I figured id post my easy way to do organic soil in case anyone is interested.
Easiest way I found is to get some promix bx or hp,some Gaia green all purpose 4-4-4, Gaia green power bloom 2-8-4.
I also add in some extra dolomite lime, neem meal, crushed oyster shell, ground oyster shell, Insect frass and ewc but you don’t have to, I added the lime and oyster shell to help buffer the soil so I don’t have to ph my water. The frass and neem were to help battle fungus gnats but I got them under control with a combination lost cost plant therapy and aquabac. If you add extra stuff you should not use full amount of 4-4-4 you don’t want them to total more than the recommended dose.
Mix the 4-4-4 with promix at recommended rates for container gardens and let it sit moist for around a month if you can. I usually put a clone in solo cups with my soil cut at about 1/4-1/3 organic soil/promix for about a week or two then plant into bigger containers with full strength soil. If I’m still unsure about soil being to strong for young plants I’ll just weaken some 1/3 promix/organic soil around where I plant, and that usually helps to settle the plant into hotter soil.
Depending on how long you veg for and how big your containers are will determine when you need to top dress.
Unless I’m growing something really big or I’m in a really small pot I don’t have to top dress until I hit 1-2 weeks of flower. Then every 2 weeks roughly until week 6ish. If it’s a big plant I start top dressing right when I put into flower with 1/4 all purpose 4-4-4 / power bloom 2-8-4. For first three weeks during stretch I use 50%-75% 4-4-4 in my top dress then as it starts to make flower add more power bloom to my top dress ending with 100% power bloom.
This past grow I slacked and should have top dressed at least one more time for each plant, they had a bit deficiencies towards the end.
I use straight tap water the whole grow and I don’t ph my water. I water in Neptune fish and seaweed a few times a grow just for a kick but it’s just tap water 95% or more of the time.
After grow I keep pots moist for another week or two and only take out the main stock, if pots are kept moist for long enough the little stump should easily pull out of your pot with little effort. Then re amend with half of what you originally used and let cook for a month again.
I’ve been re using my soil for a few years now, I have 2 sets of soil one in totes cooking and one in flower. Unfortunately I think the salt in my water or that I kept adding dolomite lime with my re amends has given me a slight mag deficiency so I might start fresh again soon.
But I got 2-3 years out of this soil and using half amendments to re amend has saved me lots of money. The amount of money saved using this method is alot I reckon.
I’ve bought 2 big bag 10kg of 4-4-4 in the 3 -4 years of growing organic and I still have half a bag left. I believe I use around a 2 kg jug of power bloom a year.
I really should by the big bag of that one too.
Not sure if I covered everything, I hope I did but if not ill try and update it.
Anyone have any questions or comments feel free to post.
You are mixing a little differently than I… I hold back the GG 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 from the base and add them in for veg and flower up-pot soil.
I’ve been grinding chicken shells as a supplement instead of the oyster shell ($$$ here).
The dolomite has magnesium in it, but maybe the ratio isn’t correct?..
I tripped over this stuff last summer but haven’t tried it yet:
I can tell you, everything I have purchased from these folks has been first rate.
So I have high expectations…
@Gpaw I do put in ewc, I guess it’s a type of compost. I don’t add that much though.
Thanks for the link, I might check that stuff out.
The black swallow guy was on the kis podcast a year or 2 ago, was a pretty good listen. Blackswallow sell the kis mix I believe.
I looked into buying some of there stuff but I found it cheaper so purchased elsewhere. I had neem shipped from bc and it was cheaper than getting it from blackswallow and I’m in Ontario just like blackswallow, haven’t really looked at their amendments since, might have to go check them out again. But I did purchase my blumats from them, they were great to deal with.
Just looked at blackswallow site and it looks like they now sell a all purpose 4-4-4 and bloom 2-5-4
For around same price as Gaia green sells them for. That definitely peaked my interest.
I was planning on trying black swallow, my homie @estab87 is Guinea pigging it for me atm. I wanna try fully organic seeing as it’s one of the few I’ve never tried . But it’s overwhelming deciding which method to utilize tbch
Gotta say I’m loving the Black Swallow KIS soil so far. It’s a bit of a learning curve for me, because it’s typically recommended for 7 gallon pots or larger and I usually grow in 3 gallons, so I’ve been learning a lot about amending/topdressing, when the right time is, etc, but I have to say this dirt has reinvigorated me in the hobby at a time I felt like I was drowning in bottled nutes & all my time and energy was going into mixing and measuring.
So you never test your soil after a run? You just amend by gut instinct?
Also I have most of my moms in organic soil I bought from kis organics.
How often do you top dress and what for keeping mothers? Once my moms get big in organic soil I try to topdress but I can’t keep them happy sometimes. I just cut the root mass about 1/2 or mor and plant in new soil from the bag or take new clones to choose a new mom.
I topdress neem meal, crab meal, kelp, sometimes epsom salt (do you know a non salty form of magnesium?), basalt, gypsum, barley, and top it off with growkashi. Most of the stuff organic I got is left overs from a organic sip I did awhile ago.
@grief Ya basically adjusting blindly, with decent results so far. Not sure where i can het it tested in Ontario. Think the lime might be throwing the soil off a bit so I kept it out last couple times I re amended, could also be the salt in my water. Thinking about scraping this soil soon and making a new batch.
As for moms it’s tough to keep them happy for a one time in organic soil. So I will feed Neptune fish and seaweed once every week or two. But I just keep moms for a month or two then reset them with a new clone to keep them healthy. Like you said big moms don’t due so good in organic soil unless your in a bed or huge pot.
And if you are in the US, I have a particular bias for Auburn University’s AG program and they do soil tests for cheap as well, send you a little kit that you fill and send back. War Eagle
@grief I used to top dress with everything I originally put in at half the amounts.
I put in all purpose, power bloom, Insect frass,dolomite lime,crushed oyster shell, oyster shell flour, neem meal, dolomite lime, malted barley and ewc
But last 2 grows I just used all purpose and power bloom to top dress with.
