Soil Ratio help

Hi, I'm trying to make a soil but I'm not quite sure what ratios I should use for five pounds total. What I plan to use is:
1. Peat Moss
2. Earthworm Castings
3. Coco
4. Pumice
5. Perlite
6. Blood Meal
7. Glacial Rock Dust
8. Oyster shell flower
I am definitely open to suggestions on how to make this better. Thanks

Dfk88 said:

Hi, I'm trying to make a soil but I'm not quite sure what ratios I should use for five pounds total. What I plan to use is:
1. Peat Moss
2. Earthworm Castings
3. Coco
4. Pumice
5. Perlite
6. Blood Meal
7. Glacial Rock Dust
8. Oyster shell flower
I am definitely open to suggestions on how to make this better. Thanks

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hard to say really.
five pounds?
so is that like a cubic foot or so?
per cubic foot
four cups of total nutrients
2-4 cups of minerals, not counting liming minerals (gypsum or oyster shell flour)
personally i'd drop the blood meal.
alfalfa meal, kelp meal, fishbone meal, crab meal, and neem meal.
the base mix should be equal parts peat moss or coco, aeration (perlite, vermiculite, biochar, pumice volcanic rock, rice hulls etc), and either worm castings or a good compost.
mix then age the soil for at least 45 days, some like to plant a cover crop on the soil to get an idea when its "ready"

Generally: My preference- 1/3 aeration, 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat or similar. Then start with the amendments. If you allow the microbes to do their thing, the NPK ratios are less important.

Rrog said:

Generally: My preference- 1/3 aeration, 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat or similar. Then start with the amendments. If you allow the microbes to do their thing, the NPK ratios are less important.

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exactly, in the last couple yrs I've really been sold on a quality amended compost.
I don't even add nutrients anymore, just mix it into the compost pile and it's already ready to go.
Favorites are alfalfa meal, (used as the nitrogen source for composting), fishbone meal, neem meal, and fish meal.
Every now and then i'll sprinkle kelp meal and leftover high nitrogen bat guanos too.
It's a damn great way to get rid of the nutrients I bought yrs ago, but now have started using different ingredients.
langbeinite, greensand, azomite, fish meal, bat guano for example.
Don't buy those anymore but they kick ass to jumpstart the composting

You're the man!! I add my amendments, etc to the worm bin. The compost then has everything, plus the fresh vermicompost adds huge immune system benefits.

Wow thanks for the input guys, my base has more then then three things in it so you're saying that I just put in a pound of each since I have five items for it?

Three things, then the amendments. I'd pass on the coco.

1/3 peat
1/3 combo pearlite / pumice
1/3 worm castings

Then the amendments. Just MHO

Thanks, I've never been able to get a straight answer like that. That's a huge help, I have dropped the blood meal from my soil because now two people have told me to do that, I now only have two amendments:
1. Glacial Rock Dust
2. Oyster Shell Flower
What else do you think I should add if you don't mind?

Also why would you pass on the coco, do certain problem occur when you use it or is it something else?

Well coco and peat are doing the same thing in this instance. Most soil growers I know use the peat.

Those minerals are fine to add. I'd look at the list in GMM's post #2 above

I's also strongly encourage you to get a nice worm bin. Makes much better compost than you can buy.

Dfk88 said:

Thanks, I've never been able to get a straight answer like that. That's a huge help, I have dropped the blood meal from my soil because now two people have told me to do that, I now only have two amendments:
1. Glacial Rock Dust
2. Oyster Shell Flower
What else do you think I should add if you don't mind?

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You have a great base soil with those ingredients that would be great for seedlings and young clones.

For large plants I would add things like...

alfalfa
kelp
rock phosphate
green sand
crab meal
guano

For only 5 lbs of soil I'd only use about a cup of rock dust and a teaspoon each of everything else.

Is there a reason you're mixing such a tiny amount? With the time and effort that goes into mixed a good soil, wouldn't you be better off to mix an entire bag of soil and save what you don't need for later? I could help you much easier with amendments and ratios if you were at least mixing a cubit foot of soil.

Those minerals will only be beneficial after subsequent generations. That's fine, since hopefully you're going to re-use your soil many times.

Focus on adding a broad mix of things to your worm bin and you'll have everything you need.

Okay guys here's my updated soil:
Peat Moss 1/3
Perlite/Pumice 1/3
Earthworm Castings 1/3
Glacial Rock Dust
Oyster shell flower
Kelp Meal
Greensand
Eggshells
Biochar
And that does make more sense to make a lot and save. So yes I'll make a cubic foot of it, I believe that translates to 7.5 pounds if I'm not mistaken.

Rrog said:

Those minerals will only be beneficial after subsequent generations. That's fine, since hopefully you're going to re-use your soil many times.

Focus on adding a broad mix of things to your worm bin and you'll have everything you need.

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I've been reading a great article called Bread from Stones that talks about an old scientist who opposed chemical nutrients and did many studies just feeding plants ground rock dust of different types. He said with adequate minerals the soil could be poor on NPK and the plants still performed well. He claimed that the entite NPK system was incccorect from the start, but was quickly sabotaged by his competitors. Only now is his research being dug up by the current organic movement. I'm going to go heavy on the rock dusts next season. Currntly I have Glacial Rock dust, azomite, green sand, rock phosphate, lime and oyster in my mix, plus kelp is rich in minerals. I'd like to add crushed granite and any other rock dusts I can find locally next year.

I think glacial rock dust is a must, it has a lot of good stuff in it

Minerals are hugely important. The NPK elements are the fundamental building blocks. Like protein and carbs for us. We need minerals, so do plants. We can't live on minerals only, neither can plants.

Balance

What's your guys's opinion on biochar?

I'm a huge fan

Great aerobic amendment
Awesome environment for bacteria
Holds water
Initially it's + charged, so will hold N- for you. This is why it needs to be charged with N before adding to soil with plants.

How much am I supposed to put into my soil for 7.5 pounds. I really get held up on these measurements lol

Dfk88 said:

What's your guys's opinion on biochar?

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love it, and won't ever go without.
what size container are you filling?
the pounds thing is totally throwing me off.
Is that dry or wet?
with or without perlite( that shit is light)
for a cubic foot i'd go with probably 2-4 cups of biochar, maybe a bit more, but I LOVE my aeration.
volcanic rock, rotted treelog chunks, pumice, and biochar are my mainstays.