I’ve grown chilis and cannabis without really knowing what I am doing, now I wanted to learn to grow any veggies, but finally learn about soil and prepare it well myself.
I naively tried to use coco substrate with tap water and killed off my tomato seedlings pretty fast. Then I’ve did some research into soil and learned about more organic approaches, and also that pure coco is a bit like dry hydroponics and needs a lot of understanding, and that I probably both over-fertilized and starved them at the same time.
I’m going to start from seeds in Mel’s mix with 1/3 coco 1/3 perlite/vernaculite 1/3 compost. Is this kind of substrate to be treated as organic or as mineral approach? The compost probably adds the typical soil properties including the buffering of pH and EC and taking care of fertilization.
But I do not want to re-pot all the time, it is messy and inconvenient. I don’t really like working with soil. Instead I want to use mineral fertilizers. Once the compost is depleted, can I consider it to be like a non-soil grow? I got a pH/EC sensor to check my water and the drain coming out, diluted a pH- down based on diluted citric acid to normalize my water to 6,5pH, which seems like a good starting point for any situation.
Does it make sense to follow some generic approach (like keeping pH/EC in certain ranges in certain growth stages)? I do not want to use commercial fertilization formula schemes. I want to work with standard off the shelf mineral fertilizers. Is it possible to get decent results with that?
And where can I find that kind of information for general vegetables, like tomatoes or cucumbers etc.?
The whole soil business is pretty overwhelming, but I want to learn enough (without getting a degree in agriculture) so that I can do this not blindly but improvise with available substrates and fertilizer. How to get this knowledge?
Whatever the marketers claim there is only one part of the label that matters: The guaranteed analysis. It doesn’t matter what they label it for, it’s all the same stuff in different formulations. Once you understand the formulations you absolutely can mix and match to find the best fit. The convention of how to label fertilizer can be country or region specific so you’ll need to do some research for your locality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_of_fertilizer
All crops have recommended fertilizer amounts published. They are usually by the acre/hectare and the with the exceptions of legumes, the ratios are very similar. Only the amount of fertilizer they need varies. Legumes with proper nodulation need less N. Of course finding a good one that shows everything you need is a little difficult. They generally just show the total amount needed for the crop. Not the stages. Here’s an example for New York.
http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/files/VegetableGuidelines2019.pdf
FYI Light green leaves on new growth = immobile nutrient deficiency (Fe, Zn, Ca, S, B, or Mn). Light green or yellowing leaves on the oldest leaves is mobile nutrient deficiency like nitrogen.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/knowing_nutrient_mobility_is_helpful_in_diagnosing_plant_nutrient_deficienc
BTW: Since you are using pots with coir & compost, pH is not really an issue. They have a large buffering ability and will keep the pot in the ideal 6.2-6.8 pH range naturally.
Great, thanks a lot! Before possibly wasting time trying something unrealistic, I just wanted some affirmation by someone with experience that this is in fact feasible with a bit more research!
Also good to know that compost acts as a pH buffer, I’ve read that there are special buffering solutions to apply to coco coir, but if I go the compost-enriched route it’s one less variable to control and manage.