Man I remember doing all this with Subās 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 donāt burn dem plantsā¦
Seeing everyone elseās soil recipes got me thinking I maybe over did the worm castings in mine lol, aināt 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.
Here is a list of recipes and some good reads in general Vic High
Iām 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
@Calyxander would be the one to adjust the headliner for he linked themā¦
I added ālivingā to the title
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 Iām sitting on over 1000 gallons
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 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
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 Scottās 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 Iām working on my 4th or 5th grow with all of it still
couldnāt 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 canāt honestly say there would be much quality difference between the gardens
Youāre basically using this recipe already, youāre just paying someone else a bit to buy the bulk ingredients, mix them and package them up for you. 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. Iād 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. Theyāre 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, Iāve had to supplement with epsom lately.
Iāve done just about every goofy super soil jambalaya youāve heard ofā¦ Hereās 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 donāt provide fresh air to the microbes. Lots of pots growers canāt smell, apparently.
Re-amend following a before/after soil analysis. Either buy meters or choose a lab. Otherwise youāll 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 itās 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.
Say no to cystolithic cannabis, get your calcium levels tested today!
Correct any of the down to earth, dr earth and similar are an excellent āmeal 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
Itās 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 wouldnāt 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 canāt stand in most those recipes is the neem, I avoid that shit like itās the plague
Got any links to your plants? Iād sure like to see how things are doing with that recipe, few things in there Iām seeing that doesnāt seem like the ātraditional stuffā
Also looks like ur using minimal compost and no worm casting which seems odd for the plant
Only things I donāt like in that list is mainly the peat cuz Iām tired of the hydrophobic properties of it and the neem cake as I canāt stand that shit and had some ridiculously harsh buds from growers that swore by it
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 youāre 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 āwell, 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.
Thatās a blanket statement I donāt agree with, depends on the source of the compost, my redwiggler bin thats on a diet of cannabis leaves i prob donāt need to be concerned with excess sodium but other composts like mushroom compost and thatās 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 itās 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
@AzSeaindooin420 Of course you wouldnāt dump all those lbs of ammendments on each growā¦, unless itās a fresh batch your starting from the beginningā¦ Thus āLiving Soilāā¦, or in my case āLiving Soillessā