Thought this may help, never used it myself though.
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Unless you’re living in a stupidly high humidity climate I’d leave the perlite out, I’ve never used it.
When you go the no-till method then the roots from the previous grow will do what the perlite does, while also providing food for the microbes and fungi.
Go easy on the amendments. I’d add only 3-4 cups for every 10 liters.
I’d go for 2/3rds compost, 1/3rd spaghnum, plus a few cups of amendments.
Not familiar with any of your amendments…
Cheapest is free, grab a big bag and go for a walk in a forest, gather some tree leaves (plenty minerals), little bits of dirt, dandelion (10% calcium), nettle, thistle (these have deep roots bringing up many minerals) and then also fruit and veg kitchen scraps, the more varied the better. And mix that in and topdress with it.
Also bananapeels (potassium & phosphorus) are gold.
Chop them up and thow em in!
Then keep sowing in the same pot. Works great once it establishes a balance.
I’m using a stacked approach, small pot on top of a bigger pot.
Small one has your cannabis + covercrops.
Big one below is where you topdress.
Feel free to visit my No-till Mystery Cult thread.
Works for me, maybe it will for you too!
Wishing you a joyful and effortless journey!
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Hey Alaskagrown… remember making Sub’s Super Soil years back. Man, I spent so much $$ buying all them ingredients and realized really quick that it was more for large scale peeps and not I… I was using it in Soma Boxes I’d made, also not cheap… but I was young n healthier then and loved a good project.
Now… I mix Foxfarm’s Strawberry Fields and Roots Organics together and love, love this mix.
Note: The FF Strawberry Fields will grow mushrooms out of drain holes as it’s a mushroom
compost. tripped me out the 1st time,
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I do indeed remember mixing up batches of Super Soil…letting bake in the sun for 45-60 day’s before use…break down the mix so it didn’t burn the shit out of the plants!
It’s ultra expensive to make for sure and I wouldn’t use in a large scale…I did though for a few medium sized grows and was a massive pain in the ass!! Lol At one point I had three large batches cooking off before use in large kiddie pool covered in plastic…but the results were as good as anything I’ve grown in the past 30 years!! FACT
I’m a big fan of Root Organic soil…it’s really good for a bag soil…that’s what I used as the base to the Super Soil I would make. Haven’t mixed up any in over a decade!
For my outdoor high tunnel this coming year I’ll be running long Grassroots no-till style raised beds…cover crops…the whole nine yards so to speak!
Alaskagrown
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Excellent stuff.I am starting to go this way.I have a bag where I mixed the basic soil from Biobizz,the lightmix,and added the leaves ofthe plant I cut Yesterday.I added some Hay borrowed from my bunny and Will add a Little compost.Let It sit 15 days and then setting up 4 x 2 gallons pot that I Will feed with FPJ and FFJ.
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Good stuff to get started with. Is this for indoor container growing? Are you trying to go for a water only supersoil or are you able/willing to top dress through the grow?
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Hey there! The Coots Mix has been popularized by Build a Soil, and by all accounts grows great plants using Neem and Karanja in the fertilizer component. I have 2 BaS Coots kits waiting to get mixed up this spring.
That said, both of those products likely made it to me from another continent via a diesel-powered shipping vessel, then rail transport to CO, then truck transport back to the east coast. Yikes.
I’m excited to give that particular recipe a try, and wanted the consistency of using a proven formula, but it’s at the price of more energy to make than if I’d looked for local organic inputs. At the end of the day, cannabis does not have such specific nutrient requirements that it won’t grow well in most temperate zones (or in comparable indoor environments).
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Thanks everyone. I have decided to buy the amendments necessary to follow the build a soil recipe for the letter.
