Best soil mixtures:

[Frankster]

What is your best soil mixtures, please share.

I will start:

Composted forest
humus
Sandy loam
Sphagnum peat moss
Coco coir (sometimes labeled coco fiber)
Perlite
Earthworm castings
Bat guano
Fish meal
Crab meal
Bone meal
Blood meal
Azomite
Pumice
Kelp
Dolomite lime
Greensand
Mycorrhizae
Leonardite

 

[LittleDabbie]

Yes all that plus more thats already in my soil cuz i bought it cuz im too lazy to make that shit :D

 

[MIMedGrower]

What is your best soil mixtures, please share.

I will start:

Composted forest
humus
Sandy loam
Sphagnum peat moss
Coco coir (sometimes labeled coco fiber)
Perlite
Earthworm castings
Bat guano
Fish meal
Crab meal
Bone meal
Blood meal
Azomite
Pumice
Kelp
Dolomite lime
Greensand
Mycorrhizae
Leonardite

Sounds nice and complete. Could you share the amounts. The recipe?

 

[Frankster]

Yes all that plus more thats already in my soil cuz i bought it cuz im too lazy to make that shit :D

I've been doing the same, but want to move to the next best thing.

Yea, I'm trying to get others to share some of their recipe, as I've got so much dirt out at my property out here in the cascades. (12 acres virgin rain forest), so I got that end covered. Plus, a lot of the dirt i see in my forest already has lots of mycorrhizal network already well established, (mushrooms all over, and ferns) so if I can get a good formula, I think I can do much better with that vs the fox farms "frogs" that I usually use. The dirt looks almost identical.

 

[Frankster]

Here's another I found: Looks like this is the recipe for 20 to 30 gallons of soil.

• Super Soil Ingredients
  
  .3125 lb. - 5 oz. Fish Bone Meal 3-16-0
  
  .3125 lb. - 5 oz. Bone Meal 2-14-0
  
  .625 lb. - 10 oz. Hi Phos Bat Guano 0-7-0
  
  .3125 lb. - 5 oz. Blood Meal 13-0-0
  
  .3125 lb. - 5 oz. Feather Meal 12-0-0
  
  .375 lb. - 6 oz. Soft Rock Phosphate
  
  1/16 cp. Azomite (67+ Trace Minerals)
  
  1/16 cp. Sweet Lime (Dolomite)
  
  3/32 cp. Epsom Salt
  
  1/16 cp. Soluble Kelp Powder 0-0-17
  
  1/16 cup Mycorrhizal Fungi
  
  3/4 tsp. Powdered Humic Acid 90% Pure
  
  
  
  Super soil is a term created by Subcool to describe a soil recipe he uses to help simplify the process of attaining an ideal harvest no matter your level of growing expertise. It is a highly organic amended growing medium that eliminates the need to use liquid nutrients. He got his nickname from working as a hvac field technician at a family owned business. He has over 30 years of experience as a well-known grower, book author, photographer, video producer, and seed producer.
  The whole concept of Super Soil is to create a well-balanced and highly dense nutrient organic living growing medium for stronger plants that mimics or acts as a natural outdoor grow environment. Eliminates the need to flush plants, saves time on having to not make pH adjustments, saves money on costs of additional supplements due to nutrient imbalances. All you should have to do is water which should be the only thing that you need to keep check of ph. Do not plant directly into it!
  Super Soil concentrate is to be used at a rate of 25% for light feeders and autos to 50% for heavy feeders to the total container volume in addition to base potting soil.
  Recommended Base Soils – organic mycochorizal enriched soils such as Roots Organic, Harvest Moon, Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil combined in a 2-to-l ratio with Light Warrior, Sunshine #4, Pro Mix, and Dr Earth Homegrown Organic. Ocean Forest is known for burning plants but when cut with Light Warrior, it makes a good base-soil mix.
  
