https://www.kisorganics.com another good one for ya.
My soil mix is very simple. the primary component is native volcanic clay from my back yard. the clay is composed of extremely small particles and it is quite dense, so it naturally has a high cation exchange capacity. It is a great source of trace minerals as well, and it serves the same purpose as more expensive amendments like rock dust. I use a high ratio of perlite for aeration and drainage, between 1/3 and 1/2 the amount of clay in the mix. after the perlite is mixed in, the remaining 25 percent of the mix is good quality worm castings. The combination of clay and worm castings serves as my humus. for trace amendments I use at least a quarter cup of kelp and neem seed meal, and about a tablespoon of oyster shell flower.
During growth I mulch them every 2-3 weeks with fresh chopped lemon balm from my cover crop and worm castings. I occasionally top dress with dried kelp, or foliar feed them with kelp tea. occasionally I mulch them with local mushroom compost instead of worm castings. I occasionally water them with a teaspoon or less of maple syrup per half gallon of water to feed the microbial life, or replenish it if the soil starts to dry out.
The mix starts out dense but well aerated, and after one or two grow cycles with beneficial decomposers like rolly pollys and earthworms breaking down the mulch and old root systems, it turns into rich fluffy dark colored humus.
6 Likes
Farm and feed stores have the 50# bag for around $10
1 Like
the closer you are to Arkansas, the cheaper the rice hulls.
3 Likes
Im in cali. I saw your question on my name so i clicked on it but i dont see the question in the thread. this is all new to me so trying to figure out how site works. my mix is 1/3 peat, Ewc/compost, aeration. i add chicken and steer manures to bring up my compost component. I also use more than the 1/3 of aeration because my castings are dense. my ammendment are dte tomato 1 cup, neem/karanja mix 1 cup, crab 1 cup, kelp 2 cups, small amount of blood meal and alfalfa. i add more kelp because i havent found a cheap source of rock dust except for some lava rock i busted down. ive also since added MBP because i finally make it to the homebrew store. i try to keep it simple its basically a water only mix but i like to foliar a lot. silica/neem oil/aloe weekly, kelp/alfalfa teas just steeped and foliared as well as drench soil. or just plain water. i need bigger pots but ive succesfully harvested from a 5 gallon. nothing to write about but it showed me with tweaks i can yield more from small pots. im gonna try clones straight into flower outside.
6 Likes
Here’s a nice article thought I’d share from @Phatlewtz thread!
Phattys Grow Diaries (Bodhi Sakura, F2'd by Nube) (Chemdawg 4)
5 Likes
Haha…Rice Hull “Dealers”…Better hope the Fuzz don’t catch on… 
2 Likes
Have you ever thought about this :
,
I just cut a hole big enough fit the mixer paddle through the lid.
When I never had the time to use the hand/tarp method. I have mixed lots of soil up with this method…Cheap and easy.
Regards,
K.
9 Likes
I’ve been meaning to ask you…Is that profile pic, a picture of a Datura plant?
Regards,
K.
1 Like
Im a lazy fuck, I use a cheapo concrete mixer to mix substrate with
4 Likes
Anybody here using/wanting to use Biochar for your garden? You may be interested in this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOEyIPVn2r0
1 Like
Hi all, I’ve gat about 10 grows under my belt, some in soil with liquid fert., and some with coco & perlite with liquid fert., but this time I bought a 1.5 cu.ft. bag of SoHum soil which is advertised as water only soil for the entire grow. I can’t start my next grow until some time in June so I haven’t had a chance to try the soil yet. I’d like to know if any of you have used these water only soils, and what you think of them, and how it worked out. Thanks. Mike H.
1 Like
Haven’t tried this particular brand but there’s a ton of good info in this thread iv moved yours to try to keep threads tidy.
Hi @Tinytuttle, thanks, this is what I was looking for but didn’t find. I’m still learning my way around here.
1 Like
Well, I have always problems with nutrient burns and deficiencies, so I thought it could be a good idea to run in prefertilized soil. Now I repent from that decision, I bought Biobizz Allmix and later on found out it has CalMag deficiencies. I had also to flush because of a nutrient burn while seedling so right now I don’t know what’s in the soil and if I should add some fertilizers or just pHed water. At least for noobs as me, it is not recommended. I think I will change to coco to have total control about what the plants eat and flush safer as someone recently pointed out … 
1 Like
Hi @Oranje, I wanted to chime in and say that I too had bad results with Rev’s TLO soil for veg. I let mine cook for over a month and it still seemed to either burn the seedling, or they would wither and die after a week or two. I dumped out a 35 gal. tote of that soil on the side of my house and everything seems to be growing in it except what I want. Would you mind telling us what amendments you add, and the amount to the Coast of Maine water only soil. I’d like to make up another batch of soil, but I don’t want to spend all that time cooking a soil just to throw it away.
Thanks. Mike.
1 Like
@George, ya I know what you mean. My last grow was in coco, I used G.H. Flora Trio, I had real good results but I want to try totally organic grow in soil to see if there is this big difference in taste that I always read about in all the books I’ve read. Plus if the fully amended soil does work properly it will be nice not to have to mix in fertilizer every time, and no flush. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.
1 Like
Yes @CouchKushn, that looks like a good goal to achieve. My last grow was DWC with Advanced Nutrients and I really enjoy the flavour. Organic sounds good, but thinking about worms shit, bat guano and fungus doesn’t make me anxious to vape that mix 
. You never know what’s in soil (experienced growers for sure do) and as long as I still have problems with simple procedures I will avoid making it more complicated. Good luck with your soil cooking although I don’t visit much the Organics section …
Hey @George, I do see what you mean, I’d like to try a DWC grow, but I don’t know enough about it to jump in. I’m trying to find a good book on the subject of DWC and hydroponics in general but there’s so many that I don’t know which book to get. Any suggestions?
1 Like
I’m afraid I only took general info from the net:
Get Huge Yields Using Deep Water Culture (DWC)
How To Grow Weed Hydroponically For Beginners: A Step-By-Step Guide
It was my second grow and quite successful thanks for the help of experts like Shadey and LabRat, so nothing difficult to handle. IYou can start a grow diary and you will find help and support. if a noob like me managed to have a decent harvest you should give a try …