Soil composition question

ebcrew

ebcrew

Well-Known Member
My buddy works at a soil and mulch business. He said they make this mix especially for cannabis. Here is the composition:

50% Coco coir
20% peat
30% perlite
Gypsum 5 lbs/yd3
Turfpro 18 lbs/yd3
Dolomite 6 lbs/yd3

So my point is I want to mix it with my fox farm happy frog 50/50 maybe add perlite if needed. Is this a good idea?
 
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To me perlite are coco are pointless in soil mixes for canabis.

Pretty sure it be fine but id start at lower percentages first :-)
 
For a long time i blamed soil but you know in the end it has plenty.of air in it and drys pretty quick in the right environment and pot size.

Seek to make it work not try to find work arounds :-)
 
IME perlite or other similar mineral aggregates are essential in a container potting mix. Aggregates increase air porosity, aeration and help with drainage. They help water flow into the mix and out through the drainage holes. Personally i would never grow in containers without them. Coco is better used as a hydroponic medium grown dtw style in small pots with multiple feedings a day from what I've seen but some people like it in their soil mix. Up here in New England peat is much cheaper, adding coco to a soil mix is expensive and doesn't add much.
 
ebcrew said:
My buddy works at a soil and mulch business. He said they make this mix especially for cannabis. Here is the composition:

50% Coco coir
20% peat
30% perlite
Gypsum 5 lbs/yd3
Turfpro 18 lbs/yd3
Dolomite 6 lbs/yd3

So my point is I want to mix it with my fox farm happy frog 50/50 maybe add perlite if needed. Is this a good idea?
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I don't see why it wouldn't work. I had root aphids with my last bag of happy frog so watch for those.
 
I forgot to mention the soil is free from him which is why I'm intrigued. Good soil isn't exactly cheap. He claims he ships that soil mixture to professional growers in California.
 
Ya most have total success with the FF range zero add ins - When free soil guys tell you the whole story then i might be interested but until then he sounds like every other hypster i ever heard in this industry.

Good soil im afraid is cheap, i grt a big bag for a few bucks and great selection down local hardware store. Here in the UK Verve potting compost be one of the preffered, in america FF seems the generic bag most use.

A lot of soils work, find one, dial it in then think about what might improve it slightly - a lot of clever peeps make soil, far from guess work :-)



ebcrew said:
I forgot to mention the soil is free from him which is why I'm intrigued. Good soil isn't exactly cheap. He claims he ships that soil mixture to professional growers in California.
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When I'm adding compost, or if the bagged soil seems to have too much twigs and bark I sift it. I haven't had that problem recently, but I keep the screen ready just in case.
 
SPLFreak808 said:
If its free why not try a run?

That does sound like an odd mix though, it's mostly soilless with a suspicious amount of pH buffers.
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Found super tiny white bugs in it, not sure if good or bad but I put it outside. Probably gonna use it for other plants
 
ebcrew said:
Found super tiny white bugs in it, not sure if good or bad but I put it outside. Probably gonna use it for other plants
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It was probably stored outside with some humidity, good or bad, outdoor bugs will usually make it into the bag/s somehow, can't stop the nature of infestations without building your own and/or keeping everything indoors.

Heres a nice read to get a better idea of soil composition, some plant species prefer one type over the other, cannabis is one that hates clay.

www.livingoffgridguide.com

How to Create Amazing Garden Soil from Clay, Silt or Sand | Living Off Grid Guide

Learn what it takes to get your soil to the next level. What does great soil look like and how do you create it.
www.livingoffgridguide.com
 
There's a tiny bug called a soil mite, helps break things down in the soil. Harmless to your plants. If you use organic methods they're actually beneficial.
SPLFreak808 said:
It was probably stored outside with some humidity, good or bad, outdoor bugs will usually make it into the bag/s somehow, can't stop the nature of infestations without building your own and/or keeping everything indoors.

Heres a nice read to get a better idea of soil composition, some plant species prefer one type over the other, cannabis is one that hates clay.

www.livingoffgridguide.com

How to Create Amazing Garden Soil from Clay, Silt or Sand | Living Off Grid Guide

Learn what it takes to get your soil to the next level. What does great soil look like and how do you create it.
www.livingoffgridguide.com
Click to expand...
Not sure about cannabis hating clay, I have clay soil here and my indica got up to almost 8 feet tall despite being topped 3 times. I think it depends on how...alive (for lack of a better word) your soil is. I made sure to inoculate my plant with mycorrhizae, which loosens up the clay a lot, but it's naturally occurring outside. Clay has an unusually high nutrient content since most plants have trouble accessing them.
On the other hand I can't tell you how the weed turned out, since the plant got stolen. Security camera system is on it's way for next year.
 
