Living Soil Recipes - (Meant to last indefinitely if treated properly)

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Man I remember doing all this with Subā€™s guidanceā€¦ it was to expensive to do for my small scale but, had to try it once. soils a bit hot to, be careful with it. Sub used to mix his up in his living room in a small plastic kiddie pool and a hard rake to startā€¦ tarp spread out beneath itā€¦ lol.
If growing on his scale of things is pays off because you can almost grow without the need of the expensive liquid foods as this fed the plants the entire growth with just a few additives for adjustments if neededā€¦

I just find it easier now to buy a bag of Roots Organics and call it done, again, small scale as a 1.5cu ft bag does a full grow for meā€¦ heheā€¦

good luck, be careful and donā€™t burn dem plantsā€¦

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Seeing everyone elseā€™s soil recipes got me thinking I maybe over did the worm castings in mine lol, ainā€™t hurt nothing but my wallet though. Think I got the compost to casting ratio backwards lol mines 1 part peat, 1 part perlite, 1 part 75:25 worm castings:compost. Dr earth tomato food, garden lime and biochar too.

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!R.O.L.S.

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!

edit: 1.5 pounds of (igneous rock) - preferably (pumice) which is volcanicā€¦:sunglasses:

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Here is a list of recipes and some good reads in general Vic High

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Iā€™m gonna assume these are living soil recipes, may want to specify that in the title, looks like some seriously hot mixes meant for monsters though

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@Calyxander would be the one to adjust the headliner for he linked themā€¦

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I added ā€œlivingā€ to the title :slight_smile:

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That actually was some pretty good reads, on the other hand some of it also seems like they are overcomplicating growing with so much stuff, but I suppose if the shoe fits though

As far as my .02 you can easily grow some absolute fire with much simpler methods and was kinda interesting the read on reusing the soil, it only gets better with time and more runs but some valid points about the risks too, just would never be able to afford fresh soil each year when Iā€™m sitting on over 1000 gallons

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Some people just amend their soil with manure and get fantastic results while others attempt to throw everything in the book at their plants to achieve basically the same results :joy::raised_hands: but yeah, these plants are durable and resilient and grow perfectly fine with much less additives and attention, but people will do anything to claim increased yields or put their name on well defined pre-existing formulations similarly to Subcool :joy:

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Only thing I reamend with in between runs is 1 cup of Dr earth veggie herb and mater per 10 gallons and my soil mix is simple
50% compost (half and half mushroom compost and Scottā€™s humus and manure)
25% coir
25% perlite
And a scoop of Dr earth

Feedings are twice a month with a compost tea using revs recipes as a backbone, his recipes do have a decent amount of stuff in em but the amendments are cheap and easy to source and once purchased even in smaller amounts and Iā€™m working on my 4th or 5th grow with all of it still

couldnā€™t imagine buying all the stuff on those living soil recipes and dumping lbs and lbs of all that into my soil for each grow but to someone smaller scale it may be more practical just canā€™t honestly say there would be much quality difference between the gardens

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Youā€™re basically using this recipe already, youā€™re just paying someone else a bit to buy the bulk ingredients, mix them and package them up for you. :slight_smile: Dr Earth Tomato fertilizer is fishbone meal, alfalfa meal, fish meal, potassium sulfate, kelp meal, rock phosphate, kelp flour, and possibly bone meal, feather meal and 6% humic acid, pre-colonized with mycos. Iā€™d think it would be more convenient for someone on a larger scale to buy all the ingredients and mix themselves, but I definitely understand not wanting to go through all that. I use a fairly similar mix, except mine is packaged under the brand name Earth Juice Rainbow Mix instead of Dr Earth. Theyā€™re all pretty much the same, sometimes with minor variations depending on what plant the mix is specialized for. Mine does seem to be lacking in magnesium when growing under modern LEDs though, Iā€™ve had to supplement with epsom lately.

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Iā€™ve done just about every goofy super soil jambalaya youā€™ve heard ofā€¦ Hereā€™s what stuck:

1 bail premium peat 3 cuft (currently 11 bucks, Homo depot)

1 bag vigoro perlite 2 cuft (currently 17 bucks delivered, homo depot)

~2 cups pressed seed cake

~2 cups AN kelp

~2 cups whole crustacean meal (not oyster shells)

~2 cups barn lime (4 bucks tractor supply)

~2 cups Gypsum (8 bucks tree nursery)

~2 cups crushed basalt (free lava rock, landscaping)

~1 cups TM-7 ripoff powder (ripoff)

~3 cups multi purpose sand (4 dollars, homo depot)

~2 cups sul-po-mag (cardboard box organics aka DTE)

~2 cups sucrose

~5mg Boron-Glycinate

Sprinkling of various manures/compost for microbial diversity. (~1-5% volume)

Composted leaves and stems of last grow.

