Trying to figure out how to measure 1 cu ft of dirt

I'm a little confused at this. 1 cu ft is 7.5 gallons, I have a 7 gallon pot and it looks the exact same size as my 5 gal bucket. The big bags of ffof are 1.5 cu ft, it really doesnt seem that 2/3 of that would fit in this 7 gal pot. I need to mix 2 to 3 cups of total amendments to 7.5 gallons and don't want to fry my plants since I've got some pretty good genetics going. Agent Orange, Gorilla Glue #4 s1, Purple Punch s1, Mimosa s1, Gelato #45 s1, and Do-Si-Dos s1.
It's just like with my "1 gallon" pots. There's no way those would hold 1 gallon of water, but these are the gallon numbers advertised on the sticker tags of the pots. So how do I measure out my soil to know I'm mixing the right amount?

1 1/2 five gallon buckets is a cubic foot
Ignore the pot size, they're in imperial weight (or U.K., trade, Swahili, Klingon, something I haven't quite figured out)
It's a conspiracy!!!

wow, google isn't being helpful today. i'm getting answers anywhere between 20 and 44 pounds. thats a big fucking variance. a bag of miracle grow potting soils says its one cubic foot, and weighs 21 pounds. topsoil is supposed to be 44 pounds a cubic foot.....all i can figure is that amendments make a big difference in weight. the more peat or coco you add, the lighter it will be, the more "pure" soil it is, the heavier it will be.
and pots are measured in "trade" gallons, call each gallon 3 quarts, and you'll be closer to the actual volume of the pot

Cubic foot = 12" x 12" x 12" box. Milk crates ircc are close to a cubic foot.

The Nursery Pots are called #1,#2,#3 ETC. We call them 1 gallon,2 gallon, 3 gallon, but they are not, they can vary. 1 Gallon is more like .66 Gallon. My #3 is 2 Gallon. Then you have US DRY Gallon which is 6.5!! Anyways

This is what I do.

8 XLoose filled 1 Gallon ice cream containers makes a cubic foot. It is 7.5 in reality, but with it being loose filled it works out fine going to 8.

I used 1.5 five gallon buckets for my cubic foot measurement for amendment mix. Hopefully it's right, I only mixed a couple cubic feet(If 1 cu. ft. is 1.5 five gal buckets). We're gonna find out in about 3 weeks when I transplant I guess

don't fret, this is organics, its hard to mess up..

5 gall bucket = 0.6 cuft

Measurements on amendments for organic soil does not have to be anywhere near accurate. It's mostly all slow release so it's actually kind of hard to fuck it up. The only stuff I am very careful with is manure because it is concentrated and high in N. Err on the lighter side and you'll be fine. You never have to be as accurate with organics as you do with nutes.

Thanks for the replies. I made a couple cubic feet yesterday, will be puting it to use in a few weeks.

1 1/2 5 gal bucket is very much close enough. Growing mix is not to be confused with topsoil especially when talking weight with sand, gravel, clay and silt adding incredible weight to topsoil. Your mix will also have a much higher organic matter component.

Fill your shoe up ......you're welcome.

Indacouch said:

Fill your show up ......you're welcome.

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Say what?

hillbill said:

1 1/2 5 gal bucket is very much close enough. Growing mix is not to be confused with topsoil especially when talking weight with sand, gravel, clay and silt adding incredible weight to topsoil. Your mix will also have a much higher organic matter component.

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It smells pretty fishy and foul, that's for sure.

that fishy smell means it has poor drainage. you should add some coarse sand to it, maybe some perlite.

Roger A. Shrubber said:

that fishy smell means it has poor drainage. you should add some coarse sand to it, maybe some perlite.

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I have quite a bit of perlite in there but can add more if you suggest. It hasn't started growing any fungus on top yet, but it's only been sitting for a couple days. I'll put up some pics of the soil and what all I mixed.

The "hot mix" is something I mixed up one night when I was just getting into organics and got a little carried away with adding stuff. Tried puting a couple seedings in that mix and it fried them dead. So now I have half a barrel of that stuff and figured I'd mix light amounts with my more thought out mix so it doesn't go to waste. Here are my ratios and mixtures.

The fishy smelling soil I have was made with the "bloom" mix of additives. 2 cups per cu. ft of mixture.
You seeing something I maybe did wrong?

I also don't have the lid totally sealed on my soil batch, just covering the top and have peaked at it each day since I've made it lol I stirred it yesterday because originally the day before when I made it, I shorted it 1/4 bucket of perlite and peat moss(ran out) so yesterday I added it in and mixed it all up again. Intense fish smell coming off it.

it does have a lot of fish meal and crab meal in it, the smell is probably coming from those. if you smell soil that hasn't been amended, and it smells fishy, thats poor drainage. in this case its probably your amendments

It goes through a few days of horrid sometimes especially with fish meal and fish bone meal but has always ended up fine. The first time I mixed a mix with Espoma Plant tone it about drove us out of the house. Lots of drainage like that will help avoid overwatering which is the source of very many troubles.

Roger A. Shrubber said:

it does have a lot of fish meal and crab meal in it, the smell is probably coming from those. if you smell soil that hasn't been amended, and it smells fishy, thats poor drainage. in this case its probably your amendments

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So what do I need to do to make sure I'm keeping this soil in good shape? The soil is moist from watering it after mixing it. Just keep it moist and stir it all up every couple days? It'll be going to use in about 3 weeks or so.

hillbill said:

It goes through a few days of horrid sometimes especially with fish meal and fish bone meal but has always ended up fine. The first time I mixed a mix with Espoma Plant tone it about drove us out of the house. Lots of drainage like that will help avoid overwatering which is the source of very many troubles.

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Yeah I've become a fan of extra perlite. My first grow I didn't use enough and watering sucked. Plus the plants kept getting over watered because of it.