Yeah I wondered that myself, about the lack of minerals.
This mix is actually the flower mix so no seedlings or clones get that, only mature plants. I have a separate mix that is everything up to the dolomite lime, for seedlings and clones and that works pretty well. It’s the flower mix I have issues with. The dolomite lime is my only calmag supplement in the mix. I do have oyster shell powder and such but no mag in that really and not much for other mineral’s there either other than calcium.
So I do think the slow growth is the lack of those minerals in this mix. Adding the roots organics Elemental or whatever its called, definitely made a big difference in growth for me. I’ve added it and some bloom into all three 3gallon pots of the Purple NL2’s and they’re doing fine so far.
I have tried a 1:1:1 mix of peat/ewc/perlite but I think I had bigger issues with that ratio, using those same amendments, than I did with the mix I got from Reiko. If I do coots I’ll have to buy a few more things. Organic Soil ain’t cheap
Not really my mix, it came from the Organics for Beginners thread on ICMag. Its not even what i use, just something that works and you can get everything at Home Depot.
It’s all good, there is quite a bit of discussion in that thread about the pros and cons of that recipe. Things like the lime and greensand mentioned here. It may have a solution to your issue.
Perhaps the reason my results were so good has to due to he fact that I add a fair amount of rock dusts, neem, and kelp to my worm bins. Nothing beats high quality compost and castings.
I grow everything in the same soil mix. I start the seeds in little three-inch starter pots or whatever, move them to half-gallons and then to seven gallons, all in the same mix. Seeds don’t need “starter mixes.” Clones might, though, although I’m not sure why they would. Maybe in a mix with blood meal and bone meal and shit, but I don’t know why they would with Coot’s.
I just said this in Reiko’s thread, but I’ll say it again here: I think Coot is a fucking prick. I’m not a fanboy. But he knows his shit when it comes to growing things. He’s done the research and shared it; I appreciate that. You can mix up some of his soil mix and plant right in it, no need for “cooking” (I’ve planted right into a freshly-mixed batch with zero issues). That always struck me as a good sign.
But yeah, minerals. You wanna add those. But I don’t know how much or at what ratio if you’re gonna keep growing in the mix you just posted.
Right. I feel the same exact way about him and why I’ve been staying away from it but like you said, he seems to know his shit…
I still have like 10 gallons of this soil made up. Just been amending it with a tablespoon per gallon of the roots organics stuff and currently waiting to see how long that lasts before I have to do it again. I’m fully expecting to have to amend the PNL2’s one more time before they’re done. I’m really tempted to setup another flood table to do the seedrun with just so I know I won’t fuck it up
@ReikoX Thank you again sir! Will definitely check out that link and read all of it. I think you may be onto something with feeding your worm bin the goodies though I still need to setup one of those myself ^^
heh so basically, I can keep my Peat/Perlite/EWC… kelp meal and oyster shell powder… and basically trash everything else I got?
looks like I would need:
neem meal
crab meal
basalt
glacial rock dust
gypsum
?
I might’ve picked up some type of Rock Dust already… I tend to buy the Down To Earth brand of stuff since it’s everywhere here…
Can I just add the correct amount minerals to what I already have? or would that be too hot or something? Worst case I can just dump the whole thing into my compost pile and start over…
Don’t let your personal feelings about somebody keep you from utilizing good info. Good info is good info. The same as good art is good art. What? Are we supposed to not appreciate Van Gogh just because he was a crazy fuck who chopped off his ear and sent it to his girl? Are we supposed to not appreciate Roman Polanski just because he’s a pedo?
Coot’s mix is good shit. And easy. Van Gogh is an inspiring artist, ear or no ear. Roman Polanski is a… Eh, pedophilia is a bridge too far haha! But I still like “Rosemary’s Baby.”
Oh I know that. I don’t let it get in the way, but if there’s a different mix that works just as well from someone thats not an asshat… i’ll try that first Just hadn’t gone through enough experimenting yet to get to coots
And get rid of the oyster shell, right @ReikoX ? Aren’t we omitting oyster from the soil mix now? I think one of the things @HolyAngel mentioned is a substitute, no? I don’t think I’ve added oyster in a while.
Yes you could add the minerals and that will improve what you have now. I would add 2 cups oyster shell flour, 2 cups garden gypsum, and 4 cups of rock dust (glacial or basalt) and use up what you have now. Then go with a proper coots mix next.
I still use oyster shell flour… I belive in loading calcium. So my mineral mix is 1 cup oyster shell flour or limestone (calcium carbonate), 1 cup gypsum (calcium sulphate), I cup basalt (paramagnetic), I cup glacial.
The rock dust thing is a heavily-debated subject, if I remember correctly, you want SOME kind of minerals, but where those minerals are sourced is, like, an issue. As far as I remember basalt is what you want. I think it has something to do with heavy metals? Or something? Shit you don’t want in the weed you’re smoking. I think basalt is the lowest amount of metals. Or something.
All’s I know is basalt is the best thing to use. I really don’t know enough to try to make substitutions. I just source the shit I need and buy it, even if it costs a little more.