Makes 5.75 cuft. Enough for 3 #15s.

Tips: Stir and ventilate, rehydrate. I see people leave the lid on and fail to stir. Stir at day 2, day 4, day 7, day 12,day 21 etc. You can smell ammonia burning off and purification in the corners if you donā€™t provide fresh air to the microbes. Lots of pots growers canā€™t smell, apparently.


Re-amend following a before/after soil analysis. Either buy meters or choose a lab. Otherwise youā€™ll overdose your smaller more sensitive/dank type plants on calcium and end up with unsmokable product from your 2nd run:

Calcium-fatty acid complex in Cannabis flower, the result of excess calcium uptake. This Cannabis is unsmokable, and would not get you high even if you managed to get a puff, as itā€™s prenyl precursors are bound to calcium.

Carboxylic calcium salts are the #1 issue with organic cannabis quality. Cannabinoids and cannabis flavor are both derived from carboxylic acids, which in the presence of excess free calcium will be bound permanently in the plant tissue, providing an end product that will be tossed directly in the trash.

2450L_1

Say no to cystolithic cannabis, get your calcium levels tested today!

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Correct any of the down to earth, dr earth and similar are an excellent ā€œmeal packageā€, but 1 cup per 10 gallons of soil is a huge difference to the amounts these recipes call for, those recipes really loading things up in the soil

Itā€™s funny u mention buying em all and mixing yourself but actually doing the math considering it since I am on a larger scale and the price point they offer it at was already low enough it really wouldnā€™t be saving much if anything. 30 bucks for 240 gallons worth of coverage really is hard to beat covering the basics of plant nutrition plus basically a recharge package

The main thing I canā€™t stand in most those recipes is the neem, I avoid that shit like itā€™s the plague

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Got any links to your plants? Iā€™d sure like to see how things are doing with that recipe, few things in there Iā€™m seeing that doesnā€™t seem like the ā€œtraditional stuffā€
Also looks like ur using minimal compost and no worm casting which seems odd for the plant

Only things I donā€™t like in that list is mainly the peat cuz Iā€™m tired of the hydrophobic properties of it and the neem cake as I canā€™t stand that shit and had some ridiculously harsh buds from growers that swore by it

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What most people fail to mention is that most all super soil recipes are for outdoor beds/holes for when an established plant with at least a 5gal rootball with at least 5gal of mild or Veg mix goes to live for its 2nd half of life.
Try to put a seed, sprout, clone, or youngling in a super soil mix and youā€™re gonna have a bad time.

Also, bat guano is really unhealthy
Fish bone and fish meal is much better than bovine bone/blood meal (mad cow and other pathogens).

Also, a mix really ought to be tailored to whats local.

I usually grow in coastal areas, so what i do and what i tell others in these areas is based off byproducts of coastal industries.
If I was gonna gove a mix to someone in Colorado, that mix would be very different.
I love peat and would recommend it in North America, but for other parts of the world, coco is much cheaper to source.
Recipes are a guidelines and not scripture - ive seen someone not be able to source gypsum, so they used sheetrock because ā€œwell, its made with gypsumā€

I think Clackamas Coot made one of the best mixes. But, again, its very hot and will screw up young plants.

Colloidal sources of minerals are always best - research the CEC of clay.
Also, sulfate forms of singular minerals are best. Like manganese sulfate for Mn.

Compost brings in a ton of sodium.

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Thatā€™s a blanket statement I donā€™t agree with, depends on the source of the compost, my redwiggler bin thats on a diet of cannabis leaves i prob donā€™t need to be concerned with excess sodium but other composts like mushroom compost and thatā€™s prob an accurate statement

My choice between coir and peat has nothing to do with price point, its the effectiveness in the garden and main reason for peat and coir is water retention, both hold water well but coir is neutral pH and peat can swing down to 4.5-5.5. Biggest complaint with peat is the hydrophobic properties making watering and tea days a pain in the ass splashing back or shoving the fluid out the fabric grow bags without soaking in, outdoor itā€™s not as much of an issue but indoor sure makes a mess of things and for feedings being unsure how much the soil took in

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@AzSeaindooin420 Of course you wouldnā€™t dump all those lbs of ammendments on each growā€¦, unless itā€™s a fresh batch your starting from the beginningā€¦ Thus ā€œLiving Soilā€ā€¦, or in my case ā€œLiving Soillessā€

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