Organic no-till soil grow

Indoor Growing Organics
#1

Hey guys glad to join this friendly community!

I’ve been lurking a lot of the posts here for quite a few months. I now feel I’m ready mentally and financially to start sourcing things out, so I’m just going to lay out my plan and would love to hear some feedback.

For my tent I was looking at a gorilla grow 4x4. I don’t want anything huge but also don’t want to build my setup just for 1 or 2 plants. I’ll be connecting a 4 or 6 inch online fan to a carbon filter for the smell.

As far as lights it looks like the SolStrips are the way to go. What would be the most efficient setup to go with in a 4x4? I am a contractor so no worries about assembling something if I need too.

As far as the soil I have been doing a ton of research on no-till living soil. I have read almost all of the big organic soil threads on icmag and grasscity which have a wealth of knowledge(thanks @ReikoX for the links I found in another thread).

So I’m looking at:
1 part high grade compost and/or vermicompost
1 part sphagnum peat moss
1 part rice hulls/lava rock/pumice

Which per cu ft I will amend with:
1/2 cup kelp meal
1/2 cup neem meal
1/2 cup oyster shell powder
1/2 cup crab meal
1/2 cup gypsum
4 cups basalt

I’ll be mixing the soil and letting that sit for roughly 2 months, then when I plant I will be watering with aloe, fulvic acid and silica once a week. And also powdered malted barley roughly once a week.

How does this all sound to the organic experts?

My last question is about genetics. Seeds are extremely expensive at medical clinics and dispensaries and I have no idea what I’m buying and if it’s the real deal. Can anyone recommend some potent, hearty and ideally affordable genetics that I can get my paws on?

Thanks so much in advance, I have learned a lot from lurking and studying.

Stonedmason

Edit: I am in BC, Canada and any leads to where I can source some of these amendments affordable would be appreciated

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#2

Pics when you can. Always a crowd pleaser :smile: :camera:

:eye:

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#3

If it helps any, the best priced source I’ve found for worm castings is home hardware.

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#4

Hey Man,

I am doing the same right now…I just got finished building a big bed for my shop.

I am on Van Isle…Getting some of the ingredients for my soil has been fun haha…I found a lot of stuff I could not find locally, on line through a couple of places…I will include the links below…

I will be using my bed as a research and development bed, as I am going to try and expand it to the rest of the shop if the results can get where I need them to be. I will be following your grow closely, and perhaps communicate with anything I am learning (good and bad) along the way.
It is a bit of a nervous step for me to go too big off the start…

As far as your soil additives go, what about worms? They will help your castings in your soil, and air-rate it as well? Biochar?, Insect Frass, and your cover crop? Hairy Vetch, Crimson Clover etc…Bokashi? I am still not %100 about incorporating it into my bed yet? Perhaps one of the No-Till Ninja’s on here would know more about that? And of course Straw and Alfalfa Hay?

Good luck with everything…I’ll be following closely…

Regards,

K.

Online stores :

Biochar : https://www.airterra.ca/
Additives: https://www.gardenerspantry.ca/
Cover crop: https://www.westcoastseeds.com/products/hairy-vetch-6
Worms: https://worm-composting.ca/worm-composting/product/red-wiggler-compost-worms/

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#5

Sounds like you have done your homework. Soil mix sounds good. That mix should be ready to plant without having to wait.

For a 4x4, I would go with 12 strips and a hlg-480h-24a driver. This runs them on the softer side and gets you a comfortable 30 watts per square foot.

As for genetics, hit me up in PM, I bet I can find you a freebie pack that will get you started. :+1::seedling:

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#6

Right on Brother, glad to hear someone else local is going through a similar project. I will definitely be starting a little vermicomposting project and tossing some of the worms right in my soil mix, but want to get my tent and soil box built first priority so it had time to break down the amendments.

Thanks for the links! I too was looking at the cover crop seeds from west coast seeds. Also, I have checked out the gardeners pantry but I’m trying to use as little liquid or bottled products as possible although they look like great products. Did you buy all the amendments from Gaia green? Seems pretty pricey but tough to find alternatives.

As far as bokashi I think I will start with the worm bin and elaborate from there. Bio chat is something I have been looking into as well. I noticed the gardeners pantry carries it as well. Also I will definitely be mulching with alfalfa hay or some sort of straw to retain moisture. Looking forward to trading sources and tips in the future.

Cheers,
Stonedmason

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#7

I just finished my bed (will add pics soon), and am just now washing off some drain rock, to line the bottom of my bed with. I have a drain built in the bottom of my bed that runs through a hose outside, so any stagnant water has a place to go…

Most amendments I purchased in the small mom and pop Garden Center down the road. (I also forgot this store for you to look at : http://reindeersnatural.ca/index.htm If interested, contact him about shipping…his shipping prices were really messed up, and he was in the middle of fixing the site for it) I had to seek out the Neem meal, worms, Bokashi, Insect Frass, and Biochar. Are you planning on adding any Mycorrhiza?

I am going to be making a burn barrel for the Bio-char, and have a worm hotel for the castings, and juice. I started harvesting my own Microbes, in the Provincial Park by my place. A couple of the ingredients I had to purchase, were pretty expensive, for what they were…When I can produce more than enough, for what I need myself, for cheap.

The beauty of No-Till :slight_smile:

Regards,

K.

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#8

I know you have had an offer from ReikoX on seeds, but I would be happy to share as well. I’m in Ontario so it would keep the shipping within Canada

PM me - I don’t have a huge collection or anything, but I’ve come to realize I likely won’t get through everything I have and I’d be happier sharing and seeing the genetics used! There maybe something you like - maybe not!

