Hey pop, yes black casting is worm castings. It can be difficult finding supplies, that is for sure. Luckily, I am a farmer, as in I actually grow vegetables for market so it was a bit easier for me. Do you not have a local farmer's cooperative near you or within driving distance? They can locate a lot of these items in bulk which is how I purchase mine. The perlite, I bought in a 3.5 cubic foot bag for ~$30. The worm castings are the same way. If you go to a hydro store you are going to pay premium prices because their markup is outrageous. Farmers aren't going to pay the prices we pay because there isn't room for the added expense in their business so best to shop where farmers shop. I now have my own worm farm in my garage where I make my own castings, that cost me about $100 for everything needed to get started and I feed them scrap vegetables and coffee grounds for free. I have all the worm castings anyone could ever use and they are fresh. So there are ways around cost.
I considered starting a business that packages and ships exact amendments for 30 gallons so all someone would have to do would be to add peat to the mixture but it is too much risk for a grower to be doing that. Here is the thing though, when considering costs. My prices I have listed are exactly what I paid. That is enough for 6 plants throughout the entire growth cycle and I reuse that soil every time so the costs go down when reamending because the bulk of the product is already there. I was using Metrop nutrients, $200 for 5 - 1 liter bottles of nutrients that would last me about 14 plants from start to finish, that isn't including the $40 bale of promix I was buying. So, short term it is a little more expensive to get set up with a true soil grow but for long term there isn't even a comparison in costs. Not to mention you can throw away your pH meter, pH up, pH down and all that. I am not saying it is for everyone because in all honesty it took me a long time before I decided to try it but for those that are interested in quality crops with minimum hassle TLO is easily the way to go.
I considered starting a business that packages and ships exact amendments for 30 gallons so all someone would have to do would be to add peat to the mixture but it is too much risk for a grower to be doing that. Here is the thing though, when considering costs. My prices I have listed are exactly what I paid. That is enough for 6 plants throughout the entire growth cycle and I reuse that soil every time so the costs go down when reamending because the bulk of the product is already there. I was using Metrop nutrients, $200 for 5 - 1 liter bottles of nutrients that would last me about 14 plants from start to finish, that isn't including the $40 bale of promix I was buying. So, short term it is a little more expensive to get set up with a true soil grow but for long term there isn't even a comparison in costs. Not to mention you can throw away your pH meter, pH up, pH down and all that. I am not saying it is for everyone because in all honesty it took me a long time before I decided to try it but for those that are interested in quality crops with minimum hassle TLO is easily the way to go.
