Outdoor Soil Making

[Guest]

There are always discussions and questions about this so I thought we could all share whatever experience or expertise we have. This is an important topic because:

1. I dont know of any brand of soil developed for OD Mj. Your soil will be made specifically for MJ and your conditional needs..

2. Store bought is too expensive. You can blend the ingredients, (in the right porportions), cheaper and better than you can pay another company to do that.

3. TASTE. Others can disagree, but i have a cannabis rule that is simple: Use chemical ferts and your pot will taste like chemical ferts. And no, outdoors you can't flush your way out of it. If you want your weed to taste good, you need to start mixing.

Most store bought soils are peat based. There are some organic soils out now, but take the vaseline with you when you go to buy them..
Peat is airy and loose and makes a good root medium if the acidity is adjusted. Peat is acidic in all of its forms and cannabis won't grow in it unless it has been neutralized. It also lacks nutrients. I use raw peat purchased in bales as my base material as well.

Starting with 3 cu ft bale of peat moss, I start building my od soil. At this point, even though there will be some basic commonalities between my soil and what you make , there may be big differences in ingredients and texture.
For example, you may be someone who swares that chiken shit adds a certain flavor and want to use CS instead of what I use, (cowpoo and compost). Your soil may be more clay like and need more sand or may be sandy and need more compost. One size fits all is the method used by commercial soil makers and isnt as effective as it could be. The soil you make should fit your natural soils personality and your taste requirements.

My recipe:

3 cu. ft. of agricultural peat moss.
10 bags composted cow manure
10 bags of organic compost
3 gallons of course construction sand
1 bag miracle grow perlite.

I also add 1lb of Copper sulfate, 1lb of Iron ferrite and 1 cup of sulpher to mine as I believe these greatly impact the taste. This year, I will experiment with plant sugar additives

I mix these ingredients together in late summer at the back of my property. I turn the mixture several times before winter and add enough lime to bring the ph up to around 7. It will decrease overwinter, but I can adjust again in the spring. The cost of my soil is about 2$ per cubic foot.

In the spring, I add 2-3 gallons of this soil to my outdoor plant site. I dont have to fertilize during the grow (unless needed), water retention is increased and my pot doesnt taste like an old penny. Deep , rich and spicy. The only way to grow.

Im not the only one making thier own outdoor soil. Lets hear your recipies.

 

[luciano28]

Ok I have no clue what it costs me to do this but this is what I did the last 2 years. Edit: it costs about $75 total not counting gasoline for the 10 mile drive to family farm to get free compost/cow shit, I also could save $10 or so by going to pick up soil myself and not having it delivered. My truck is small though


I get 2 cubic yards of top soil(approx $40 having it delivered) delivered to my house for my wife's flower beds, I will have a 1/2 yard left usually which is a good bit, then I go to a fruit&garden center by my house and buy 5 10lb bags of schfangum(sp?, lol) peat moss(approx $30), last year I used miracle grow brand, then I go to Wally World and buy 2 bags of Scotts' perlite($7). Then I go to my cousins farm and get some finished compost and manure, I really cant tell you how much, I just keep shoveling it in my truck until I think I got enough. Thats about it. I have over a cubic yard is my guesstimate when Im done mixing it.

This year Im gonna buy some extra mulch and try mulching my babies this year thanks to you Silverback.


I dont use any fertilizers either silverback. I tried it 3 years ago and Im not convinced it did any good to them, I was using some leftover hydro ferts though, lol. When I grew indoors I know the ferts helped, but I stopped the indoor growin a few years ago when my wife had our first child.


P.S. Where can I get Worm Castings?

 

[tokinjoe]

Good idea for a thread SB. I dig holes large enough for 3 cubic feet of potting soil and also I grow in a marshy area in containers that hold exactly 3 cubic feet of soil. I use Sta Green soil from Lowes. To this I add: 1 1/2 cups dolomite lime, 1/4 cup blood meal, 1 cup bone meal and 1/4 cup epsom salts for potassium. When the plants start to flower I use bloom booster once the plants start to flower and continue this halfway through flowering. My grow pots for outdoors, 20 gallon I buy at the local Dollar Store for 5-7 dollars depending on the store:





As for the worm castings, the only place I can find them is in the local grow store. Any place that specializes in selling products for the indoor grower (they usually cater to the MJ crowd) should have them. Closest thing I can find at Lowe's is Black Kow cow manure, and that ain't worm castings!

 

[Guest]

Hey Luciano28, it sounds like thats working for you. Old manure is good stuff, especially at the bottom of the pile where the worms are.

Hey Tokinjoe, Ive wanted to use that sta-green because it was a little cheaper but I worried about its ph. Are you getting good results? I was also worried about the burn of small seedlings. Miracle grow and stagreen and the others that have ferts in them sometimes burn my sensi starts and any thing with blueberry in it. You having good results.?

Plus Joe, ill tell you anytime I use bone meal or bloodmeal and organic products like that the deer tare me a new one. No troubles? Thats the reason Ive switched off to manure's because i still get organic nutes but not in a form that seems tasty to ground hogs and deers.