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#9

All these organic no-till gardens popping up are making me joyous! :heart:

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#10

Here is another link for you, they are in Ontario. They have great stuff at reasonable prices but the postage is what hurts. you can get pretty much everything you need for no till and more.

http://blackswallowsoil.com/

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#11

Thanks for the replies.

@Kobracom420 I was planning on purchasing mycorrhizae and powdered humic acid from the gardeners pantry

@Sebring it makes me joyous too! :slight_smile:

@Shadey I have checked that place out it looks awesome. But you can understand I’m a little weary about shipping multiple 50 lb bags across the continent. There seems to be a niche for something like that on the west coast.

I’m planning a trip to Vancouver tomorrow but could easily get to the island/somewhere else if they had enough of what I was looking for. My plan is to hit a couple of the garden centres/grow shops and ask around. Does anyone have a line on high quality(living) compost/vermicompost/ewc around here?

Thanks again for all the help guys I’ll keep you posted

Stonedmason

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#12

Yeh its expensive, but for the lesser amount stuff that is hard to find they fill the gap. I am lucky, my local grow shop specializes in organic no till, so they get everything from this place, and their mark up is minimal, and a hell of a lot less than the postage.

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#13

Hey Shadey, Is there a website for this No-Till shop you speak of? I am very interested to get a rough idea of what is needed for a No-Till shop? Where I am, there is nowhere to get some of the stuff I need. I was thinking in the future, I may buy a bunch of bulk, and try to sell some. It would make it cheaper on my end, and help others who may be interested fins what they may need.

EDIT: Duoh!.. I’m such a stoner…I see the link, is the store you speak of… I need to lay of the smoke today…Haha

Regards,

K.

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#14

Thanks for offering to pay it forward Man…Mighty solid of you.

'Regards,

K.

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#15

I can recommend Black Swallow as well. I bought my living soil and amendments from them and picked up in person. Nathan is a good dude - you can’t go wrong with them!

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#16

@man-bot did you buy their living soil pre-mixed? Or use their compost/EWC and amend yourself? Just curious.

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#17

I bought the premixed soil, as well as some barley and Nathan gave me one other item.

I didn’t end up using the barley but will next round.

I had great luck with it - I vegged for quite a while and ended up being a little low on N when flowering kicked in but that’s all. Outside of that, living soil + blumats was the simplest setup I have ever had.

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#18

If its new soil it takes a couple of grows for things to stabilize and develop, I had similar problems when my plants went into the stretch the first time round the second time they were good. I dont think the bacteria is built up enough to supply so much N quickly when its new. Cover crops help with that as well. I give my bacteria a boost when I flip now to make sure they are all fired up for the stretch. Worms will help as well.

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#19

It’s best to make your own IMO get your self a 15-20 smart pot and 1/2 pound of worms !

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#20

Update time!

Went traipsing across the city and confirmed my suspicions. This shit is hard to find!

Picked up some vegetable seeds and a nice propagation tray and light from west coast seeds. I’ll bust it out and take some pictures soon enough.

Picked up a bale of SPM from Home Depot. Thought they would have gypsum but no dice. Don’t worry it’s on sale at the hydro store 60 bucks for 20lbs…not! I’m sure I can find it cheaper and if not black swallow soils is looking a lot more attractive day by day. It’s 75 cents a pound there plus freight.

Speaking of black swallow soils I’m in the process of finalizing a big order with them that includes:

Kelp meal
Alfalfa meal
Crab meal
Oyster shell flour
6 seed cover crop
Silica additive
Ful-power(only place I’ve found in Canada that isn’t completely out to lunch price-wise)
Soap nuts(excellent wetting and emulsifying agent)
200x aloe powder

I was really impressed with the shipping prices and customer service, so may be adding a few things to the order if they don’t show up in the next 24 hours or so of my travels.

Waiting on a Canadian quote from neemresource.com so hopefully the shipping isn’t bad there because the prices are dirt cheap.

Still looking for a good Vermont/compost/ewc source until my worm bin gets started. The grow store had “natures nurture” EWC but the dry bag didn’t look very nurturing. $26 for 20L bag. Anyone had experience with these guys? I may have to dig deeper on Craigslist.

Emailed air terra about bio char(thanks @Kobracom420)

Will be contacting my local stoneyard about grabbing some of their basalt(wish I knew it was useful before, I’ve been cutting basalt for years and the dust is a nuisance)

I think that about ticks all the boxes for the soil end of things. Oh and I’m planning on placing an order with the gardeners pantry for their mycorrhizae and humid acids tomorrow or shortly after I get a quote from air terra(gardeners pantry carries bio char too)

Now on to the nuts n bolts! I’ll be ordering a vivosun 4x4 tent (half price of gorilla grow and good amazon reviews) and I can replace down the line if necessary. Was also looking at their speed-controlled 6" fan with a silencer and carbon filter same brand. Let me know if anyone has had good/bad experiences with these.

Last but not least @Baudelaire got back to me with a quote but in my smoked-out haze I forgot to mention to him that I live in Canada lol. Just waiting for him to get back and I hope I can still make it work. Based on my observations of others, light is not one area you want to sacrifice in.

Once all that is sorted I’m going to source a #20 smart pot and a lb of worms. I’m thinking 2/3 to 3/4 in the pot and the rest in my soil bed. Feedback always appreciated.

Oh and my soil bed. I’m thinking a pvc skeleton with landscape fabric walls will do the trick just right, will wait for my tent to arrive to get exact dimensions(don’t want to make that one too big). Then I’ll get some cheap alfalfa hay from the feed store in town for mulch.

That was a long post. I salute all of you who have read it all. Please let me know if I’m missing anything mandatory. I know there’s always room for improvement but I’m just looking to get things started sooner rather than later.

Cheers!
Stonedmason

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