Thinking of using local soil...maybe?

I posted this in the organics for beginners forum but may have been the wrong place. Since I'm wanting to mix soil today,I'm hoping for some feed back soonish.
I have some great soil around my home,it's volcanic/glacial washout,very dark,rich,and grows some of the best looking organic produce at the Farmer's Market(from local farms). I am near the Olympic rain forest,and this stuff looks sweet!
I was considering using it in my mix,and being aware of the potential problems,wondered what you peeps thoughts are on the matter. Possible problems being some dormant nasty root munching grub which would have no natural predator if brought indoors,and the possibilities of picking up some virus or mold spores that could be issues.
I am thinking if I dig down 6 or more inches and remove a layer that is less likely to hold insects and viruses,then it might work out. Then take it to a screen and visually inspect the screened material. Thoughts?

do a search for topsoil - i started a thread about it a while back - it has some advice in there to avoid potential problems. i think it was called 'topsoil in the mix'

V.

Thanks Verdant,I just read it and it only makes me want to try. I was out for a couple hours digging and screening a sizable quanity of soil. As I screened each few shovel fulls,I picked through it and pulled out little dormant larvae (about 5 different types). There were not a bunch in there,and I noticed the amount of larvae to predator ratio being about the same.(centapedes,spiders) The soil itself looks beautiful!!!!,my hands were dark black from screening. It holds a nice ball without compacting too much,has a nice sand to loam ratio(if I'm right,can't remember soil types),and it drains well also. The size of the glacial rocks screened ranged from just above golf ball size to ball bearing size,none being much smaller than that,and I would say that the ones that did make it through the screen comprise only 1% of the soil(if that)so it's not real heavy. I have it in a 50 gallon metal livestock water basin and plan on going out every day to turn it,so that it gets solar rays to wipe out those little unseen tender bodied grubs. I then did two seperate ph tests,one being the standard jar and water shake method with my ph pen,the other being those little vials you can get at the hardware store. Both came out to 5.0,a bit acid I'd say,but nothing some dolomite can't fix huh? Anyway, it looks great and I'm going to go for it with a custom mix of perlite,vermiculite,coco,worm castings,bat guano's,kelp meal,and dolomite. Trial batch first of course.

Okay,It's been a couple weeks since I started this topsoil trip so here's an update. I originally began this trip because I had horrrible issues with peat. Not only was I not using dolomite with sunshine #4,I also wasn't using EWC. The bails I got had ph readings that bounced all over,and it came infested with fungus gnat eggs. I assumed since it came from the manufacturer with gypsum and dolomite added,I didn't have to add anymore.....WRONG!!!! Well I then decided to substitute coco for peat,I was on the fence about ph issues and letting go of the ph pen long enough to let the EWC and dolomite in the mix actually show me results. With thanks to Burn1 for the continued preaching about the buffering abilities of EWC and dolomite,I ditched my skeptism and went for it. Not only does my current mix do what it should,my previous mix with the most locked out yellow looking plants has turned into the healthiest light grabbing girls I've seen in a while!! So on to the soil mix........here's what I threw together:

3 gal perlite
2 gal vermiculite
2 gal coco
2 gal local screened and visually inspected topsoil(dark,rich sandy loam glacial washout)
2 gal EWC
1 gal sunshine #4 (just because I have it and trust the EWC and dolomite now)

2 cups N. bat guano
2 cups P. bat guano
1 1/2 cups kelp meal
2 tbls coffee grinder ground organic eggshells
1 heaping 1/4 cup of powdered dolomite lime (because I'm only using only 1 gallon of peat aka sunshine #4)

Activated with a EWC and compost tea starter.

I let most of it sit for over a week before transplanting fresh clones into it,but also planted some directly after mixing. The ones that I planted right away soon needed a bit more Nitrogen than was available,but now that it has been broken down and released,they are digging it.
The mix holds water well and drains well,pots are a bit heavy due to the local topsoil,but it is worth it,and here's why I think so.....................

Upon closer inspection to the mix I soon noticed that it is ALIVE with life forms. There are little predatory soil mites just jamming around looking for other bugs to eat,I find spiders and other crazy looking predators hanging out just waiting for a fungus gnat or anything to come by. I think that all the activity helps the whole organic puzzle come together nicely. No signs of bad fungus,grubs,leaf eaters or root eaters. I think I'm in love with it.
I will get some pics of the plants here soonish,but here's some of the topsoil itself and some weird looking guy.........
http://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=13959&pictureid=281418
http://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=13959&pictureid=281420
http://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=13959&pictureid=281422

a soil sample is cheap or free in most places and can tell you what it's made of, so you know what to ammend. Volcanic soil is the best!

welcome to using actual living soil, from here on out with good care it will only get BETTER and BETTER with time.

looks like a good mix. if you find it stays a bit too wet you could cut the vermiculite.

you could try solarizing peat - leave it in a black bag in the sun. you want it to get up to about 60C to kill eggs etc. may be too cold atm

VerdantGreen said:

looks like a good mix. if you find it stays a bit too wet you could cut the vermiculite.

you could try solarizing peat - leave it in a black bag in the sun. you want it to get up to about 60C to kill eggs etc. may be too cold atm

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At first I thought it might hold too much water,but I came to the conclusion that as the plants get bigger they use more water. I also thought that it's cool to have a mix that I don't have to water every 4 days when they are really pumping up flowers,and if I have my nute mix right then I won't have to worry about constant feedings....allowing it to lose moister before supplementing when I have to.

