The original recipe Steve Solomon gave me to replace the minerals in my poor soil was:
4 quarts cottonseed meal
1 quart garden lime (better to use 2/3 quart garden lime and 1/3 quart dolomite)
2 cups pelletized gypsum
3.5 cups bonemeal
2/3 cup potassium sulfate
1.5 tbsp borax
2 tbsp manganese sulfate
2 tsp zinc sulfate
2 tsp copper sulfate
1 quart kelp meal
1/8 tsp sodium molybdate
I have now added these additions to my mix for extra minerals:
1 Cup Azomite
1 Cup Sea90
1 Cup Greensand
1 Cup Magnesium Sulfate
Along with this mix, I sometimes also add a quart or so of Bentonite (via unscented clumping kitty litter) to make my soil stickier.
You can have greener thumbs by this weekend!
28 comments
Can you please also let us know where we could buy some of these more exotic ingredients? Thanks David
GreenWayBiotech.com
AlphaChemical.com is where I got some of the weirder stuff.
David, I searched AlphaChemical.com and didn’t find any of the Solomon’s Gold ingredients. Is there another site I can try?
Thank you – it’s “https://www.alphachemicals.com/”
David, i have read that coffee grounds aren’t good for the garden because the caffeine that remains in them is a natural growth inhibitor designed by nature to keep competing plants from growing around the coffee bean bush. So i stopped using them. But i am wondering what is the real scoop with coffee grounds, as they look like the best compost additive you could stumble upon!
They never seemed to slow down my plants. I use them.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have quite a few of these on hand, but will definitely have to gather more of the less common items. Living in NW Florida with all the sand a rain I’ve learned that raised beds help prevent runoff of all my hard work. Nothing fancy, but sides to mostly contain all my hard work.
I really enjoy your channel especially because your growing conditions are very similar to ours.
Take care!
Thank you, Deborah.
Thanks for posting this, David! I have the same soil and this would likely help.
I would like to know if I can safely add dead tomato plants to the compost pile. I am in Central Florida
They have been sprayed with Tums, Hot sauce, baking soda, and neem oil
Thanks, Buck
I would compost them – nature is great at recycling.
Can I use the ashes where I clean out my charcoal grill as bio char?
I usually burn diseased foliage from tomatoes and squash plants, can you use this ashes in compost?
Yes, definitely.
How frequently can this be applied? Thanks again.
Usually every month or two – if plants are slowing down or yellowing, side dress some.
Is this recipe for 100 sq/ft?
Mother Earth said the caffeine in coffee grounds kills the earth worms.
Any observations or comments?
I don’t know about earthworms, but we put buckets of used coffee grounds in one of our old worm bins and red wigglers did great on it. I would assume that means earthworms would be fine as well, though it isn’t proof.
In your video it said 2 tsp of zinc sulfate in your post you put 2 tbsp. Which is correct?
Should be two teaspoons. I fixed it in the post – thank you.
Loving your videos. I’m a new vermicomposter.
Dod I hear you mention in your video that Solomon’s gold could be purchased?
Thank you in advance.
It may be possible – I don’t know where.
Thanks so much!
Does this mix work for fruit trees or do they need different minerals and different ratios?
Would you use it in grocery rows?
Thank you for all you do!
Trees in the Grocery Rows seem to love it.
Thank you!
I’ve planted a key lime and raspberries and roses in the rows I amended with the mix and they seem to be happy
I didn’t realize I had to refer the soil every month (learning curve and all that) so now I fed them again and they seem to like it!
Thank you for responding!
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