My last few grows have been disastrous, so I am hoping for something bulletproof
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For karma purposes, I think fish bone meal, and aquatic fert amendments would suit a mix made by @fishdude ? Just kidding , I found, when going thru all the mixes, (rev, bas, coots) the best addition for a ‘bulletproof’ mix was adding actual living garden soil(25-50%, depending how cheap I am) as the base. re-using/ re-charging your soil is far better than starting from scratch, it gets better and better as your experience with it grows. Compost is free and virtually all you need to add after a couple years… It can be a rough start with mixes as it is a bit tedious getting a balanced soil ecosystem going in a few months in a baby pool…don’t give up.
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My mixes now run 50% to 60% used mix which is itself that same ratio. The leftovers go to ornamental containers outside. It does get easier and better. After a few runs, it grows on you.
As time goes on I take it easy adding rock type amendments. Been doing this for many years.
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When I first started with organics I began with a bagged super soil. I found it didn’t have enough nutrients to go the whole show. Then I started using that brands add ons but the costs and not knowing what was actually in the products got me thinking and reading.
Since then, because the soil was expensive, I started recycling my soil. Only once did I start over from scratch due to a massive fungus gnat infestation that occurred while I was away at work.
Now I use the following as a guideline, originally posted by dank.frank at ic:
I throw all my rootballs and scraps into my bins to decompose. Amend as I feel is needed (use cheap soil tests for the basic n•p•k) and wet with ewc tea and left to cook until used again.
When I start new seedlings I still use that same bagged super soil as it’s not very hot. When I use my recycled soil I add in a bunch of ewc and extra perlite as required. I havent yet added any new peat or anything like that but I will be adding some coco in the near future, though compaction isn’t an issue yet.
It’s an awesome water only soil with enough nutrients from start to finish. It’s full of life, if I do top dress with anything it’s growing fungus very quickly. My end product is the best it’s ever been and seems to get better every grow. I feel it’s pretty easy but it’s not the cheapest option with all the dry amendments I use. Knf would probably be a better option in that sense.
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I know that I’m late, but try to keep from using the rock phosphate. Fish bone meal or something would be much better for P, plus it will give you some amino acids instead of heavy metals.
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I tripped over a vendor a couple hours away that had some interesting products that I trying out on my grow.
First is a soil mix they worked out with Tad Hussy, KIS mix blended soil (I love this stuff)
and the second is this:
https://blackswallowsoil.com/product/nutrient-reamendment-packs-677
I haven’t tried it out yet, that will be in the spring.
This material’s been prilled so no dust and much longer shelf life.
Cheers
G
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That’s interesting, thanks for the link. I started out using Bluesky Organics products. Not local local, but Western Canada at least and carried in my local shops. But since recycling I’ve been using gaia green amendments.
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Aren’t heavy metals going to be a concern with any rock powders? I could be backwards here but I think basalt was the safest option?
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I was using GG as well, I really like their products but I have to watch their pricing.
I have a seasonal project out in the garage (frozen I expect)… a 200L worm bin that was processing all of my old soil. I’m looking forward to cracking that open this spring.
Cheers
G
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It doesn’t take long for $22 2kg pails to add up!! I grab bigger bags if I can.
I accidentally tossed a few of my worms in a couple of my pots this round which I didn’t want, I worry that over time they’re going to reproduce like mad and turn all my soil into castings 🤦
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Tad Hussey is the SHIT!!! I learned a lot from listening to his podcasts and also had a lot of my theories confirmed. I was dealing with constant micronutrient def and I wasn’t getting any help from Kelp or Rock Dust, soil tests confirmed this too. With kelp, I was getting way too much Na to make it viable. Rock Dust seemed to help with Fe mostly but always low in Mn and Zn. Greensand seemed to work best for me, but I think that it’s high in lead too. Turns out, there is a weed growing in my backyard called “Lambsquarter/Goosefoot” that is supposed to be high in Mn, so I started making JADAM ferments with it. My soil agronomist said that it’s 3x too high in Mn, but adding it to soil that needs it is great. I’m rambling agin… Anyways, Tad is great and he actually had my soil agronomist on recently, Bryant Mason. Love both of them!
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