Living organic soil from start through recycling

[YosemiteSam]

I had a bamboo post collapse on me outdoors...soil ate right through it. Just where it and the surface of the soil met though...there was still some below the soil surface. No clue what to make of that. Next yr...those stell t posts outside the pots and some hortinova.

 

[Cannastyle]

Gentlemen.....first let me start off by thanking everyone in this thread for the massive amount of knowledge being dropped in here....I am only one page 59 but I have a quick question...

Concerning the aloe....I was curious if I could freeze the aloe juice by itself? I was thinking of making a few cups of extract and then freezing it in ice cube trays to make individual doses of aloe juice for spraying or whatever....

Any thoughts?

 

[xmobotx]

make an ice cube of it and see

seems like the powder would be easier and having some plants to do it fresh would be optimum

 

[CT Guy]

I'm sure the other guys will agree here BUT, from looking at the KIS website the most beneficial maters that i will order here soon are as follows:


Neem Cake, Basalt Dust, Fish BONE meal, Crustacean Meal, Alaskan Humus, and the Glacial Rock Dust (depending on if you basalt) and last but not least, the K-Mag (a little goes a long way)

The fungal compost is a better compost than the Alaska Humus in my opinion. I would also like to mention that you can use the KIS Nutrient Pack as an "organic fertilizer" or for mixing soil. I know of guys that are using it as a nutrient boost in their current regimen. It has all those ingredients already in it...

And yes, go easy on the K-Mag. I use it at a 1/4 c. per 4 cubic ft, so not very much at a time, but then I'm also using oyster shell flour, live earth humates, glacial rock dust, basalt, and cal phos.

 

[reverseosmosis4]

CTGUY


Very Interesting.... I like that K-mag Ratio!!

Do you consider the Oyster shell flour to be the same as the Oyster shell powder??

“What have we in common with the rosebud, which trembles because a drop of dew is lying upon it?”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

 

[wingdings]

I purchased the nutrient pack from kisorganics to integrate into my recycled soil that already has a combination of mostly oyster shell powder, and a small amount of dolomite lime at about 1 cup/1 c.f. of soil. Will I run into problems adding the mineral mix portion of the nutrient pack to this recycled soil?

 

[CT Guy]

I purchased the nutrient pack from kisorganics to integrate into my recycled soil that already has a combination of mostly oyster shell powder, and a small amount of dolomite lime at about 1 cup/1 c.f. of soil. Will I run into problems adding the mineral mix portion of the nutrient pack to this recycled soil?

The nutrient pack already has their mineral mix in it (oyster shell flour, K-Mag, basalt, glacial rock dust, and cal phos). I personally wouldn't add any lime. Hard to say if it's too much or not.

And the oyster shell flour is all the same as far as I know. I'm sure CC could give input. It's nothing more than crushed oyster shells. The "flour" or "meal" is just ground finer, increasing the surface area and allowing it to be processed faster in the soil. If you wanted an even slower release calcium source, you could use the oyster shell "layer blend" that feed stores sell for chickens. They also have a limestone grit that I imagine would take a long time to break down in soil.

 

[CT Guy]

I purchased the nutrient pack from kisorganics to integrate into my recycled soil that already has a combination of mostly oyster shell powder, and a small amount of dolomite lime at about 1 cup/1 c.f. of soil. Will I run into problems adding the mineral mix portion of the nutrient pack to this recycled soil?

Ah, just realized I read this wrong. You are adding it to your already "recycled soil." I think you should be fine. They do make a "recycle pack" for after your first round of using the nutrient pack. You might want to just contact them and see what they think, based on what is already in your soil. I wouldn't be too concerned though....

 

[wingdings]

Thanks! Yes I was concerned about over-liming. The order is on the way so we'll see. Just wanted to see if I was crazy for thinking it would be OK. Seems to be everything I need aside from the lime.

On a different note, anybody make enzyme teas with cannabis seeds or did I miss that? Got a lot of those around that will not get used for much else.

 

[YosemiteSam]

CTGuy...how would you construct a soil from scratch? Always curious to see how people begin this process.

 

[CT Guy]

CTGuy...how would you construct a soil from scratch? Always curious to see how people begin this process.

Sam,

To be honest, I was quite fortunate to start my soil process from long conversations with Coot. Here's an overview of what I've learned:

1. There's many ways to skin a cat. Many soils can be good, depending on inputs. Compost or EWC is the most important input by far. This is where you should be spending your $ if you're buying anything (better yet, make it yourself).

