I bought organic soil (unsterilized) and a zillion amendments. I got coconut coir, perlite, earthworm casings, compost, blood meal, fish fertilizer, soil acidifier, soil DE acidifier, fertilizer specifically for tomatoes/ peppers, and slow release fertilizer. I don't even know if that's all, i bought everything!
I'll do all the peroxide stuff cuz that's what i got, but I'll definitely look into that mosquito bits product.
Im thinking about using only very little actual soil, more coir. How much earthworm casings is enough (by part)? Can i side dress with compost?
Oh, and they're in containers, but they bout to go into self watering pots.
Less is more when it comes to gardening. With the coco coir, you should use less if you're doing a hybrid soil mix. Think of it more as a supplement to the soil and go maybe 30% max. Use it to help the roots breathe a little easier. I'm doing a full coco grow in some of my pots, but creating my own nutrient formulas and watering them very often. Soil contains nutrients while coco contains none, nor does it hold water well.
I'm also a fan of "gassing" off the chlorine in my water. If you're setup is small enough, let your water sit for 12-24 hours so that the chlorine that's added by your water district evaporites from it, because otherwise it kills a bunch of the good organisms that's found in soil.
Never hurts to keep a ph meter handy either. I use distilled white vinegar to lower it, and baking soda to bring it up. PH levels are extremely important when it come to plants being able to absorb their nutrients. With weed at least, you always want to shoot for a neutral level, which is somewhere between 6-7 with 6.5 being what I always aim for. I also meter the excess water run off from my plants after watering to see if I should go higher or lower on my ph for the next watering.
Last edited:
Good stuff