making soil need help

darkzero said:

I would say I've learned a bunch, have just found some of this stuff called FF Marine Cuisine 10-7-7 (Rich in mineral nutrients and organic materials derived from crab meal, shrimp meal, seabird guano and kelp) The problem is I dont believe its organic considering it's fox farms but it is less extreme than the fish bone meal.Grandma's Unsulphured Molasses is what I'm using in the tea seemed like the best considering it's 100% Organic and Kosher

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be extremely careful with molasses, it's a great organic tool but you can overdo it really easily, don't ask me how I know....

I see what u mean about the molasses and tea letting it set to long makes the bacteria explode in growth, I did take your advice on the green sand, and that cottonseed meal. The guano I see what your saying bout that too thx again

ok refined it got my stuff need help with cups and measurements to mix so I don't overmix to a degree

Pro Mix bx/Mycorrhizae 60lbs ( Might use 30 or 20lbs for the cook)
Algamin kelp Meal 5lbs
Ful Humix 100g (Humic Acid)
Perlite 8 qt
Wiggle worm soil builder 30lbs (Earthworm Castings)
Granular Azomite 10lbs
Espoma Garden Gypsum 5lbs
Fox Farms Marine Cuisine 4lbs
Neptunes Harvest Crab Shell meal 4lbs
Sunleaves jamaican bat Guano 0-10-0 2.2 lbs ( mostly using in tea)
Live Earthworms

need Opinions On how many cups or tsp or tblsp you would use


Using Mix of Pro Mix , Worm castings, Perlite for veg using Veg tea to feed once every 3rd week for month and half

darkzero said:

ok refined it got my stuff need help with cups and measurements to mix so I don't overmix to a degree

Pro Mix bx/Mycorrhizae 60lbs ( Might use 30 or 20lbs for the cook)
Algamin kelp Meal 5lbs
Ful Humix 100g (Humic Acid)
Perlite 8 qt
Wiggle worm soil builder 30lbs (Earthworm Castings)
Granular Azomite 10lbs
Espoma Garden Gypsum 5lbs
Fox Farms Marine Cuisine 4lbs
Neptunes Harvest Crab Shell meal 4lbs
Sunleaves jamaican bat Guano 0-10-0 2.2 lbs ( mostly using in tea)
Live Earthworms

need Opinions On how many cups or tsp or tblsp you would use


Using Mix of Pro Mix , Worm castings, Perlite for veg using Veg tea to feed once every 3rd week for month and half

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i'd love to help, but measured in lbs is sorta hard to equate..
How many cubic feet are you doing? or gallons?

Just some info
1 pound = 3 cups
1 cubic foot = 7.5 gallons

And here is what I am doing maybe it'll help some...
This is all for 16 cubic feet of cow manure and mushroom compost
Kelp meal- 8 cups

Blood meal- 8 cups

Bone meal- 16 cups

2 bags of 40 lb of EWC

One full bag of perlite

Gypsum Epsom salt- 6 cups

Mycorrhizai- 8 cups and then 1 tablespoon per hole

Well the 60lb loose pro mix is 2.8 cu ft don't know for sure how much cu ft ima use in total but gonna put it in a 50 gallon tote to cook in warm room might use 2 60 lb bags of pro mix not sure yet or just get the big compressed 3.8 cu ft bale , I wanna use this mixture in 4 15 gallon fabric smart pots.

Nugs1 said:

Just some info
1 pound = 3 cups
1 cubic foot = 7.5 gallons

And here is what I am doing maybe it'll help some...
This is all for 16 cubic feet of cow manure and mushroom compost
Kelp meal- 8 cups

Blood meal- 8 cups

Bone meal- 16 cups

2 bags of 40 lb of EWC

One full bag of perlite

Gypsum Epsom salt- 6 cups

Mycorrhizai- 8 cups and then 1 tablespoon per hole

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Holy crap my friend!
Ya got enough nutrients in there forlike ten cubic feet..
three cups is a lb? of what? greensand? lead shavings? Crab meal is lighter than blood meal, bone meal is lighter than blood meal, kinda hard to do your math like that, just sayin.
32 cups of nutrients in a lil more than two cubic feet?
I wouldn't do 1/4 that. Especially if you have mushroom compost and cow manure in there too. WOW. You're gonna fry em man.

greasemonkeymann said:

Holy crap my friend!
Ya got enough nutrients in there forlike ten cubic feet..
three cups is a lb? of what? greensand? lead shavings? Crab meal is lighter than blood meal, bone meal is lighter than blood meal, kinda hard to do your math like that, just sayin.
32 cups of nutrients in a lil more than two cubic feet?
I wouldn't do 1/4 that. Especially if you have mushroom compost and cow manure in there too. WOW. You're gonna fry em man.

