Bone meal part to soil ratio?

Maersk

Active Member
My bone meal NPK is 3.5 - 18.5 - 0.

Currently my soil is 60% peat, 20% EWC, and 20% perlite.

I have around 1 month left of veg, how much bone meal should I put inside this current mix and is 1 month enough time for it to begin breaking down?

I may also change my mix in the next coming days to for the ewc, perl, peat to 1/3 each...
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Bump your perlite up to 40% (double what's in there), or you're going to have problems galore trying to grow in mud. I would leave the peat and EWC as is, especially the EWC. I run my homegrown EWC at ~10%, otherwise it makes the mix too dense.

*I* use a heavy 1cup/cf of the steamed bone meal in my mixes. It gets added to the initial mix only because it's so slow to break down. IME, top dressing, like in flower, is a waste because you will harvest before the bone meal becomes available.

When you get everything mixed, aerated, and well moistened, let it all cycle in the containers the plants will be going in. This provides both drainage and aeration and has minimal disturbance to the micro herd and fungi as it cycles. The plastic sack you are using is about the worst way to cycle a mix.

HTH
 

Maersk

Active Member
it is a 250Litre tarpaulin box shape sack, is that not ok?

also, 1 cup per cf, what Liter is 1 cup?

I am trying to do my calculations in Litres.

If you think I need 40L perlite, I better order it now... Hmm, the interesting thing is, my mix seems really fluffy with just 20%... But your not the first person to tell me to double it.

Thanks
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
it is a 250Litre tarpaulin box shape sack, is that not ok?

also, 1 cup per cf, what Liter is 1 cup?

I am trying to do my calculations in Litres.
I'll share my knowledge and experience freely, but I won't do your homework for you. Conversions are on you.

But, 1 liter = ~4 cups, so, ~1/4 liter.
 

Johnei

Well-Known Member
1 cup/cf is about 1 cup per 7.5 gal soil, or about 28L.

1cup/cf is also what I would use.

Phosphorus gets tightly bound in the soil, it's not an easy substance for the roots to get access to without strong microbial digestion/conversion action. just sayin...
 

Maersk

Active Member
I'll share my knowledge and experience freely, but I won't do your homework for you. Conversions are on you.

But, 1 liter = ~4 cups, so, ~1/4 liter.
@Wetdog
Thanks, I did load up the conversion charts in another thread yesterday, but should have hinted at them here, I wanted reconfirmation because a UK cup probably diff size to a US cup... I got 1 cup at around 1/2 litre, but 1/4 litre sounds more realistic so I will go by that.

@Johnei

Im planning to mix it up well, and let it sit for 1 month, Would you say thats long enough to break down?
Im thinking to keep the soil relativly warm to help the bioactivity.
 

Johnei

Well-Known Member
It doesn't all break down and become available at once, but yeah, after a month there will be plenty of Phosphorus and Calcium available to the plants, pH permitting of course. Don't store it too wet/soggy. The initial wetting of the mix can be done with a compost/worm castings/even just a scoop of peat brewed up into a tea to kick start the microbes. There's gotta be good microbe action to digest things down to the available forms.
 
Top