Trace elements for organic soil

Indoor Growing Organics
#1

So for the past few years I’ve been using random organic bag soils and amending with Dr.earth, compost, recharge and worm castings. I’m using rice hulls for aeration so they break down into silica. Now that I’ve got my space and techniques more dialed in. I wanted to step up my soil game. I’ve though about using worms in my soil and adding other elements to the soil to improve soil quality. I grow in smaller pots 3g and 5g so cover crops aren’t all that effective. I’ve heard of like rock dust or azomite but I’ve got no idea how bio available that stuff is or how long it will take to break down. Aside from bagged proportioned dry amendments what are some good additives that I can throw in to spice it up?

Thanks
OHGrow

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#2

Hola! Azomite is great it’s been used for years. I would start by reading as much as you can about compost. Maybe even try breeding worms of you’re own? It’ll help with sustainability and gives you another garbage disposal so to speak. Azomite being a fine powder I would think to be pretty water soluble so I’m not too sure about the mounts available immediately. I would recommend however, adding this to you’re worm bed and allowing the worms to break it down for you. On top of adding to you’re soil. I would t just go throwing worms in you’re tubs you have now.

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#3

Have you done any compost teas?

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#4

Hey thank you for the feed back! I do not do teas. I’ve got fish tanks so I’ve got the things needed just laying around. I feed every week and use recharge. I guess I just hadn’t thought about them in a while. That definitely something that I’d be interested in. When do you do the teas? Just in transition periods or often?

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#5

Teas I would think you could do safely once a week if you feel the need to. Lots of good info here on the forum. It’s hard to overdo the teas. The benifts to you’re plants would be stellar I’m sure. You could even foiler feed to keep plants protected from disease or bugs. I usually do one at week 3-4 in veg/foil feed every other week. For flower I do one at week 2,4, and again at 6. I recommend you start slow and see what results works for you.

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#6

Malted barley, neem and kelp. Maybe a little alfalfa meal. Blackstrap molasses, compost. You’re in it to win it from there!

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#7

My IPM is minimal. I’m in prohibition land so alot of the fellow farmer to garden or clone to garden pathogens aren’t there. Plus I do use neem oil and soap sprays when I have to. (Hardly ever) and there isn’t a stich of mildew or bugs in my house… as of now. That being said folier feeding isn’t really where I wanted to go but I appreciate the tip. Do you have different teas for veg and bloom or do you typically use the same ratios?

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#8

There are quite a few benefits to foiler feeding the teas. I like to foiler feed for the just in case scenario, things happen. I had a bad year with spider mites and wish it on no one. I like to go heavy on kelp, neem, during the veg dosing. Alfalfa can lower bacteria so I try not to go overboard with it. In my case, I water with clean water and feed the biology with the teas. In flowering I lower the kelp and neem. I do add fulvic acid for the teas/foiler feeding/soil.

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#9

Try vetch as covercrop, I’d say sow one bean per cannabis plant. No more.

Excess nitrogen attracts aphids, I suspect they’re there to help regulate the plants’ nitrogen intake, to prevent them from growing too fast which can make plants more vulnerable and weak. I look at them as safety valves and indicators, rather than a pest.

Kelp, malted barley, basalt, that’s all great. But free is better. Go for a walk with an empty bag and gather dandelion leaves, thistle, nettle, grass, tree leaves… all these things are free and absolutely loaded with minerals.

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#10

I’m a huge proponent of biolive! Good all around dry amendment wide arrangement of goodies plus good microbes … I like using biochar and leodenarite (spelling) a humic acid additive can’t go wrong with good EWC also fortified helps tremendously IMO.

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#11

Kelp and sea salt are high in trace elements. Rock dusts as well, but they take quite a while to become available. Or, you could get your soil tested and then balance the nutrition appropriately. :wink:

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#12

How would you go about applying seasalt?
Dissolve in water or just sprinkling some around?

#13

I spray mix a teaspoon per gallon along with a wetting agent and spray folliarly.

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#14

So much to say and so many options.
You should make your own soil just go 60/40 ratio with peat moss and compost with rice hulls and lava rocks.

The best way to use a cover crop is to grow it out before you plant into that pot. Then you cover the cover crop with amendments, bokashi, and compost, ewc mix, a little mulch/hay. It dies and feeds your soil.

Some type of trace elements are good to have when you’re fully organic. I use rock dust and basalt and you can add a lot of it, it won’t hurt your plants.

To me this is the most important amendments to have - Bokashi, Kelp meal, bio live, bone meals, rock dust, and gypsum. To me those are a MUST HAVE

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#15

For anyone wanting to start with organics, I’d highly recommend the Build A Soil YouTube channel, they’re in to season 2 of their grow journals now, and every episode is a wealth of knowledge.

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#16

I’ve been organic from the jump. I was more looking for opinions based on results rather than what the boxes say. I’ve also watched damn near everything on YouTube since the jump when it was all smoking montage and Jorge Servantes (idk how to spell the white old guy with the fake deads).

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#17

X3 for malted barley that shit is stupid cheap and you really get a great response especially in veg

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