The next part to the mix

Thebanktella said:

so I normally mix my soil in 3 parts
I use perlite , peatmoss and then a compost

The question I have is what would be a good third part soil to mix with it to make it "complete" as a base ?
As an organic soil mix tho , I was thinking worm castings, but I will be making aact with castings to water it with , so not sure if I should use castings in the soil mix

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ShLUbY said:

you can shift your compost element to 1/2 EWC and 1/2 compost for biological diversity. also, if you have access to something other than perlite for drainage, there are much better options out there. Pumice, scoria (red lava rock but you'd need to crush it), and also biochar as a drainage material (i think dontesla says no more than 10% of your drainage materials should be biochar). the problem with perlite is that it's quite inert, where as those other options will help maintain soil fertility because they have charged surfaces that hold on to nutrients, as well as provide homes for organisms in the pore spaces. also perlite floats like crazy, and i just hate that about it haha.

also a little coco coir in the mix helps with absorption of water because it absorbs much more readily than peat moss does. i think that's the direction i'm headed with my next mixes. probably do like 80% peat and 20% coco for that portion of the base.

just some ideas for you to chew on for a bit

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Thebanktella said:

So I take it no nutrients will be coming from either the peat or coco that's just the medium to add ur nutrients to right ?

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ShLUbY said:

well over time, the charged surfaces of the peat and coco will indeed hold on to nutrients, and add to the fertility of your soil (plants can swap hydrogen ions for minerals that bind to the substrate surfaces), but right out of the package, there is no nutrition. peat moss is mainly hydrogen protons attached to the surface which is why it acidifies soil so quickly, and coco is known for potassium and sodium being attached to the surface of the fibers which is why you want to buy buffered coco (or buffer it yourself to remove excess Na and K). They are a means of absorbing water and holding onto water and nutrients for your plants to absorb, and that water will solubilize and mobilize nutrients in the soil.

nutrition comes from amendments like crab shell, kelp meal, gypsum, neem seed meal, things like that, which allow you to have a water only mix and not rely on bottles. I'm sure you know this already

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