  Mixing - There are several ways to mix these ingredients well. You can sweep up a patio or garage and work there on a tarp, or you can use a plastic wading pool for kids. (These cost about 10 bucks apiece and work well for a few seasons.) Some growers have been known to rent a cement mixer to cut down on the physical labor. Whatever method you use, all that matters in the end is that you get all the ingredients thoroughly mixed. This can be a lot of work, so be careful not to pull a muscle if you're not used to strenuous activity. On the other hand, the physical effort involved is good for mind and body and working with soil has kept me in pretty good shape.
  · Pour half of your base soil into your mixing container first, making a mound.
• · Then pour the powdered nutrients in a circle around the mound.
• · Add in your Earthworm Castings trying to cover everything.
• · Then cover or spread out the remaining half bag of base soil.
• · Mix thoroughly for at least 10 minutes always turning the soil over and over until it's completely mixed. Break up any soil clods by hand during the process.
• · Add water in slowly and mix super soil for additional 5 minutes. **Remember a little at a time until entire pile becomes just moist enough for soil to stick together as a snowball when clinched in your fist**. Though it makes stirring the soil harder, adding water will activate the mycorrhizae and help all the powders dissolve.
• · Store your Super Soil in a large container or garbage can for 21-30 days to cook.

Cook Process - Store in covered container or can in sun or room maintaining temperature above 70 degrees for 30 days for the cook process to work. Open container at least once weekly to check moisture content and give a good stir. Add water as needed to maintain its dampness.

Planting Time - fill your container 1/3 to 1/2 full of Super Soil. Add a couple inches of plain base soil and gently work this into your Super Soil. This will create a buffer zone for root system from base soil into the good stuff. Finish topping off your container with your organic base soil. Make hole for your transplant or clone. Moisten its roots and cover root system with 1 tbsp. Mycorrhizal Fungi. Set plant or clone in container and water well.

 

[Frankster]

Here's the actual "original" recipe from subcool himself: RIP ( Subcool, died on Feb. 1. 2020)


Here are the amounts we’ve found will produce the best-tasting buds and strongest medicines:

• 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil)
• 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
• 5 lbs steamed bone meal
• 5 lbs Bloom bat guano
• 5 lbs blood meal
• 3 lbs rock phosphate
• ¾ cup Epson salts
• ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
• ½ cup azomite (trace elements)
• 2 tbsp powdered humic acid

This is the same basic recipe I’ve been using for the past 15 years. The hardest ingredient to acquire are the worm castings (especially since many people don’t even know what they are. FYI: worm poop). But don’t decide to just skip them: Be resourceful. After all, worms comprise up to ¾ of the living organisms found underground, and they’re crucial to holding our planet together. Also, don’t waste money on a “soil conditioner” with worm castings; source out some local pure worm poop with no added mulch.

 

[LittleDabbie]

Cook Process - Store in covered container or can in sun or room maintaining temperature above 70 degrees for 30 days for the cook process to work. Open container at least once weekly to check moisture content and give a good stir. Add water as needed to maintain its dampness.


Why does the soil need to " cook " Is what I've never understood..

 

[LittleDabbie]

Answered my own question.. But found this read interesting.

If you have been reading about cultivating indoors with organic soil then you've heard of SubCool's Super Soil. I admit to starting with this mix and thought I was really doing something special when I first went for it. I bought all the stuff and was really excited to use it.

My results were actually pretty good, but I've since moved on I think you should too.

Besides the "base soil" being purchased instead of made from scratch, I have many other issues. All in all, taking bagged soil and adding worm castings and nutrients isn't a bad idea, but it can be improved upon and money can be saved.

Here is the Recipe: 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil) 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings 5 lbs steamed bone meal 5 lbs Bloom bat guano 5 lbs blood meal 3 lbs rock phosphate ¾ cup Epson salts ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite) ½ cup azomite (trace elements) 2 tbsp powdered humic acid

Now I'll go through each item:

