preparing site soil now..

[NikiDel]

I'd like to prepare the site soil now and dig and break up my holes, adding fertilizer,using organics and correcting PH etc.. What do you recommend for all of this?

It just seems trucking in expensive potting soil is obvious and time consuming. If I start in Febuary (conditioning the soil) it should be ready by May..

Thanks!

 

[umbra]

so instead of trucking in potting soil you are going to truck in soil ammendments? LOL. OK You want bat guano, fish emulsion, worm castings and hydrated lime, and peat.

 

[jomchimpo]

what if you just dig a hole and fill it with potting soil and perlite? of course adding fertilizers later, but would that be an adequate start?

 

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

if ur talking about outdoor setup,

I always Cut up about 2-3 spounges and add it to the soil mix.
Like pritty small chunks of spounge......it will hold a good ammount of moisture, and you can let it go a few days without worrying about water....
But idealy stay on top of it.

 

[umbra]

The sponge idea is a good one. I know that they make pellets to add to soil that expand to 50 times their size and hold water. You might be able to use the stuff from baby diapers and use that in the soil as well.

 

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

ya what Umbra said is a good idea too.

 

[Mutt]

so instead of trucking in potting soil you are going to truck in soil ammendments? LOL. OK You want bat guano, fish emulsion, worm castings and hydrated lime, and peat.

:goodposting:
You will want to stay away from things like bone and blood meal. Will attract critters.

 

[DLtoker]

Since you are making the trek out to your site as it is, it would only make sense to bring out some dirt as well if you have room in your pack. A little high end soil always helps... No matter how little of it you bring.

 

[jomchimpo]

how small really do you cut the sponges? like cm cubes?

 

[luvdro]

hey nikidel if your tring to prefertilize your outside soil n just go n get some ff soil treament n all u have to dois till yourpacth n mix in the soil treament n till alittle more just so u can get down into the soil adleast 4 to 6 inches in the dirt n it everything that u already need like batguano worms casting n all the micro nutes so once u do this let it bring down into the dirt 4 round 2weeks to a month that it plant n your plant will grow with this dirt mix

 

[jomchimpo]

I'll pass on something marcnh showed me in my watering post, things called aqua rocks, same idea as the sponges but i think they'd work better, heres the link

http://www.megagro.com/aquarocks.htm?source=Y-aquarocks

 

[marcnh]

ditto chom, although sponges might allow more air for the roots. A pinch of these crystals between your fingers can hold 4-6 ounces of water, cool stuff. I used them last year, didn't water for two weeks in 90 degree weather, plants still grew a few feet. One container lasts a long tme.