Soil and compost tea help

[Potsy]

I’m hoping you guys can guide me. I was originally trying to make my own living soil blend. I bought a bunch of shit. I couldn’t afford everything in the beginning, I’m just slowly amending as a top dressing for anything else added.

I noticed some of my leaves were burning. The mix could be too hot. Maybe I should have mixed it up a month in advance.

The reason why I’m bringing it up is because I want to be able to do something able to be replicated.

Plus at some point I want to be able to reuse my soil. How long does it take for soil to regenerate/recharge once it’s been used for cannabis?

strong textMy current soil mix:
Listed in order of percentage. Things listed at the top contains the most in the mix.
Roots organics- original
Fox farms brown bag
Coconut coir- sterilized
Peat moss- sterilized
Vermiculite
Rice hulls
Gypsum
Worm compost
Mushroom compost
Cow manure
Dog hair
Old roots
Epsom salts

Bone meal
Diatomaceous earth
Chicken fertilizer poop
Pulverized egg shells
Kelp meal
Lava rock dust
Maple/birch tree ash
Jello
Oyster shell powder

1 to 3%
Humic acid
Gelatin
Calcium bicarbonate

I put all of that shit into a giant burlap sack. Realistically I should be mixing it more ahead of time though I think. Maybe even add in earthworms.

Sometimes I feed with soaked banana peels. I also bought some of that Fox farms tiger bloom.

I also have a vermicompost bin going- I am feeding them primarily mushroom compost along with kitchen scraps

We also have started a humus compost pile from the 20 maple trees we have from their leaves and wood chips.

What has been recommended to me:
Roots organics - original blend
Nature’s living soil amendment
Diatomaceous earth- natural pesticide especially fungus gnats
Molasses

I would like to get into composting tea
Boogie brew compost
Josh’s boogie Brew seems amazing. I would love to incorporate into my setup.

Only thing is is that I think I’m doing way too much at some point. I already have a shit ton of ingredients.

Has anyone done comparative grows? Can you or should you do a compost tea if you also have living soil?

Blah!

[Gpaw]

I’ll bite… What’s the jello for? (& don’t tell me dessert…)

OK, your soil blend:

I’d suggest allowing a mix like that to age a couple months before use.
Personally, I love using the egg shells. Depending on ‘how pulverized’ you do them greatly changes the solubility (coarse = slower).
Are you top dressing with the DE or mixing that in?

If you don’t have a worm farm you should think about it. Brilliant base for teas.

The normal progression for a soil grower is to spend a bucket of money on ‘stuff’
then slowly adjust, simplify and modify.
Give it a couple years and you’ll be doing no-till perpetual (I’m not there yet)

Cheers
G

[Shadey]

@Gpaw

I’ll bite… What’s the jello for? (& don’t tell me dessert…)

Lol I am wondering as well.

@Potsy

I also have a vermicompost bin going- I am feeding them primarily mushroom compost along with kitchen scraps

Don’t feed them meat or anything that has oil or fat in your kitchen scraps.

@Potsy

Plus at some point I want to be able to reuse my soil. How long does it take for soil to regenerate/recharge once it’s been used for cannabis?

As Gpaw said. just add your amendments on top of the soil they will work there way down, you are in the position to do no till so you may as well start now and keep your soil going.

@Potsy

Can you or should you do a compost tea if you also have living soil?

Most definitely yes, with soil you are developing bacteria, they feed your plant, you feed them. They will break all that stuff down and give it to the plants when the plant asks for it. Teas are used to produce lots of bacteria to boost growth, but you also need to keep them in balance so they dont produce too much food and burn the plant up, or starve themselves to death, using everything up, so you are looking for a constant steady release of as many kinds of beneficial bacteria as possible, as well as using fungal teas which the plants switch over to when in full flower mode.

edit I just got the Jesus joke lol.

