline, i.e., having a high pH.
TOPIC - IMGC, Mirage, Sugar&acid mix(nestaa juice)
*Very simple mix that will blow You away if you strive for optimum flavor in your
buds. Most Brewery shops have powdered citric acid, then you need the raw,
unprocessed cane sugar(the brown rock sugar that still contains molassis). Mix 1 dry
ounce of each into 500ml's of warm h2o and mix well. I add 5ml's per gallon of res.
every res. change. It drops PH considerably the 1st day or 2 then stabilizes. Citric
acid is a good ph down, but it doesnt last as long as phos. acid. I feed it to them
always and switch to a clearing solution the last 7-10 days of flower. I have never
had buds so tastey and "odoriforous", I'm sold big!
LUMIE I'd be happy to help pay for that bottle of Avid Bro! I'd like some in the
chamber, locked and loaded, ready for the bastards to show there ugly heads again.
How's that reefer tea coming? I wonder if breaking it down w/ aerobic bugs would be
the best way to extract the goods? My wheels are turning big, Talk w/ ya soon I
hope.
TOPIC - NL, casting ratio
DATE - 04:37:26 5/06/99
FROM - ~shabang~
Hey man, I've gotten the mix down to the height of simplicity.
Put on a good dust mask. Take 1 bag of fine dry castings, 25 pounds.
mix with 1 bag, 8 dry quarts, Scott's perlite
and 1 bag, 8 dry quarts, Scott's vermiculite
add in a liter to a liter and a half of dolomitic or agri lime
and two to three liters of hydrated polymer crystals
Water and plant.
