Living organic soil from start through recycling

[unthing]

im trying no-till with less than 5 gallons per plant(15 litres)to see where it takes me. but that's after this run(since it the first time with this batch). i think couple runs at least could be possible before remixing.

 

[ColorGRo]

Ya my strains are pretty short running strains. 60 days or less and I usually harvest at 52-55 on all of them. I stay relatively small because of my space. I veg to about a foot then flip. I know some stuff takes months to break down so maybe i can run a few times before reamending

 

[Bad7887]

Will refer back to this page. Thanks all.

 

[Microbeman]

1 Tbs of EWC added as a top dressing

1 Tbs of EWC in a vortex for 36 hours

Not the same quantity of microbes, which was my point. One releases the nutrient payload very quickly, one is a slow release. Different.

And you know this because....?

 

[Neo 420]

Fuck pulling the roots out! Cut the bastard down as low as you can and pop another in its place is my experience.

 

[bajangreen]

On the subject of "no till" its not a good idea, how could you no till a 5gall pot anyways? its to small, when your replanting you move out most of the contents of the bucket anyways. Over time watering compacts the soil too much and negatively affects the growth of the plant. loosen the soil every 15-20 days and this will maintain good growth, after i loosen the soil there is a growth spurt as if i had re-pot.

If there are in sacks i just squeeze the sides to loosen the insides and then fork up the top 4in with a little stick, and if in pots i take a longer piece of stick about 1/4in thick and push it down in-between the pot and the soil then work my way across the bottom of the pot under the plant then up and out(same movement in slicing a pie but backwards) a sandier mix brakes up faster. Sometimes i hear roots popping but the plants don't mind The looser soil lets the invertebrates and the plant roots move around easier, makeing very happy plants.

 

[ColorGRo]

It seems to be working out very good for many people on this thread so I dont know that I'd call it a bad idea. Just saying.

 

[MrSterling]

You're coming to the wrong conclusion because youre assuming most of the material is removed. Plants are cut off low and old roots are allowed to decay and be eaten by the soil life. The plants themselves take rather little from the soil. Five gal. containers can be run multiple times with no detriment, and perhaps even better the second or third run. I think there's a critical mass for doing no till and 5 gal. seems to be a healthy choice in size to start with. We don't face soil compaction because most use a diverse number of aeration methods that dont collapse over time like perlite or vermiculite. I'm a big fan of perlite (good sized chunks no dust!), biochar, some local sand, and marble rocks. Others like Coot are big on pumice or lava rocks. This process is not just doable, it's easier and arguably superior. Stans plants are some of the best and healthiest I've seen.

 

[unthing]

good or bad idea, i wanna try it anyway. little removal as possible, planting next to stump or so i'm planning. i used the same soil for years in the past and while i'm no master grower the plants didn't die or something horrible like that. what could be problem, too much decaying roots?

 

[shmalphy]

My 5 gal no tills are rock and rolling. In fact, they get better and better with each use.

 

[invocation]

I've been no tilling myself in 2 gal fabric pots. I grow a lot from seed so any males I find I cull and pop a female clone in it's place. We've done 2 like this so far and they are thriving. Really great idea with no issues observed. I just feed tea every watering.

 

[bajangreen]

I am telling you guys, what ever your aeration method, if you loosen up your soil every 2 weeks or so you will almost double your yield. It takes 2mins per pot and is the single most cheapest thing you can do to increase yields.

Well one thing note worthy, i only flower in the 5galls, when i yank out the finished plant it usually leaves a hole big enough for the new plant to fit in, i use a 11by12 plant bag for the pre 5gall stage. then i just back fill the pot with the root ball from the original plant.

After i started loosening up the soil the final root balls got way bigger and had way more feeder roots. loosening up the soil is like using a smart pot only thing better.

 

[OrganicLearner]

What about the sog guys, can they be convinced to use organic soil? Can you do organic no till with 1/2 gal, 6" , or even 4" pots without any ill effect? Would raised beds with rows of plants in it be a better option then using 6" individual pots?

 

[MileHighGuy]

I am telling you guys, what ever your aeration method, if you loosen up your soil every 2 weeks or so you will almost double your yield. It takes 2mins per pot and is the single most cheapest thing you can do to increase yields.