Plantones Organic fertilizer is without a doubt the best nutrient enhancement product I have ever found. If you put this stuff in soil and come back 2-3 weeks later, the entire soil area is filled with tiny roots and worms and is almost alive with activity.. Its unreal and the MJ plants seem to explode when its used but here, the deer love it as well and I can't use it out in the field.

 

[marto]

Hi Silverback, thanks for the great advice as usual. I'm also having trouble with the critters digging in my prepped wholes and need to consider an alternative to blood and bone meal. Where can i find this plantones organic fertilizer.....no luck with a google. thanks

 

[marto]

Nevermind, i found it at espoma.com ...a very informative website btw. Its called "plant tones" if were thinking of the same stuff. thanks again

 

[tokinjoe]

SB, down this way the deer will eat every plant I've got whether I use blood/bone meal or not. I'm not kidding it's like they look for it once they smell it and will eat every single one. If I don't cage it, it's gone.

I've never measured the PH of the Sta Green but I've had very good luck with it. No nute burn or stunting from the PH at all. This year I think I'm going to try the crystals that Julian posted up about. All those pots I plant in at the bottoms require a bunch of watering and it would be nice to get a reprieve. Another problem I have when I plant in containers is ants. I am guaranteed to get ants in some of my pots. I don't remember the name but one treatment around the base of the pot with a garden type ant killer kills them in a day or two. Between the deer, ants, caterpillars and mold I stay pretty busy. Cages for the deer, powder for the ants, Dipel for the caterpillars and the product you recommended for the mold and I'm hoping to do ok this year. Waiting on my Himalayan Gold and Cheese now. Mike at Mandala says they still have plenty #1's and those will be my second wave to go out. Peace.

 

[Guest]

Hey tokinjoe. I hear you on the deer. Just a tip man and i know it sounds funny, but those little plastic flower bed decorations and toys with a motion sensor that make sound work great and they're not really very loud at all. I have 12 croaking frogs and 2 pigs that oink and fart and 2 little dogs that bark. Placed at the base of the plant, the deer walks up, the little pigs start oinkin and fartin or the dog barking, the deer jumps 10' high and takes off like a bat out of hell. I find them at big lots and the dollar store, specialty stores. You can even get them that have volume controls. AAA deer control. works for groundhogs and skunks too and when the plants are big enough to not be eaten, pick um up for next year. I came across this while watching my stupid cat shit on himself everytime he cut through the flower bed and activated the little frogs. Deer arent any smarter than cats it turns out.

Cant you get those pots in the ground just a little so you could take advantage of the ground water? I have some of the #1's up and 1 week old today. They're outside in the sun as i write.

Hi marto. Yeah, thats the right stuff. Its the best organic fertilizer i have ever come across with relation to cannabis. That stuff makes sensi star taste good. Honestly, if anyone ever had any question as to what impact oranics have on the taste of cannabis, use of that product will answer it. It also rings the dinner bell for every animal around. I actually had them tare into bags of soil amendments I had prepared and delivered to the site over the winter to be mixed in during the spring. I would plant a plant and the deer would dig it up eating the soil!

 

[SirSmokeAlot.]

LOL that sounds like an excellent idea for those with deer problems or small animals,especially if it worked for you.I would always use cages though but having extra protection is good.They have those things in the garden section of stores.
This ofcourse wouldn't help with real desprate deer if they get no rain but thats where a cage would come in and other products to deter deers.
I like this idea if it works on small animals

 

[farmerlion]

dogs work

dogs work

Take your dog out for a run by your grow. Deer dont like anything kanine. You dont have to go around each plant just play catch in the area and keep moving just in case someone is watching. I piss all over around my outdoor stuff.

 

[river rat01]

thats funny silverback. it would be cool if they made a snake version that "rattled" to scare people away.

hey what about bat guano? does it attract animals too?

 

[Guest]

Your best soil is your own!!!!!!!!

Well said Silver,my way of making soil is compost!
Right now i have a 30 foot long pile,every year or 2
i make my own compost......the way i do it is layering...

Here is my formula:Green material,sticks,brown material
piled high an covered with heavy black plastic to cook!!

Well my yard is big enuff for me to gather up all kinds of stuff....
Ounce the pile gets going the earth worms come naturally!!!!!

You can use anything from grass cuttings,weeds,green branches,green leaves.
THe (green matter) provides gas that breaks down and cooks the pile ok!

The (sticks) being any an all bare dry sticks mostly branches an twigs.....
They provide air in the pile for gas to flow upwards an fresh air to enter also!

The (brown material) any old brown crisp leaves,or grass,an weeds will do..
This gets broken down into good growing material as close to peat but better!!

Take this and pile them like so.

Your layers must start with the green material on bottom first.
Then use the sticks in the middle.
The brown material goes on top of each layer.....so reverse the above
like this:


Brown:
Sticks:
Green:

Brown:
Sticks:
Green:

Brown:
Sticks:
Green:....................

