Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The rewards of TLO growing are super naturally elegant
Cooking Your Soil Mix
First I want to help you to understand that “cooking” your soil mix is simply another way of saying “com-
posting” or “fast composting” your soil mix. Another word for it would be decomposing. This is a very
importantaspectofcustomsoilmixes,andwithoutdoingthis,moretimesthannotyouwillfryyourplants.
If you are making your own custom mixes, adding things like kelp meal and guanos that have not already
been composted, and you are not “cooking” your soil mix, then this will be the cause of your problems.
It's worth saying that again: raw, all-natural additives like lime, meals, guanos and manures, all need
to be processed in the cooking procedure before roots will be super happy in the custom soil mix. All you
needtodoismixtogetheryoursoilmix,getitallniceandmoistbutnotwetandkeepturningitoverevery
few days for 2 to 4 weeks, or longer if you like. Ambient temperatures during this cooking process should
be at least 60° F. and the cooler it is, the longer it will take to complete the cooking process. In my cold
garage it takes about 30 days for mine to cook. Don't worry; even over time the nutrients don't evaporate
from your soil mix, so if it ends up being a year before you use it, that's okay too.