Well one thing note worthy, i only flower in the 5galls, when i yank out the finished plant it usually leaves a hole big enough for the new plant to fit in, i use a 11by12 plant bag for the pre 5gall stage. then i just back fill the pot with the root ball from the original plant.

After i started loosening up the soil the final root balls got way bigger and had way more feeder roots. loosening up the soil is like using a smart pot only thing better.

Dude! I don't think you're going to convince any of us to rip up our roots and disturb our soil.

I think that you are missing some major points here and require further reading.

There is a Very good reason that we aren't messing with the soil at all... let alon jabbing it with sticks. The soil is alive and after several no tills there is a diverse population of living bacteria, archaea, fungi, algae... molds, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, earthworms, gastropods etc.

When the soil is allowed to sit undisturbed with the Proper aeration amendments you have some incredible structures, tubes, airways and pathways built into the soil.

This entire living cycle is the Soil Food Web that we are all hoping to achieve.

So, please Tell us all now, under the aspects of a truly living soil, what benefit ripping up all of our hard work and killing some roots in the process could have for us?

Or let me try it this way.... why do you believe that your yields have almost doubled? What exactly is occurring when you spin that soil with a stick?

 

[invocation]

I seem to get plenty of aeration and my plants are screaming. I also use fabric pots.

 

[MileHighGuy]

What about the sog guys, can they be convinced to use organic soil? Can you do organic no till with 1/2 gal, 6" , or even 4" pots without any ill effect? Would raised beds with rows of plants in it be a better option then using 6" individual pots?

If I was going to Sea Of Green it. I'd have a big raised bed.

Or maybe one of these things. Then you could no till even easier.

http://shop.geopot.com/geoplanter-with-pvc-frame/

 

[OrganicLearner]

What about the roots of a bunch of different plants coming in contact together and tangling up? Or is that something to not really worry about? Watering would be kinda weird for a little to..Also the luxury of being able to move pots around to even out canopy would be lost..those geo planters are nice though

 

[Chiefin]

What about the sog guys, can they be convinced to use organic soil? Can you do organic no till with 1/2 gal, 6" , or even 4" pots without any ill effect? Would raised beds with rows of plants in it be a better option then using 6" individual pots?

I'm currently doing the sog thing with recycled organic soil, and constantly trying different size/shape pots to get the most out of them. I've been extremely happy with the results thus far, but no-til is most definitely a no-go. The little pots get completely filled with roots by the time they are ready to harvest, shooting out the bottom and everything! Just chop everything up, mix it with more hummus, or whatever it needs, and grow again. Or, feed the roots to the worms, they make everything better!

And yes, I have been thinking about making one bed that takes up the entire floor space as opposed to several pots. More soil always equals healthier plants, plus, keeping up with the water needs during robust flower growth can get daunting in small containers. If everything dries up, the living soil does not, live very well, or at all. But we learned that already.

Anyway, this can be done on a small scale, moisture retention and mulch should be at the forefront of your mind when using less than 1 gal containers. HIGH quality EWC and/or compost is what makes it successful, along with some teas, just like we read in the last 400 pages, well almost.

peace

 

[Chiefin]

Yes! THose geo pots are what I had in mind, thanks for the find MIle High Guy!

 

[DuckDuckGoose]

What about the sog guys, can they be convinced to use organic soil? Can you do organic no till with 1/2 gal, 6" , or even 4" pots without any ill effect? Would raised beds with rows of plants in it be a better option then using 6" individual pots?

this is my "sea of green", it's 24 plants under 1000 watts. i have a shitty bag soil that didn't make it all the way, so i've given them many different teas and top dressed with ewc. i didn't find this forum until after i started so i assume with my soil that i have "composting/nutrient cycling/cooking" right now i will be able to pull off a much better run. but sure why not cram as many in there as you can... don't think i could transplant back into these pots, but i don't see why the soil wouldn't be awesome after some worms and microbes go to town on all the roots. i'm gonna try some similar set ups with my soil along with some larger no till bins. gonna be much more fun than dumping nutes in my res and shit like that, which i found to be boring and repetitive.

DDG