Trying to transition to organic / make a potting mix

To put things simply, i've been growing in potting mix, a pot & a saucer with bottle'd fertilizer but I after reading about soil webs and organics I want to get on board that ship.

I have several hurdles though including;

1. I'm on a really limited budget
2. I have no real yard so no compost heap nor even source of compost material other than harvested plants and food scraps.
3. I as of yet have no worm farm, but i'm working on it.
4. Organic supplies are hard to find at the moment. Maybe i'm just looking wrong but i can't even find anywhere local to buy worm castings but i did find a lady selling worm juice (don't know if it's pure of what comes out with a water flushing). I have no idea where to buy guano- if i need it that is.

I made a shopping list from www.bunnings.com.au to try to fix up the sh*t cheap potting mix i've already bought. Its not soft at all and dries out without even a plant drinking from it. Must be just sand and bark and rubbish. I've already got a little bit of perlite and i found 2 things at bunnings, Peat Moss and Organic compost (Miracle Gro organic choice garden compost). The peat is Au$4.96 for 5L and the compost Au$9.98 for 25L. Playing with a spreadsheet last night I found i can spend about 50$ to make a combined 132L of new soil mix which is; 19% Peat - 38% Compost - 6% Perlite - 37% sandy crap potting mix . I'm then going to pour through some worm juice i bought, some Grostorm by Flairform for humic and fulvic acid and some Seasol (seaweed extract).
I want to add myco but i don't know any stores to buy it from- only online.
Does anyone have any predictions as to how this may turn out? Is there something else i should add to the soil as a fertilizer since my soil web will suck? I'm going to need to use some of it straight away for 4 seedlings because they are not enjoying the sand but the rest can wait at least 2 or 3 weeks.

I'm presuming i will have to fertilize until i can cook a proper soil for future grows with all the right stuff in it- but what should i use as a transitional fertilizer? Obviously not my hydro-suitable salt ones that will kill the soil life. But what about PowerFeed by Earthcare? You likely havent heard of it but its a fish based and compost based fertilizer that seems to be organic- but it's not. I reckon most people think it is and it claims to help micro life in the soil. I started using it because i hated salt build up in soil and wanted to have sauces under pots rather than a drainage system or drop buckets- it seems good for that since there is no residue in the sauces where as if i used regular ferts they'd be white like snow. Will such a product be harmful to my soil web to use as a fertilizer top up? Should i try to use something that is officially organic like Charlie Carp or Nitrosol? I'm going to use banana skin brew for a flowering boost but i don't know what ever make-it-myself fertilizer i can do. People talk about brewing compost to make a liquid- without my own source, is it worth buying a bag of 'compost' from a store to use?

Keep in mind i live in Australia and likely the stuff you find typical where you live may not even be here. I've never seen guano even mentioned here for example. I figure people probably have never heard of a single product i listed but i inserted the hyper-links so you can get an idea of what they are.

Any comments will be appreciated.

Well 155 views and no one says anything... So i'll talk to the ghosts some more.

Today i bought 50L of Miracle Gro organic compost & 25L of Peat Moss. I got home and started with the compost and spread it out on a tarp. I had no idea what to expect because i've never made my own or bought before but it was dark, clumpy but easily broke out into a fine moderately spongy material. Then i got the peat moss and mixed that through and then about 8L of perlite which is all i had left. At this point i started thinking about adding the sh*t potting mix at the 37% i planned but I felt like i'd be ruining the new mix i made. It's really moist and water retaining so i wish i bought more perlite now. I added just 8L of the old potting mix just for the dry sand and non-water holding properties it has. So in the end i only made 91L instead of the planned 132L so i'll have to make a mission to get more supplies by the time seeds arrive in the post. Maybe 2 weeks.

So this is what i've ended up with; 27.47% Peat moss - Compost 54.94% - 8.79% Old mix - 8.79% Perlite

I hope to transition these pots into no-till recycled living organic method...

Miracle Grow compost is not very high in quality. Personally I won't use it. If I did, I would probably add something high in nitrogen and a bacterial inoculant to re-compost it for at least 4-5 weeks. I personally always try to have as many different compost sources as well, so I would have picked up one bag of cotton burr compost, a bag of mushroom compost, and maybe some chicken or llama manure as an example.

A worm bin using kitchen scraps is going to create a way better product than anything you can buy bagged. Why? Because you aren't throwing the same thing in all the time. Coffee grounds - high nitrogen, egg shells - great mineral source, etc. Before I could create enough EWC with my flow through set up, I found good stuff online through craigslist. By driving to relatively local sites, I was able to get better quality compost at a cheaper price.