What is missing is a rich source of compost like worm castings but that could work as a base soil. Coco and perlite are good for aeration of heavy composts and are porous allowing microbes & fungi to colonize their interior. They are also both ph neutral which is probably the reason behind all that D-lime and gypsum. Once you add a bunch of raw organic material like compost the ph will likely drop slightly; a mineral buffer is needed to balance the mix.
This is just a raw soil base. You'll need to amend with more compost and possibly more npk inputs in order to sustain plants long term. Adding in some bagged soil could be the easiest way to get started. It will get even better as you continue to amend and recycle it. In my exp it takes a few recycles and a dank source of vermicompost for your mix to achieve supernatural status. Along with ewc I suggest adding a slow release fertilizer like manure or guano. Adding in some kelp and alfalfa meal can help provide probiotics and clean npk inputs. Be sure to let the mix sit for a month after adding a bunch of raw materials to it to cook everything in and normalize ph.
Those bugs are most likely tiny soil mites. They are harmless and actually a benefit; they eat bacteria and larvae. Most insects with the exception of say spider mites are not really the scourge people think they are. They can even be a sign of good soil health. Leaf munchers like thrips are easily quelled by spinosad spray and common fungus gnats are repelled by sprinkling on diatomaceous earth. Prevention is the easiest means of control.
 
Doing my first run with a soiless organic grow, 3:1:1 promix, ewc, perlite, and down to earth biolive.
Seems to be going well so far.
Always done gen hydro trio and soiless before this.
 
Adding about 10% activated charcoal is also good. The C will bind lots of compounds which the plant later can use for food, the roots have to actively solve these substances out.
The coal also offers a huge areal for microbes to dwell in. Think Terra Preta.

Sometimes bought soil is too sharp. Coco n perlite can help mitigate that. Actually I find perlite better for airation - just add enough so you can fully water without your plants showing signs of overwatering/drowning roots = droopy leaves.
But with much perlite you may have to water more often.
Thats where cocos comes into play - it can hold more water than soil giving you back some of the lost potential when using perlit.
Though I'm reading some critics that one shouldnt mix coco & soil, however, Ive never had problems, quite the opposite.
 
CanadianJim said:
There's a tiny bug called a soil mite, helps break things down in the soil. Harmless to your plants. If you use organic methods they're actually beneficial.

Not sure about cannabis hating clay, I have clay soil here and my indica got up to almost 8 feet tall despite being topped 3 times. I think it depends on how...alive (for lack of a better word) your soil is. I made sure to inoculate my plant with mycorrhizae, which loosens up the clay a lot, but it's naturally occurring outside. Clay has an unusually high nutrient content since most plants have trouble accessing them.
On the other hand I can't tell you how the weed turned out, since the plant got stolen. Security camera system is on it's way for next year.
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I should have said cannabis doesn't like smashed roots which happens quite easily in pots with heavy clay based soils, perlite doesn't really help this which is why i wanted him to read the page i posted, it also quickly explains that soil dwelling critters are a sign of healthy soil.

I only mentioned it because he mentioned having previous drainage problems which can be can be effected by things other than lack of perlite.

You're right though its not impossible to grow drought plants in clay based soil but the heavier it gets, the more challenging it is, Adding organic inputs helps push it towards the loamy side (less clay) which changes total particle composition.

That sucks about your plants though, i hate thieves! I grow veggies/fruits in clay, some do okay such as corn and eggplants but i have trouble with peppers and melons, mostly due to how thick our clay is, this year i said fuck it and started using pots lol.
 
Kassiopeija said:
Adding about 10% activated charcoal is also good. The C will bind lots of compounds which the plant later can use for food, the roots have to actively solve these substances out.
The coal also offers a huge areal for microbes to dwell in. Think Terra Preta.

Sometimes bought soil is too sharp. Coco n perlite can help mitigate that. Actually I find perlite better for airation - just add enough so you can fully water without your plants showing signs of overwatering/drowning roots = droopy leaves.
But with much perlite you may have to water more often.
Thats where cocos comes into play - it can hold more water than soil giving you back some of the lost potential when using perlit.
Though I'm reading some critics that one shouldnt mix coco & soil, however, Ive never had problems, quite the opposite.
Click to expand...
Coco is used as a loosening agent in lots of seedling mixes. If you add it to your soil it can mess up your feeding. But I guess it suits your growing methods.
 
SPLFreak808 said:
I should have said cannabis doesn't like smashed roots which happens quite easily in pots with heavy clay based soils, perlite doesn't really help this which is why i wanted him to read the page i posted, it also quickly explains that soil dwelling critters are a sign of healthy soil.

I only mentioned it because he mentioned having previous drainage problems which can be can be effected by things other than lack of perlite.

You're right though its not impossible to grow drought plants in clay based soil but the heavier it gets, the more challenging it is, Adding organic inputs helps push it towards the loamy side (less clay) which changes total particle composition.

That sucks about your plants though, i hate thieves! I grow veggies/fruits in clay, some do okay such as corn and eggplants but i have trouble with peppers and melons, mostly due to how thick our clay is, this year i said fuck it and started using pots lol.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I wasn't thinking pots, good point.
As to hot peppers, the mycorrhizae have really helped them too. Until I started using promix herb & vegetable I had to keep those in pots too. It's kind of funny how hot peppers and cannabis require such similar growing environments. If you find a soil that works for one it's likely to be good for the other.
 
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