1. Bagged soil - WHY? when we are going to the trouble to mix all of this up anyways, me might as well save some money and increase the quality. The other factor here is having exact control over the inputs. These soils already have unknown quantities of nutrients and the quality control isn't perfect, what if you get a hot batch and then further amend it? I would avoid the potential room for problems and make a soil using many standard recipes but most go with 1 part peat, 1 part compost and 1 part aeration.
2. Mycorrhizae: Adding this to your soil doesn't make sense and is a waste of resources. Anyone who works with mycorrhizae will tell you to apply to the rootzone at transplant or seedling stage. Obviously this super soil mix is for the bottom of the container and nowhere near the rootzone at the proper time. Basically just a complete waste of Myco.
3. 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings: I agree with using wormcastings but that is a WIDE range to apply. Why 25 - 50? I think that when building your base mix you should be factoring in a certain percentage of castings and compost. Not adding to this all later on in a made up way.
4. 5 lbs steamed bone meal - This is a by-product from the Cattle industry and is really not a good input for organic soil production. Fish bone meal however is great for this same purpose and is safer to use.
5. 5 lbs Bloom bat guano - Guano is very expensive and really not neccessary. This is a fast release nutrient and is more in line with the feed the plant regimen instead of soil building. That and harvesting guano is rarely safe and sustainable, there are many reasons to avoid this.... Plus the Fish bone meal that we just mentioned has you covered already along with all the other plant based amendments and worm castings that you should be using.
6. 5 lbs blood meal - More slaughterhouse waste and sure to be unclean. Why use the blood from McDonalds cows when you can add nitrogen so easily through alfalfa meal, fish meal and or worm castings.
7. 3 lbs rock phosphate - This is the 3rd phosphate product and it makes sense because in a soil this rich and without the mycorrhizae actually working like it should there isn't going to be a very good way to access P. That's okay, in a properly built soil you don't need a million sources of P, the plants will get it and the biology and fungi will make sure of it. Not only that but soft rock phosphate is high in heavy metals like cadmium that are proven to be harmful. When growing cannabis, the trichomes will store the heavy metals and smoking the plant will not allow the typical body safety system of passing through the liver etc. before going into your blood. For this reason materials high in heavy metals are typically avoided.
8. ¾ cup Epsom salts - Absolutely no reason to add more magnesium sulfate to a good soil mix. A little known fact about soil is that the Calcium to Magmesium Ratio will control the texture of the soil and adding epsom salts is a good way to tighten the soil and there are better ways to get sulfur, like gypsum.
9. ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite) - Dolomite lime should be avoided as it is completely out of balance with the proper Calcium to magnesium ratios for proper soil building. Especially when considering long term no-till soil use.
10. ½ cup azomite (trace elements) - This is good stuff and is just a "brand" name rock dust that has all the elements from A-Z hence Azomite.... thing is, that also includes heavy metals. While I'd use this in the veggie garden, many will avoid this in the medicine garden.
11. 2 tbsp powdered humic acid - Good advice but humic acid typically purchased at the grow shop is from leanordite and isn't really helpful and is very expensive. Avoid this and get Ful-Power from Bio-ag and use it with waterings.

So then after all this work. You mix this up and let it sit for 30 days. Then use this in the BOTTOM of your soil container. What is interesting is that all though this makes sense at first glance... it's all way off. Nature doesn't have all the nutrients on the bottom in fact it's the opposite, all the plants in nature have the nutrients on the top. That is why building a soil, using mulch and topdressing work so well. It's things like this that make the real organic gardners and farmers laugh at all of us sometimes.

So if you've been using super soil, don't feel bad, I think we all did at some point and I owe Subcool a lot because he actually got this semi-organic mix discussed enough that the mainstream took notice... that alone was helpful at getting me to where I am today.

I hope this article helps!

What's So Cool About Super Soil? The Super Soil Recipe Breakdown.

Subcool's Super Soil was something that gave me good results to begin with, but a closer look at the recipe and some research of my own, there's definitely a better solution. Let's breakdown The Super Soil recipe.

buildasoil.com

 

[Frankster]

Answered my own question.. But found this read interesting.

If you have been reading about cultivating indoors with organic soil then you've heard of SubCool's Super Soil. I admit to starting with this mix and thought I was really doing something special when I first went for it. I bought all the stuff and was really excited to use it.

My results were actually pretty good, but I've since moved on I think you should too.

Besides the "base soil" being purchased instead of made from scratch, I have many other issues. All in all, taking bagged soil and adding worm castings and nutrients isn't a bad idea, but it can be improved upon and money can be saved.

