Legion Of Living Organic Soil

[cloudyhelads]

Trustfall, I don't think I could control the odor if all my plants were blowing up at once. Also i like the constant tinkering; take a couple clones, trim a couple oz, transplant etc. I feel like i have a really good flow in perpetual. I grow 11-12 week finishers and run 6 (wink) deep in my flower tent. The move I'm making now is towards having a large container of real living soil.
Smokie, i think that you are right that I would be loosing something by not letting the transplant shock adjust before starting flower. The only other downside I could see is if the living soil cannot survive a constant 12/12 cycle.
I need to make an adjustment anyways, because when I moved into the 4x4 tent last year (out of a 3x3 home made closet) i did not realize how much tighter and susceptible to condensation the tent would be. I need to put my dehumidifier inside the tent with the grow. New England summers are so wet, and the large pots exude so much humidity that I was getting some bud rot.

 

[cloudyhelads]

It is a never ending game. Love it. My room with multiple tents and lights allows a perpetual grow just by sheer nature of the set up. I have a small production level to keep, but nothing difficult. I grow for the love of gardening and the plant itself. Hobbiests with a single light and tent can't enjoy the world of perpetual. Clones to veg, to flower tent. Each environment controlled to growth stage needs. Humidity, temps, light source and cycles. I'm still trying to get it all mesh together smoothly. I do however appreciate the idea of getting thru one crop at a time.

Ha you said it better than me. Do you have a journal here?

 

[OldSmokie76]

Ha you said it better than me. Do you have a journal here?

Yeah. Umm, link. Hmmmm. Search the title Ongoing Soil Grow. You'll find me.

 

[JediHustle]

Hey, i'm running my first organic soil. Using the water only KIS organics biochar mix, veg has been about 4 weeks and they're almost ready to flower. I noticed signs of Cal deficiency, what would be some great organic methods to bump up Calcium? I'm just feeding with water and microbes, and recharge.

 

[OldSmokie76]

Hey, i'm running my first organic soil. Using the water only KIS organics biochar mix, veg has been about 4 weeks and they're almost ready to flower. I noticed signs of Cal deficiency, what would be some great organic methods to bump up Calcium? I'm just feeding with water and microbes, and recharge.

I've heard a lot of good things about oyster shell for calcium. Not sure how quickly it is available for correcting deficiency though. Mostly read about it as a soil amendment. I've been adding chicken eggshells to my recycle soil bin allowing it to breakdown over a few months. Can you transplant to larger container with some fresh soil before flower?

 

[Kepp89]

if you dont mind helping a virgin grower here...i just bought some reds biochar soil. do i still need nutrients for my plant?

ive heard many people say as long as its high quality organic soil that has its own (living system?) the soil will have all the nutrients? but these people say this when they make their own soil.... is this reds biochar soil comparable to what these people would be talking about?

i have some compost tea i'll be using as well, ill mix it with distilled water. tap water i'll be watering the plants with is a pH of around 8.1

thanks!

 

[OldSmokie76]

if you dont mind helping a virgin grower here...i just bought some reds biochar soil. do i still need nutrients for my plant?

ive heard many people say as long as its high quality organic soil that has its own (living system?) the soil will have all the nutrients? but these people say this when they make their own soil.... is this reds biochar soil comparable to what these people would be talking about?

i have some compost tea i'll be using as well, ill mix it with distilled water. tap water i'll be watering the plants with is a pH of around 8.1

thanks!

What base soil are you starting with? From my understanding, biochar is just an amendment for soil that acts as a "nutrient sponge". Not sure if it alone holds a full spectrum of nutrient value. Many organic growers use it in addition to a balanced soil that includes various amendments. Compost teas are for boosting the microherd and offering some nutrients to the soil. @Organikz I'm sure has more knowledge on the subject.

 

[Kepp89]

What base soil are you starting with? From my understanding, biochar is just an amendment for soil that acts as a "nutrient sponge". Not sure if it alone holds a full spectrum of nutrient value. Many organic growers use it in addition to a balanced soil that includes various amendments. Compost teas are for boosting the microherd and offering some nutrients to the soil. @Organikz I'm sure has more knowledge on the subject.

thank you for the info. i was going to use just the bio char unless 'tis a silly thing. could you point me in the direction for a top notch soil? i'm only growing 1 plant in an eventually 7 gallon fabric pot. still gathering the items.

thanks!

