Uk Soil Types

[Archangel]

You will have to amend all outdoor soil for any strain to reach its potential ime.

The bales in this clip are called pro mix already mixed with perlite and various other goodies. We dont have such luxurys in this country so you need to make your own.

The best thing anyone can do is copy what you see in this clip and fill those bagged holes with their own custom made soil mix and the native soil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm9bj4OCH8M

Its takes GRAFT to grow a plant to its potential outdoors...

Like the song says you can go hard or you can go home...

Summer solstice is this month, ideally you want your plants in the ground for it.

Get germing...

Clearly i was timewarping my ass off when i wrote that

The solstice is usually on the 20/21 June and signals the start of Summer. This is the ideal time to put them out...think thats what i meant...

Edited March 19, 2012 by Archangel

[Guest Sid-Vicious]

If you were going to mix up a big batch of your own "pro-mix", what would you include?

A compost/native soil mix, with perlite, veg and flower nutes??

[Archangel]

Yup.

My basic mix is 50% compost, 20% native, 10% worm castings, 10% perlite, 10% sand.

Plant magic organic grow&bloom and seaweed will do the rest as the grow progresses.

Some bat guano/fish blood bone wouldnt go amiss either but i tend to avoid them as fbb is pretty toxic stuff and bat guano is sourced using less than savoury methods.

Bring it all on site and mix individually for each hole or start your own pro mix compost pile early in the year.

Pour some liquid grow ferts in, cover and let it cook for a few months.

This is subcools super soil mix copied from what Vic High used to do apparently.

8 large bags of high quality organic potting soil with coco and Mycorrhizae

25-50 lbs. of organic worm castings

5 lbs. of Blood meal 12-0-0

5 lbs. Bat guano 0-5-0

5 lbs. Fish Bone Meal 3-16-0

� cup Epsom salt

1 cup Sweet lime (Dolomite)

� cup Azomite ( Trace element)

2 Tbs. powdered Humic acid

This is a pro mix and will set you back £££'s but if your serious about having any strain achieve its potential you need to put the effort in.

Hope this helps/inspires, its fully customisable,

[kookachu]

Hey all... this is a handy tool i've been using a lot recently for some research i've been doing... thought it may be useful:

ht tp://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/

It gives rough details on soil types and fertility on a very basic, self-explanatory google earth type map.

Cranfield FTW!

Edited April 14, 2012 by kookachu

[Guest Gret77]

My first GG this year in red clay. Lugged additives to the site in April thinking it was needed but experience and learning has made me realise that all the struggle wasnt needed as the red clay is very fertile as it is although a little work must be put in before the girls go in to work the soil beforehand and mulching after. So next year i will be able to put my feet up a little. I suppose we never stop learning

[Briar Tuck]

Yup.

My basic mix is 50% compost, 20% native, 10% worm castings, 10% perlite, 10% sand.

Plant magic organic grow&bloom and seaweed will do the rest as the grow progresses.

Some bat guano/fish blood bone wouldnt go amiss either but i tend to avoid them as fbb is pretty toxic stuff and bat guano is sourced using less than savoury methods.

Bring it all on site and mix individually for each hole or start your own pro mix compost pile early in the year.

Pour some liquid grow ferts in, cover and let it cook for a few months.

This is subcools super soil mix copied from what Vic High used to do apparently.

8 large bags of high quality organic potting soil with coco and Mycorrhizae

25-50 lbs. of organic worm castings

5 lbs. of Blood meal 12-0-0

5 lbs. Bat guano 0-5-0

5 lbs. Fish Bone Meal 3-16-0

� cup Epsom salt

1 cup Sweet lime (Dolomite)

� cup Azomite ( Trace element)

2 Tbs. powdered Humic acid

This is a pro mix and will set you back £££'s but if your serious about having any strain achieve its potential you need to put the effort in.

Hope this helps/inspires, its fully customisable,

roughly how many plants will the mix cater for ?

[andraco]

Hi Guerrillas,

I have seen that a simple soil analysis sheet has been already posted on to this thread. I have an other two, fundamentally similar, sheets. One in a flow chart form and one step by step process. Despite I am a great fan of flowcharts I prefer the step by step version.

