From coco to living soil

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Theindoorfarmer

Theindoorfarmer

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I think you are right.
I'm going to use some of the Dr Earths dry ferts as topdressing. Saw a great video by Stealth Grows where you can just use their vegetable and flower ferts.
Doing my first grow now with dry amendments and loving it honestly. I put more in than I have too but I am pretty sure if I would just water would be good also. In flower at the moment and no big issues since the start of the grow. Will be starting week 3 soon and they are filling up and looking great. I heard dr earth and Gaia are pretty much the same thing. If you have any questions that I can help with just shoot anytime! Good luck with the grow!
I have 4 different strains in the pics atm.
Image

Image
 
AZsunfarmer

AZsunfarmer

261
63
Doing my first grow now with dry amendments and loving it honestly. I put more in than I have too but I am pretty sure if I would just water would be good also. In flower at the moment and no big issues since the start of the grow. Will be starting week 3 soon and they are filling up and looking great. I heard dr earth and Gaia are pretty much the same thing. If you have any questions that I can help with just shoot anytime! Good luck with the grow!
I have 4 different strains in the pics atm.
View attachment 1234614
View attachment 1234615
Are you just using their gaia green all purpose and power bloom?
 
Theindoorfarmer

Theindoorfarmer

102
43
Are you just using their gaia green all purpose and power bloom?
Yes, the 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 but I am adding some microbes in the mix and bio worm and silica si bloom and the original version. It’s all organic btw. It I don’t need all that I’m pretty sure I would be fine with just the 2-8-4 and the 4-4-4. I just like to micro manage everything. That might be me coming from the liquid nutes in coco but just watering was not enough I needed more lol :)
 
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Lp_jr

Lp_jr

89
18
Yes, the 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 but I am adding some microbes in the mix and bio worm and silica si bloom and the original version. It’s all organic btw. It I don’t need all that I’m pretty sure I would be fine with just the 2-8-4 and the 4-4-4. I just like to micro manage everything. That might be me coming from the liquid nutes in coco but just watering was not enough I needed more lol :)
Nice! With the dry ferts, its 2 tbs per gallon of soil every 3 weeks. I was planning on maybe cutting that in half to see how they grow.

Do you remember how much you were using?
 
Theindoorfarmer

Theindoorfarmer

102
43
Nice! With the dry ferts, its 2 tbs per gallon of soil every 3 weeks. I was planning on maybe cutting that in half to see how they grow.

Do you remember how much you were using?
Yes, it’s 3tbs/G of media and 25% worm castings added to media. So let’s say you are in 1 gal well 75%of pot is living soil, 25% worm castings and 3 tbs of 4-4-4 for veg.

Use same formula if you pot up for veg or if you go flower after the 1gal I would do;
At transplant in new pot would use a 50/50 ratio of the 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 for the start of flower with a 25% worm castings also. Then in week 4(for 8 -9 weeks strain) I would top dress with only the 2-8-4 bloom at 1 tbs/g with 3 tbs/g of worm castings added to the top dress.

Hope it’s not confusing.
I have a grow diary with some details you can look it up or ask anything. Sorry don’t know how to link it X).
Good luck buddy!
 
Theindoorfarmer

Theindoorfarmer

102
43
So no stress with this method. You usually would start in a propagation pot for 3-4 weeks or when you see the plants are looking hungry (yellowing of the bottom leafs) no stress there you wanna see that. Then it’s time to pot up. 1 to 1.5 gal same here with the ratio of dry amendments you have 3-4 weeks of food but let your plant tell you( don’t worry she won’t die and these bottom leafs will be gone anyway in not too long (defoliation and lolipoping) then it’s time to flower. Then get that 5-7 gal (I like 7 :) ) do the 50-50 mix but this time you don’t want to see her hungry that’s why I like better 7gal, more amendments available. You can also top dress a bit early and less but every week you choose how you do you. I ph my water some don’t but this way my head is clear that what is going in is good. I use TNB natural ph up as this is a natural product and it won’t harm the microbial life in your soil. But if you have a good source of water at 6.2-7ph you should be good 👍.
Sorry for the long post X)
Cheers!
 