2. A good general rule for inputs (with the exception of high NPK things like K-Mag) is 1 cup per cubic ft.

3. A general recipe that I like is 50% peat or coco, 20% EWC or high quality compost, and 30% of some aeration amendment. Pumice is my favorite, and I go with medium or the larger sizes when possible. Don't go with the "fine" pumice or perlite or you'll be fighting compaction and drainage issues.

Okay, that's the quick version, hope it helps!

 

[xmobotx]

i m thinking it might be a good plan to do a seedling mix exclusively then mulch it at 4th node w/ quality compost {w/ amendments composted right in} probably be the plan to top-dress w/ some neem seed meal @ some point as much for bug control as anything

from there it would be ACT and sprout rinse

 

[Weyenot]

Sam,

To be honest, I was quite fortunate to start my soil process from long conversations with Coot. Here's an overview of what I've learned:

1. There's many ways to skin a cat. Many soils can be good, depending on inputs. Compost or EWC is the most important input by far. This is where you should be spending your $ if you're buying anything (better yet, make it yourself).

2. A good general rule for inputs (with the exception of high NPK things like K-Mag) is 1 cup per cubic ft.

3. A general recipe that I like is 50% peat or coco, 20% EWC or high quality compost, and 30% of some aeration amendment. Pumice is my favorite, and I go with medium or the larger sizes when possible. Don't go with the "fine" pumice or perlite or you'll be fighting compaction and drainage issues.

Okay, that's the quick version, hope it helps!

I like the way you laid that out CTGuy, nice and simple with no brambles to trip over, the way it should be. Its great to see others methods, they make for great inspiration; we are all working towards the same system with our own slight tweaks incorporated and its way cool!! If I ever have the need to mix up a fresh batch of soil it will be interesting to see what form it takes; until then I have plenty of used soil to mess around with and I can spread around the many tips and views Ive collected from here to anyone who will listen
Oh, I did mix up a simple "seedling soil" based around Gas's plan given out a while back, the soil sat for a few weeks and since then I have planted some clones (which seem to love it) in a bit and I just did started a run of seeds in some as well. Im curious to see how the babies do and I have a feeling the results will be good!

 

[Weyenot]

i m thinking it might be a good plan to do a seedling mix exclusively then mulch it at 4th node w/ quality compost {w/ amendments composted right in} probably be the plan to top-dress w/ some neem seed meal @ some point as much for bug control as anything

from there it would be ACT and sprout rinse

I will definitely be trying this once I get the compost rolling properly, good idea xmo!! For now I was planning on starting everything in the seedling mix and doing a few ACTs plus a nettles extract or something similar if necessary until transplant time. I would start in 4in pots and go straight to my final container to reduce unnecessary shock; final sizes would either be 3 or 5 gallons, mostly 5s.
With your idea I could topdress with a wee bit of compost in 4in sizes instead of using the extracts and still do a ACT to really get things going, then I could go into the 3 or 5gallon and give them a healthy layer of compost plus any other goodies I felt necessary.
On the other hand, it wouldnt be that much extra work (maybe less actually) to use the fully amended soil recipe in the final size container and only use the seedling mix in the smaller size to start things off. It will be fun to play around with methods. Thanks for the thoughts xmo

 

[Cann]

About to order some BioAg products - any opinions on Ful-power vs. Ful-Humix vs. TM-7 vs. Cytoplus? I was thinking I would get Ful-power and TM-7, but Cytoplus is just TM-7 plus seaweed extract if I am not mistaken...doesn't sound too shabby.

 

[rrog]

I love it when you talk dirty. So what do your friends say when you strike up a convo like above?

 

[Cann]

 

[YosemiteSam]

About to order some BioAg products - any opinions on Ful-power vs. Ful-Humix vs. TM-7 vs. Cytoplus? I was thinking I would get Ful-power and TM-7, but Cytoplus is just TM-7 plus seaweed extract if I am not mistaken...doesn't sound too shabby.

All excellent products. What you get kinda depends on what else you are doing. There is no need to supply something you already have plenty of...but if you are missing something then every one of those is a fine product.

There are probably cheaper ways for everything except maybe the Fulvic though.

 

[invocation]

Does anyone add dried herbs to your soil like you would kelp meal instead of making a tea or FPE. I was thinking that I could just mix it in my soil and let it activate over time. I love making tea but always looking to save a little time.

 

[W89]

Lots of catching up to do lol how is everyone?

OK now that's done where has coot been?