Please help with my soil mix

Hey guys, I'm doing soil now and simply cannot afford to do the volume of plants that I want in just Fox Farms soil. FF Ocean Forest will be the basis for the mix but I want to supplement it to boost the overall volume of soil without breaking the bank.

That said, I need some input on the appropriate mix of the following components:

Fox Farms Ocean Forest
Spagnum peat moss
Vermiculite
Perlite
Bat Guano
Worm Castings

If anyone could give me a good ratio of those components I'd really appreciate it! Also, if there might be anything I should look to add to the mix to boost volume/productivity.

Thanks!

You need some dolomite lime to balance out that peat moss.

What effect will the dolamite lime have? How much should be added? Does the peat moss cause an increase or decrease in PH?

peat moss lowers ph and dolimitelime keep it balanced

Thanks for the replies. I've heard that the ingredients I've got listed are all very good so long as they're in the correct proportions.

So thus far we've got:

FF Ocean Forest (the base around which I'm 'building' the soil mix)
Spagnum Peat Moss
Bat Guano
Worm Castings
Dolamite lime
Perlite
Vermiculite

So, what percentages of each should I shoot for? Also, with a mix like this, is the idea to have all the nutes necessary for veg/flower already in the soil and just use PH'd water (0ppm) for the duration of the grow? I've been having some issues with my plants and it's either nute burn or PH issues. I can't put my finger on which.

I PH my water to 6.0 but I'm still getting burn and necrotic spots on my leaves.

man i just use scotts potting soil and I love it

osujudoman said:

Hey guys, I'm doing soil now and simply cannot afford to do the volume of plants that I want in just Fox Farms soil. FF Ocean Forest will be the basis for the mix but I want to supplement it to boost the overall volume of soil without breaking the bank.

That said, I need some input on the appropriate mix of the following components:

Fox Farms Ocean Forest
Spagnum peat moss
Vermiculite
Perlite
Bat Guano
Worm Castings

If anyone could give me a good ratio of those components I'd really appreciate it! Also, if there might be anything I should look to add to the mix to boost volume/productivity.

Thanks!

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I use just straight FFOF with extra perlite but I completely understand what you mean about the expense...I definitely spent way too much this year on simply soil...next year ive decided to do half miracle grow organic/half FFOF and a lot of perlite...FFOF is so good that you can pretty much cut it with anything...also you could look into thos coco coir bricks...they are compressed and ive seen them often used for cutting other soil mixes...

osujudoman said:

Hey guys, I'm doing soil now and simply cannot afford to do the volume of plants that I want in just Fox Farms soil. FF Ocean Forest will be the basis for the mix but I want to supplement it to boost the overall volume of soil without breaking the bank.

That said, I need some input on the appropriate mix of the following components:

Fox Farms Ocean Forest
Spagnum peat moss
Vermiculite
Perlite
Bat Guano
Worm Castings

If anyone could give me a good ratio of those components I'd really appreciate it! Also, if there might be anything I should look to add to the mix to boost volume/productivity.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

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OsuJudoMan..... A good mix ratio for your components is as follows:
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50 percent FFOF
30 percent peat moss
5 percent vermiculite
5 percent perlite
10 percent worm castings

The reason I say only 5 percent on the vermiculite and perlite is because FFOF already has perlite in it. You don't want too much perlite or it tends to float upwards in your soil mix.
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By cuttng your FFOF with those ingredients, your mix will not be too hot for starting seeds or transplanting seedlings into. Then later after your plants are established (two true sets of leaves or better) you can start topdressing in a little higher N bat guano. Building up your soil as you go, low, slow and steady. Mary will love you for it.
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Hope this helps....
Keep it Real....Organic......
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Thanks guys. I really appreciate the help. I actually feel pretty stupid when it comes to soil because I'm not familiar with how all the different amendments can affect the soil over the span of the grow. I started doing hydro and it was always simpler as long as your measurements (ph, nutes, etc) were accurate. With soil I'm not quite sure what I'm doing.

My mothers have been looking burnt and stunted for a while now and I'm willing to bet it's because the PH is out of whack and causing nute burn as a result. Lots of dried out crispy leaves and slow growth. People talking about buffers in the soil but I'm not sure what direction the PH is buffered towards.

I've been ph-ing my water to 6.0 but my soil mix has been heavy in peat moss and I don't have any dolamite lime in there. My guess is that the ph is already really low and I've been making it worse with the water being ph'd at 6.0.

So for when I transplant my clones I'll definately make a mix that includes the lime to help counteract all the peat moss. In the meantime, what should I do for the plants that are already in pots? Just use PH up to increase the overall ph level? Can soil amendments be added this late? I do have an inch or two at the top of the pots of the moms since the soil settled over the last month of watering. Would a top inch or two of soil with higher amounts of lime be enough to change the total ph?

Thanks guys!

I see 2 tablespoons of lime per gallon getting recommended a lot. Transplant or clone if you can.

Muffy said:

I see 2 tablespoons of lime per gallon getting recommended a lot. Transplant or clone if you can.

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I would make the soil without the lime, separate a small batch into a pot, then water with whatever water source you are planning to use and test the PH of the runoff.

I've had problems adding lime before when I thought the PH would be too low.

hfig said:

I would make the soil without the lime, separate a small batch into a pot, then water with whatever water source you are planning to use and test the PH of the runoff.

I've had problems adding lime before when I thought the PH would be too low.

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What did you do wrong?