Lp_jr

Lp_jr

89
18
So no stress with this method. You usually would start in a propagation pot for 3-4 weeks or when you see the plants are looking hungry (yellowing of the bottom leafs) no stress there you wanna see that. Then it’s time to pot up. 1 to 1.5 gal same here with the ratio of dry amendments you have 3-4 weeks of food but let your plant tell you( don’t worry she won’t die and these bottom leafs will be gone anyway in not too long (defoliation and lolipoping) then it’s time to flower. Then get that 5-7 gal (I like 7 :) ) do the 50-50 mix but this time you don’t want to see her hungry that’s why I like better 7gal, more amendments available. You can also top dress a bit early and less but every week you choose how you do you. I ph my water some don’t but this way my head is clear that what is going in is good. I use TNB natural ph up as this is a natural product and it won’t harm the microbial life in your soil. But if you have a good source of water at 6.2-7ph you should be good 👍.
Sorry for the long post X)
Cheers!
Thanks buddy!

It sounds sooo much easier than having to add everything to coco.
 
Terpeneluv

Terpeneluv

309
63
Thanks buddy!

It sounds sooo much easier than having to add everything to coco.
No question. I'll never, ever go back to that. Organic living soil works so well and it's far less time consuming, wasteful laborious.

To your original question: In my experience so far, 7 gallon is ideal, but then I could only do two in my tent. But now I use 5s, tea every couple of weeks and a couple topdressings in flower. That's it. I do, however, add molasses, fish poop/seaweed and a tad of microbes. Very sparingly though. Less is usually more, in my opinion.

No more pH up or down, no more endless nutes, way less mess and waste. Plus the added bonus I grow organically. Not only that, I'm going out of town for 5 days and so I have to do is have a friend water for me once while I'm gone. Game over for me.

Here's a couple pics of what's going on now. About the end of week 5 and ding great. Barney's Mimosa Orange Punch. Smells incredible. (
20220412 2149022
20220411 2111582
20220411 211113
20220411 195428
20220412 2149012
 
AZsunfarmer

AZsunfarmer

261
63
Y’a, no you don’t want to transplant autos. There you just need to remember to water the plant and not the pot.
I just purchased some Azos from extreme gardening. It is FN expensive! But I’m gonna to use it for a auto transplant just for fun.
 
Lp_jr

Lp_jr

89
18
Finally got the plants in the 5g pots with the living soil. At first, it didn't smell that bad, but the more I mixed it in...oooh boy. I thought Photosynthesis Plus stunk.
 
Lp_jr

Lp_jr

89
18
Growing in soil is very different. Much less watering.

I had some weird things happening to lower leaves, indicating mobile nutrients. I chalk it up to just low nutrients, so I mixed 2 tbs/gallon of soil to top dress along with some worm castings. Hopefully it fixes the issue.
 
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IMG 5802
oldskol4evr

oldskol4evr

12,306
438
Growing in soil is very different. Much less watering.

I had some weird things happening to lower leaves, indicating mobile nutrients. I chalk it up to just low nutrients, so I mixed 2 tbs/gallon of soil to top dress along with some worm castings. Hopefully it fixes the issue.
i wouldnt get too wrapped up in the living soil thing, i say that for this reason, living soil just cant be maintained in small containers, far as a tent goes 7 gal is ideal ,but thinking that even a said advertisment claims it will just be water only,well it will at first up until you wash all out from runoff .
living soil is as one person mentioned ,the great outdoors, it will live if the soil has no end.
outside the moisture stay on top of the 6 to 8 inchs ,it has no bottom for the water to settle ,just keeps going down,
in containers the moisture resides in the bottom 6 inch of the conatainer ,because it has well the bucket stopping it from draining completly
this in my opinion also makes me feel that with the so called knuckle tip for watering is crap inside in tents,the moisture is in the bottom of pot and you cant feel that ans water and wind up over watering ,drowning your roots and also making the best house for knats , instead use weight as your judge,outside the knuckle tip works best.
the best way to figure this all out is to let the plant droop and then feed.
so with the living soil you really pay more attention to feed the Soil not the plant,living is a colony of life in the zone,so some top dressing you buy even though it claims OMRI certified does mean it organic but doesnt say it is imediate available , so it really isnt helping right then right, so look more to feeding your colony instead of your plant.
sounds complcated ,but it really isnt
 
Lp_jr

Lp_jr

89
18
Man, you guys weren't kidding about how easy this was. 2nd week of flower and I only top dressed twice through the whole grow so far. No ph adjustment, spraying foliar sprays, nute burn, etc.

