Soil: this is what i can find on my local market...what i am lacking? How would you use this amendments?

I've been doing some reading on soil recipes.

A issue often arises is when i read about some commercial products that i cant find in my country.
Sometimes they simply are not available or sometimes they only sell it in really big bags.

From what i have available, i think some amendment rich in K is what i am missing. I have Potassium Sulfate on my market, but they weren't able to tell me the source.

Even i want to have a rich soil, i have no need to have a "water only" soil. I made some organic nutrients from KNF, such a FPJ.

So, here is what i can i get.
Im not sure if i need to amend with all the listed minerals, or maybe a few of them will be enough.

If i don't list things like Kelp Meal, Neem cake or whatever, it's simply because i can't get them here.

Base Mix

50% peat moss
30% perlite (rice hulls available but i must buy A LOT)
20% EWC

Amendments

Minerals
- Rock dust (it's a mix of 80 types of grounded rocks)
- Dolomite lime
- Gypsum (although i must buy a big bag from the company)
- Agricultural lime (same as Gypsum)
- Azomite (pricey but can buy in smaller quantities)
- Oyster Shell (NOT flour, rather coarse. I can smash it i guess)

- Humic acid extract from Leonardite

Nutrients
- Blood meal
- Bone meal
- Alfalfa pellets
- Epsom salts
- Bokashi (pricey)

Others things i have available:

- Bat guano (High P)
- Rabbit manure
- More compost and/or EWC
- Malted barley

And i am also working on my wormbin.

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I know that Kelp Meal has the trace minerales and K on it...do you think the trace elements are covered with the minerals and EWC?

So i think i can do a good mix with all this stuff, but need some orientation on the mineral part and wanted to know your thoughts on how to work around the lack of K.

I guess somethings are kind of overkill...humic acid with the humates from peat and EWC maybe is not useful?

Thanks in advance.

JHake said:

I've been doing some reading on soil recipes.

A issue often arises is when i read about some commercial products that i cant find in my country.
Sometimes they simply are not available or sometimes they only sell it in really big bags.

From what i have available, i think some amendment rich in K is what i am missing. I have Potassium Sulfate on my market, but they weren't able to tell me the source.

Even i want to have a rich soil, i have no need to have a "water only" soil. I made some organic nutrients from KNF, such a FPJ.

So, here is what i can i get.
Im not sure if i need to amend with all the listed minerals, or maybe a few of them will be enough.

If i don't list things like Kelp Meal, Neem cake or whatever, it's simply because i can't get them here.

Base Mix

50% peat moss
30% perlite (rice hulls available but i must buy A LOT)
20% EWC

Amendments

Minerals
- Rock dust (it's a mix of 80 types of grounded rocks)
- Dolomite lime
- Gypsum (although i must buy a big bag from the company)
- Agricultural lime (same as Gypsum)
- Azomite (pricey but can buy in smaller quantities)
- Oyster Shell (NOT flour, rather coarse. I can smash it i guess)

- Humic acid extract from Leonardite

Nutrients
- Blood meal
- Bone meal
- Alfalfa pellets
- Epsom salts
- Bokashi (pricey)

Others things i have available:

- Bat guano (High P)
- Rabbit manure
- More compost and/or EWC
- Malted barley

And i am also working on my wormbin.

-----

I know that Kelp Meal has the trace minerales and K on it...do you think the trace elements are covered with the minerals and EWC?

So i think i can do a good mix with all this stuff, but need some orientation on the mineral part and wanted to know your thoughts on how to work around the lack of K.

I guess somethings are kind of overkill...humic acid with the humates from peat and EWC maybe is not useful?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Not Needed: Rice hulls; perlite is all you need and rice hulls break down too quickly to be much use in aeration. They are Ok for other applications, but not if expensive.
Rock dust. The Azomite has you totally covered there. Even a small bag.
Gypsum, good stuff, but you don't need it to get started. Snag some as funds become available. Gypsum is NOT the same as Ag lime. I use Dolomite myself and Ag lime is closer to that. Both are formed with Calcium carbonate and Gypsum is Calcium Sulfate and has next to zero effect on pH.
The oyster shell is totally useless, being so coarse it would take years to even start working.

Can you get ANY sort of dried seaweed? Kelp is also used for livestock/horse feed, if you have any Feed & Seed stores around.

Don't worry about the humates. Both the peat moss and the EWC will provide more than enough. Good going on the worm bin. The #1 thing you can do for organic gardening.

HTH
Wet

Wetdog said:

Not Needed: Rice hulls; perlite is all you need and rice hulls break down too quickly to be much use in aeration. They are Ok for other applications, but not if expensive.
Rock dust. The Azomite has you totally covered there. Even a small bag.
Gypsum, good stuff, but you don't need it to get started. Snag some as funds become available. Gypsum is NOT the same as Ag lime. I use Dolomite myself and Ag lime is closer to that. Both are formed with Calcium carbonate and Gypsum is Calcium Sulfate and has next to zero effect on pH.
The oyster shell is totally useless, being so coarse it would take years to even start working.

