Living organic soil from start through recycling

[johnipedestran]

thanks for the info
this was grown in an organic mix with dolomite lime (I had not gotten to your thread when I made the mix)
as I remember best results with living soil....made sure to not let things dry out and have bothered to mulch

blockhead 25 days

peace
jip

 

[YosemiteSam]

So Gascanastan...back to re amending. Lets take your "lime mix" as an example. Do you ever replace any of that?

 

[Critter]

Yes inquiring minds would like to know.

 

[Gascanastan]

So Gascanastan...back to re amending. Lets take your "lime mix" as an example. Do you ever replace any of that?

What you ain't day dreamin about Billy Mays selling beans....jeeeseeesh...fine back to reality....

No...only when adding new peat or if I feel it's been a while since any calcium amendments were incorporated. In that case I will throw in a handful of oyster shell on those particular re-amends.

The overall quantity of soil I deal with is a bit over a cubic yard.

Honestly I never measure a thing anymore....after a while of working with raw materials and having a former profession in the concrete delivery bizz...you can just look at a pile of anything and tell how much material is there by volume....from 1/8th teaspoon up to 9 yards of mud.

One of the tricks I use is actually visualizing how 1 cup of fish meal can be distributed through 1 cubic foot of soil mix...and then visulaize the amount of fish meal (or do the math) per cubic inch of soil mix...is it too much...or too little?...and bear in mind to remember what happened with the plants in the last cycle....and then adjust accordingly.

 

[DARC MIND]

To recycle I've just been letting the root ball breakdown and I remove it. I dump the potting soil into an extra large SmartPot container (50 gallons) and add some new potting soil mix as above. I water it down with Kelp meal and Comfrey tea and let it sit until I need it.

Ain't rocket science......

i do something like the coot but dont make another fresh batch to cut the reused..
instead its simply quality compost or casting, plus hand full or two of rock dust & plant meals

again thers a big difference then proper designed & maintained broken down compost from some junk sold in bags..
the compost is fed all sorts of goods,most harnessed right from the yard & has proven its self over and over threw ACT or topdress grown goods

 

[YosemiteSam]

That makes sense. I can see re amending just being compost/ewc/vermicompost if your quality is good enough and you have minerals in it.

Especially with the teas to fall back on if need be.

It is slowly sinking into this thick skull.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

For me, it isn't always practical to hydrate the peat prior to mixing, though I'm well aware of the fact it's hydrophobic. I typically will then water the finished soil mix very slowly over a period of a few days until I feel the mix is fully saturated.

Any issues with that Coot?

CT Guy

That's perfect.

The reason that I started to emulate the method used at the packing sheds was that when I would mix the soil and load it into the containers and watered it I would see run-off almost immediately which was expected and that wasn't much of a concern.

But I also noticed that the run-off would soon change from clear water to one that was a dark rich brown from the vermicompost which didn't seem beneficial - to me anyway.

CC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

CT Guy

Let me clarify my answer a bit - hydrating the peat moss is a function when packing retail bags of soil as well as the prosumer packs like Sunshine, Pro-Mix, et al.

No legitimate nursery could or would buy any of these products unless the owners are running on a major trust fund or they've got piles of funny money - it happens.

Nurseries do exactly what you are talking about, i.e. dry mixed potting soil is loaded into the containers by a potting machine and the pots are then placed on the ground and a watering harness is set-up across the width and length about 3' above the pots. That harness is usually a DIY design - PVC and sprayers equally spaced. This harness is controlled by timers. Spraying 10 minutes every hour is a typical schedule.

HTH

CC

 

[Gascanastan]

That makes sense. I can see re amending just being compost/ewc/vermicompost if your quality is good enough and you have minerals in it.

Especially with the teas to fall back on if need be.

It is slowly sinking into this thick skull.

Indeed...

I believe you could just grow in vermicompost and pumice alone and have plants that are as good as any cannabis soil mix on any forum or in any magazine.
For the first few re-amends it was compost and EWC as the main source of material being put 'back' in to the soil mix....along with pumice...I soon realized I was building soil...the volume and quality increases.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Don't forget the kelp meal......

 

[Gascanastan]

Don't forget the kelp meal......

Every time...kelp and fish. Used to be kelp and guano...but why pay that much for guano when you have a food grade commercial by-product that works as well as guano...and behaves like guano in a soil mix. Only the quantities change. Since growing organic I have NEVER even thought about not using kelp.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Since growing organic I have NEVER even thought about not using kelp

Same here and was CT Guy's advice a couple of years ago that caused the light to go on. Best advice I've ever looked into with a lot of research and follow-up.

Kelp - don't grow without it.

