Fred Flint Stoned Posted August 21, 2002 Share Posted August 21, 2002 As you know Ot1, I am going to be doing my grow with fishwater topped up with fert. I was going to PM you and ask this but that goes against letting other people also learn so I have started this as a thread. I am wondering if you or anyone else knows if B and Q does some clean soil without any fert, as this is what I am after - the thing is I also want to buy organic fert (to top up the diluted fish water), so can I also buy some at B and Q? Yes, I could just go and see but people have done this so many times it seems, only to be told (usually by OT1) that the soil has some chemicals in it. I would rather go to B and Q because it will be quicker and I will not have to bother sending special delivery which drains more of my dwindling cash away. I checked the two pages of threads and could only see members asking and telling members about organic soil, i.e. with added organic fert but this is not what I require. I confidently await your or anothers reply. cheers, Fred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Flint Stoned Posted August 21, 2002 Author Share Posted August 21, 2002 http://www.diy.com/bq/category/category.jh...ml?CATID=150596 here is a link to their soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 (edited) Hi Fred What you are proposing verges on hydroponics. Sterile soil, so its just a medium, and you add all the ferts that are needed. I followed the thread you posted above, looked at the soil mixes on that page, and noted that they are all composts. Therefore they will all contain nutrients. I do not think they all have added nutrients, but by its very nature, compost will contain nutrients. Coir comes to mind when i read your post. Maybe you should look into buying that and some dedicated coir ferts Hope that helps Chip Edited January 3, 2006 by MDP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Flint Stoned Posted August 22, 2002 Author Share Posted August 22, 2002 Cheers for the reply chip and sorry that I did not also address the question to you as well as OT1 as I did not realize until recently that both of you do this forum. I have got some of that already but it attracted some maggots which I belive to be scarrab flies, so that is out the window. I have sent you a pm. cheers again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Its still definitely worthwhile waiting to see what ot1 has to say. My organic experience is really outdoors and on a much bigger scale. Ot1 will be able to fill you in (if you diss him that is :: ) Chip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer1 Posted August 22, 2002 Share Posted August 22, 2002 Sorry missed this thread. Fred there is no cheap B&Q option I could guarantee, their organic compost was a huge flop for me. I still have two sacks full and I’m going to spread it over my allotment and rotavate it in hoping it does not do to much damage as it was full of uncomposted wood chips, they of course rob nitrogen, now it could be I had a bad batch. Whatever it is recognised by the HDRA as organic. The base nutrient levels are very low so it may well be a suitable growing medium to use with your fish water. I have never found coir attracts fungus gnats, the B&Q organic compost certainly did. I used fish tank water as a supplementary feed to plants growing in a balanced organic compost just the same as I would by dissolving 30ml of Biobizz grow in 10 litres of water. Bio Nova products are as organic as white sugar but they do have some organic elements in them with the chemicals, the Dutch like to call them minerals to confuse the issue. I don’t think Atami’s coco or Bcuzz products are organic either I think they contain chemicals the soil association would throw a fit over. BioBizz make a 2 part fert for coir solely made from organic products but it is a complete balanced fertiliser. If you don’t want to make your own live organic compost then allmix is not bad, if you want cheap a mix of 70% B&Q organic compost, 25% coir and 5% wormest would be well worth a go. You will need earth juice bloom to supplement and rebalance the fish water during flowering. To me growing organically is about growing in a live soil based compost chock full of microorganisms. Its a balanced living medium and when watering with organic teas, you are feeding the micro flora as well as the plants. The micro flora in turn feed the plants, its symbiotic and in keeping with the way plants and soil have worked for millions of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Flint Stoned Posted August 23, 2002 Author Share Posted August 23, 2002 Out of desperation to start I bought some b and q seeding soil but as you said there were unbroken down pieces of wood, which was easy enough to take out at the moment as I was putting it into small pots and was crumbling it in to get some air into it. This will just be used for the first stage of the grow and after that I will get something else. I have a big problem with soil as I do not want to get it delivered to my flat and the other addy I use is not viable at the moment............I will get a couple of weeks to think about this but it really is fucking up the organic side as their are no shops apart from b and q and homebase in my area and I find it hard to tie people down to give me a lift and so on, SO I do not rely on people - I would rather carry it on the bus. <big sigh> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comfy Sofa Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Coming