Like the solar sterilization idea,.....black bags...sun...heat...cook!

before I use outside compost I bake it in the oven for 10 minutes at 300, kill any bugs, not long enough to destroy the goodies of the soil. Add xtra perlite, you're golden.

the bugs in compost ARE goodies.

Capt.Cheeze1 said:

I posted this in the organics for beginners forum but may have been the wrong place. Since I'm wanting to mix soil today,I'm hoping for some feed back soonish.

I have some great soil around my home,it's volcanic/glacial washout,very dark,rich,and grows some of the best looking organic produce at the Farmer's Market(from local farms). I am near the Olympic rain forest,and this stuff looks sweet!

I was considering using it in my mix,and being aware of the potential problems,wondered what you peeps thoughts are on the matter. Possible problems being some dormant nasty root munching grub which would have no natural predator if brought indoors,and the possibilities of picking up some virus or mold spores that could be issues.

I am thinking if I dig down 6 or more inches and remove a layer that is less likely to hold insects and viruses,then it might work out. Then take it to a screen and visually inspect the screened material. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Capt.Cheeze1

I've used 'soil' from old growth forests as an adjunct to potting soils as well as an added ingredient to aerated compost teas. I also add this soil to my worm bins.

You'll do well with the soil from the Olympic Rain Forest, IMHO

CC

The stuff is BOMB!......It grows some of the fattest kale on the local organic farms that I have ever seen. Head down to the Oly Farmer's Market this summer and check it out.

Capt.Cheeze1

Do you know about these folks?

Check out their potting soils sometime.

CC

not all the bugs in forest compost are "goodies" you dont want larvae hatching in your soil and feeding on your plant do you? You can always add benificials to your soil. When a fire burns through a forest, does it not burn everything on the surface and leave great soil? Read up on Tera Preta.

Okay here's some pix finally.... In the veg. room the transplants were put into new mix and watered with a mild EWC and kelp tea,seedlings are in a half and half mix. One part my mix,and half coco/perlite/vermiculite so it's not to strong on the fresh roots. It's amazing that such locked-out plants can turn around so fast.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=12969&pictureid=289082
http://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=12969&pictureid=289083

Pretty hard to argue with success, eh?

VERY NICE garden. Beautiful color on the young ones.

CC

Clackamas Coot said:

Capt.Cheeze1

Do you know about these folks?

Check out their potting soils sometime.

CC

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Nope...don't personally know them,but been planning to head out there and grab a few bags EWC as well as get some red worms for my raised beds this spring...I have 8- 20 foot veggie beds to work on too.

Capt.Cheeze1 said:

Nope...don't personally know them,but been planning to head out there and grab a few bags EWC as well as get some red worms for my raised beds this spring...I have 8- 20 foot veggie beds to work on too.

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Their EWC are available in Portland but not their potting soils.

I met the owner last August at a trade show up in Portland. Nice gentleman and has a nice operation.

RE: Redworms

Have you considered buying cocoons vs. actual worms? Blue Ridge Organics & Earthworms out of California is a top-notch supplier if you're interested.

They carry any number of composting worms as well as actual earthworm cocoons.

HTH

CC

moonie said:

not all the bugs in forest compost are "goodies" you dont want larvae hatching in your soil and feeding on your plant do you? You can always add benificials to your soil. When a fire burns through a forest, does it not burn everything on the surface and leave great soil? Read up on Tera Preta.

Click to expand...

When I screened the soil I visually inspected it as I did each screening. I saw various bugs,spiders,centipedes,larvae,etc. I noticed that there were 5 types of grub type bugs,but an equal # of predators. I picked out ANY grub looking ones I found. I was originally worried about introducing a pest into the indoor environment because of the fear that I wouldn't have any natural predators to keep them in check. A few weeks into my tests I noticed several active species of predators on the hunt. The most amazing thing is the activity of the predatory soil mites,they are trucking! Very active,about 25 per cubic inch of soil. Since then I have not seen any spider mites,and the fungus gnat larvae are probably having a hell of a time hanging out peacefully.

Clackamas Coot said:

Have you considered buying cocoons vs. actual worms? Blue Ridge Organics & Earthworms

CC

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That is a great idea! Their website lists 3000 cocoons for $55 dollars including shipping. Does anyone know roughly how many worms come out of a single cocoon? It seems like a great deal, as I paid 25 dollars a pound when I got some Red Wigglers a year ago from someone locally.