[Gpaw]

LOL, Keep that shite up and I’ll personally put you up for an Honorary Doctorate at Dalhousie

Cheers
G

[Tinytuttle]

Here’s a good thread to skim through … only thing I do differently I don’t start with a base recipe than add all the other stuff that’s already in there buy a bale of peat for like 20$ and go from there I like 1:1:1 ratio of peat ,compost( different sources is best and an aeration component… I keep high N like blood meal out of my mixed little to rich IMO at about 14% N

[Tinytuttle]

Here’s a good thread to wet your feet!

What's your organic soil recipe?

Having spent a short month with a commercial organic supersoil, I’m very much sold on this approach to growing: plants get clean water, and respond with vigorous, healthy growth! That said, it seems like everyone who makes their own fortified/supersoil has their own ever-evolving recipe (and there are a few straightforward mixes over in the GrowFAQ). As a masochist, I decided to give The Rev’s TLO Mix a try – v2.2 has some revisions to make life easier (apparently steamed bonemeal is acceptabl…

[TheBubbleKing]

Check out K.N.F… If nothing else you use from this organic gardening method at least make and use L.A.B… Easy to make, cost almost nothing, maybe .o5 cents us dollars and makes many many gallons.

[Shadey]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, knowing the theory is one thing, getting it right in practice is another

[Potsy]

J e l l ooooo… It’s because let’s face it I was too cheap to give them molasses. But basically it’s to feed the bacteria. They’ll feast on the sugar. Diatomaceous earth take care of the bugs. And then the gelatin that’s in it will act as a slow release nitrogen fertilizer.

Forgive me I’m still learning. But basically the bacteria will break down the protein and it’s easier to digest for them as opposed to like leaf matter. It’s basically like I said to feed the soil lovies.

If I’m doing one of my big sacks of soil, I’ll put like a whole packet in. And then on days I’m feeling fanciful, I will give them the liquid version but diluted. Plus then the gelatin will act as a thickening agent. Essentially the nutrient solution of whatever will stay closer to the top of the soil because it binds to other things. This is just a hypothesis. I don’t actually know if this is true. It was just my logic.

And yes I’m a terrible person. It’s based off of the dad joke about Jesus getting all the ladies because he was hung. Plus with lst- basically my plants are hung. I’m a terrible person. Plus I wanted to tell people that Jesus is a lady. And Jesus is my first hehe. So many different reasons. Be glad you’re not in my head

[Potsy]

@Shadey

Don’t feed them meat or anything that has oil or fat in your kitchen scraps.

Okay I won’t. I’ve been feeding them junk like leaves potatoes, coffee grounds. Primarily the mushroom compost though. I don’t cook enough healthy shit.[quote=“Shadey, post:3, topic:32631”]
Most definitely yes,
[/quote]

Thank you! Yep I’m going to definitely look into that boogie brew. How do you know if it’s too much? I get all confuzzled because they say that the cannabis plants less is more. If that’s true then why are we saying more more more.[quote=“Gpaw, post:2, topic:32631”]
If you don’t have a worm farm you should think about it. Brilliant base for teas.
[/quote]

I was wanting to get into the worm farm. I have a bunch of worms already. I checked on them and I was expecting to have more. There’s a possibility I killed them. But I don’t know how. Unless they are hiding. I am using a large garbage can.

[Potsy]

Here’s a picture of why I was concerned. My mix is jacked up… Or too hot. A dude told me to flush. So I did yesterday 8 l

[Shadey]

Looks like nutrient burn, whats your water ph like, you only have oyster shell for a calcium source and PH buffer, is it powder or small bits of shell. It will take time to break down.

Gypsum is another good source for calcium, it’s balanced with sulphur, so doesn’t affect the PH of the soil, plants also use a lot of sulfur in flower as well as calcium. More under LED lights than HPS lights or sun.

If the PH is out of whack then you are going to get symptoms, that look like a lot of things, but are not, due to PH lockout.

How much chicken shit went in the mix percentage wise to the rest, that has a high N value.