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You are right about the cup thing, I should have added amendments that are heavier can be put into 3 cups per pound give or take a little. Not an exact science by no means but pretty close.
As for my out door grow, this will all be mixed in with native soil at a rate of 50/50.
For my plans I will need approximately 67 cubic feet of soil (including native soil). This is a big undertaking and I know that, I was just trying to steer someone into a better direction that may be standing at a fork in the road not knowing which path to look down.
I should add that the bone and blood meal will be replaced by bat gaunos.

Nugs1 said:

You are right about the cup thing, I should have added amendments that are heavier can be put into 3 cups per pound give or take a little. Not an exact science by no means but pretty close.
As for my out door grow, this will all be mixed in with native soil at a rate of 50/50.
For my plans I will need approximately 67 cubic feet of soil (including native soil). This is a big undertaking and I know that, I was just trying to steer someone into a better direction that may be standing at a fork in the road not knowing which path to look down.
I should add that the bone and blood meal will be replaced by bat gaunos.

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ahh, I see, so the 67 cubic feet is what the mix is for, that's much different.
Gotch, gotcha.
my two cents? maybe ditch the guano for alfa meal, and fish bone meal.
in an outdoor setup you want slow release man, and guanos/blood meals are WAY too water soluble. Especially when you have big-ass containers.
don't let the modest NPK numbers fool you... that guano at 12 percent nitrogen isn't gonna be 12% when it is watered away.
I like the 50/50 mix of native soil, gonna be full of BIMs.
don't forget the aeration though man, you'll need a BUNCH for all that.. and native soil usually is more clay-like than what cannabis likes, course it all depends on where you live, of course.

greasemonkeymann said:

ahh, I see, so the 67 cubic feet is what the mix is for, that's much different.
Gotch, gotcha.
my two cents? maybe ditch the guano for alfa meal, and fish bone meal.
in an outdoor setup you want slow release man, and guanos/blood meals are WAY too water soluble. Especially when you have big-ass containers.
don't let the modest NPK numbers fool you... that guano at 12 percent nitrogen isn't gonna be 12% when it is watered away.
I like the 50/50 mix of native soil, gonna be full of BIMs.
don't forget the aeration though man, you'll need a BUNCH for all that.. and native soil usually is more clay-like than what cannabis likes, course it all depends on where you live, of course.

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I looked for alfalfa meal but couldn't find any close by and i don't have time to wait, I need to get all my stuff mixed up and "cooking".
The aeration i gonna be something to deal with, my plan is to throw in a half bag of perlite and vermiculite now and then a full bag of perlite about half way through the cook. I agree about the water soluble bat guano (N) thats why i have picked up a couple bags of chicken litter pellets. That should help with the slow release, the bat guano is really meant to be a tea for waterings.

Darkzero- sorry we kinda hijacked your thread a little, but hopefully you'll get some good info from it. Good luck with your grow, I hope your plants stay strong and your buds be huge!

No worries Nugs ended up getting all the stuff for my soil and a bail or pro mix on sale for 40 dollars so ima mix my stuff up tonight and post how much i put in it. Was wandering you guys think kelp meal would be good to add to the veg mix of pro mix, worm castings, perlite?

Nugs1 said:

I looked for alfalfa meal but couldn't find any close by and i don't have time to wait, I need to get all my stuff mixed up and "cooking".
The aeration i gonna be something to deal with, my plan is to throw in a half bag of perlite and vermiculite now and then a full bag of perlite about half way through the cook. I agree about the water soluble bat guano (N) thats why i have picked up a couple bags of chicken litter pellets. That should help with the slow release, the bat guano is really meant to be a tea for waterings.

Darkzero- sorry we kinda hijacked your thread a little, but hopefully you'll get some good info from it. Good luck with your grow, I hope your plants stay strong and your buds be huge!

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Pet stores or feed stores for alfalfa. Got a forty pound bag of alfalfa for 15 bucks at tractor supply. Make sure its not bound with fat if pellets. The make small bags of alfalfa pellets for rabbits.

