Please help me identify if these ingredients of living soil are correct.

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tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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Sounds great to me. Whats your plan for the grow in general?

How much soil? Is the goal 100% soil fed?
 
logart

logart

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Let me just say, this will be my first time. I'm planning growing indoors with fully organic philosophy in mind. I don't like the idea of using liquid fertilizers. I even don't like the idea of using those "organic" liquid fertilizers. In theory, if the plant needs more nutrients i should be able to transplant to a new pot with fresh living soil with fresh nutrients no? I see a lot of people using compost tea but i doubt it really will add much nutrients, it makes more sense giving the plant more living soil if it needs more. What you guys think?
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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Let me just say, this will be my first time. I'm planning growing indoors with fully organic philosophy in mind. I don't like the idea of using liquid fertilizers. I even don't like the idea of using those "organic" liquid fertilizers. In theory, if the plant needs more nutrients i should be able to transplant to a new pot with fresh living soil with fresh nutrients no? I see a lot of people using compost tea but i doubt it really will add much nutrients, it makes more sense giving the plant more living soil if it needs more. What you guys think?

100% soil fed can definitely be done, it can just be a little more difficult indoors because even a 15 gallon pot (which is pretty big for indoor) is pretty small compared to how big the roots can grow unbounded.

What I would recommend is to have some fish hydrolysate or something ready just in case you need it during flower. Great soil will bring you through veg no problem.
 
logart

logart

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So what is the right way to do it? I'm looking to grow in a 2x4 tent. I've read that you can put ideally two 5-gallon pots inside a 2x4 space. With only soil fed i will need bigger pots that 5-gallon?
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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So what is the right way to do it? I'm looking to grow in a 2x4 tent. I've read that you can put ideally two 5-gallon pots inside a 2x4 space. With only soil fed i will need bigger pots that 5-gallon?

In the past when I did living soil in doors in a 20 gal smart pot some strains would require some additional liquid organic feed and some wouldn’t. 5 gal definitely will IMO, which is not a huge deal.

Based on your goals, I would look at grass roots fabric planters. They have a 2x4 fabric bed. I would also look at the earth-box, which 15 gal self watering container that would fit in your space.

Check out the build-a-soil’s instagram. they do incredible living soil grows in tents.
 
logart

logart

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are those 5 gallon pots? Damn i wish i could just build my own living soil instead of buying it. But i can see they are using a lot of specialized products as well, and i don't live in the US or Canada tho, where you can get whatever you want. I just checked their soil recipes, https://buildasoil.com/blogs/news/17627464-build-a-soil-from-scratch-in-2-simple-steps, Soil recipe two sounds good, but for example i can't find Karanja Cake locally, i might be able to find kelp meal, Crustacean Meal can't find, there's many ingredients i can't find in mexico easily, i might be able to travel to the US and pick up stuff but i prefer to find a way to cultivate with whatever i can find here. I know i can find Worm castings, Verm, Canadian peat moss, coco coir, Straw for mulching, horse aged manure.

I found a growshop here that sells Happy Frog soil and Fox Farm Ocean Forest, and also the soil that i posted in the OP. That's what i found online here. Other than that, is very hard here to find quality specialized products. Could any of what i already mentioned be used to make a living soil via composting?
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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Those are 15 gallon bags. Based on the ingredients, the soil you posted earlier looks better than fox farms IMO. You are going to want some dry amendments to apply throughout your grow, but they don't have to be the same ones that build-a-soil uses. Kelp meal is great, quality worm castings are amazing, manure is good if you can trust the source, but a lot of horse manure has contaminants.

I would start with that Mountainside Orgánicos soil as a base and continue to build it with the organic amendments that are available. Again have some liquid organic fertilizer on the side just in case you need it.
 
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tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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Minnesota Nice is another great resource for no till living organics.

He feeds mostly kelp meal, alfalfa meal, and seedling teas all processed by his worms, and also rocks the 15 gallon bags indoors.

 
sambapati

sambapati

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Don't forget rice husks....if you aren't using any perlite you can also put your wine corks in a blender and that will also work
 
logart

logart

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Those were really helpful videos, i also read this https://www.dudegrows.com/notillfornoobs/

Now i want to use 15 gallon pots XD. I guess i can travel to the US with my truck and buy all the ingredients, amendments, soils that i will need in build-a-soil dot com because as far as i understood, i will be using the same living soil for years, so i won't have to buy it again no? I will just the amendments that i will need to recharge the battery (nutrients) of my soil, kelp meal, neem cake, crustacean and the minerals. Or i can buy the mexican soil of the OP, and just buy the amendments and minerals i can't find here in the US.