 

[Smoking Gun]

@cloudyhelads, rough go with the mites, but glad to hear that you seemingly have everything under control now. The drench is a good idea but it’s not always the best idea to mix different insecticides/fungicides in the same mix. Some may have interactions with one another that would have negative reactions. It’s always best to use multiple products with several days between each application.

@Kepp89, go buy a proper potting soil (not miracle grow) and add the biochar to it, though I am not sure the exact ratio. Buy a simple all purpose organic liquid fertilizer to use on your plants. After learning to grow in that and doing a whole lot more research on soil building you should be ready to mix your own soil. Also that tap water pH is a bit high, see if bubbling it for 24 hours helps bring the pH down.

 

[OldSmokie76]

Tap water bad at 8....pH. might have to adjust that for use. As far as a base soil.... I've built my own from scratch. I've also used fox farms happy frog potting mix. Lightly amended and includes some mykos straight outta the bag. Currently I'm using the happy frog for vegging a few weeks. When I'm ready to put the ol girls in flower tent I transplant into a super soil mix in a larger container. The super soil is amended with a lot of goodies to get thru the rest of the grow with water and a weekly compost tea. I still keep on hand a few liquid nutes from Nectar for the Gods when needed. Ultimately, in your situation I'd use something like happy frog for veg then get a stronger mix for the final container and transplant a week before flipping the light schedule. Instead of building a soil mix for a single grow, you could get away with some bagged mixes from the stores. I know Amazon has some pre packaged mixes. Shipping $$$. What local stores do you have for potting mix? Local grow shops cater to various mix needs. If you want to mix your own, there's lots of threads on here dealing with soil mixes.

 

[crimsonecho]

Hey, i'm running my first organic soil. Using the water only KIS organics biochar mix, veg has been about 4 weeks and they're almost ready to flower. I noticed signs of Cal deficiency, what would be some great organic methods to bump up Calcium? I'm just feeding with water and microbes, and recharge.

If its a deficiency its better to attack with a bottled products as @OldSmokie76 suggested. Organic matter needs time to decompose.

 

[crimsonecho]

thank you for the info. i was going to use just the bio char unless 'tis a silly thing. could you point me in the direction for a top notch soil? i'm only growing 1 plant in an eventually 7 gallon fabric pot. still gathering the items.

thanks!

You have to charge biochar first or it will act as a sponge in the soil and adsorb nutrient in the soil.
In a rich nutrient tea for a week or so. Not microbe tea tho.
I couldn’t get biochar where i live went with activated carbon to make slow release fertilizer. Had some biobizz and homemade fpe around the house. So i mixed fish-mix, alg-a-mic, banana fpe, alfalfa fpe, re-veg fpe, molasses. Let the carbon soak as much as it can for a week.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Hey, i'm running my first organic soil. Using the water only KIS organics biochar mix, veg has been about 4 weeks and they're almost ready to flower. I noticed signs of Cal deficiency, what would be some great organic methods to bump up Calcium? I'm just feeding with water and microbes, and recharge.

Jedi, Hi. I believe that for your soil you could add Cacilytic Lime. That would be readily available to plants in short order. Also Gypsum is good to regulate Calcium with other nutrients (i.e. potassium) My info comes from Growarchea.com which has good info on reading soil tests and amending. Hope this helps

 

[crimsonecho]

Jedi, Hi. I believe that for your soil you could add Cacilytic Lime. That would be readily available to plants in short order. Also Gypsum is good to regulate Calcium with other nutrients (i.e. potassium) My info comes from Growarchea.com which has good info on reading soil tests and amending. Hope this helps

Calcitic lime is good but it will mess your ph in the long run.

