Need help amending soil mixture

Revisiting this now in prep for spring

What I have now
-old coco coir mixed into old happy frog soil
-compost
-perlite
-ewc
-bat guano
-prilled garden lime
-prilled Dolomite lime
-prilled garden gypsum
-glacial rock dust
-langbenite
-Gaia bloom 2-8-4
-Gaia green 4-4-4
-zeolite

Anything I'm missing?

Micro clovers for on top
Aloe and coconut powder extracts

Need to come up with a formula and schedule still for base soil and top dressings

Also wondering what recommendations are with top dressing during veg vs flower and how I should make my top dressing mixes vs my base soil mixture

Nizza said:

Revisiting this now in prep for spring

What I have now
-old coco coir mixed into old happy frog soil
-compost
-perlite
-ewc
-bat guano
-prilled garden lime
-prilled Dolomite lime
-prilled garden gypsum
-glacial rock dust
-langbenite
-Gaia bloom 2-8-4
-Gaia green 4-4-4
-zeolite

Anything I'm missing?

Micro clovers for on top
Aloe and coconut powder extracts

Need to come up with a formula and schedule still for base soil and top dressings

Also wondering what recommendations are with top dressing during veg vs flower and how I should make my top dressing mixes vs my base soil mixture

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Dude careful with the zeolite. I remember it used to hold so much water. Thinking about it now, if you use peat it could be beneficial hmmm

Nizza said:

I appreciate the help! I am looking now with the 10 kg bag's do you think thats too much?
-Gaia Green Power Bloom and All Purpose Organic Plant Nutrients Fertilizer and Growbuds Feeding Chart, 10KG Bundle Set (20 kg total) - 120$
- UnLeAsH Gaia Green Glacial Rock Dust, 10 kg - 45$
- Down to Earth Organic Prilled Dolomite Lime, 5 lb - 18$
- Gaia Green Worm Castings 2 Liters Organic Soil Builder -28$ or 30 liters- 160$
-Amazon.com: AeroSoil Perlite Horticultural Soil Additive – Potting Soil for Plants – Seed Starter - Coarse 4 CF : Everything Else - 40$


or is that way too much quantity and I could get away with a trio pack for 90$ that includes worm castings and the power bloom and gaia veg? I plan on making up to a yard of soil.

I do have some more stuff that I use for liquid feed but not sure if it works at all for amending but I'll list it here anyways just in case

Mega Crop 2 Part A 5-12-26 Hydroponic Professional – Greenleaf Nutrients 25 lb
Mega Crop 2 Part B 15.5-0-0 Hydroponic Professional – Greenleaf Nutrients 25 lb
Biobizz Pre-mix 1 lb
Bud Explosion PK Booster – Greenleaf Nutrients
Sweet Candy – Greenleaf Nutrients
Sea-K Kelp Extract – Greenleaf Nutrients
Epsom Salt


So whats the deal, I get these nutrients and mix them into the soil and let it cook or something? Then I'm good to use it as a potting soil or garden bed soil? Thanks alot for the help I'm pretty clueless about this but I really want to get into it

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wow, 30l worm shit for 160$.
there have to be cheaper sources.
i pay less then 15$ for 20l and its good stuff, use it at about 10-15% part of my soil mix.

regaring cocos in the mix, in a similar boat then you, have some bales left which i use in soil mixes atm.
up to 25% seems to be fine, gives a nice soil texture and takes water better then pure soil.
wash and buffer it well before mxing, then it should be fine.
while decomposing it will release some K to your plants, at 25% max np so far.

regarding lime i would say test your soil with a testkit first and decide after it how much lime to give.

good luck.

cobshopgrow said:

wow, 30l worm shit for 160$.
there have to be cheaper sources.
i pay less then 15$ for 20l and its good stuff, use it at about 10-15% part of my soil mix.

regaring cocos in the mix, in a similar boat then you, have some bales left which i use in soil mixes atm.
up to 25% seems to be fine, gives a nice soil texture and takes water better then pure soil.
wash and buffer it well before mxing, then it should be fine.
while decomposing it will release some K to your plants, at 25% max np so far.

regarding lime i would say test your soil with a testkit first and decide after it how much lime to give.

good luck.

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Thanks a ton for the input!
Ok that's a great idea the soil test kit..
So then I need to mix up all my leftover stuff (coco+soil) thoroughly then get it tested? From here then get the test kit to decide what to add as far as Dolomite vs garden lime? Sorry I'm very new with this.

