Making your own soilless mix aka Faux Mix

[Skybound]

Time for Lime. Researching plenty of .edu (University websites) on how much Lime to add to a soil-less, Peat based mix, I find a consensus of 2 tablespoons for every gallon of soil you desire to make. I am making 20 gallons, so that's 40 Tablespoons or 2 1/2 cups worth of Lime.

So I made a Fuax mix, but my stoned ass just mixed all the peat, perlite and whole bag of Garden Lime. We discussed this about a month ago and your opinion was to add another bale and bag of perlite. FWIW, 3CF of peat, 2CF of perlite and a 30lb bag of EWC makes 50 gallons of soil, so using your math above of 2.5 cups of lime per 20 gallons of soil, and having 50 gallons, ideally I need 6.25 cups. To better understand my situation, I'm hoping someone has some Lime on hand and can weigh a cup of it for me so I can scale the math as needed to figure out how much I OD'd by. If the amount is not severe, I want to try to run with it as is and not remix it with another mix. To mix it with EWC, it's advised to let it cook for a month and I am hoping I don't have to wait another month.

 

[farside05]

So, in a Mega Crop nute regime, . Do you think its necessary to add the lime to the ammendment if ones tap water ph's around the high 7s or 8?

By all means. Peat by itself is like 4.5. your water may be 7 or 8 but then it will go down when you add the Mega Crop. My tap is naturally in that 7-8 range also.

 

[farside05]

So I made a Fuax mix, but my stoned ass just mixed all the peat, perlite and whole bag of Garden Lime. We discussed this about a month ago and your opinion was to add another bale and bag of perlite. FWIW, 3CF of peat, 2CF of perlite and a 30lb bag of EWC makes 50 gallons of soil, so using your math above of 2.5 cups of lime per 20 gallons of soil, and having 50 gallons, ideally I need 6.25 cups. To better understand my situation, I'm hoping someone has some Lime on hand and can weigh a cup of it for me so I can scale the math as needed to figure out how much I OD'd by. If the amount is not severe, I want to try to run with it as is and not remix it with another mix. To mix it with EWC, it's advised to let it cook for a month and I am hoping I don't have to wait another month.

Sorry, used all my lime on the last batch. I don't have any to weigh.

 

[Skybound]

Sorry, used all my lime on the last batch. I don't have any to weigh.

No worries. I got impatient anyways and stuck a plant in the dirt to see if she can survive. If she dies, it's safe to assume I needed to cut it and I will, but if she lives, I can get the 2nd batch cooking with some EWC and some other things.

 

[Tead]

I read/saw/heard/IDK that harvesting the peat bogs are actually harmful to the earth due to dislodging CO2 and methane pockets etc and as a result, Canada closely monitors and/or controls how much is, or can be extracted per unit of time.

On the conservation theme, Peat from bogs are much better at producing heat that growing corn and burning it. Weed have burnt every peat bog in the USA if we had any. Sadly.

Peat pondering.....
I think of peat as being the beginnings of oil. It's compressed plant material. Denser than the original material tho far from oil. I can't help but wonder if peat bogs don't exist much in the US because we've already dug them up. Early settlers used manure as a heat source... I see no reason they wouldn't have also used any available bogs. I wonder if we already used them all.

 

[Skybound]

Peat pondering.....
I think of peat as being the beginnings of oil. It's compressed plant material. Denser than the original material tho far from oil. I can't help but wonder if peat bogs don't exist much in the US because we've already dug them up. Early settlers used manure as a heat source... I see no reason they wouldn't have also used any available bogs. I wonder if we already used them all.

I doubt it, just that there is concern regarding the Canadian deposits of having a limited amount. I think it would be produced all around the globe at wet and mossy areas.

 

[InTheShed]

I'm pretty sure we've filled in and paved over almost all the wet and mossy areas!

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yeah on top of having endless peat bogs where I am we also have a fair amount of lignite, which is basically a soft-ish version of coal- old compressed peat . It washes up on the beaches after storms. Also in places it’s exposed in wide veins. Soaking wet it still burns but smells horrible. If you dry it you have something that’ll really make heat. I used to forge knives in my wood stove with it- always burnt a lot of my hair off doing that

 

[Baron Von Blurple]

@farside05 what about changing the name from Faux Mix to Praux Mix? Just spitballin here.

 

[farside05]

@farside05 what about changing the name from Faux Mix to Praux Mix? Just spitballin here.

I see what you did there...lol. Never thought of that one when naming it. Went with the Faux because it rhymed and would mean fake or copy of.

 

[Skybound]

I see what you did there...lol. Never thought of that one when naming it. Went with the Faux because it rhymed and would mean fake or copy of.

Cool, b/c I'm using Faux Mix and am trying to emulate DB's Brix kit and if successful, I was going to name that Faux Brix, and IMO, Praux Brix is just painful to say.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yep, too confusing. Might get away w that-there ‘aux’ shit up here in Canada but, I’m guessing it ain’t the American way.

‘Mo-Mix ?
‘Fo Mix...?

‘Mofo Mix’ ?
getting close....

 

[farside05]

The "aux" words work in Louisiana, not that I'm from there or Canada.

 

[TinyBuds]

It works here in Michigan too.

 

[farside05]

It works here in Michigan too.

Used to live on the Ohio/Michigan border. Some of the French name influences probably go back to the French-Indian wars and our northern neighbors.

 

[Baron Von Blurple]

Used to live on the Ohio/Michigan border. Some of the French name influences probably go back to the French-Indian wars and our northern neighbors.

Louisiana was settled by The Acadians, which were French. Hence the slang word Cajuns.

 

[InTheShed]

The "aux" words work in Louisiana, not that I'm from there or Canada.

Faux fur has 153,000,000 results in Google. It can't be all that obscure!

 

[labexperiment]

Was watching a youtube about coco vs peat last week and they mentioned that Canada since the 30's has mined 13% of the bogs in Canada and with management/cycling of the mining areas let it re-accumulate or whatever and it replenishes itself over a few decades or something like that. Just search youtube for coco vs peat moss and you should find it. I think it was a Joe Scott video, but may have been someone else, just going off my not so good memory.

 

[Hydroholic]

I want to make sure this is correct
28.4 gallons of moss
7.06 gallons perlite
4.438 cups of lime.


By the study you posted, 2 tablespoons per gallon was that measurement to moss and perlite mixed? Or just by the moss? I am curious if you are trying to get the perlite to retain the lime slurry??

 

[farside05]

I want to make sure this is correct
28.4 gallons of moss
7.06 gallons perlite
4.438 cups of lime.


By the study you posted, 2 tablespoons per gallon was that measurement to moss and perlite mixed? Or just by the moss? I am curious if you are trying to get the perlite to retain the lime slurry??

Looks about right. 28 gallons of peat, 7 gallons of perlite = 35 gallons total. 2 tablespoons per gallon of finished product = 70 tablespoons = 4.375 cups.