Add dolomitic (garden) lime at 1 tbsp per gallon of soil or 1/2 cup per cu ft.

You may wish to take a closer look at your soil - I think it will be extremely (too) water retentive, but JaG (oops - you're new. That stands for 'justaguy')will probably be along in a few time units & offer an opinion. You can trust what he says as good advice.

Welcome to the forum. It's so nice to have you join us! ;o)

Take care.

Al

Al is correct that compost in a SWC will retain too much water. If you have access to both sphagnum peat moss and perlite those are fine to use, but everyone I know who has used much compost in SWC has reported the mix being soggy wet and plant growth adversely affected.

Take a look at the information on the commercial EB site.

Homemade EBs function the same way the commercial ones do. I would suggest following their instructions for planting mix, fertilizer etc. You know their system works, so just keep it simple and do it the proven way and down the road feel free to experiment however you desire. Since it sounds like this will be your first experience with SWCs I would stick with the tried and proven for this year.

Thanks for the replies

What homemade potting mix ingredients would you recommend? Just peat and perlite??...as I said, unfortunately I have no access to commercially produced potting mix... All suggestions would be welcome!!

A typical commercial potting mix would be mostly peat (70-80%), 10% vermiculite, 10% perlite (in the states anyway, not sure about your side of the pond).

These work very well in SWCs in terms of wicking water to the surface while not compacting too badly over the season, largely because they aren't top watered.

There seem to be a lot of people using SWCs on this forum and they can tell you what ingredients they have used and whether it wicked to the surface enough to keep the fertilizer strip slightly damp, whether it retained excessive amounts of water etc.

When I first started with SWCs I just used a commercial, peat based mix and then switched to not using the fertilizer strip at all and then switched to using bark based mixes.

I really don't think 80% peat, 20% perlite would steer you too far wrong though I haven't tried it myself.

I see you are in the UK, so may I ask what you mean by the term 'compost'? In the states compost means decomposed organic matter, but I have heard folks on your side of the pond use the term more loosely so I want to make sure I am not telling you to avoid something due to a confusion of the material being discussed.

Thanks again...I've had a good look at other posts and potting mix suggestions....it is all so varied and confusing but I'm desperately trying not to get to disorientated!! Basically I'd like to grow different varieties of chilli peppers in SWCs using a homemade soil topped with organic bat guano...The only peat I can access here is Irish peat moss and I have a good supply of perlite and some vermiculite at hand. In your opinion can I hope to equal/improve my chilli plants with this (newbie!!) simple mix from standard container planting or should I expect modest results at best?

Thanks again for all your advice

I am not familiar with Irish peat moss, I assume (may be dangerous) it is sphagnum peat moss from Ireland.

If so you can essentially make the equivalent of a typical container potting mix found in stores all over the US.

Peppers like their growing soil on the dry side of moist so using what you have on hand maybe something along the lines of 5 parts peat, 2 parts perlite, 1 part vermiculite. A typical US store mix would be more along the lines of 8 parts peat, 1 part perlite, 1 part vermiculite.

You can and should add dolomitic lime at a rate of 1/4th cup per cubic foot of mix. My apologies, I have to run to my son's event at school or I would convert those measurements to metric for you.

Thanks again justaguy2 for your potting mix advice for chilli peppers.

One small clarification please: When you refer to the quantities 5 parts peat, 2 parts perlite and 1 part vermiculite, do I interpret this correctly as corressponding to roughly 62.5% peat 25.5% perlite and 12% vermiculite?

Thanks again

Yes. Don't worry about the numbers too much. The point is you are making a peat based potting mix, adding a little vermiculite for its water retention and strong wicking ability and some perlite to help keep the mix 'open' and provide some air spaces in the mix. The exact ratio isn't critical.