What's your Favorite Living Soil Recipes?

[spaceman]

@Kobracom420

Nice…I like small trailers, they are not noticeable.
Yes, wooden sides and bottom, lined with plastic. The roots get oxygen from underneath (Pumice layer) through the PVC pipes, in the corner of the beds…

Edit: I am sure you could use the fabric, those pots are made out of. Use it for the walls, and that would allow air through the sides, and the bottom. It would also eliminate the plastic on the walls.

That looks a lot like this excellent instructable which could easily be adaptable for a trailer.
Trailer grows are new to me, gotta read up, thanks.

I made a box just like the instructable for tomatoes and am amazed at its performance and ease of use.
It offers an ideal growing environment for root growth.

Not to jinx anyone but am I the only one who gets mold on indoor fabric pots?
Spray downs with H2O2 mixes have to be constantly repeated.
?

How to Build Your Own Growing Containers

[Kobracom420]

Hey Sapcey…

Thanks for this…I will be making my trailer into a No-Till Machine haha. The beds are a must.

I have never used a material pot before…Always the hard sided ones…So I have not had the mold problem with them…

I will be doing a better description of my trailer set-up, and filling in the info about what I did with it. It started out as an 18ft travel trailer, with a rotted out floor…A couple sheets of 3/4 inch plywood, some sheeting and Bob’s your uncle…

There is a couple of pics of my trailer in my Grow Diary here : Dank Den Diary's - #7 by Kobracom420

It is not as tidy as I usually keep things in the pic, as I was dealing with dialing everything in, and was dealing with electrical problems haha.

Regards,

K.

[spaceman]

NICE!
I’m trying to grow the legal max (12) in two small tents that would probably best hold 1 mature plant each.
Naturally I’ll pare the runts out but your set up has me all googoo eyed.

[Kobracom420]

Myself and two of my other friends do the trailer deal to be low key, and have the rooms outside of our house…For obvious reasons…It is so “normal” looking nobody thinks twice…Plus it is portable…If you need to move, you can move it with you, without having to tear down, and build again…Or lend it to friends (which I am doing for a bit)…If you want to know more, I will be adding to my Diary as soon as I find time haha. I have been very busy as of late.

K.

[Kobracom420]

That’s awesome…I hope it does well for Reiko…I would love to only feed water, and get weight haha…That type of info could be deadly to have (see water run engines)…You might want to keep it on the down low @ReikoX haha…

K.

[spaceman]

How do you remove the membrane? All the egg shells seemingly have it glued on?

Also, in regards to your recipe, do you do any special mixing?
Or are your pots homogeneous?

[spaceman]

I think it’s brilliant, and a perfect solution with a sizeable grow room.
Security might be a problem, they are fairly easy to break into, remote areas especially. My buddy had one for hunting, only kept an old radio in it.
But in the yard

[WMoon518]

@spaceman

How do you remove the membrane? All the egg shells seemingly have it glued on?

I do eggshells for the dog. The easiest way to remove the membrane is to rub the inside of the shell half while under running water.

[spaceman]

Thanks, I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

Amazing how quick egg shells accumulate if you’re studious about collecting, I filled a quart mason jar over the winter alone after crushing in the garden purposed blender.
It helps that my wife likes to bake

One question: Why remove them at all?

[WMoon518]

@spaceman

Thanks, I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

Amazing how quick egg shells accumulate if you’re studious about collecting, I filled a quart mason jar over the winter alone after crushing in the garden purposed blender.
It helps that my wife likes to bake

One question: Why remove them at all?

You’re right. I use a gallon ziploc bag and it takes no time to fill it. Once it’s full, I put them on a baking sheet in the oven and grind them up.

As to removing the membrane, I was told to, by my vet. He said that this is where the bacteria can get trapped. It just always made sense to me anyway.

[spaceman]

Thanks.
I imagine they stink in the oven too.
Over winter I dry them over my wood stove, summer they go in the woodshed.

[ReikoX]

You got that right, nothing but RO water. I did give them Recharge a couple times and Mammoth P once. They are doing great.

[ReikoX]

Rinsing under water, it’s a PITA. Now I just grind them and toss them in my worm bin.

[WMoon518]

@ReikoX

Rinsing under water, it’s a PITA. Now I just grind them and toss them in my worm bin.

Do you put worms IN the soil or just use the castings? I have heard folks say they put worms in with their plants. My only thought is, what would they eat.

Another thought, will this recipe work for raised beds outside? I know you would need a shite load, but it might be worth it?

[ReikoX]

There are no worms added, just the castings. Though I’m sure some worms make it in there.

This recipe is designed for a single use in containers. I would consider something more like the Coots recipe for an outdoor bed.

[WMoon518]

@ReikoX

This recipe is designed for a single use in containers.

So I couldn’t use this continually as no till? Being that I am going to switch to large pots, outside (on dollies to hide from the man), I am looking for something I can leave the root ball and plant a new set of plants, without changing anything. What do you recommend, your old recipe (1:1:!) with the amendments?

[ReikoX]

Yes, that’s the Clackamass Coots recipe. It’s much better suited for no-till.

[Tinytuttle]

Theirs worms in all my shit! Oh that sounds sick maybe I need to go get checked out by a doctor! Lol in all seriousness peeps who raise their own worms and use the castings it’s almost impossible to get the cocoons out so yes most pots will probably have a few here and there.

[WMoon518]

@ReikoX

This is what I currently do, excuse the copy/paste wall of text.

