Alright guys i just got my "Down to Earth" neem seed meal, kelp meal, and Alfalfa meal. The Crab meal and Oyster shell will be here in 2 days. Also got a small bag of Black Gold charcoal to toss in as well. With the 4 cubic feet of soil i have. How much of each of these should i add?
I also learned my local garden center has 1cu ft bags of Lobster compost, could i add that? And if i did would i use less of the Crab meal or just not at all?
Thanks again!
I'm not an expert yet, but,
I would use the
lob compost in one plant and then more if it goes well, you can always topdress with it after if happy
I would also use a full cup of
crab shell meal per cubic foot of soil, I'm regretting listening to the cats that said 1/2 cup per. Imo, i should have crushed at least half of it more myself (Neptunes brand, 1/4 to half inch inch pieces) and used double
I would also toss that
charcoal in that compost and "charge" it for a few weeks before considering tossing it in to my soil, to be safe
Oyster shell you can run at up to 10% of mix like Biochar but takes up to a few years to really start breakimg down if not ground up into powder slash flour, they are bones essentially
-you could actually toss all these shells under a compost pile and mix so they will break down faster as chucks
Kelp meal you can run wayyy higher than a half cup per cubic foot with amazing results on flavour... Trust me I just did a crazy experiment over the last 5 months
(Up to 2 or 3% of total volume is what the main Canadian manufacturer up here suggests)
Remember
With about 100 cups in a cubic foot of soil, if you use only a half cup, you are only using
a half percent of total volume,
even less .. I know using 3% TotVol means
using 6x the amount, but somewhere in the middle is thee sweet spot, with unlocked pungency and aromas being your reward
No disrespect to my boy RastaRoy here, as hes one of my favs on riu actually, i just think you could get better results if you push the envelope in the right places, not that the "use the same amount of everything and it will grow fantastic herb" approach doesn't work, as it does.. But flavour and yield can start to soar if experimenting right I think
Also, maybe consider leaving
alfafa out, and just make alfafa compost.. Imo, this would allow you to use your soil within
hours or days vs weeks or months
I germinate directly in my soil very soon after mixing and test cuttings (humid is key) if afraid its hot. 9/10 times it was gtg within 10 days to my surprise
Other keys to this next to no cook style are using
no blood meals, bone meals (minus a bit of fish if you like
) and adding your aeration after, especially if using inferior aeration like
verm or perlite, which are less than ideal due to possibility of aluminum leeching when
acidic or hot (vs lava rock / rotted wood chunks / leaf mould / rice hulls)
If you do have time tho, use it wisely my friend. And grow a white beard on that soil