What is your temperature and humidity like, it also can cause nutrient burn, if your temps are high and humidity low, as the plants will drink more and uptake more nutrients as well, adding to the problem.

I thought your Jesus reference was because your plant has a metal frame that looks like a halo

[ReikoX]

I’m going to jump in here and say, quit feeding your bacteria sugars. The plant will produce sugars (exhudates) to attract specific bacteria. If they are feasting on molasses and jello, they will not move to the rhizosphere where the plant needs them.

Save the molasses for the weed cookies.

[Tinytuttle]

And the jello for your edible gummies if ya want to make a tea with molasses it doesn’t take much 1/4 -1/2 cup most in a 5 gallon brew is more than enough some experts say to leave it out all together.

[ReikoX]

@Tinytuttle

some experts say to leave it out all together.

The problem is, and why I rarely brew compost teas, is you have no idea which bacteria are going to propagate.

[Tinytuttle]

I agree with @Shadey maybe to much chicken poo poo and blood meal combo to me those leaves don’t look bad enough to make changes , when people start messing with things they usually make things worse than if they were to just give it a small dose of LIFTA!

[Tinytuttle]

So true brotha great point ! There’s way to many of them for use to keep track of .

[Potsy]

@Shadey

oyster shell for a calcium source and PH buffer, is it powder or small bits of shell.

It’s a powder? It’s from that down to earth in a box. Pretty fine.

@Shadey

Gypsum is another good source for calcium, it’

Hehe… damn it I forgot to include that to my list as well. Yes I have that in my pot. That was a little bit more recent though.

This next go is going to be a lot better I think. I can mix all that crazy shit up minus the jello, and then it’ll give it time to do its whatever it wants to do. [quote=“Shadey, post:12, topic:32631”]
How much chicken shit went in the mix
[/quote]

Ummm… In a 7 gallon I would probably say about half a cup. And that’s me being generous in that estimate. Maybe lean towards more a quarter cup with a little bit of top dressing and compost tea[quote=“Shadey, post:12, topic:32631”]
What is your temperature and humidity like,
[/quote]

The temperature in my room is a pretty standard 70° F. I have a heater going. Unfortunately it’s until I can really put more tarp up That’s the hottest I can get that room. Maybe 74.
The dehumidifier I have set up is for 50% room humidity. I’m not sure if that’s where I want it to be though.

@Shadey

thought your Jesus reference was because your plant has a metal frame that looks like a halo

Oh my God I totally just caught that now. Damn it I am terrible with my own jokes. That’s hilarious. And now I like it even more. If you got any more keep them coming.

@ReikoX

quit feeding your bacteria sugars. The plant will produce sugars (exhudates) to attr

But but but… I was having fun Mom. Okay, I will strongly consider what you’re saying. There’s so much conflicting information on it though. I’m very impressionable. next week someone’s going to make a different argument of why to put it back in.

How about this, I will take out the sugar. The only way I can use it is if it’s supplied through someone else… ie boogie Brew. That is until I forget

[BudSy]

Without a doubt. Chook manure is HOT!

[anon98152597]

@Potsy

But but but… I was having fun Mom. Okay, I will strongly consider what you’re saying. There’s so much conflicting information on it though. I’m very impressionable. next week someone’s going to make a different argument of why to put it back in.

How about this, I will take out the sugar. The only way I can use it is if it’s supplied through someone else… ie boogie Brew. That is until I forget

You might need to change how you think about soil. You are currently thinking along the same line as bottled / salt based nutes where you add all the food etc via watering. In living soil all your goodies are in the soil already. All you need to do is make sure the microbial life is doing well so that they can process the soil to make it ready for the plant to eat.
Sugars like molasses and jelly (shudder) is just junk food for the microbes who eat that instead of the soil additives, thereby slowing your grow down. I highly recommend you check out ReikoX’s grow. He’s got everything on point with lots of info on it.