Living Soil EU

[GreenthumbViking]

Hey there,
I´m planning on growing in living soil following Clackmas Coot recipe or Build a soil recipe. Keep in mind that I´m in the EU and ordering from US is out of the question for me. Grown in Hydro, Coco and Soil previously, but want to move to a more sustainable growing model thats fully organic. Looked at buying premade kits but feel that they are waay too expensive compared to buying all ingredients and making it yourself. Will be making around 1296L of soil for two Cali beds a 648L, one for mothers and one for flowering. Perpetual garden for the win!
So my question to you is, does my recipe look alright for a first time living soil grower or is there something I´m missing like crustean meal, terra preta, ash, fish meal, guano, worms and so fourth? If so how do I incorporate those to the coot recipe and know how much to have of each instead of X ingredient? Build a soil receipe requires crustean meal, which I´m having a hard time finding in EU. Asking you experienced growers for your tips and tricks. And if you know better sources for the stuff I've sourced please do share! (These sources are what I've been able to find with my extensive googling for a private person to buy)

My recipe so far (If there's something I´m ordering to little of or too much of, please do let me know!)

Recipe	To be ordered	Quantity I need for 1296L Soil
Blonde Sphagnum Peat Moss	500L	432L
Pumice 7-14mm	450L	432L
VermiCompost	450L	432L
Oyster Shell	25kg	10,8281L
Kelp Meal	25kg	10,8281L
ProNeem	10kg	10,8281L
Gypsum	25kg	5,414L
Basalt	20kg	32,48L
Cover Crop	200g	Unknown

What I've done is basically to convert the Clackmas Coot Receipe as follows:
1296L / 3 = 432 L we'll need for each part of the base soil
1 cubic foot in Litres converts to: 28,3168 L
1296L/28,3168L= 45,76 cups/2=22,88 cups in total for whole soil
1 cup = 0,236588L x 45,76 = 10,8281L /2= 5,414L
3 cups = 0,709765L x 45,76788 cups = 32,48L


Thanks to ya'll in the forum, been an avid lurker for years but haven't hoined until now! If you spot any mistakes or so in my calculations please do let me know

 

[chilliwilli]

I won't skip the crustacea in the mix. The chitine is good for the soil to make it a less hospitable place for pests and adds also n and p and trace minerals to the mix. Carp supplies have a good selection of them, i use 50% gammarus dust and 50% krill to keep possible heavy metals low.

Imo too less basalt in the mix. The ration i use is 1 part gypsum, 1 part oystershell and 2 parts basalt/rockflour. And i use more compared to the organics like kelp, neem or crustacea. Per 30l i use 1/2 cup organics, 1 cup high ca(gypsum, oystershell), 2 cups basalt and 2 cups malt.

I'd also use ~10% pre charged biochar in the mix, that helps imo with using the mix longer and stabilises the soil.

 

[GreenthumbViking]

I won't skip the crustacea in the mix. The chitine is good for the soil to make it a less hospitable place for pests and adds also n and p and trace minerals to the mix. Carp supplies have a good selection of them, i use 50% gammarus dust and 50% krill to keep possible heavy metals low.

Imo too less basalt in the mix. The ration i use is 1 part gypsum, 1 part oystershell and 2 parts basalt/rockflour. And i use more compared to the organics like kelp, neem or crustacea. Per 30l i use 1/2 cup organics, 1 cup high ca(gypsum, oystershell), 2 cups basalt and 2 cups malt.

I'd also use ~10% pre charged biochar in the mix, that helps imo with using the mix longer and stabilises the soil.

Thank you for the answer, made me certain that I need crustacea in the soil. Will also be adding worms (Eisenia fetida and Eisenia Hortensis) to the soil as I´ve heard it's so beneficial.

All I can find is;
Gammarus legs 5kg
Shrimp meal
Krill Meal 5kg
Malted barley 10kg
Worms 0,5kg
Activated Bio Char 25kg/45-50L

My thinking is I´ll add the gammarus and krill meal, skipping the shrimp meal. Then also Malted Barley, activated bio char (50L) & Worms. I´ll also cut down on the basalt to two cups per cubic foot.
When it comes to top dressing, teas and so fourth, I guess that compost from the kitchen, leafs from the plants, worm casings and malted barley should suffice every 2-4 weeks in a new soil? Any other tips that are a must have for living soil? As I live far far far away from civilization I need to have everything home to combat possible deficiencies. I havent even started to deep dive into teas and so fourth yet, so almost completely clueluess when it comes to that. Any tips or guides in this area would be heaven sent!

Ps. the living soil will be getting Scynce Raging Kush 2 for lights, mothers with a 70 degree optics version for better penetration and flowering will be run with 120 degree version. Super excited to be able to test different light spectrums. With their deals going on they were so much cheaper than Grandmaster Leds fullspectrum lights that it felt like a no brainer (the only thing I've ordered from the US as good fullspectrum lights are impossible to find in the EU). Ds.

Happy growing!

 

[chilliwilli]

I can't tell much about teas as i make them rarely but i mulch with the leafs. It's suboptimal since there are always some moldy leaf on the soil so also more mold spores in the air.

The coots mix should be good for 2 runs if u compost as much plant material as possible in the soil between runs.

Fungus gnats will always come with a new mix so get some bti for the first 2 waterings, i use culinex tab plus.

Watch the covercrop close because pest will show there first. And get some ipm implied. When plants are in flower there is not much u can do and the pests will survive in the soil. So better spray them regular in veg and the first 2 weeks after flip.

Since u said things are hard to get to u get something against pests like neem or spinosad but both are not without problems. Spinosad f.e. works like a charm against spidermites but i'm not sure how long it will stay in the plant tissue.

 

[FellaAndrene]

I apply predatory mites as an IPM strategy. The species I use are Neoseiulus cucumeris, Amblyseius swirskii, and Stratiolaelaps scimitus (a.k.a. Hypoaspis miles), as they are locally available for me.

If you recycle your soil, they'll live there for years, feeding on the fungus gnats your organic soil grow will inevitably have.

I would skip the neem completely, as that fucks up the beneficials too.

EDIT: I've also found that I need to add an extra source of calcium phosphate. Currently, I use the Solabiol brand bone meal made from horse carcasses.