CC

 

[rrog]

Gas, any particular Fish Meal you like to replace Guano? Also, are you adding Pumice when amending to add soil volume / air or is there some nutritional component? What is being lost that you are replacing?

 

[Gascanastan]

Gas, any particular Fish Meal you like to replace Guano? Also, are you adding Pumice when amending to add soil volume / air or is there some nutritional component? What is being lost that you are replacing?

Wilber Ellis brand...

I only add aeration amendments when I add more compost or EWC...or peat...leaf litter,etc...we're talking like at least 4 cubic ft. of compost/ewc.


What is being lost is the food for microbes...fish and kelp,etc. Adding EWC/Compost increases humic levels and soon enough the soil becomes what I would call 'complete'...as in it just won't help to add any more EWC/compost and the only thing I need to do is maintain it like an animal...feed it fish and kelp.

So I kind of look at it from the perspective that this soil is a single living being dependent on me for food and water......just like a dog.





Soooooo.......I had to run over to the dro-store and grab some of those black trays for clones..and since they are cheap there I went there. On the way out the door dude hands me a poster tube and says it's a poster from botanicare or GH or something..so I thought I'd share such a groovy score.

Check out these futuristic designs on here man....domes and terraces....geometric shapes..and helicopters....vrooom vrooom.

The future of gardening~

 

[CT Guy]

CT Guy

Let me clarify my answer a bit - hydrating the peat moss is a function when packing retail bags of soil as well as the prosumer packs like Sunshine, Pro-Mix, et al.

No legitimate nursery could or would buy any of these products unless the owners are running on a major trust fund or they've got piles of funny money - it happens.

Nurseries do exactly what you are talking about, i.e. dry mixed potting soil is loaded into the containers by a potting machine and the pots are then placed on the ground and a watering harness is set-up across the width and length about 3' above the pots. That harness is usually a DIY design - PVC and sprayers equally spaced. This harness is controlled by timers. Spraying 10 minutes every hour is a typical schedule.

HTH

CC

Thanks Coot,

Didn't know if I was missing something. That makes sense. We have that 2 cubic yard mixer from that manufacturer in OR (you knew the guy who made them originally) and I'm trying to keep water out of it for maintenance purposes and also because the soil is lighter and easy to move into bins. Once in the bins I water it in and it seems to work well.

Thanks!

 

[rrog]

That's funny Gas!

Ya, was just wondering on the Pumice. Good dog analogy. Sit, stay!

 

[DARC MIND]

ive been doing ok with out kelp
kelp isnt cheap here & im pretty sick of searching
CTguy is about the best price i can find but the shipping is were it will hurt
Wilber Ellis actually is pretty popular here but they got nothing but ther synthetic shit stocked here as that is what socal is all about..

ive called and asked if they can order some fish,crabshell & kelp but like most,they beat around the bush for such small orders like mine

stinging nettle & comfrey are what i have been doing pretty swell with for a while
NHL,socalg13/haze,kush & all ive been sharing have been grown with out kelp meal amended to soil
pretty cool to know that growing most of ones nutrients works just as good as sourcing all the popular goods

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

ive been doing ok with out kelp
kelp isnt cheap here & im pretty sick of searching
CTguy is about the best price i can find but the shipping is were it will hurt
Wilber Ellis actually is pretty popular here but they got nothing but ther synthetic shit stocked here as that is what socal is all about..

ive called and asked if they can order some fish,crabshell & kelp but like most,they beat around the bush for such small orders like mine

stinging nettle & comfrey are what i have been doing pretty swell with for a while
NHL,socalg13/haze,kush & all ive been sharing have been grown with out kelp meal amended to soil
pretty cool to know that growing most of ones nutrients works just as good as sourcing all the popular goods

Kelp @ $4/lb with further bulk discounts at larger quantities: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/seaweed/seaweed.php#h_kel_p

 

[Microbeman]

$1.60/lb at the feed store.

 

[DARC MIND]

try mentioning kelp at a feedstore here and see the response
its like speaking a foreign language here fellas
great advice for all but ive been searching feedstores since the OG days

kelps extract from kiss is what i use but mainly as foliar and rooting supplement
shit will last me very long time so i incorporate it to my bioachar activating process,rehydrating peat/soil,compost and so on..

my point was more towards individuals in similar situations,were i strongly feel that ther is no real need to jump threw hoops for stuff that works for others..this is one reason i never threw in my soil recipe as it changes with what i have available,steadily swerving to the rhythm of what cali has to offer.
kelp does wounders,no doubt but in at the same time, im confident my yields,taste & quality hasnt degraded since my lack of interest in sourcing kelp meal