late to this thread, I know, but... I used B&Q organic once and never again. Maybe I, too, had a bad batch, but the ph was all over the place (got down to about 4 at one point) and the plants just wouldn't grow. I bought an enormous bag (75 litres, I think) as I had the use of a car and thought I'd be clever and buy in bulk. I was left with an enormous bag of useless soil that I had to get rid of. I have no garden and was paranoid about leaving a huge bag of compost for the binmen, so I slowly transferred it to plastic bags, putting one out with the rubbish every week till it was all gone. People may mock, but I've had perfectly good results with Woolworth's multi-purpose compost. comfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comfy Sofa Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 er, obviously, the Woolies multi-purpose isn't organic... comfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.NiceGuy420 Posted November 14, 2003 Share Posted November 14, 2003 What are you thoughts on using peat moss? I only suggest it because you didnt have a good eperience with the coco coir. Depletion of peat bogs and their environment is not a good thing but its easily obtainable and does not contain any nutrients. If you want to add drainage and air pockets try adding perlite, sand (which can make your pots heavy but i like it), vermiculite and or gravel/ hydrocorn. ANY combination of these ingredients will work sufficiently. If you have difficulties with bugs, in particular larva or eggs try putting a 1/4 inch layer of sand on top of your potting mix. It drains well, gives off no odor, the bugs wont lay their eggs in it and its thick enough they wont dig through it. i have heard that pine oil and Garlic barrier (100% pure garlic extract) work well to repel almost all pests realted to indoor gardening. It may or may not be used to fight infestation but it is described as a prevention, leaves no odor or taste and can be used in the soil or as a foliar spray. hope this isnt too late and can help some people. please add your own comments if any of this seems inaccurate. grow on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pez Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 Clean soil! what a concept... it reminds me of a bloke i sent into a hardware shop once for some sky hooks! would clean soil contain no dirt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnRegistered Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 So..after all this deliberating...what is a good type of soil to use that is also organic??! and can be bought at homebase,b&q etc.?? I've noticed that a lot of these organic threads just end up trailing off and someone just recommending to use Allmix.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightUpAFatOne Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 Noticed the same thing myself. Allmix is great stuff, no doubt, but it is too expensive to use on a continuous basis. I was hoping that with this being a UK site I would be able to find out where to get a good organic compost mix at a reasonable price as I too have found the B & Q organic compost to be little more than bark chippings with a very coarse feel to it. Not to mention that it dries out very quickly! Guess I'll keep looking. Hope someone finds something soon..... C ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MS?MJ! Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 (edited) So..after all this deliberating...what is a good type of soil to use that is also organic??! and can be bought at homebase,b&q etc.?? I've noticed that a lot of these organic threads just end up trailing off and someone just recommending to use Allmix.. 369264[/snapback] Noticed the same thing myself. Allmix is great stuff, no doubt, but it is too expensive to use on a continuous basis. I was hoping that with this being a UK site I would be able to find out where to get a good organic compost mix at a reasonable price as I too have found the B & Q organic compost to be little more than bark chippings with a very coarse feel to it. Not to mention that it dries out very quickly! Guess I'll keep looking. Hope someone finds something soon.....C ya! 370542[/snapback] Hi there, just wanted to say that the reason you don't see many widely avaliable organic/peat-free composts being recommended on uk420 is because virtually none of them can compete with standard composts at this time, in terms of either performance or suitability for all stages of plant growth. Oldtimer1 has linked to this Which? results table for composts a number of times now, you can see from it that the only real contender in the peat free/organic section is J Arthur Bowers New Horizons organic multi-purpose compost, which is widely avaliable from garden centres (and also wilkos I believe ) I switched from B & Q's notoriously bad organic multi-purpose compost to New Horizons, and have found it to be very good so far Hope that helps, msmj Edited June 5, 2005 by MS?MJ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the fat1 Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 i see every one goin off the subject here if u looking 4 a medium with no fert why not try one of those bricks u put water with and then it expands they sell them in b and q only a thought as the man says above new horizon is looking very good 4 me also but it has nutes init so dont think it would be suitable 4 what u need hope it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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