I am posting these here where is the most relevant instead of starting a new thread. I am using these to grow outdoor non canna plants (I am an indoor grower) but it might be some use for the outdoor grower. I hope it is useful but apologies if yus already have got these.

Edited February 3, 2013 by andraco

[andraco]

My first GG this year in red clay. Lugged additives to the site in April thinking it was needed but experience and learning has made me realise that all the struggle wasnt needed as the red clay is very fertile as it is although a little work must be put in before the girls go in to work the soil beforehand and mulching after. So next year i will be able to put my feet up a little. I suppose we never stop learning

Clay has very good nutrients holding capabilities, usually as you said it is very fertile. However, it retains a lot of water, holds very little oxygen and takes a lot of time to warm up. It is also quite difficult for the roots to penetrate it. Sand is a good and cheap substance to add more drainage. (there are of course other substances as well but the cheapest is sand)

Good luck with your grow!

[undo]

Terra preta

black earth

[blueman]

so if your soil is clay, you can get away with just adding sand and mixing it in? should you add perlite?

[Guest OutOfAfrica81]

Found this useful and maybe others might to

http://utah.agclassroom.org/files/up...e1/texture.pdf

[Guest]

useful link, fading away in the random thread

Hate to double post but just stumbled across something interesting

www.landis.org.uk/mapviewer/

Shows you the soil type in your area.

[Smokeradam]

Good morning my friends! I currently marked by acacia forest producing areas, as the locust is nitrogen-intensive, acacia roots browsing Rhizobium bacteria bind to the air as nitrogénját.és do you know your plant is fond of nitrogen. soil: brown forest

[Sal81]

On 7/3/2010 at 4:19 PM, Archangel said:

There are five main types of soil found in the UK. These are:

* Clay,

* Sand,

* Loam,

* Chalk

* Peat,

* Subsoil

Of course these are only the basic types, the soil in any location may be a combination of one or more of them; thus there are clayey loams and sandy loams. Also there may be a difference between the soil exposed to the air and the underlying subsoil.

The basic types are explained below:

Clay may be likened in some ways to putty. It is very fine-grained, and smooth and silky to the touch. Even when it is well drained, it is wet, and so is difficult to cultivate during rainy periods and in the winter months. In fact, if it is dug or forked when wet, it has the nasty habit of settling down - or " panning," as it is called - like cement, and then it is very difficult to work afterwards.

Clays should be dug in the autumn, if possible, and left rough, so that the action of the frost and wind can pulverise them, and make them into an easily workable condition in the spring. These soils are said to be 'late', because it is impossible to get on them as early as sandy soils in the spring, and so the crops produced are later also. On the other hand, clay soils are much richer in plant food than sand, and this, in addition to their water-retention properties, makes them valuable in a dry season.

It is most important to see that clay soils are drained, and this is one of the best ways of improving them. Lime should be applied to clay soils regularly, as it prevents them from becoming so " sticky," and "opens" them up. During periods of draught, clay can become 'rock hard' and crack, it's not uncommon to see cracks 2 inches wide and 3 foot deep on lawns laid on clay.

Sandy soils contain less than 10 per cent of clay, and consist of very small particles of silica and quartz. The amount of humus present will alter the colour and the texture.

Sand is a light and dry soil. It is one of the warmest soils as it warms up much more quickly in the spring due to its dryness. For this reason it is useful in producing early crops.

One of the advantages of a sandy soil is that it can be worked at any time of the year and it is comparatively easy to cultivate. On the other hand it is poor in plant foods, coarse-grained, and does not retain moisture.

Loam The best way of describing loam is to say that it is an ideal blend of sand and clay. The sand being present to keep the soil open, and the clay, in its turn, ensuring that sufficient moisture-retention properties are there.

