I didn’t see a general thread for this, so I decided to make one 
What’s your outdoor re-amendment routine look like? We all have our own styles and secret ingredients and I’d like to hear yours 
No-tillers, cover croppers, chemically fertilizing friends come one come all no judgements here
I grow in raised beds and used to just dump a hodge-podge of potting mixes on a tarp and mix them together before digging a hole in the boxes and dumping the mix in, right before planting in the spring. It worked pretty good! This year I decided to do it a little different and a little more diy. Earlier in the winter I tilled in home made compost, fireplace ashes, and a roughly 2:1 ratio of steer and chicken manure bought from the nursery. To give the soil life something to chew on, I sprinkled some of this bark-like product called g&b soil building conditioner in before tilling, and a bunch on top afterwards as mulch.
I felt like this was gonna set me right, but then california had like 3 pineapple expresses in a row and now I’m wondering just how much goodness got leached out of my soil 
is it too hot for landraces? too weak for hybrids? aye-yai-yai 
I think I’m going to dump all my grow bags from last season on a tarp, add compost, worm castings and some pumice for drainage.
Veggie beds need more pumice than the grow bags, and of course the compost and some castings. Because the drainage was not adequate last season I’ll be tilling that in before hopefully becoming no-till. But I gotta get that drainage in there somehow
Was also planning on grabbing some 5 gallon buckets of some forest floor stuff and some river sand for some microbiology, mixed in as seems appropriate
Once a year, BuildASoil has a big sale, sometimes 50% off. I always grab a 44lb bag of the craftblend nutrient pack. Blend it into a modified clack mix (compost, promix, perlite) I make and cover it with some good mulch. Do this with all the garden beds. Let it rain for a month or so, and good to go. What I’ve actually found is that building up the trace minerals takes years, and a lot of microbiom. Recycling soil assuming no disease is best way to go.
Had mixed success with added nutes, still trying to find the best booster for flowering period. Be that side dressing or liquid nutes…any good ideas here?
After harvest I pulled the rootball out and replaced it with compost and covered it with hay from. The chicken coop. At the beginning of February I did it again but also added some old potting soil and put down some clover. The birds messed up the clover so im waiting for spring to try again…by may I’ll chop and drop, add some 4way mix from my local nursery and probably some kelp and krab meal and a new set of clover. Once the clover is set im goin in (hopefully by the 3rd week of may)
Check out “the intelligent gardener, growing nutrient dense food” by steve Solomon, it’s all about remineralizing the soil 
Just getting into the nitty gritty of it myself but there’s some really great info in it including teaching you how to interpret a soil test on your own if you don’t already know (like me)
100% best gardening book purchase I’ve made. There’s an audio book as well, I listened to it as well as read it.
Cool thank you! I’ve got the last version of the Astera & Agricola Ideal soil formula, is it along these lines?
That’s a good, well written book. It’s a pretty easy read. I think The Intelligent Gardener has some better content though.
If you like podcast learning. Lots of good info here from over the years…
Regenerative Agriculture with John Kempf
This stuff never ceases to amaze me and i figured out the right Dosage and holy crap Batman look at all that Mycellium smells like a clean forest floor Middle of Dirt is around 83 degrees on a cold concrete floor Cooking is starting to die down after 7 days 7 more to go then its going to be used as needed the longer it sits the better it always is ive had this stuff sit around for 3 months in a tote and never had one issue.When recycling dirt water with BTI and no dirt gnats .Dr Earth Dry amendments are Impressing me more and more every year.I have plants on 24 hours that are still eating with no issues after 2 and a half months eating double the feed with the extra light.When they say 3 months they aint lying folks and ive been running full bore since i transplanted.
Anyone have any recommendations for topdressing once flowering sets in outdoor grows? I’ve got some plants that are going to a buddies house out in the hills, not going to have regular access to them. Would like to find a good topdressing for the flowering phase.
I am using it for the first time so I don’t know results, but Gaia Green has power bloom that is a monthly topdress.
On that note is it possible to over feed plants while adding nutrients to soil?
Scenario: I want to run a plant outdoors in a 5 gal grow bag that is sunk into the soil. If I were to use fox farm ocean forest soil which is fairly nutrient dense but then also add in dry soil ammendment like the Gaia green general.
Would it be a waste of nutrients as in washed away before used?
Would it burn a young veging plant?
Or would it just provide a source to help the plant get all the way to flower?
@Gadarien Two thoughts, based on doing the same last few years.
5 gal probably not big enough. I use 15, by the end of the season, the plants have essentially consumed all the soil, only thing left is a massive root ball. I suspect they are getting root bound even in 15 gal. They do like sitting in the bag in the soil though, water management much easier.
As I mentioned above they will eat everything in that bag over course of season. I’m sure there are other methods, but I found this blog and these guys to be a great resource. I use a modified coots soil for most of my plants and they love it. Pre mix some of the craft blend they sell, along with HP Pro mix w/ Mycorrhizae, perlite and compost/castings and let it cook for a couple weeks. Easy peasy.
BuildASoil_DIY_Report_Complete_Organic_Fertilizer.pdf (159.5 KB)
I’m surprised by this a little. I assumed that sinking the cloth bag would allow the roots to spread into the surrounding soil. Good to know!
Not owning the property I’m on I would prefer a smaller hole in the yard so I will likely need to rethink the idea.
Thank you for the reply!
Yea I was too. The cloth bags (dependent on type), don’t allow the roots to permeate the bag. They will embed in the bag but don’t really get through.
This stuff scratched in as a top dress works well paired with a light dose of Foxfarm Big bloom with the Earthworm castings to wet it down and get a boost of flower nutrients Check your local wallly world its cheaper than amazon they want a ridiculous amount right now i stress on the light dose of Big bloom can be a touch hot use at half dose.It will take 2 weeks to break that dry amendment down to where your plant can get nutrients from it that Foxfarm Big bloom will carry you that two weeks till that amendment breaks down a touch of fulvic humic acids help break it down put it down as soon as you flip to 12/12 and it will be broke down by the time you see hairs pop out ,this is all i use pretty much twords the end and water thats it.I swear by this stuff i give you my word.
Thanks I’ll check it out. Again this is an outdoor grow that is going to get minimal attention, water is automated
I used to keep a large compost pile. I would amend with that every year in the spring. Each plant gets a handfull of pellatized gypsum, potash(if needed), blood and bone meal. not a lot. dust the bottom of the hole. fill with a thin layer of dirt. set in your transplant, then fill with dirt halfway and dust again then finish filling. water in deep. I always get great results with my tomatoes . the root systems i pull up from some of the plants stretch for feet outwards.
I had to start new beds and Ive always built my own soil. I mix peat moss, pro mix, composted manure, mushroom compost, vermiculite, and perlite. I couldnt tell you the ratio. I kinda just add and mix until it feels right.
