Peatmoss Question

underD

Active Member
HeyGuys, First time grower here :D. I'm in a city where I could only find one type of Peat moss. it has 192-N 219-P 384-K and ph is about 5.5 with added dolomite I don't know how that translates to the ratios i've seen from growers 10-10-10 and others, the bag is 50L. my question is, is this any good for an indoor grow? I mean will it work? how much more nutrients should I feed it since it already has NPK added. note that I have the BigBloom+GrowBig+TigerBloom nutrients. any help would be appreciated. thanks
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Do you have other soils available? You don't have to grow in peat alone. Can you mailorder a bale of something?

I don't understand those numbers. In the US they are a percent of weight. A bagged soil/medium would be something like 0.20-0.10-0.15. Very small numbers, yet even that would be fairly hot for seedlings. (And, honestly, having no nutrients in the soil makes it easier as a new grower. Less confusion about what the plant's getting. Unless you do a properly composted/amended soil designed to carry the plant for almost the entire grow, just some teas here and there.).
 

Madagascar

Well-Known Member
Combine with perlite to increase drainage and protect from overwatering. Peat moss is good never heard of it coming with nutrients already in it
 

underD

Active Member
I'm going to keep searching for another soil to start with but for now this is all I could find. I'm actually in SaudiArabia hence the lack of quality materials. I don't know how much a bag of soil would cost to ship internationally or even if it would go through customs here but i'll try. and I don't know how to convert the numbers on the bag (triple digit) to the one's i'm reading about online. thanks for the help guys, I'll try to keep you posted if it works. wish me luck!!
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I don't know how to convert the numbers on the bag (triple digit) to the one's i'm reading about online.
Maybe hydro would make sense there? Or, grow in straight perlite (a soilless, hydro-like medium)? It seems like people who sell agricultural supplies could explain what those numbers mean. Sometimes it's % of total weight, but it doesn't sound like that. Sometimes % of volume, I've heard.

You might be able to soak, rinse a couple times (if it has nutrients applied too strongly). It wouldn't hurt to try. But, peat needs dolomite lime to maintain a stable ph. The peat I buy has dolomite applied, but I add 1 to 1.5 Tbsp/gal per gallon of peat before I plant. It would be smart to have some, especially if you soaked and rinsed that peat (it might wash away some dolomite goodness.). Finding dolomite might be a problem there too. Lime is confusing. You want something that says it contains 1.2 to 1 calcium carbonate to magnesium carbonate (it breaks down to 1.62 to 1 elemental Ca to Mg.). You want something close to that, not calcium oxide. (You have to be very careful about this or you can kill the plants using the wrong lime.).

Finally, is cannabis legal there? What kind of penalties would you face if caught? (I'm aware of some pretty harsh penalties for fairly minor conduct. I wouldn't want you to be at risk of anything like that.).
 

underD

Active Member
I found some good clean soil for the grow and I'm adding perlite to it. and yea it's pretty strict over here, I mean if i get caught growing I might get beheaded. no seriously I'm pretty sure they'd cut my head off. but anyways I'm growing in my private home, houses are really big here and I'm keeping it on the DL so that I don't get caught. after living in CA for a few years I had to come back a few months ago cause my dad passed away (bone cancer) I don't think I can continue my studies in the US so it's either I grow my own or smoke what some smoke here which is afghan hash I guess thats what they call it. but it's pretty shitty, sometimes cut with other stuff I don't know what they add to it but its bad. and don't worry I'll keep it to myself and be very careful. thanks again for the help guys.
 

Nullis

Moderator
Eggshells = calcium carbonate so there is your lime. If you use eggs anyways; dry them out somewhere warm a few days and once they are brittle pulverize them in a blender or an old coffee grinder (they will scratch plastic right up). Throw in some epsom salt (drug store) for good measure (about 1 tsp per tablepsoon of lime).
 
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