Need some super soil advice...... please?

King Blunt

King Blunt

Well-Known Member
Hey fellow RIU members, I'm trying to make the switch to full blown organics, and not just sub-par"organics" that I have been doing for a while. I use Fox Farm products because that is the highest quality soil I can find. I've lurked and done a lot of thread reading about organics. I've started composting, and am going to start a vermicomposter sometime over the summer. Anyways, my real question is a several part question. I'm very limited geographically to certain products. I can't (for shipping costs) buy Roots soil, and need a good base soil. My local Lowe's-s (yes both) don't carry pro-mix :/ I can get another brand however called Harvest....... will this suffice as a replacement base soil? Or should I stick with happy frog or ocean forest? I can get coco coir easily. I also bought some cow manure compost by the name of Countryside Accents, can I use this as an amendment? I also have Leafgro 100% organic high humus content compost. And I have a spare bag of vermiculite laying around. Sadly the only perilite, bone/blood meal I can get is Miracle Grow...... will it still work? And I also know I'll need dolomite lime and azomite as bennie minerals, but where can I acquire them? Really, I just need some help locating the right materials, without having to make a bunch of seperate online orders....... especially because shipping costs suck for most things organic..... as they're mainly shipped from the west coast lol. Please all you organic Gurus..... need some help. Thanks!
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
King Blunt said:
Hey fellow RIU members, I'm trying to make the switch to full blown organics, and not just sub-par"organics" that I have been doing for a while. I use Fox Farm products because that is the highest quality soil I can find. I've lurked and done a lot of thread reading about organics. I've started composting, and am going to start a vermicomposter sometime over the summer. Anyways, my real question is a several part question. I'm very limited geographically to certain products. I can't (for shipping costs) buy Roots soil, and need a good base soil. My local Lowe's-s (yes both) don't carry pro-mix :/ I can get another brand however called Harvest....... will this suffice as a replacement base soil? Or should I stick with happy frog or ocean forest? I can get coco coir easily. I also bought some cow manure compost by the name of Countryside Accents, can I use this as an amendment? I also have Leafgro 100% organic high humus content compost. And I have a spare bag of vermiculite laying around. Sadly the only perilite, bone/blood meal I can get is Miracle Grow...... will it still work? And I also know I'll need dolomite lime and azomite as bennie minerals, but where can I acquire them? Really, I just need some help locating the right materials, without having to make a bunch of seperate online orders....... especially because shipping costs suck for most things organic..... as they're mainly shipped from the west coast lol. Please all you organic Gurus..... need some help. Thanks!
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if you put a purchase together at the KIS organics and get it all at once the shipping isn't too bad, provided you aren't growing like 50 plants
they got it all, and much better nutrients than the supersoil stuff.
Neem, karanja, crab meal, kelp meal, all the good stuff.
 
norcal mmj

norcal mmj

Well-Known Member
Amazon dude you can find most everything you need no shipping fee and if you have prim you get free 2 days shipping. Ask lowes if you want a product most stores will order things you want if they carry them at other locations. So the dirt, there has to be a garden supply/ nursery somewhere farly close that you could buy compost and top soil at. Remember to ask stores if they will order things for you. Just because they don't stock it didn't mean it's not available.
 
King Blunt

King Blunt

Well-Known Member
"if you put a purchase together at the KIS organics and get it all at once the shipping isn't too bad, provided you aren't growing like 50 plantsthey got it all, and much better nutrients than the supersoil stuff.Neem, karanja, crab meal, kelp meal, all the good stuff" Thanks for the advice mate. I appreciate it mucho. Just put an order in for 2 -1.5 cf of roots organics. Just about to order from KIS, but was wondering what all amendments I need. Karanja cake, neem cake, fish bone meal, kelp meal, crab meal. What else shall I need?
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="King Blunt, post: 11457785, member: 312191Thanks for the advice mate. I appreciate it mucho. Just put an order in for 2 -1.5 cf of roots organics. Just about to order from KIS, but was wondering what all amendments I need. Karanja cake, neem cake, fish bone meal, kelp meal, crab meal. What else shall I need?[/QUOTE]
My essentials are the following.
alfalfa meal, neem meal, crab meal, kelp meal, fish bone meal. If you want to go with some karanja that's awesome, I haven't as of yet, but I do have intentions on doing that, evidently there may (or may not) be advantages with using both neem and karanja meals together.
That's it for the nutrients. If you have problems with bugs I would suggest getting some whole insects (found in the chicken feed area) it'll be a plastic bucket of mealworms and crickets, mash those suckers up and add a half cup per cubic foot. I sorta stumbled upon this on accident, works damn well.
then you want some minerals. basalt, gypsum, rock phosphates, granite, etc, etc.
If you are re-using your soil you can add greensand, but keep in mind it doesn't do much for a yr at least.
Also depending on if you are using peat or not you'll want something to help with your ph. Oyster flour, crab meal, d-lime, even biochar will help.
And don't forget your aeration, more is better, lava rock, oyster shell, perlite, vermiculite, etc, etc.
 
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