Your pile shoud be about 5 foot or so,water very good and cover in full sun!!!!!
Bake it for a few months or a season and turn it over each season or 3 months..
Adding more green matter will help each turn over giving more gas to decompose!

That will get you what farmes call.....BLACK GOLD folks right at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now if i didnt have my pile ready,like this year my option is to mix my own?
Getting bales of peat,Black Kow,good topsoil,lime,a bit of perilite an DONE!
Weed grows in this mix just fine..

So try my compost layering and see the weed grow!!
my weed tastes better than anyone i know,no problemo....one month flushes!
Hope that helps someone....

 

[Guest]

Ive heard that about covering with black plastic before Lougrew. I may give that a try this year. Does it speed up decomposition? It is black gold and you cant buy it.

river rat, I don't know about bat doo, but Im going to guess and say it would be Ok. Cow manure doesnt cause problems so I dont think bat would either. The stuff in the organics that brings them running is the alfalfa, soy and wheat germ by products that they put in it.
I have a soft spot for your handle there river rat. I was born on the banks of a river and ran the banks for all of my youth. I am still a river rat even though Im living on higher ground these days. sb

 

[river rat01]

thanks silverback.

my kayak is my therapist, it gets me away from all the crazyness of the world,- and takes me to places where no one else can go.

 

[PazVerdeRadical]

silverback, good post, although I strongly criticize the use of peat-moss, not very sustainable since it is getting harvested too fast, it takes thousands of years for the peat-moss to form that gets harvested in a matter of days...

say no to peat-moss :wink:

Paz

 

[Jochsmokes]

Another great thread sb!
I also have crazy deer the frog thingies sound great!
An older gent told me he puts a raw egg in a gallon of water and leaves it in the sun for a day then sprays it on and around his plants anyone else heard of this? I've got some composted cow poo on the way, got perlite and xtra sawdust for mulching going to be mixing that with soso native soil now your saying you don't add anything cept poo for veg but what do you use for flowering? thanks agin JS

 

[Guest]

YEs silverback!!!

Speeds up decomposing very very much in full sun!
You must have a very heavy gage plastic,mine was
a pond liner........their is nothing better than the soil
i can produce at home!!!!!!!!!
You always mix the old soils with the new stuff every year
and sometimes i add a few things like bone meal to start molds....
The fresh green materials in spring an summer really benifate the pile!!

ALWAYS cover with something dark atleast,even canvas or an old tent?
im surprized you never cover piles.....silver?
Let me get a pic!!!

 

[Guest]

Compost pile an soil area!

Compost pile an soil area!

Hello again......

Got a few pics of my pile an nice thick cover!
Soil area an a few old moms in flower doing good..

That pile was 4 foot tall all the way acrossed a few months ago?
About to be turned,with more green matter added and re cooked!
Summer months are your best bet for good heat for decomposing..
Keep piles soaked but not to wet that it stinks hahaha?
THIS IS BLACK GOLD,not texas tea but farmers feed!!!!






NOW IT DOES TAKE WORK but its the best you can get for growing!!

 

[fishheadbob]

Another great thread sb!
I also have crazy deer the frog thingies sound great!
An older gent told me he puts a raw egg in a gallon of water and leaves it in the sun for a day then sprays it on and around his plants anyone else heard of this?

Sort of. A lot of deer repellents contain "putrified egg solids" aka rotten eggs as part of their recipe. Other ingredients often include moth balls and tobacco. I liked to make tea out of butts, moth balls, and an old egg or two. It does stink. Problem is that you don't want that stuff on at harvest time (yech), but bambi is still hungry.

 

[Guest]

Ha ha ha Lougrew!, your growing facilities look just like mine, dirt pile and all. I do have to try and keep my plants behind the grow shed though.
Thanks, youve taught me something. It should also help with my concern that my nutrients were being leached out during the rains.

Hi Jocksmokes, My philosophy for soil is that if it is rich, loose and deep, you are going to have healthy, good yielding, potent plants. I try very hard to reach that point so that I dont have to do much fertilizing. Im not always successful and be assured that Im not going to loose yield because of nutrient needs so if come flowering time if the plant demonstrates any deficiencies, i pour some fast acting ferts on it.

There are only 2 times I consider chemical ferts.
1. In the first 60 days or so. If you miss this early season growth spurt it cant be made up so if nitrogen is needed i pour it on.
2. At or near the beginning of flowering if the plants appear deficient or buds arent developing quickly, Ill pour any fast acting bloom buster on it until it responds better. As said earlier, I try to avoid even this, as the pot will taste like chemicals but sometimes its a must.

fisheadbob your statement there about harvest time and bambi is interesting. I have never had any creature on the planet, starving or otherwise, even look at flowering, resin producing, stinky dank bud of cannabis. In fact, i thought that was agood way for an animal or human for that matter, to die. Die dead as I thought it was poison in that state. Have you had mature plants eaten by anything????