Description
The nutrient half of a build-your-own soil, in the style of ClackamasCoots. The recipe is inspired by and credited to Mr. "ClackamasCoots" aka "LumperDawgz", and the kit is a simple, proven starting point to build your soil from. This is the 32 lb size (72 cups), which mixes into 36 cubic feet of soil (1.38 yards).
To mix your own soil you need a Nutrient Kit and a Mineral Kit. For the minerals, see the Mineral Kit for peat moss. The two are kept separate so that the natural moisture in the rock dust doesn't affect the raw nutrients.
What's in it
- Crustacean meal - crab and shrimp
- Kelp meal - Thorvin brand Ascophyllum nodosum
- Neem cake/karanja cake - 70/30 premium organic neem cake imported from India (West Coast Horticulture or Neem Resource)
- Milled malted barley - organic 2 row
How to use
Use at 2.5 cups per cubic foot of soil, or about 5-6 tablespoons per gallon of soil. The recipe is based on 1/2 cup per cubic foot of each ingredient, with milled malted barley at 1 cup per cubic foot.
Mix, then let the soil sit for 1-2 weeks before planting.
Kit sizes and coverage
| Kit |
Volume |
Mixes into |
| 5.33 lb |
12 cups |
6 cubic feet of soil |
| 8 lb |
18 cups |
9 cubic feet of soil (1/3 yard) |
| 12 lb |
28 cups |
14 cubic feet of soil (1/2 yard) |
| 24 lb |
54 cups |
27 cubic feet of soil (1 yard) |
| 32 lb |
72 cups |
36 cubic feet of soil (1.38 yards) |
What you'll need to finish the recipe
-
Canadian sphagnum peat moss: sold in 2.0 cubic foot and 3.8 cubic foot bales. The 2.0 bale will fluff up to about 3.0 cubic feet, and the 3.8 bale will fluff to about 6 cubic feet.
- High quality compost or worm castings.
-
Aeration amendment: something to aerate the soil, the way perlite does in a normal potting mix. Pumice and rice hulls are the preferred choices, but you can use whatever is available to you, including perlite, rice hulls, lava rock or pumice.
Why there is no high-P ingredient
There is no high-P ingredient like soft rock phosphate or fish bone meal in this kit. Many of its ingredients contain phosphorus at normal levels, which will not be harmful to mycorrhizal fungi. High-P amendments can have a negative effect on the soil's mycorrhizal life, and for this reason Coot recommends this recipe.
The mix as written by ClackamasCoots
Equal parts sphagnum peat moss, an aeration material (pumice, rice hulls, lava rock - whatever is on hand), and a mix of humus (compost, worm castings, black leaf mold).
To each 1 cubic foot of this mix, add:
- 1/2 cup organic neem meal
- 1/2 cup organic kelp meal
- 1/2 cup crab meal (or crustacean meal when available - it has shrimp meal with the crab meal, and is a local product from the fisheries on the Oregon and Washington coasts)
- 4 cups of minerals - rock dust
After the plant is in its final container, top-dress with worm castings at 2" or so, then apply aloe vera juice and comfrey extract (or borage, stinging nettle or horsetail ferns - whatever is ready).