I'd never go back to coco.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
i wouldnt get too wrapped up in the living soil thing, i say that for this reason, living soil just cant be maintained in small containers, far as a tent goes 7 gal is ideal ,but thinking that even a said advertisment claims it will just be water only,well it will at first up until you wash all out from runoff .
living soil is as one person mentioned ,the great outdoors, it will live if the soil has no end.
outside the moisture stay on top of the 6 to 8 inchs ,it has no bottom for the water to settle ,just keeps going down,
in containers the moisture resides in the bottom 6 inch of the conatainer ,because it has well the bucket stopping it from draining completly
this in my opinion also makes me feel that with the so called knuckle tip for watering is crap inside in tents,the moisture is in the bottom of pot and you cant feel that ans water and wind up over watering ,drowning your roots and also making the best house for knats , instead use weight as your judge,outside the knuckle tip works best.
the best way to figure this all out is to let the plant droop and then feed.
so with the living soil you really pay more attention to feed the Soil not the plant,living is a colony of life in the zone,so some top dressing you buy even though it claims OMRI certified does mean it organic but doesnt say it is imediate available , so it really isnt helping right then right, so look more to feeding your colony instead of your plant.
sounds complcated ,but it really isnt
Great great info
 
ThatRapperWeed

ThatRapperWeed

544
93
Build a soil has some great tutorials. To really get the benefits of living soil you want to have each plant in 15 gallons of soil minimum. This is to create an active enough food web that can feed your plant efficiently. You'll still need some amendments during flower. I'm making the switch from coco to soil as well!
 
PrimoClonesCanada

PrimoClonesCanada

Supporter
343
143
For me water only soil is super easy, it can be done in small containers if you are good at top dressing and predicting the right time to do it. I can get some pretty decent looking plants in 1 or 2 gallon pots of organic soil with just tap/dehumidifier water and a decenttop dressing regime.
If I'm really on top of my top dressings then I can grow a very nice plant in a 2 gallon container, 1 gallon might be a bit trickier but I'm sure it can be done.
If you look at my journal all my plants are in 1 or 2 gallon pots of living soil and look decent even though I missed at least 1 or 2 top dressings.
 
OlBallcoach

OlBallcoach

12
3
i wouldnt get too wrapped up in the living soil thing, i say that for this reason, living soil just cant be maintained in small containers, far as a tent goes 7 gal is ideal ,but thinking that even a said advertisment claims it will just be water only,well it will at first up until you wash all out from runoff .
living soil is as one person mentioned ,the great outdoors, it will live if the soil has no end.
outside the moisture stay on top of the 6 to 8 inchs ,it has no bottom for the water to settle ,just keeps going down,
in containers the moisture resides in the bottom 6 inch of the conatainer ,because it has well the bucket stopping it from draining completly
this in my opinion also makes me feel that with the so called knuckle tip for watering is crap inside in tents,the moisture is in the bottom of pot and you cant feel that ans water and wind up over watering ,drowning your roots and also making the best house for knats , instead use weight as your judge,outside the knuckle tip works best.
the best way to figure this all out is to let the plant droop and then feed.
so with the living soil you really pay more attention to feed the Soil not the plant,living is a colony of life in the zone,so some top dressing you buy even though it claims OMRI certified does mean it organic but doesnt say it is imediate available , so it really isnt helping right then right, so look more to feeding your colony instead of your plant.
sounds complcated ,but it really isnt
Good reads thanks for the new source of info
 

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