While your current mix is not ideal, we all have to start somewhere. The glaring hole I would fix before use: add a mineral/silica rich sand (here the local choice is greensand) and a rock dust like Azomite or Glacial Rock dust. Instead of more perlite, I would recommend an expanded shale (heated rock) or similar product be added. Perlite will slowly float its way out of your mix, the shale is just slightly too heavy to float so it stays in the mix where you want it. Plus you need to inoculate your soil with micro bacteria and fungi.

www.prokashi.com/videos has wonderful instructions on creating your own inoculants instead of purchasing Great White and the like.

If bugs have been an issue I would also find something like neem cake and/or crab meal to compost into the soil. If you can't find those, maybe do companion plantings with garlic, borage, or mums. All have bug deterrent properties.

Personally, I don't worry about the branded items from hydro shops very often and I like the direction you are going in. Organic soil gets much better with age....no reason to throw it out every grow. I had to order my neem and crab shell meal online, the rest of my mix was bought through a local bulk dirt and sand company, and a local feed & seed store. Not because I don't have hydro stores nearby, but because I was not happy with the quality vs cost of the products I was buying in those specialty stores.

When you do transition to no-till - add a few of your worms to each pot. It will make your venture a lot more successful. Hope this helps you get started.

And your questions about fertilizers are answered many times in here. Without a good source of compost you will not make a quality compost tea. If you need to use bottled products for a while. I would make teas with kelp, alfalfa (be careful - HIGH nitrogen), comfrey, aloe etc. Your local garden/hardware store will carry fish and seaweed concentrates as well. A pure sugar like molasses or honey will cause your micro life to become more prolific and break your soil down better.

I'm not an Aussie, so I don't know what products are available to you, but finding a local organic gardening group may be helpful - just tell them you are interested in organic gardening - not growing pot. Guano is just another word for manure. Australia has lots of ranching - you just need to search manure NPK values for sources that can be found locally and make the best substitute for your needs. The formulas you find on here are personal choices of those growers and are meant as a starting point. Please DO use local products. You cut down on fossil fuels used for shipping and you will usually get a better final product for your money.

The reason a lot of people aren't answering is you have a HUGE post and few strightforeward questions in a Board that already HAS almost ALL the info you need!

Now-- if you had said "I'd like to transition to organic as easily and inexpensively as possible- any suggestions?" Your thread would be full of answers!!!

IMO-- go with Promix and liquid nutes such as FloraNova or go with M3 soil (all you do is water it thru veg then fed lightly in flower) or mix your own- but that gets pricey...and if you go all out-complicated!
You CAN mix 1 bag Light Warrior with 1 bag of Ocean forest and 1/4 cup Happy Frog Fruit n Flower for a basic mix... then feed lightly (1/4 strength) with Organic Tea, fish emulsion and kelp...plus a good Calmag...
Plus- as the man already said- a good organic carb like Sucanat or molasses...

Thanks for the tips AliCakes. I'll have to work on finding good compost and hopefully earth worm compost & juice until i have my own. About guano, i thought that meant specifically bat crap. If it's just animal manure in general, i heard rooster manure is a good all round source of npk and that's easy to get. Your right about the perlite wanting to separate from the mix. I'll have to find where to get the expanded shale and other rock dusts. I'm companion planting Basil in each pot at the moment- hoping that the essential oil enhancing potential is true and also pests too i guess.

LadyZanra, sorry all i got from your reply was brand brand brand. What is Promix- a brand of potting mix? I'm trying to ideally make my own living soil not a buy it bagged (so have to re-buy it again every grow) solution. Floranova is not organic, it's just organic based and is still a salt nutrient. If i use it i'll need to flush but i don't want to. M3 soil is another brand i haven't heard of. Never heard of light warrior or ocean forest either- sounds like more bagged brands of soil. Happy frog? Never heard of it. I want to do organic tea's- i just need some recipes for stuff i can find and to keep searching for things. I thought about mollasses before so maybe i should do it- can it be any sugar though like regular sugar?

Right now i know where to get: Barley to make enzyme tea, Fresh Aloe to foliar for growth boosting & horsetail for silica.

I'm trying to find: Neem cake for npk and pest resistance, kelp meal so i don't have to buy bottled inorganic, alf-alfa meal for npk & maybe coconut water for um i dunno but people think it's good. I should add to the list now some expanded shale and various rock dust.