Need some knowledge from a guru man

You can just add all dry amendments to your compost bin/worm farm and let them process everything over 6 to 12 months or more...

I usually add Neem, kelp and barley every week or 2 to my bins along with bokashi dry mix and varied different rock dusts.
If you make compost teas add the mush after brewing and any other waste or food scraps.

the longer you leave it the better and “less hot” it should be.

You can’t buy anything near as good as you can make yourself but time and quality of inputs and ingredients are the main factor with the end result.

Nothing more satisfying than spending zero on a grow or just paying for the power and seeds.

go go kid said:

have you thaught to use chicken manure pelets, fish blood and bone meal pellets and seaweed meal as dry amendments to keep the plant healthy and fed. works well and lasts for monthes

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So have got hold of fish blood and bone mix some sea weed extracts and chicken manure pellets have looked at neem but £20 a bottle so have left that for now. Once seeds have split am going to soak peat and perlite and may be add a small amount of sea weed to soil as it's good for roots and green leafs once excess water has drained will pot up then leave on 18/6 for veg and water about 4-5 days later then add top feed of compost to 3rd water do this for another week then pot up in larger pots or air bags with peat perlite and homemade compost when would be best to add chicken pellets and fish bone and blood and would these be better as top feed or mixed in to soil when transplanting to larger pots the sea weed extract will be in every feed and my compost has been going for past year consists of household veg waste grass brown leaves twigs ash and horse manure which was about a 3rd of the compost mix.

Dude definitely more than 30% perlite. 40% ideal... sure thing is you wont regret it. The goal here is for the mix to NOT retain a lot of water so adding materials that hold a lot of water is a minus.

Medskunk said:

Dude definitely more than 30% perlite. 40% ideal... sure thing is you wont regret it. The goal here is for the mix to NOT retain a lot of water so adding materials that hold a lot of water is a minus.

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Cool so I'm on right path when would be best to add chicken pellets and fish blood and bone am total organic novice

kratos015 said:

Woah. I thought airpots only were for preventing the roots wrapping around and getting bound, somewhat similar to a smart pot.

They seriously provide aeration? That's incredible! Learn something new every day.

I'll be looking into those pots for the next time I do an indoor.

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of course man the pots you use hold all the aeration cards.
aeration is adding oxygen into the soil and root zone as much as possible, which airpots do that work for you especially if your soil is not up to standard or if you want to use coco.

I'll give you an real example.
I have 2 square 12Ltr pots
and i have a few 9ltr airpots.
The only plants that are behind are the 2 in square pots and when i feed them all 750ml per day the square ones are never ready for the next watering whre-as the airpots are screaming for it.
That's down to the pot speeding up transpiration rates in relation to aeration.

Both the airpot and the smartpot are good but for best aeration rates airpots are the best i came across.
Good luck and always remember to water slowly with airpots if you use them.

Madmike79 said:

Cool so I'm on right path when would be best to add chicken pellets and fish blood and bone am total organic novice

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i would not in a lifetime put 40% perlite.. but go ahead.

stashpot said:

i would not in a lifetime put 40% perlite.. but go ahead.

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What would be best ? Have got a peat and perlite mix to go with compost

Madmike79 said:

Cool so I'm on right path when would be best to add chicken pellets and fish blood and bone am total organic novice

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Have no exp with chick pellets but id say add them from the get go and let it do its job for a few waterings. Im using sphagnum moss and it retains water as is, which is still more than my liking. Im definately going for 10gal pots next time and maybe even 50% perlite. But thats just me. Hope it goes well

Madmike79 said:

What would be best ? Have got a peat and perlite mix to go with compost

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65-70% compost and a 30-35% mix of peat perlite and or vermiculite.
if you want to break down more
65% soil
20% perlite
15 % peat

adding 50% of something that does nothing but hold excess water is useless trust me. 30% max aeration.

plus if you plan on doing living organics,perlite does not compost or even break down over years its a useless in organics and its bad for environment
and wont make your soil rich.. your looking to keep your soil moist nearly all the time because your microorganisms don't like to be completely dried up they thrive in moist soil.
So adding 50% perlite will give less room and moisture to these living organisms. Just a few thoughts not saying im right or anybody else is wrong just from my experience with organics this is what you want.

Airpots and fabric pots are not a substitute for perlite or other aeration materials. If you run very small pots maybe you can get away with it. Nobody running large pots of organic soil is running without aeration in the soil. They provide air pruning, not aeration.

ComfortCreator said:

Airpots and fabric pots are not a substitute for perlite or other aeration materials. If you run very small pots maybe you can get away with it. Nobody running large pots of organic soil is running without aeration in the soil. They provide air pruning, not aeration.

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airpots are 100% aeration for soil and roots you need to learn what aeration actually is.
also i never said its a replacement for perlite or other amendments i simply stated they are better if you have less perlite.
There is no difference from your perlite retaining oxygen than my pot providing the oxygen to the soil and roots when the plant needs it, trust me i've been growing since 2006 i know what im talking about and thats through trial and error and learning
on my own expense.. Living organics does not blend well with 50% perlite 50% soil, regardless of the pot or pot size used..

Iv'e grown organics in big pots and added to much perlite 1 time maybe 40-45% and i can tell you it did not end well my soil dried up way to Quickly and the plant had no balance in the pot when it dried up.

But hey we all have our ways of doing stuff.

From airpot.com "enhanced to guarantee healthy root development and maximise aeration".

Anything CAN work. But no airpot or fabric pot can solve the problem of a compacted soil.

Sure a little air comes in the side. Yes i use fabric pots, they are great, but you are kidding yourself believing they magically fix compacted soil.

Aeration materials exist for this reason.

If you have made soil from scratch you would not say this.

You have been oversold on the benefits of a container my brother.

Blood meal,High in N is acidic and can burn plants if used incorrectly.
Bone meal,Has P and Ca. Wont burn plants.Is more slow release.

Consider what you have already in your compost,the horse poop is high in N i think.So be mindful of what your adding.
Im new also so hope this helps.

myke said:

Blood meal,High in N is acidic and can burn plants if used incorrectly.
Bone meal,Has P and Ca. Wont burn plants.Is more slow release.

Consider what you have already in your compost,the horse poop is high in N i think.So be mindful of what your adding.
Im new also so hope this helps.

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Will leave chicken and fish blood am potting up tomoz nothing but peat and a bit of perlite going to soak in small amount of seaweed extract diluted in water just to give roots a boost then abit more in 4-5 days then 3rd water will be with some compost on top after that will transplant to bigger pots

Your title invited a bunch of newbs to take a stab at your problem...

MustangStudFarm said:

Your title invited a bunch of newbs to take a stab at your problem...

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Your knowledge is more than welcome I am novice my self when it comes to organic I have a low perlite peat mix home made compost a year old to use once seedlings established breaks up nicely when u grab a hand full and some seaweed extracts is it 65-70% compost to 35% peat and perlite or other way round low amount of perlite in the peat

PadawanWarrior said:

Hey Kratos, would you recommend the fine or coarse basalt? Thanks.

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Was unaware there was a "fine" option tbh.

I'd imagine the fine would be a better option, but I am not qualified to answer that truth be told.

Minerals are typically for micro-nutrients, as well as helping to facilitate CEC. I would hypothesize that finely ground mineral would provide better CEC due to it covering more surface area inside of the soil itself, but I very would could be wrong. Similar to how finely ground Azomite is. Anyone chime in on this one?