Creating your own soil!

Contribution from The noob & 3Hounds on Duff

The original thread can be found here

G'Day,

Here then is my secret formula for dynamite potting soil which will keep your potted plants fresh, healthy and exuberant under these conditions with a minimum of work and trouble. The secret ingredient is "duff", it makes all the difference. Now, for those who do not know what "duff" is, it is the stuff you find on the forest floor - the surface layer of semi-decayed leaves and needles among the trees.

Start out with good quality potting soil, and add by volume, an equal amount of duff. Then add a handful of sand per gallon, a handful of dolomite lime to balance the pH and for its vital trace elements, and up to a quart of finished compost or composted manure. For good measure, work in a handful of finely shredded seaweed per gallon, and dust the whole thing with a tablespoon of 20-20-20 slow release fertiliser.

The roughness of the duff will allow plenty of air penetration, but will also hold water like a super-sponge. It's the equivalent of a super absorbent sponge with lots of small holes in it. And that is exactly what our potted plants need. A plentiful reservoir of moisture, along with well aerated soil. The handful of sand worked into a gallon of this soil is also necessary to provide ready drainage, particularly later in the season when it gets wet again. It prevents the soil from becoming water logged. And the high nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilizer provides plenty of nitrogen for growth and the ongoing decay of the duff, while the phosphorus is needed for the demands of profuse blossoms.

It is best to make this potting soil at least a week in advance, so all its ingredients can become well acquainted with each other. When using this soil in suspended planters and hanging baskets, make sure they are on sturdy supports. For when this soil is nicely saturated with water it weighs a ton. And this is exactly how it should be. Test for watering by lifting the pot or planter a bit. If it doesn't 'weigh a ton' it needs water. Plastic pots help a great deal by preventing evaporation through the sides of these totally exposed containers, and so does a clear plastic liner in wood and porous ceramic pots and planters.

Under normal circumstances, and with evaporation through the sides of the container minimized, you'll find that you need to water your pots only about once a week, and all of your flowers will just love it.
__________________
Kind regards,
The noob


3hounds :

Round here we call "duff" leaf mold, or "mostly" composted leaves... a great magnesium source. If you are lucky enough to live somewhere that it is available, go for it. You can make your own with shredded leaves, water, and a garbage bag, but it takes months.
I would definitely recommend adding lots of perlite to that mix if cannabis is your crop. Leaf mold holds a ton of water, and as overwatering is about the most common newbie mistake, we avoid it every way possible.

"duff"

here in the south we call "duff"-humus. its that rather thick layer of mostly decayed leaf matter and dark wet soil. i can usually find it under pine trees in these parts so its pretty acidic. do you ever see smaller vegataton on the floor of a pine forest? NO, b/c pine needles are very acidic and as they decay into this humus they choke out all unadapted plant species. it would be good to mix in to lower the pH of a soil mix, but like you said it holds a ton of water so mix in alot of perlite. i have used it in the veggie garden for as long as i could remember, to keep moisture in. we used to mix it in the top layer of the soil and cake a layer of it on top of the surface. i find it works great...

If im watering my plants with some 3% H2O2 mixed with water, wont it do any harm to the worms?

"Mr. Organic" Du~ta~Du~Du~
Hey, Organic I've look through your threads and searched this forum and yahoo,google, ask.com and I can not find anything about Gin trash. I don't know whats in it. I know it's strong cause my first attempt of organic soil was a burner. 50/50 gin trash an top soil, 20% perlite, and half a tablespoon of blood meal.

Well out of two plants one survived by transplanting it into jungle grow. I've recently have decided to try it again. This time I took a seed starter(soilles mix)12 quarts, and so far I have add 10% worm castings, and table spoon of bat guano. Now the only things I need are PK which I think I will get through foxfarms feeding schedule. Just wanted to know what you thought about my plan? Your critisism is very much welcome.

It could be "The Organic"

Damn, I didn't even see that. I not use to this forum it is so different than the other ones and plus I'm not used to any forum.