I used a soil recipe that called for... 7 parts loam/compost (equal parts sand if using home made compost) 3 part sphagnum moss peat (4 parts if using compost) 2 parts soft sand (add even if you already added sand to compost) Then, it says to make a base fertilizer and add 4 oz. to each 50-gallon batch of soil, as well as 1 oz. of lime. Now what I ended up with, after a suggestion from a member of my local grow store was to cut out the dry nutes and use liquid nutes or organic teas to feed my plants. I was also advised that this soil mixture was a little on the heavy side and that the addition of 1/3 perilite to the final mixture would be vital for proper root aeration and drainage. So I picked up some Earth’s Finest: Organic Compost (it’s in a white and blue bag), some sphagnum moss peat and some play sand and mix accordingly ( I went with 7-3-2 b/c when I opened the compost it was already mixed with a fair portion of sand). I noticed the large chunks of organic matter still existing in the compost, so I decided to take the mixture and triple bag it in trash bags and let it sit in the sun for a few weeks. I have run a soil test so far and the nutes seem to be minimal and the pH seems to be neutral (7.0). I have found from reading around that the trash bag idea was not so go b/c i need the production of good bacteria (which is aerobic), not the production of bad bacteria (which is anerobic). Any body have any suggestions on how to further compost this mix? As well, if any body has any suggestions on what to add or fix with the soil recipe i am open to suggestion. Critisim is always welcome.
That does not seem like a bad soil mix, but I am wondering what your final plan is with it? If you want to cultivate aerobic bacteria in the soil, just put it in a pile and turn it frequently, every couple of days for several weeks. It should rapidly generate aerobic bacteria. BTW, you don't have much of an anaerobic problem if you don't smell ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, I understand.