What i don't get is transplanting, since no tillage means not disturbing the soil in the 15 gallon pots, after harvest, i remove the plan, leave the roots, and removing the plant will leave a hole that can be used to transplant a new plant there, correct? After i have a mother that is giving me healthy clones, i put the clones into rapid rooters, then transplant it to a small pot, then to the 15 gallon pot hole that the other plant leaved? That's it? Basically just rapid rooters, 3 gallon pot, then 15 gallon pot? Or am i missing a transplant between the 3 gallon pot and the 15 gallon pot?


Also how do you maintain the mother plant "battery" all charge up the whole year with no-till? Transplants and top-dressings as well?
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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I like to start my seed in a solo cup and then transplant into the final container. Lots of ways to do this, some notill growers start their seeds directly in the final container. I have never kept a mother plant, so I cannot comment on that.
 
logart

logart

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That's another thing, having a motherplant, meaning having two separate spaces for flowering and Veg and is just too much hassle. I might just use seeds each time. To be honest i don't like the idea of transplanting, the less the better. Thanks for the answers :)
 
logart

logart

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Yes, i will, in fact i guess i'll just use this thread. Now i'm in the process of learning. So, i what i want to focus on, besides buying everything i need for growing, light tents, pots, etc, is building and growing life in my soil.

What would be the best way to build and grow life in my soil? I was thinking mixing Base soil, nutrient amendments and mineral amendments in a tote in example, water the whole mix, close the tote lid to get fungal and bacterial growth for a few days in the dark, then once i see fungal activity, transfer the mix to 15 gallon pots, add worms and cover crop seeds? Get the 15 gallon pots to the yard for the cover crop to get some sunshine? Keep it moist at all time, never let it dry. Once i see worms, and crops thriving, it will be finally considered living soil? then the 15 gallon pots will be ready to be moved indoors for planting cannabis seed or clones in it. Can i keep the 15 gallon pot outdoors in the yard with sunlight until i'm finally ready to use it indoors?
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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I personally would do it indoors so you don't bring in too many pests right off the bat. Doesn't take much light/wattage to grow a cover crop.
 
sambapati

sambapati

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Yes, i will, in fact i guess i'll just use this thread. Now i'm in the process of learning. So, i what i want to focus on, besides buying everything i need for growing, light tents, pots, etc, is building and growing life in my soil.

What would be the best way to build and grow life in my soil? I was thinking mixing Base soil, nutrient amendments and mineral amendments in a tote in example, water the whole mix, close the tote lid to get fungal and bacterial growth for a few days in the dark, then once i see fungal activity, transfer the mix to 15 gallon pots, add worms and cover crop seeds? Get the 15 gallon pots to the yard for the cover crop to get some sunshine? Keep it moist at all time, never let it dry. Once i see worms, and crops thriving, it will be finally considered living soil? then the 15 gallon pots will be ready to be moved indoors for planting cannabis seed or clones in it. Can i keep the 15 gallon pot outdoors in the yard with sunlight until i'm finally ready to use it indoors?
Browse around the organic gardening section here and luck at several youtube videos for ideas. What is ideal may be tough in an environment like ours. I live in Thailand and came outside to see my plants being devoured by bugs. They put up a neon sign @Gourmet Treats. I'm being successful in a grow indoors using a Mars Hydro/cfls/day light. I have lots of worms in my compost pile. Have so many coffee grounds, seashells, durian husks, ash. I tried to use that compost ---- everyone said TOo Hot!!!! That was my 'vision' but if I had read up you have to age the soil 6 months prior to use. I just would like to see u be happy w some mota. Written plan? Devil in the details.
 
logart

logart

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Hell yeah, i just want to grow for my own consumption. I understand, i can do 6 months to build my living soil no problem, as far as i understand, if your soil is too hot and you have worms, then you have much less risk to nutrient burn your plant. Worms are a must according to what i've learned in these few days. I will buy the base soil and the nutrient/mineral additives, mix them, put them in 15 gallon pots, straw mulch, put them under a CFL light bulb (i guess that will be enough light to build a living soil) add red worms at some point. At the end of the 6th month, i will have many 15-pot containers with no-till living soil ready to receive some plant transplant.

I was thinking for no-till purposes, germinating the seed there and skip the transplanting. But then i worry about soil being too much nutrient rich, burning my plant, as far as i understand plants should be introduced to nutrients slowly. But then with worms, they kind of acts like nutrients stabilizers, and after 6 months of building my soil with worms, maybe i can get away with germinating the seed directly into the soil without transplanting and tilling the soil?
 

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