Substrate soil combination?

[silentarantula]

i will get a male and couple slings this week.

i plan to try organic (chemical-free) potting soil for first time. should i use them directly, or mix in some combination with eco-earth substrate? how much ratio?

just want to observe if there's any difference. i only use eco-earth substrate for my collection so far.

 

[kormath]

all potting soil, organic or otherwise has nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. without that plants won't grow without added food. I love how everything is "organic" now, like it wasn't organic before. put simply organic is anything living or derived from living matter, so those carrots in my salad last night that were grown with fertilizers and pesticides, are organic

Anyway, i use a generic version of "garden soil" with my enclosures now, and mix it at least 50/50 with eco earth coconut fiber (not husks) to cut down the percentage of natural fertilizers in the soil. You could do more eco earth than soil if you want, but i've found it dries out faster and doesn't hold together as well for the burrowing slings.

I've tried adding vermiculite to that to help with the moisture but that just makes it fall apart more. In the enclosure i use the vermiculite in i use more soil than eco earth to keep it together better for burrowing.

 

[MassExodus]

Agree, I just switched to a similar mixture of potting soil/jungle mix(zilla)/and vermiculite. I like it, it holds moisture very well. Some people don't like jungle mix because of the chips of fir bark and twigs that are in it, but I think that adds to it. It's what you might find on the ground in a forest. I used eco earth for a long time, then went to straight jungle mix for awhile. The mixture is superior to both, by far. I'm also experimenting with a layer of gravel at the bottom to hold humidity longer, just to see how well it works.

 

[kormath]

I'm also experimenting with a layer of gravel at the bottom to hold humidity longer, just to see how well it works.

just gravel or water in with the gravel?

or maybe the saline solution?

 

[MassExodus]

just gravel or water in with the gravel?

or maybe the saline solution?

I was thinking vodka. Then when I'm doing maintenance I can just poke a straw in there..What? I washed the gravel...

 

[kormath]

I was thinking vodka. Then when I'm doing maintenance I can just poke a straw in there..What? I washed the gravel...

What's that? my spider is walking weird? nope it's not DKS, he burrowed down to the vodka again...

 

[MassExodus]

What's that? my spider is walking weird? nope it's not DKS, he burrowed down to the vodka again...

lol

 

[Kymura]

Agree, I just switched to a similar mixture of potting soil/jungle mix(zilla)/and vermiculite. I like it, it holds moisture very well. Some people don't like jungle mix because of the chips of fir bark and twigs that are in it, but I think that adds to it. It's what you might find on the ground in a forest. I used eco earth for a long time, then went to straight jungle mix for awhile. The mixture is superior to both, by far. I'm also experimenting with a layer of gravel at the bottom to hold humidity longer, just to see how well it works.

thought the fir and pine could prove an issue, if it doesnt then I am def getting some, like the look of it.

 

[silentarantula]

thanks. guess my experiment is going start tonight to get ready for new tarantulas tomorrow.

i'll use vodka to overflow my tarantulas' water bowls for my enclosure instead of water. great idea.

 

[kormath]

thought the fir and pine could prove an issue, if it doesnt then I am def getting some, like the look of it.

Sap is the worst part of the fir and pine and why it's not recommended. It doesn't have any tanin like cedar to repel insects so it shouldn't harm them that way.