I got mine from a store that specializes in gardening stuff wormsway.com might be one in your neck of woods or you can order online

Ok just made my soil used 1/2 bail exactly 30 gallons or half of 3.8 cu ft, put in 15 lbs worm castings, 1 cup kelp, 1 cup azomite, 1 cup Gypsum, 1 cup Marine Cuisine, 3/4 tsp Humic acid, 2 cups Crab meal, Earthworms, 4 cups water

Well, DarkZero, you've done great adapting your recipe, kudos on your flexibility, but math is still your Achilles slightly..lol I'm just buggin ya

Lets clarify tho..

30 US gallons is exactly 4 ft cubed

So 3.8cu ft is 107 Litres
Or 28.4 US gallons
And just 23.7 imperial gallons

To give you an idea of our style, which has been turning a couple heads for its health and easy add-water-to-the-end approach, even in one gallon smartpot 11 wk Sativas not to mention our 27 wk (16f) Sativa ..
With that said,

We add
one cup neem meal,
One cup alfalfa meal,
One cup kelp meal,
Thats..Per every 22 U.S. gallons or 84L as opposed to 28 or 30 gal batches
(Plus our other amendments and our rockdust recipe)

So you're mixing your batch up ~36% weaker based on my math. (18gal / 28.4gal = 63.37% or 36% less soil used for same amount of main amendment)

This might lower your yield a bit. I just did a side by side comparing batches, I wish I had went with Petros mix vs mine. Those amendments equalled fatter bottom nugs from the get go

We always here to help clarify anything if you decide to make a final last second addition of something..

Either way, best of luck man
-Tesla

I meant pounds not gallons that was typo on my part. 30 lbs of soil. The 3.8 cu ft bail is compressed so it really is double somewhere at 7 cu ft. But got it cooking in 35 gallon plastic tote. So whatever u can break that down to DonTesla let me know what it is in gallons or whatever, and if I need to add more stuff which I probably dont

darkzero said:

I meant pounds not gallons that was typo on my part. 30 lbs of soil. The 3.8 cu ft bail is compressed so it really is double somewhere at 7 cu ft. But got it cooking in 35 gallon plastic tote. So whatever u can break that down to DonTesla let me know what it is in gallons or whatever, and if I need to add more stuff which I probably dont

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Lol, well DarkZ, depends how full your tote is now.
If you had a full 35 US gallons that's 4.7 cu ft or 29 imp. gal.
Using a ratio good for 3 cu ft, we divide 3/4.7= 63%
That means you should represent the missing 37% or 33 (1/3) if we round down
(Air on gentle side).

So, yeah, still say you're rolling bit weak, I would add as if you're making an extra third batch, cause you are, haha.

There are reactive feeding regimes vs proactive, but then you need to watch closer and get more stuff.
... I was just trying to set you up for nice, easy gardening.

That makes sense tesla thx for that. Umm I didnt put any guano in the mix because everyone says its fast acting so ima put it in tea. The other 33% you were saying Ima just replace it in veg tea ( molasses, ewc, seaweed, liquid fish, mexican bat guano), and Flower tea ( molasses, ewc, seaweed, fish emulsion, humic acid, fulvic acid, jamaican bat guano)

Here is RIU member Sidewing's soil recipe that I'm currently using. He has a "trimmed down" version with fewer ingredients, but the below recipe has worked very well for me.

I've used SubCool's Super Soil, with problems.

In the interest of always trying to improve, is there anything missing in the below recipe? Is there too much of anything?

Thanks in advance.

• 2 large bags - roots natural and organic soil large bag (1.5)
• 1.5 cu - EB Earth Worm Castings
• 16 red cups (about 1kg) – organic rice hulls
• 420g fish bone meal (down to earth 3-16-0)
• 420g bat guano (happy frog 0-5-0)
• 420g blood meal (down to earth 12-0-0)
• 100g neem seed meal (down to earth)
• 80g potassium sulfate (0-0-50)
• 200g ancient forest alaska humus (general organics)
• 200g xtreme mycorrhizal granules
• 200g azomite
• 100g sea kelp (algamin 1-0-2)
• 70g dolomite lime (30% cal 3% mg or 75/12)
• 50g alfalfa meal (down to earth 2.5-1-1)
• 20g humic acid powder (down to earth)
• 8g Epsom salt

Ok so update on soil cook Mixed it friday came back like 1am tuesday and white fluffy mold was on top of soil was reading it was the myco at work so turned soil to mix all 30 something odd gallons evenly and so it could dry out, the soil is doing fine and warm ( emitting heat but not too much)