Obviously there are various types of loams, depending on the proportion of clay or sand present. Loam is generally considered the best soil for large numbers of plants. The ideal loam has all the advantages of sandy and clay soils, and none of their disadvantages. The sand present allows the plant roots to work easily throughout it ; the clay present helps to look after the plant food side, and prevents rapid drying out. In wet weather the water can percolate through quite quickly, and so the soil does not become waterlogged, and in dry weather it does not become too hard for the roots to work through.

Calcareous or chalky soils, more often than not, are very deficient in plant food and rather shallow. They are often very lacking in humus, and as much organic matter as possible should be added every year. They are more often calcareous by reason of the fact that they overlie chalk or limestone, and the fine particles of these substances may be found every time the land is cultivated. When wet, they are often very sticky and unpleasant, and so are difficult to work during rainy periods. In dry seasons they are disappointing, as they soon suffer from lack of water.

Because of the chalk present, the leaves of plants often become bright yellow in colour, owing to what is known as chlorosis. This yellowing may not affect the plants in any other way, but it usually means stunted growth. Chalky soils have the advantage that it is seldom necessary to lime them, and in them the clubfoot disease of cabbages, etc., does not flourish.

Into this group we can include the marls, though these are really a chalky clay. In the garden they are therefore treated in the same way as clay soils, except that, again, lime will not usually be necessary.

Peat soil has usually been derived from marsh land where there has been continuous growth and decay over thousands of years. The most outstanding feature of them is that they are usually absolutely free of lime and so are very "sour". This sourness is produced by the decaying of the vegetable matter present, as peat soils contain more than 20 per cent of humus.

Peat is usually found in low-lying areas, and so may be waterlogged and may need pipe draining. Certain crops, like celery, for instance, do very well on peat soils. Brown peat is more easy to work than the black, heavy bog-like peat. Once peat soils are well worked and limed, they can prove very valuable - in fact acid loving plants, such as rhododendrons and azaleas, prefer these soils to any other.

Subsoil

Most soils are about a foot in depth, though many of them are no deeper than eight or nine inches. Below this is what gardeners call the subsoil, which may be similar in character to the material above, and yet which may not contain available plant foods. It is important to try and get the soil to as great a depth as possible.

Of course there are places where the layer of soil may be only a few inches over hard rock, and, in others the soil type may go down as far as you can dig. Subsoil affects the gardener, chiefly because it either allows or impedes drainage of the top soil. For instance, if you have a light loam over gravel or sand, you can be assured that all excessive moisture will be quickly carried away. It is unfortunate to have an easily workable loam over clay, as then the movement of water is stopped and the surface can become waterlogged.

Therefore you must take notice of both the soil and the subsoil, as the one is the complement of the other.

Podsolised

Type of light-coloured soil found predominantly under coniferous forests and on moorlands in cool regions where rainfall exceeds evaporation. The constant downward movement of water leaches nutrients from the upper layers, making podzols poor agricultural soils. Podzols are very acidic soils.

The leaching of minerals such as iron and alumina leads to the formation of a bleached zone, which is often also depleted of clay.

These minerals can accumulate lower down the soil profile to form a hard, impermeable layer which restricts the drainage of water through the soil.

What is the best soil mix for autoflower ? Like ingredients : 

Someone mix soil and sand or whatever ....can you give me the % of a good soil ! I think Normal soil is too strong !

[blackpoolbouncer]

@Sal81 soil and potting compost are two different things. 

Soil is what's in your garden. Compost is what goes into pots. 

If you have bought it in a bag it isn't "soil" as such. 

This topic really refers to outdoor gardening. 

Sounds like you have "hot" Compost? 

 

E2a. Or are you trying to make your own soil mix? 

What are you trying to Do? Grow plants indoors? 

If your just growing autos inside then as I take it your a beginner may I suggest buying a bag of compost. 

Go to a nursery. Somewhere that grows bedding plants and get a bag of whatever they use. It will most likely be peat based compost and will feed your plant everything it need for about 4 weeks.

 

If you want a bob on organic living  soil mix for autos I list it with result pics in the last page or so of my diary( link in sig) 

If you start from the begging in there is everything you need to know growing in peat based compost too. 

 

Hope this helps mate.

Peat based compost from.a nursery will do nicely though 

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by blackpoolbouncer