The base soil mix is compose of:

1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss
1/3 Compost or Vermicompost
1/3 Aeration

For each cubic foot (7.5 US gallons) of soil add:

1/2 Cup Kelp Meal
1/2 Cup Neem Meal
1/2 Cup Crustacean Meal
1 Cup Malted Barley Powder
4 Cups Mineral Mix
6 Cups Biochar

Once mixed and added to the container, sow a clover cover crop and add a straw mulch layer.

At the beginning of each cycle and right before flowering top dress with 1/4" of vermicompost.

Watering Schedule:
Watering is done every two-three days. Every other watering is one of the following teas:

Sul-po-mag - Once a month
1 Gallon Water
1 Teaspoon Sul-po-mag
Add an airstone with the water and sul-po-mag and let set for a couple of days until soluble.

Neem/Kelp tea - Once a month
5 gallons Water
1 cup Neem Meal
1/2 cup Kelp Meal
1/4 teaspoon Aloe Powder
5 ml Silica
Place neem and kelp in a tea bag (I use a bag my worms came in) and steep overnight. Add aloe and silica before drenching the soil.

Malted Barley Tea - Once a week
1 gallon Water
1 oz. (28 grams) Malted Barley Powder
15 ml Fulvic Acid
1/4 teaspoon Aloe Powder
5 ml Silica
Grind malted barley powder in an old coffee grinder and place in a tea bag. Steep for no longer than four hours. Add fulvic acid, aloe, and silica before drenching the soil.

Coconut Water Tea - Once a week
1 gallon Water
1 teaspoon Coconut Water Powder
15 ml Fulvic Acid
1/4 teaspoon Aloe Powder
5 ml Silica
Mix all ingredients and drench soil.

Foliar Spray (IPM) - Once a week
1 gallon Water
15 ml Neem Oil
1/4 teaspoon Aloe Powder
10 ml Silica
In a small shot glass add silica to the neem oil and stir until completely homogenous. Add to warm (at least 75F) and mix thoroughly. Add aloe and spray immediately before lights out.

List of amendments and their benefits -

Aloe Powder - Adds saponins, rooting hormones, and salicylic acids.

Aeration - Can be perlite, pumice, lava rock, rice hulls, etc. I use a mix of 60% lava rock and 40% rice hulls. Adds oxygen to the root system, gives surface area for microbes to live on, and prevents compaction.

Biochar - Adds a lot of surface area for microbes and I creases CEC.

Clover Cover Crop - Adds nitrogen fixation, reduces erosion, and loosens the soil.

Coconut Water Powder - Adds enzymes, auxins, and micronutrients,

Compost - Adds microbiology, water retention, humic acids, and pest and pathogen prevention.

Crustacean Meal - Can be shrimp, crab, krill, etc. Adds macro nutrients, calcium carbonate, and chitan.

Fulvic Acid - Fulvic acid (Ful-power) enhances nutrient uptake, cell division and elongation, and enzyme activity.

Kelp - Adds macro and micro nutrients, chelating substances, and plant growth hormones.

Malted Barley Powder - Adds enzymes such as phosphatase, chitinase, urease, and amylase.

Mineral Mix - Equal parts of oyster shell flour, gypsum, basalt rock dust, and glacial rock dust. The gypsum provides calcium and sulphur. The oyster shell flower provides calcium carbonate and helps balance pH. And the glacial and basalt provide an array of micro nutrients and minerals.

Neem - Adds macro nutrients as well as pest suppression.

Silica - Adds pest and disease control, strengthens stems, and can be used as an emulsifier (i.e. use with neem oil). Pro-TeKt and agsil 16h are good brands.

Sphagnum Peat Moss - Adds microbiology, water retention, and high CEC.

Straw Mulch - Adds water retention, reduces erosion, home for soil life, and adds carbon for decomposition.

Sul-po-mag - A mined mineral that adds sulfur, potassium, and magnesium

Vermicompost - brings everything in compost with even more beneficial microbes as well as calcium carbonate.

Is this the recipe you are talking about for No-Till? If so, I have a few questions:

1. It has “Barley Tea” and Coconut Water Tea" as Once a Week. If you feed every three days, you will always be giving one or the other and never straight water.

2. Biochar - can I use ground charcoal (not briquettes) until I can make some?

3. Silica - You have 15ml, but isn’t it a powder/crystal? Do you mean 15mg?

4. I have perlite, would it be okay to use perlite/rice hull mix? what would you recommend as a ratio?

[ReikoX]

@WMoon518

It has “Barley Tea” and Coconut Water Tea" as Once a Week. If you feed every three days, you will always be giving one or the other and never straight water.

I usually do every other day, water, feed, water, feed. Lately I just give them what I “feel like”.

@WMoon518

Biochar - can I use ground charcoal (not briquettes) until I can make some?

Yes, real wood lump charcoal will work. You need to “charge” it first. I soak mine in fish fertilizer for about a week then drain and dry it.

@WMoon518

Silica - You have 15ml, but isn’t it a powder/crystal? Do you mean 15mg?

I mix the Agsil16H with water using the directions on Buildasoil. This is the equivalent of ProTeKt (which you could use if you prefer). It should be 5ml/gal not 15ml.

@WMoon518

I have perlite, would it be okay to use perlite/rice hull mix? what would you recommend as a ratio?

Perlite is fine, it tends to float up to the top though. Rice hulls are good, they tend to break down though. Pumice is great, but the only small stuff I found was expensive. I have even used lava rock, but it’s a tad big.

If all you have is perlite, go for it. It will work just fine. If you can get the rice hulls, try 60% perlite and 40% rice hulls. The rice hulls make a very clean looking mulch too.

Any other questions, feel free to ask. Hope that helps.