Here is the Recipe: 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil) 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings 5 lbs steamed bone meal 5 lbs Bloom bat guano 5 lbs blood meal 3 lbs rock phosphate ¾ cup Epson salts ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite) ½ cup azomite (trace elements) 2 tbsp powdered humic acid

Now I'll go through each item:

1. Bagged soil - WHY? when we are going to the trouble to mix all of this up anyways, me might as well save some money and increase the quality. The other factor here is having exact control over the inputs. These soils already have unknown quantities of nutrients and the quality control isn't perfect, what if you get a hot batch and then further amend it? I would avoid the potential room for problems and make a soil using many standard recipes but most go with 1 part peat, 1 part compost and 1 part aeration.
2. Mycorrhizae: Adding this to your soil doesn't make sense and is a waste of resources. Anyone who works with mycorrhizae will tell you to apply to the rootzone at transplant or seedling stage. Obviously this super soil mix is for the bottom of the container and nowhere near the rootzone at the proper time. Basically just a complete waste of Myco.
3. 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings: I agree with using wormcastings but that is a WIDE range to apply. Why 25 - 50? I think that when building your base mix you should be factoring in a certain percentage of castings and compost. Not adding to this all later on in a made up way.
4. 5 lbs steamed bone meal - This is a by-product from the Cattle industry and is really not a good input for organic soil production. Fish bone meal however is great for this same purpose and is safer to use.
5. 5 lbs Bloom bat guano - Guano is very expensive and really not neccessary. This is a fast release nutrient and is more in line with the feed the plant regimen instead of soil building. That and harvesting guano is rarely safe and sustainable, there are many reasons to avoid this.... Plus the Fish bone meal that we just mentioned has you covered already along with all the other plant based amendments and worm castings that you should be using.
6. 5 lbs blood meal - More slaughterhouse waste and sure to be unclean. Why use the blood from McDonalds cows when you can add nitrogen so easily through alfalfa meal, fish meal and or worm castings.
7. 3 lbs rock phosphate - This is the 3rd phosphate product and it makes sense because in a soil this rich and without the mycorrhizae actually working like it should there isn't going to be a very good way to access P. That's okay, in a properly built soil you don't need a million sources of P, the plants will get it and the biology and fungi will make sure of it. Not only that but soft rock phosphate is high in heavy metals like cadmium that are proven to be harmful. When growing cannabis, the trichomes will store the heavy metals and smoking the plant will not allow the typical body safety system of passing through the liver etc. before going into your blood. For this reason materials high in heavy metals are typically avoided.
8. ¾ cup Epsom salts - Absolutely no reason to add more magnesium sulfate to a good soil mix. A little known fact about soil is that the Calcium to Magmesium Ratio will control the texture of the soil and adding epsom salts is a good way to tighten the soil and there are better ways to get sulfur, like gypsum.
9. ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite) - Dolomite lime should be avoided as it is completely out of balance with the proper Calcium to magnesium ratios for proper soil building. Especially when considering long term no-till soil use.
10. ½ cup azomite (trace elements) - This is good stuff and is just a "brand" name rock dust that has all the elements from A-Z hence Azomite.... thing is, that also includes heavy metals. While I'd use this in the veggie garden, many will avoid this in the medicine garden.
11. 2 tbsp powdered humic acid - Good advice but humic acid typically purchased at the grow shop is from leanordite and isn't really helpful and is very expensive. Avoid this and get Ful-Power from Bio-ag and use it with waterings.

So then after all this work. You mix this up and let it sit for 30 days. Then use this in the BOTTOM of your soil container. What is interesting is that all though this makes sense at first glance... it's all way off. Nature doesn't have all the nutrients on the bottom in fact it's the opposite, all the plants in nature have the nutrients on the top. That is why building a soil, using mulch and topdressing work so well. It's things like this that make the real organic gardners and farmers laugh at all of us sometimes.

So if you've been using super soil, don't feel bad, I think we all did at some point and I owe Subcool a lot because he actually got this semi-organic mix discussed enough that the mainstream took notice... that alone was helpful at getting me to where I am today.

I hope this article helps!

