1st soil mix - will this be too hot? or will the ph way off? Started with AACT as well.

So in another thread earlier I listed several amendments I had sourced locally from the big box stores/local nursery... I finally got around to trying to finalize and get my 1st batch cooking...

Base mix I started with a large tote of recycled (heavily rinsed in tap water) coco coir with perlite and hydroton intermixed... along with this I added a 1/2 bag of EWC, 1/2 bag of FFoF, 1/2 bag of locally source compost which claims to have bio-char, 1/3 large bag of chunky perlite, 1/2 bag of mushroom compost, 1/4 bag on Ancient Forest and some coco husks that were laying around... say 1/3 of a bag... I included a bag of diatomaceous earth as well since i had that handy. A couple days later I found a source for a bag of horticultural charcoal.... not quite a biochar source but I did buy a small bag of that to include...

This all was mixed together and it mounds up nicely and fills a standard wheel-barrow - after mixing things up it seems like it fills 7 or 8 #5 gal buckets so let's say 40 gal of base mix as ball-park...

The amendments I've added so far are as follows....

4 cup Crab Shell meal
2 cup Greensand
2 cup Gypsum (pelletized unfortunately)
1 cup Garden Lime (Dolo)
2 cup Soft Rock Phosphate
2.5 cup Bone meal
1.5 cup Blood meal
2 cup Cottonseed meal
1 cup Azomite
2+ cup Kelp Meal
2 cup Seabird Guano
1 cup High P Bat Guano
1 cup Chicken Compost Manure
1/2 pack of Ful Humix

Once I had the mix sitting for a week, I also made a simple compost tea... I used a little of the 2 guanos, some ancient forest, some EWC, some Liquid Karma, some Hydroguard, some Floralicious Plus and a good bit of Molasses. I also had some fish/seaweed liquid fertilizer I put a dash in to help start things off. For some extra measures based on what I've seen/read online I also went into the woods behind me and got some 'funk' from a composting pile of grass clippings and a couple other wild samples to add to the biological diversity...

I let that tea brew for 48 hours and it had a decent foam going, I used that to then wet-down the mix and all the amendments thus far and let it sit in a trashcan for several days before dumping it back into the wheel-barrow. I can feel the heat coming off so I believe I've got a good 'cook' started...

Now my worry is will this mix be suitable for use... Have I overshot it on amendments? Or perhaps even under-shot and need to supplement with more? I do intend to re-use/re-charge this soil a few times at least...

Anyone give some good input? Anything you'd add more of? or anything you'd "fix"?

I still need to read-up on how to do soil pH check. I have a pH meter and test strips as well as the test drops... just need to see how to do it for soil...

btw: I do still have a whole bag of FFoF and 'Just Rite' as well as more perlite and EWC that I can use to tone things down if need be... I didn't use nearly all of the amendements so I do have more to add if beneficial.. i.e. I have plenty of the Azomite/Kelp...

After asking on another thread about its use, I also have plenty of Turface I can add to this mix - question being at what ratio?

Done your research. Looks pretty good for a first mix. You could probable skip the dolo and use oyster shell instead. I think you'll have no problems. I like all the humus sources. Don't mess with you pile to much. The more break of the delicate fungal growth happening the their. I try not to mix ever after mixing. Even better age right in flowering pots with a dummy pot the same size as your last veg transplant will be. Just to hold a place for rootball and won't have to till soil at all. It should become clumpy and if you break a clump little white final growth is holding everything together.

Thanks for the input. I have started to notice some whitish web'ish looking activity. Was hoping that was a 'good thing'... is there any type of mold/fungus I should be monitoring for that is a sign of bad news? Right now it's sitting in my garage which gets fairly warm but not as bad as outdoors in a can... has an earthy smell...

The only other things I've really considered adding was the oyster shell flower, neem meal and langenite... but I'll have to order those if I wanted to add them... no local sources I've found so far. I do like some of the bug fighting traits the neem allegedly provides as well as the slow release N (correct?).

NewGrower2011 said:

Thanks for the input. I have started to notice some whitish web'ish looking activity. Was hoping that was a 'good thing'... is there any type of mold/fungus I should be monitoring for that is a sign of bad news? Right now it's sitting in my garage which gets fairly warm but not as bad as outdoors in a can... has an earthy smell...

The only other things I've really considered adding was the oyster shell flower, neem meal and langenite... but I'll have to order those if I wanted to add them... no local sources I've found so far. I do like some of the bug fighting traits the neem allegedly provides as well as the slow release N (correct?).

Click to expand...

Looks out for rotten smelly. Spoiled eggs gross. Fresh and earthy is good. And any fungus other than all white mylicium should raise flags
Sometime tracker supply or farming supply store can have oyster shell crushed. Feed for chickens. Could work in a pinch. Although I've never tried.