Well, time to start mixing my own. I thought I should run my list through by the forum in order to get some suggestions or heads up about any potential mistakes?
I'm basing it on Coots recipe. I'm trying to catch a balance between cost, local availability and quality.
1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss - From Lowe's, Majestic/Fafard (I think these are the same brand - SunGro, and it says %100 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss), about $23 for 3 cu. ft.
1/3 Aeration - 1/4"-3/8" Volcanic Pumice - Already have about 1 cu. ft.
This is where I need some suggestions;
1/3 Compost - Local, organic and high quality Earth Worm Castings ($30 for 1 cu. ft.) OR Bu's Malibu Biodynamic Compost ($25 for 12 qt. but seems very high quality) OR Coast of Maine Lobster Compost blend ($16 for 1 cu. ft. I was really excited to use this one thinking it was a lobster compost since I prefer marine based ingredients, but it's not, it's %50-%50 mixture of cow manure and sphagnum peat moss, plus lobster and crab meal, at least the ones that are sent to my local store, I checked this with Coast of Maine and verified, they say they have 2 facilities, one is lobster compost, one is cow manure)
For the amendments, Coots suggests these;
1 cup kelp meal
1 cup neem meal or an equal amount of neem & karanja mix
I'm planning to replace these with 2 cups per cu. ft. of Down to Earth Bio-Live, ingredients; [Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Crab Meal, Shrimp Meal, Langbeinite, and Kelp Meal] (I have a lot that I need to use up)
1 cup of limestone or more exactly Calcium Carbonate CaCO3 so Oyster Shell Powder/flour I'm planning to use Down to Earth Organic White Oyster Shell (about $8 for 1 lb. or $17 for 5 lbs.)
1/2 cup Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (locally available and affordable)
Rock dust; 3 cups of either basalt or granite. (A little confused about this and open to suggestions)
Long and detailed post, I understand people may not have time to click everything and read all of it but since this is going to be a long term commitment, I'd appreciate every single opinion in order to avoid mistakes. Thanks a lot in advance!
I'm basing it on Coots recipe. I'm trying to catch a balance between cost, local availability and quality.
1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss - From Lowe's, Majestic/Fafard (I think these are the same brand - SunGro, and it says %100 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss), about $23 for 3 cu. ft.
1/3 Aeration - 1/4"-3/8" Volcanic Pumice - Already have about 1 cu. ft.
This is where I need some suggestions;
1/3 Compost - Local, organic and high quality Earth Worm Castings ($30 for 1 cu. ft.) OR Bu's Malibu Biodynamic Compost ($25 for 12 qt. but seems very high quality) OR Coast of Maine Lobster Compost blend ($16 for 1 cu. ft. I was really excited to use this one thinking it was a lobster compost since I prefer marine based ingredients, but it's not, it's %50-%50 mixture of cow manure and sphagnum peat moss, plus lobster and crab meal, at least the ones that are sent to my local store, I checked this with Coast of Maine and verified, they say they have 2 facilities, one is lobster compost, one is cow manure)
For the amendments, Coots suggests these;
1 cup kelp meal
1 cup neem meal or an equal amount of neem & karanja mix
I'm planning to replace these with 2 cups per cu. ft. of Down to Earth Bio-Live, ingredients; [Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Crab Meal, Shrimp Meal, Langbeinite, and Kelp Meal] (I have a lot that I need to use up)
1 cup of limestone or more exactly Calcium Carbonate CaCO3 so Oyster Shell Powder/flour I'm planning to use Down to Earth Organic White Oyster Shell (about $8 for 1 lb. or $17 for 5 lbs.)
1/2 cup Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (locally available and affordable)
Rock dust; 3 cups of either basalt or granite. (A little confused about this and open to suggestions)
Long and detailed post, I understand people may not have time to click everything and read all of it but since this is going to be a long term commitment, I'd appreciate every single opinion in order to avoid mistakes. Thanks a lot in advance!