What's So Cool About Super Soil? The Super Soil Recipe Breakdown.

Subcool's Super Soil was something that gave me good results to begin with, but a closer look at the recipe and some research of my own, there's definitely a better solution. Let's breakdown The Super Soil recipe.

buildasoil.com

Yes, definitely agree with this philosophy, build a "living soil" and keep it going, add more too it, and treat it like a pet, giving it love, nurturing it, and letting it grow into something wonderful. Learn from it.

I'm not "throwing out" my soils anymore, there going to be recycled from here on out...

 

[oldskol4evr]

first thing i would do is drop the idea of adding coco.
your forest floor has more to offer,look for a dead tree that when you step on it,your foot falls into it,take that black gold called humus,then

search around for the shrooms dont use the honey shrooms,but collect that soil from around it also,next off collect plenty of that leaf litter from the top then about first 2 inches of the top soil.
take all that back to the cabin and mix and dump in a pile under a shaded tree,give just a tad of water dont drench just moisten it ,then find a old ass piece if carpet and throw on top that pile and walk away,come back in 6 months ,lift that carpet and you will see not only living soil but moving soil.
with this recipe all those amends arent needed it will come fresh from

mama nature,feed the soil teas if you have too,you most likely will never water or feed it if you did it right,only reason you should is if your in drought conditions.
not for everyone ,but the idea is there
i filled this ring 2 times with dead leaves and alfalfa hay,yard waste and table scraps,watered the leaves to heat up and cook,other than that and in a year and half,it has had no water,after the first fill of ring had broke down i planted this peach tree right in the middle of it,look at size of stalk,this tree is sitting right in top of a slate of rock at 8ft round,living in just that compost

 

[Frankster]

first thing i would do is drop the idea of adding coco.
your forest floor has more to offer,look for a dead tree that when you step on it,your foot falls into it,take that black gold called humus,then search around for the shrooms dont use the honey shrooms,but collect that soil from around it also,next off collect plenty of that leaf litter from the top then about first 2 inches of the top soil.
take all that back to the cabin and mix and dump in a pile under a shaded tree,give just a tad of water dont drench just moisten it ,then find a old ass piece if carpet and throw on top that pile and walk away,come back in 6 months ,lift that carpet and you will see not only living soil but moving soil.
with this recipe all those amends arent needed it will come fresh from
mama nature,feed the soil teas if you have too,you most likely will never water or feed it if you did it right,only reason you should is if your in drought conditions.
not for everyone ,but the idea is there
i filled this ring 2 times with dead leaves and alfalfa hay,yard waste and table scraps,watered the leaves to heat up and cook,other than that and in a year and half,it has had no water,after the first fill of ring had broke down i planted this peach tree right in the middle of it,look at size of stalk,this tree is sitting right in top of a slate of rock at 8ft round,living in just that compost

I've got tree's 150 foot long, and 6 foot round (at base) laying in my forest, literally hundreds of them in all various states of decomposition, (some are like pulp) literally rotting everywhere. At the bottom of the hillside, I've got a creek that runs though the center of the land off the mountain above, with pure artesian spring water 365 days a year, the creek in the video (above) is an underground spring that dumps in to my much larger creek, that one while visible (in the video) by the tree is mostly underground the rest of the way down....

Places in the woods where large conifers are broken down really seem to be the best spot, (to collect soil) that's where the mushrooms really seem to proliferate the most in the fall. I would say it rains out there probably 250-300 days a year, if nothing but a shower in the morning. It's usually not "rain" but more like a mist..

It's apparent that the mycorrhizal network out here is extremely ancient, probably 10,000 years old, when the glaciers melted, and this "mountain terrace" was formed... I have spots where it's flat and extends along the hillside, kinda like "bowls" or "mountain terraces" similar to what you see in china, (but with trees) where the snow melts, then it drops down about 15-20 feet down to another level that's the same as the one above it, all the way down over 900 feet...

The land is constantly "moving" out there. Once you dig down about 10-12 feet though the composted layer, there's solid clay... and big granite boulders (the size of trucks) down to small ones (hand sized) mixed in here an there...

People say "let it cook" but I think the best compost might actually be chilled...