Can you get ANY sort of dried seaweed? Kelp is also used for livestock/horse feed, if you have any Feed & Seed stores around.

Don't worry about the humates. Both the peat moss and the EWC will provide more than enough. Good going on the worm bin. The #1 thing you can do for organic gardening.

HTH
Wet

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Do you still use controversial amendments like bone/blood meal and Guano?

waterproof808 said:

Do you still use controversial amendments like bone/blood meal and Guano?

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I don't understand the "controversial" bit, but I've always used Bone meal and sometimes blood for special applications, but mostly seed meals for my N sources.

I don't use any bat Guano because of cost, but do use some Seabird guano in fresh mixes for slow release. Not likely to buy more, again, due to costs.

Wet

Wetdog said:

Can you get ANY sort of dried seaweed? Kelp is also used for livestock/horse feed, if you have any Feed & Seed stores around.

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Before everyone rushes off to the nearest feed store to pick up a 50 lb sack of kelp pellets meant for livestock supplement, ensure you check the analysis, in particular sodium. I've already been through this, as I bought the giant sack and brought it home. Luckily I checked the label when I got it home more carefully, and at it was over 8% sodium. I didn't open it so they took it back no problem. I've looked and looked, but never found any under 4%. That's a huge amount of sodium, and likely why you're not supposed to exceed half an ounce of the stuff for a full grown horse per day.

Wetdog said:

Can you get ANY sort of dried seaweed? Kelp is also used for livestock/horse feed, if you have any Feed & Seed stores around.

HTH
Wet

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Wetdog.
I meant that Ag Lime was the same as gypsum regarding that in order to get any of those i must buy a 55 pounds bag.

I can also get Zeolite, have you ever used it?

I found a company that seems to work with seaweeds, will contact and see what i can get.

You might look a little closer at the "rock dust" you posted. No idea what it is, but if you can get more info, it might be a decent solution.
Agree that azomite would be a "one stop" solution for you. Is it affordable enough for you to get adequate amounts?
I've read worms can break down oyster shell , so your worm bin might be a partial solution
While not a solution to your mineral issue, Everything ive read suggests rabbit manure is excellent! Not just as a fertilizer, but fed to your bin mixed 50/50 with bedding material, rabbit manure is supposed to produce top notch ewc's as well. I plan to feed it to my bin. You should probably rinse it first to remove the salts and ammonium from urine, though i've read of people putting their bins directly under rabbit cages. I plan to mix mine 50/50 with shredded paper/cardboard, put it in a bin with holes in the bottom and water it to wet the bedding. I'll let it sit for several days before feeding it to the worms.
Kelp would be a great addition if you can get. If you can't, you should still be fine.
I would think your base mix plus:
azomite
gypsum (if you determine its feasible)
rock dust to supplement the azomite if adequate amounts are cost prohibited)
Alfalfa
Rabbit manure (both as fertilizer and as worm food)
oyster shell as worm food (if you're recycling, you can mix some in the soil, but I don't know that it will be available for your first grow or two)
Bokashi as cost allows
blood and bone meal (i personally stick to fish meal and fish bone meal but if these are what you have available, they should serve you well).
Malted barley

You can throw the bat guano in as well if its a more affordable option. I personally only use it for teas, which begs the question, do you plan to use compost teas? If so, do you have access to unsulfured molasses. Not a bad idea to use molasses periodically even if you're not doing teas

Hope that helps

JHake said:

Thanks for the reply Wetdog.
I meant that Ag Lime was the same as gypsum regarding that in order to get any of those i must buy a 55 pounds bag.

I can also get Zeolite, have you ever used it?

I found a company that seems to work with seaweeds, will contact and see what i can get.

Click to expand...

A very knowledgeable gardener and canna grower once said, "A large bag of kelp (40-50 lbs), and a small bag of neem (10lbs).

Over the years I've found myself using pretty much the same ratio of each.

No experience with Zeolite, but, try and search around for Greensand. Even if it's the small bag to get started. Azomite and Greensand are my 'go-to's for minerals. Not cheap, but worth the money.

Wet

rkmcdon said:

You might look a little closer at the "rock dust" you posted. No idea what it is, but if you can get more info, it might be a decent solution.
Hope that helps

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The "rock dust" i can get seems to be mostly grounded stones/rocks from the river, i think gravel is the term in english.

I will def go with the azomite then. Isn't as expensive as i tought.

Do you use any type of lime for pH?

JHake said:

The "rock dust" i can get seems to be mostly grounded stones/rocks from the river, i think gravel is the term in english.

I will def go with the azomite then. Isn't as expensive as i tought.

Do you use any type of lime for pH?

Click to expand...

You'll be well covered with azomite. Glad the price ended up being doable
I have never used lime personally, but i have oyster shell meal to help buffer my soil. With your mix, I would probably add some dolomite, but you might want to get input from someone who's had experience using lime.
Unrelated to pH(gypsum does not act as a ph buffer), i'm also a big fan of gypsum as it adds sulfur.