 

[OldSmokie76]

You have to charge biochar first or it will act as a sponge in the soil and adsorb nutrient in the soil.
In a rich nutrient tea for a week or so. Not microbe tea tho.
I couldn’t get biochar where i live went with activated carbon to make slow release fertilizer. Had some biobizz and homemade fpe around the house. So i mixed fish-mix, alg-a-mic, banana fpe, alfalfa fpe, re-veg fpe, molasses. Let the carbon soak as much as it can for a week.

Fpe? Fermented plant extract. I've seen mention of fpe's. These differ from bubbled compost teas. Correct? No arration?

 

[crimsonecho]

Fpe? Fermented plant extract. I've seen mention of fpe's. These differ from bubbled compost teas. Correct? No arration?

Yeah its all about lactobacilli. People also do nutrient teas without aeration (1 week or so in a bottle or a drum) but you need composted material for that. With fpe you’re composting fresh material at a faster rate and end up with concentrated liquid nutrients, enzymes and all the good stuff.

 

[OldSmokie76]

Yeah its all about lactobacilli. People also do nutrient teas without aeration but you need composted material for that. With fpe you’re composting fresh material at a faster rate and end up with concentrated liquid nutrients, enzymes and all the good stuff.

I've been saving all my trimmings from veg and stems after harvest for a reason. I'm gonna check out the process. Off to the archives!

 

[crimsonecho]

I've been saving all my trimmings from veg and stems after harvest for a reason. I'm gonna check out the process. Off to the archives!

Happy research :)
Tho i can throw in some tips.
Look at harvesting lactobacilli from air. Its pretty easy with rice wash and milk.
Check ph along the way (both for lactobacillus serum and fpe) (needs to be fairly acidic when the process is over, my fpes are at 3.5)
It better to use fresh material for fpe ime, it breaks down quicker.
Doing some specific nutrients is better imo, like banana peels for potassium or alfalfa for enzymes and nitrogen etc.. these are actually plant boosters and they really work.
And always use one of those bubbling airlocks or bottles will explode :)

 

[OldSmokie76]

Happy research :)
Tho i can throw in some tips.
Look at harvesting lactobacilli from air. Its pretty easy with rice wash and milk.
Check ph along the way (both for lactobacillus serum and fpe) (needs to be fairly acidic when the process is over, my fpes are at 3.5)
It better to use fresh material for fpe ime, it breaks down quicker.
Doing some specific nutrients is better imo, like banana peels for potassium or alfalfa for enzymes and nitrogen etc.. these are actually plant boosters and they really work.
And always use one of those bubbling airlocks or bottles will explode :)

I have some beer brewing equipment I'm about to turn into a fpe machine. LMAO!

 

[Organikz]

I think watering should be discussed because it's a different train of thought from nutrient based. Also a lot harder to dial in, one of the few things that I feel organics may take more effort in.

I just got a blumat system but I'm still hand watering.

For hand watering the best way I've found for me is watering daily, using a sprayer with a fine mist, something around 1/4 gallon for 15 gallon pot but I don't measure. I start by soaking the edges just enough so I can very lightly see the liquid through the fabric pot. I do this around the entire pot.

Then I focus on the center of the pot never staying still unless I'm a large distance away and don't see any puddling of any form. I then go back to the outside edges but not on the pot itself, water around a little and let it sit.

I give it about 10 minutes and come back and throw a small bead of water around the fabric pot and if it soaks through fairly easy my soil seems to be happy.

@Organikz anything you can point out to improve my hand watering or give general advice to others?

This is the area I single handedly struggled the most with. I never grew anything before and only threw water in a couple snake plants with perlite and miracle grow.

I still dont know if I'm doing it the most efficient way but it works good for me. I only have one censor and it reads around 150m bar or whatever it is. I just base my other 3 around that ones soil moisture

Sorry I am late to the party on this. I water lightly but frequently. The best way to check is to stick your finger in the soil and if its bone dry up to your first knuckle its water time. A tensiometer will work wonders in larger bodies of soil. I keep one every 2x2 foot area. In smaller pots I always keep one pot unwatered but filled with soil as a benchmark when I'm working with a different type of aeration. I'm on a big hunt right now so I'm using rice hulls.

I like blumat but sometimes they aren't practical. I've flooded my room 5 too many times.