What's your organic soil recipe?

Cool. OK got it. Yeah, basalt is also amazeballs. Did you hear how they’re using rock dusts (mainly basalt) in the UK to sequester carbon? Massive project. https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-enhanced-weathering-could-slow-climate-change-and-boost-crop-yields

3 Likes

Interesting read, thanks :+1::seedling:

I cheat…

3 Likes

I believe I have base soil mixture right. do not know how much of organic dry adaments to add to cubic foot of soil.

2 Likes

Ah, now we are getting to recipes I know.

All the good recipes I remember had a few common elements.

The main two that were in all the good ones were alfalfa pellets/meal and some good fresh horse manure or similar.

This seemed to be the core engine that powered the biological activity.

2 Likes

I’m a big fan of insect frass as well.

Here’s a good post I found on another forum that I’ll copy and paste and share here.

Feed your soil. Not your plant.
I just wanted to share all the wonderful benefits of a weekly top dress of malted barley powder among other grains and oats. I buy a 50lb bag of pilsner malt grain and grind it right before I apply it.

Contains easily available chitin [chitin is found between layers of carbonate. As it is broken down it is converted to chitinase which breaks down exoskeleton of larvae and eggs.]
Contains urease, phosphatase, and potasase.
Increases fungal activity in soil
Contains naturally occuring growth regulating hormones and defense triggering hormones
Contains enzymes that increase decomposition
Growers have reported up to a 20% faster finish in bloom (I have seen it)
Increases worm reproduction
Diastatic MBP is ideal for fungal growth while rye is higher in phosphatase. Any grain ground as fine as possible works, even oatmeal. Always water into soil surface with fulvic acid/aloe/silica using a sprayer. Try to wash it into the soil.

“Enzymes are the catalyst, fulvic acid is the catalyst to the catalyst.”

3 Likes

this year i try some commercial organics with hydrogel

40% canna terra bio plus
25% cocos
10-15% compost (50-50 diy and biobizz wormhumus)
10% hydroton and perlit
additives

plagron biosupermix
guano black (1-6-1 with humic acids)
biotabs startrex (bacteria and fulvic acids)
hydrogel
ghe mineral magic (theye stopped making it)
ca-mg
ashwood
mulch from alaskan pine

bactohemp one time
cannaflush when they start flower
in flowering just an bud candy
humic blast aptus for end

1 Like

my notes on base soil 1 cf peatmoss 1 cf compost 1 cf of aeriation I will like to try charged biochar for aeration.

Here’s my mix, similar to Coots mix. Credit to @RastaRoy from RIU for the help and advice. I’ve been using this for all stages of growth without cooking, and have seen zero issues so far. I’m in a rental so I can’t do notill beds, but this recipe can be used in pots, beds, and SIPs containers.

Base Mix - 1:1:1 ratio

  • Fluffed peat moss
  • Mix of good quality compost & earthworm castings (ewc)
  • Rice hulls or other aeration

Minerals - 1.25 cup per cuft of base

  • Rock dust
  • Gypsum
  • Oyster Shell Flour (ONLY added if tapwater pH is 7.0 or below)

Food - 1/2 cup per cuft of base

  • Fish bone meal
  • Kelp or alfalfa meal
  • Malted barley, powdered or milled fine
  • Neem seed meal
  • Crustacean Meal (ONLY added if tapwater pH is 7.0 or below)

Additive - 3 tbsp per cuft of base

  • Langbeinite

Fertilizer - None. Tapwater only. Teas not required.

Topdress at flip with 1TBSP each of kelp or alfalfa meal and neem seed meal per gallon of soil, plus 1" ewc on top of that. Can put a mulch layer of rice hulls on top of that if required.

Reamend in these amounts per cuft of reclaimed soil after each flower run

  • 4cups peat
  • 10cups compost & ewc
  • Oyster shell flour, crustacean meal, fish bone meal, neem seed meal, kelp/alfalfa, barley in original quantities
  • Gypsum 1/2 cup
  • Langbeinite 1TBSP
  • Rice hulls or aeration as necessary, typically every other cycle.

The only other things I do are minor dustings of azos + mykos at planting and each transplant, and a small handful of mosquito bits on top and in the drip pan to control gnats.

I sought Rasta Roy’s help (he owns a soil company) after experiencing supersoil issues due to very high pH tapwater (8.0-9.0). I don’t add the oyster shell flour or the crustacean meal to this new KISS mix. Our water has chlorine, not chloramine. I’d filter chloramines out, but the chlorine in mine doesn’t hurt the rhizosphere microbes at all.

After three full runs with this, tapwater only, I’ve seen great growth, green throughout with a good fade on the heavy eaters. With yielders, I’ve gotten about an oz of manicured bud per gallon of soil +/- a few grams. Great flavor - more terps than when I used more complex supersoils with all the guanos and compost + ewc teas. Rasta Roy helped me realize those are almost completely unnecessary. He also suggested alfalfa instead of kelp, and no addition of rock dusts after the initial one.

20 Likes

I’m jumping aboard the rice hulls bandwagon…4 cubic feet. Hoping to stop buying perlite :+1: also tracked down a local brewing shop that stocks the 50 lb. Riceland bales. these 2 cf bags are easier to carry.

10 Likes

Nice @Muleskinner did ya get a good deal on the hulls? I’m going to the homebrew shop with a few 5 gallon buckets to fill 2 (4X4 ) boxes I think they go for $1/lb but Need to double check!

these bags are $25 each for 2 cubic feet. I found a nearby brew shop that has the 7 foot cubic bag, 50 pounds, for $40. I did some outdoor containers and it seems good, the soil feels nice and spongy and does not compact during watering. the mix is more of a natural brown color which is nice.

3 Likes

Here is my cannabis mix redone with rice hulls - testing it out on some summer containers. Instead of perlite and vermiculite I"m adding 23% rice hulls. There’s another 9% perlite from the Lambert LM111 base mix for about 1/3rd total aeration. The rest is peat and some compost, around 15-20% compost.

This is a major change to what I’ve done for a long time but so far I love it. So much nicer to work with, and it appears to work at preventing compaction. It turns the mix a rich brown/black color instead of the artificial white perlite look.

watered in - you can see the soil level has barely dropped from the edge of the container after watering, that’s what I want to see

9 Likes

hydroponic soil

1 Like

find this next to the solar powered flashlights at home depot!!

4 Likes

5$ bags of soil :slight_smile:

Been contemplating on of these for my soil recycling/remixing
Whats everybody using for re-amending?

3 Likes

A tarp and some elbow grease. :+1::seedling:

10 Likes

I mix 2 cf at a time in this, will have to put the cement mixer on my Christmas list

https://bascousa.com/freezer-safe-food-storage.html

6 Likes

Wheelbarrow and a spade.

Inside, Tub and trowel.

5 Likes