I started in organics with 5 gallon fabric pots and now grow in 20 and 30 gallons. I have thought of doing one 100 gallon grow a year just to see what it looks like. You can’t grow big fat buds like the magazines without soil volume. It is one of the biggest mistakes.
That recipe I put above will grow beautiful plants with water only for one grow, but you have to have at least 8 gallons of soil. Anything less and I have a fade too early in flower.
Edit: Sorry I’m high and on a roll.
Get some worms going. That is something I can’t recommend enough. Fresh homemade EWC’s and Kelp are like a fix all tonic. Water in with some aloe…Oh BABY!
Ditch the bagged soil, your already creating your base from scratch so you don’t need ocean forest, it’s a waste of money and it’s shitty bagged soil at that. Langbeinite I would drop as well, you don’t need it.
I would up the gypsum and oyster up to 1 cup each and use only 2 cups of azomite per cuft. If you didn’t buy the azomite yet I would consider replacing that with a paramagnetic rock dust like basalt or granite. Azomite is loaded with aluminum
Get rid of the Azomite and get some good leaf mold from someone. I have replaced rock dust with leaf mold in my garden. It is the base for my soil and worms.
Noticing some of the ‘mixers’ here, are leaving out or encouraging elimination of the actual soil portion, of the mix. Good base, don’t need it? To get the best out of organics, the soil needs life. IMO 'castings, manure, and myco’s shouldn’t just be an afterthought. Soup-style organics, isn’t gonna get you or your plants, anywhere near where your hydro methods got you. IMO lose the ‘weekly additions’ of nutrients bit, learn a living soil (tlo,rols, no-till) organic style and you’ll save money and get great quality weed with yields approaching what you used to get with hydro. Ponder this, If you need to ‘cook’ these mixes for 3 months, what does a heavy concentration of any n p k organic additions do at week 6 of bloom?
Nothing the plant will be finished before it gets into the system. Yep you have to think ahead like playing chess. It would help with the next round of veg though. I tend to load up a bit more heavily at the start of Veg and then flower, same with the bacteria, and then let the plants cruise along hopefully with that.
I dont think anyone is saying eliminating the soil portion, I think its about buying a jaws mix, and adding it to the soil you are making. It would help initially to have, as it is like a ready charged battery, the plant can use while the soil and bacteria is getting up to speed but small plants would get enough food just from the EWC at the start.
I load up on gypsum as it has no effect on soil PH.
Edit, @BDGrows if you are looking for inspiration, Stonedmason has just started a no till grow. Heres a link.
I guess thats what this windbag was worried about, I kinda think backward, the smallest being the biggest etc. Simple KISS can be confusing to get, and really hard for me to explain…advice comes off totally douchey sometimes…
Yeh I know what you mean, after I type something I have to spend 10 minutes making it coherent lol. Then I think of 20 other things that are more important, I would say 90% of my posts are re edited after I post them.
Ive always done for organics runs 65% limed peat 10% ewc 25% perlite…I imagine a mix with 1/3 of high quality ewc would be very muddy , heavy…
The main benefit of EWC is to add a broad range of bacterias spores fungi nematodes and even worms…i see it as an inoculum of life…adding too much of it will reduce the oxigen retention properties of your mix…in my opinion…
Ya’ll are making organics too difficult. It’s as easy or complex as you want to make it. Source some high quality compost/castings and the rest will fall into place. Like @ReikoX said, 33% castings isn’t ideal. Try like 20% compost and 10% castings instead.
Gypsum doesn’t ‘lime’ peat, only oyster shell and actual lime (dolomite/calcitic/agricultural) will do that. For those are saying organics takes longer to see results - in five gallons of water, mix 1c alfalfa meal and 1/2c kelp meal. Let it sit 24 hours stirring occasionally. Water it in, and watch how fast your plants green up.
Ok, so this is what ive put together based off of some additional reading as well as everyones suggestions…
-----------------Base--------------------
Peat Moss (2.2 cu ft) 30%
Earth Worm Castings (1 cu ft) 15%
Perlite (2 cu ft) 30%
Compost (1.5 cu ft) 25%
Sum of Base: 6.5 cu ft (0.2ft account for potential loss)
----------------Amendments----------------
[Reicpe is based on per cubic foot of base]
Kelp Meal (1/2 cup)
Neem Meal (1/2 cup)
Crab Meal (1/2 cup)
Oyster Shell (1 cup)
Fish Bone Meal (1/2 cup)
Langbeinite (1/2 cup)
Malted Barley Powder (1 cup)
Azomite (2.5 cup)
BioChar (6 cup)
Gypsum (1 cup)
----------Beneficial’s added------------------------
[Reicpe is based on per cubic foot of base]
Root Magic (1/8 tsp)
Pondzyme (1 tbsp)
I figure I dont need to add any additional bacteria/fungi sources to the soil, but what the hell might as well cause more the merrier right? I was also wondering if I need to add any humic acid to the mix or should I just “back add” that with teas? Thanks for the help everyone! Im looking forward to trying this soil approach out!
P.S. I figure for my first run I was going to do this, get a 5 gal fabric pot, put a 6" rooted cloned in it, veg for ~2 weeks, then flip into flower. Will 5 gal be enough of a soil volume to yield decent quality flowers or shoud I up to a 7 gal? I also was going to plant a cover crop and put down some straw. Thanks again everyone!
If your peat moss is in a bale (compressed) it will likely ‘expand’ when you break it up. Not a big deal if your mix is a little peat heavy. Best if you can hydrate the peat before mixing. I might go a little light on that langbeinite like 1/4c.
Just read you’re going to put a rooted clone in it. I would suggest to ‘buffer’ your clone with some light soil like a sunshine mix - not so much ffof. By buffer I mean just add a little pocket around your clone so it can grow into that before it hits your homemade soil. I would definitely get your soil in a good moisture zone and let it ‘cook’ for 2-4 weeks minimum if all possible. That’s not always neccisary, but rooted clones might need a little extra love. My opinions anyway.
Looks great @BDGrows. And thanks @Shadey for the shoutout. Looks like you pretty much have your mix on lockdown. Everyone’s mix is opinion, but here’s my 2 cents.
I’d get rid of the Azomite entirely, from what I’ve heard it has high aluminum levels and/or other stuff that make it not the greatest. I’d replace it with basalt, granite or glacial rock dust which are the best for mineralizing soil mixes. Also try to get the highest quality compost and castings you can get, this is where you don’t skimp. Also, I’d get some mycorrhizal fungi for germinating and planting cause that makes a big difference in growth rate. EDIT: that’s what root magic is.
As far as pot size, always the bigger the better. The only limiter is how much soil you have or if you can lift it. I’d cram as much soil as you can in your space.
Good luck, and happy to have another organic member on OG
I would go 7 gal of soil with that recipe. It’s basically a long term bed recipe, so more volume the better.
I would drop the Azomite to 2 cups if you plan to keep the langbenite. Langbenite is mostly water soluble so I use it as a soil drench once or twice per cycle. A teaspoon of langbenite per gallon of water. Stick an airborne in the bucket and 90% will be dissolved in 24 hours.
Like ReikoX said, if you can go 7 it would be better, as you will probably end up buying bigger pots later if you stay with organics, but 5 gal will get you through what you are planning with the 5 gal pots. I have a mix of 5 and 10 gal pots, the 5 gals are emergency pots, but I seem to be in an emergency all the time now lol.
