First timer mixing organic soil mix

Igofast

Member
I have been using FFOF and I kind of want to break from the herd and use something made by my own hands. Only need enough for 2 plants for now (mothers). I bought just plain ol' potting soil, small bag, and a 8 qt bag of perlite. I know of some other ingredients to use but I don't know how much of each I should use for a Small batch. I did research but all I could find was for big batches and I really don't want to over do it. I'm a newbie to nutrients and organics so any input is welcomed! Thanks! bongsmilie
 

TruenoAE86coupe

Moderator
My base mix is 3 parts roots soil, 2 parts perilite, 1 part earthworm castings. Since your potting soil probably doesn't have perilite in it, probably still a pretty good ratio, i feel that earth worm castings are an essential part of a base mix. This mix is great for seedlings and young plants, depending on your base soil, will typically feed for about 2 weeks.
To this i will add 1 cup of each Bone meal, Blood meal and Dolomite lime, for every full (1.5) cu ft bag of the soil (before adding the perilite and ewc).
This should cook for at least a month, mixing daily. But i never have time for that, so my mix is always fresh as it is given to the plants. By not "cooking" it, it is not as available to the plants immediately, but will feed them progressively for about a month before i supplement with Dyna gro.
 

Igofast

Member
Awesome thanks for the info. Just to clear it up ewc is earth worm casting correct? And I don't have a month to cook it, just came up with this idea a couple days ago but already have my seedlings started. I hear about people mixing FFOF into their soil I have a little bit left over so I might just throw the potting soil perlite and fox farms in the mix.
 

Trousers

Well-Known Member
There is a great seed to bud organic soil stickied on the top of this page. It uses fox farms as the base.
 

Villane

Member
Awesome thanks for the info. Just to clear it up ewc is earth worm casting correct? And I don't have a month to cook it, just came up with this idea a couple days ago but already have my seedlings started. I hear about people mixing FFOF into their soil I have a little bit left over so I might just throw the potting soil perlite and fox farms in the mix.
I'd recommend going full organic. The difference is huge when you make a full line DIY soil.
Have you thought about just cooking soil for now, then at flowering stage transplant?
 

Vindicated

Well-Known Member
Go to your local garden center, buy several bags of the cheapest potting oil, and mix and use as is. Or for a truly custom mix, get peat moss or coconut coir, perlite or vermiculite, and compost (get free from neighbors, churches, waste centers or buy at garden center). Mix ingredients in 1/3 ratios. I favor coir + perlite + compost. If my budget allows I'll add up to 10% worm castings to the final mix. To much can burn plants, I've seen this first hand. 10 percent is safe and very effective. Never needed to add lime, works great as is. As the compost breaks down the pH self corrects.
 

Nutes and Nugs

Well-Known Member
Remember to let your soil cook at least a month after adding lime and blood/bone meal etc.
I mixed some up straight in to the pots and it burned half my crop.
Organic is where I wanna be.
No worm castings cept through the mail or make my own so I still buy no nutes
store soil and add some perlite.

Vindicated has a good idea if you can buy that locally.
 

jcmjrt

Well-Known Member
If my budget allows I'll add up to 10% worm castings to the final mix. To much can burn plants, I've seen this first hand. 10 percent is safe and very effective. Never needed to add lime, works great as is. As the compost breaks down the pH self corrects.
That's interesting. I have a worm farm that I'm harvesting from and generally mix castings in at about 30% and have not experienced any issues with burning. The fact is, that I've had seeds start sprouting in pure castings and they looked great. I use sphagnum peat moss for my base but indirectly get the benefits of coir as well as that is my primary worm bedding.

A couple of years ago, before I had the worm farm and was just learning about organic, I purchased large bags of worm castings and added it in as a major topdressing. I ended up with sludge on top for a while and added a bunch of perlite to loosen it up...and that soil was the most verdant that I had that year. My experience is that it's almost impossible to have too many worm castings...except that one still needs aeration. 30% is working great for me.
 
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