Indoor Potting Soil Help .. No commercial brands available in the Middle East

[zensational]

So as the post implies I live in the Middle East and I am getting going with my first grow. I have been having some trouble getting the soil down. There are no commercial brands to buy here. When i first started I used 75% peat moss / 25% perlite mixed together .. that killed about half of my seedlings as I hadn't applied any nutes then. I transplanted half of the plants in a new mix made out of back yard dirt (has a lot of sand in it amongst all kind of other things), perlite and a little peat moss. The plants survived and are now growing but I keep getting weeds from the dirt and the PH is almost 8 or more in the soil.

I would like to NOT use backyard dirt at all. I have found a company that makes commercial high quality organic compost. I also have found perlite, vermiculite and peat moss. I am using BioCanna nutes. Would a compost / perlite mix work as my growing medium? Can anyone recommend a mix using any of the four
Compost
Perlite
Vermiculite
Peat Moss

 

[Sunbiz1]

This is a tough question, soil amendments are called such for a reason. 3 of your 4 ingredients have almost zero nutritional value. If you cannot find suitable soil, then may I suggest making your own?. There are ways to improve that sandy, crummy backyard soil of yours. Start with that good compost at a 35-50% ratio, that will aid your medium to retain nutrients. You won't be needing the perlite/vermiculite, though a bit of peat might help if you notice drainage is still high upon watering.

 

[zensational]

One of the reasons I am trying to avoid the backyard soil is first it's not my backyard it's from "a yard" by where I grow. This is how desperate I am. So I am not sure what it contains from pests and others. also it's PH is pretty high (8-8.5) so I water with a 5.8-6 solution to compensate. Would mixing it 50/50 with the compost change any of that? How about if I can locate something like coco choir and mix it with the compost. I read that you can use a 50/50 mix of that as potting soil. Of course I gotta find the coco first. I should probably go hydro down the line but for now I really need to get this soil thing down.

 

[Sunbiz1]

One of the reasons I am trying to avoid the backyard soil is first it's not my backyard it's from "a yard" by where I grow. This is how desperate I am. So I am not sure what it contains from pests and others. also it's PH is pretty high (8-8.5) so I water with a 5.8-6 solution to compensate. Would mixing it 50/50 with the compost change any of that? How about if I can locate something like coco choir and mix it with the compost. I read that you can use a 50/50 mix of that as potting soil. Of course I gotta find the coco first. I should probably go hydro down the line but for now I really need to get this soil thing down.

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/48979-idiots-guide-coco-coir.html

If you can find the coco, it may be your solution. Compost will lower the PH of that field soil, but it takes a while..quite a long while actually.