Got a worm bin for worm castings so that is taken care of

I was really hoping to come up with some sort of mix to test as a small batch and then go from there and see how the plants react. I don't think there would be much lime left in whatever the happy frog had in it as it's been outside for a few years.

I guess what I'm getting at is if I could get away with a small batch recipe without getting things tested I'd rather go that route unless you highly recommend just getting it tested first. Thank you!

Wow is this the right test kit? Pretty cheap for 40 tests.. https://www.amazon.com/Luster-Leaf-1601-Rapitest-Phosphorous/dp/B0000DI845/ref=asc_df_B0000DI845/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216532910363&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16250907817590947828&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002132&hvtargid=pla-338189048826&psc=1

Figured it was much more expensive is this a good kit? The ones I see do n,p,k, and pH

I do own the ph soil leap probe if all im doing is checking pH and also own a ppm pulse probe both by blue lab if that is sufficient

oh, cool, you have a soil pH probe allready, so youre fine of course.
i thought of these 10$ pH soil test kits who give you a rough idea.
thought theyre usefull when dealing with larger batches of unknown soil.
lots people use these tests in their garden to determine how much lime they need.
while you could prob get away without testing and there is no need to be overly precise with lime or organic food.
dont use lime myself as i have so much in the tap water.

i am also just in my 4th organic grow (all works well).
you have a lot good stuff listed an it sounds very complete.
EWC and bat guano (i would like to replace but its real good stuff) are great working for me.
as others suggested, starting with a complete fertilizer is some good idea.

oh, when you ordered dolomite lime i doubt you need normal garden lime also.
may just get a bag of dolomite, its long ago that i bought it, but would prefer due to the very good Ca/Mg ratio, could be you dont need the gypsum either.

Dolo will cause soil compaction the mg isn’t needed and shouldn’t be added to soil, it’s a sure way to fail
Limestone and gypsum supply all you need unless a soil test says your deficient in mg which I doubt
Check kis organic podcast 106 and 107
Mg is how I collapsed my soil by grow 5 worm cast and many other amendments are chock full of mg , if any is needed we foilar mg as it doesn’t effect the soil then

Nizza said:

Revisiting this now in prep for spring

What I have now
-old coco coir mixed into old happy frog soil
-compost
-perlite
-ewc
-bat guano
-prilled garden lime
-prilled Dolomite lime
-prilled garden gypsum
-glacial rock dust
-langbenite
-Gaia bloom 2-8-4
-Gaia green 4-4-4
-zeolite

Anything I'm missing?

Micro clovers for on top
Aloe and coconut powder extracts

Need to come up with a formula and schedule still for base soil and top dressings

Also wondering what recommendations are with top dressing during veg vs flower and how I should make my top dressing mixes vs my base soil mixture

Click to expand...

dam.. be careful how much of all that you put in an already fertile soil.

Week4@inCharge said:

dam.. be careful how much of all that you put in an already fertile soil.

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Yes it is a diverse selection of stuff I just wanted to get a nice arsenal so I can learn organics this year
I was thinking of getting kelp meal, neem meal, and alfalfa meal, maybe a couple other things

Rufus T. Firefly said:

Logan Labs Soil Testing Services | Lakeview Ohio

Logan Labs is the leading provider of analytical and consulting services to all areas of the agricultural community. We provide testing services for soil, water, soilless media, and plant tissue.

www.loganlabs.com

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link!
25$ for a basic test
60$ for a complete test
Which one would you recommend?

I wonder if I could get away with just making a few different 5 gallon test batches of soil to test out, I'm not worried about losing a plant or whatever in the name of science. What exactly am I looking for in the soil analysis?
my pH soil probe will give me a good soil reading (leap by bluelab)
and I have a PPM soil probe ( pulse by bluelab)''

If I can avoid paying for the test, that is more money in my pocket or towards more amendments, no? But If you highly recommend just getting it tested out, I'll just start there

I hope I didn't sound like this guy when I first started

Week4@inCharge said:

I hope I didn't sound like this guy when I first started

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Yeah haha ..
So I got a few more things cause I acquired a SIPS container I'm going to fix up. I got gro Kashi and EM1 coming, neem meal, alfalfa meal, and kelp meal.

I plan on being very sparing with all these amendments and since they are dry I will be able to pick and choose from a myriad of stuff to learn from. Thanks yall for all the input, I really appreciate all the time for your helpful responses.

I'll be sure to keep this thread updated on what I end up mixing together to log it and it will in turn help me record what I did to the soil and any input is appreciated greatly! I'm looking forward to this summer it's gonna be bangin