Living soil recipe recommendations for my setup.

[XanHalen]

Just looking for some input/recommendations for tweaking this recipe, I have done one grow with living soil that went well, it was mango runtz from Mephisto Genetics. Only problem I infer was the recipe was too hot, leading to darker leaves in late veg - early flower and Ca lockout early - mid flower. Regardless the flowers were plentiful and fire, and I have made tweaks to the recipe since then.

The first living soil recipe is what I used as a starter charge for the new recipe as it was too hot for small pots. Here it is:

1 gal starter charge of this mix -- (6.3 gal Promix BX, 2.25 gal Perlite, .5 gal EWC, 9 tbsp 4-4-4, 4.5 tbsp 2-8-4. 9tsp dolomitic lime, 5 tbsp bokashi bran)
7.4 gal Promix BX
2.8 gal perlite
.8 gal EWC
6 tbsp 4-4-4
3 tbsp 2-8-4

12gal total volume
3gal per pot

Raw rice hulls to be top-dressed at day 10-14

I will add pics of how the last grow went where I used the hotter, now starter charge, mix as the base.

Growing under viparspectra xs1500 @ 20/4, fabric root pouches, hand watering and liquid weight 1x per week @ recommended dosage.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

6 tbsp 4-4-4
3 tbsp 2-8-4

Looks like Gaia Green. It's what I use. I start with 3 tbsp of 4-4-4 per gallon of soil when I first mix. I switch to 2-8-4 (also at 3 tbsp/gal) before changing the light to 12/12. I also use other amendments, including Azomite, dolomite lime or Epsom salt and gypsum depending on the soil pH. I also use Recharge.

 

[XanHalen]

Looks like Gaia Green.

Yes I'm running gaia green 4-4-4 and 2-8-4, I ran the 444 close to the dose you stated but for my low vertical height setup i have to run smaller pots, which made 3tbsp/gal too hot, especially for autos. I do plan on adding gypsum top-dress later on along with the raw rice hulls! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[RGWD0202]

1/3 peat 1/3 aeration 1/3 compost/ewc
1/2 cup per cubic foot with dry amendments and rock dust.

You have about 1 1/4 cups of dry amendments. In I’m guessing 1.5 cubic ft of soil. Pretty high. Too much N will keep the leaves dark green to harvest.

 

[XanHalen]

You have about 1 1/4 cups of dry amendments

I see how it could seem this way, but only 1 gal of this total 12 gal mix:

“1 gal starter charge of this mix -- (6.3 gal PromixBX, 2.25 gal Perlite, .5 gal EWC, 9 tbsp 4-4-4, 4.5 tbsp 2-8-4. 9tsp dolomitic lime, 5 tbsp bokashi bran)”

Was used in the recipe; so 1/12th of that total ingredient list made it into the final soil, which also contained:

7.4 gal Promix BX
2.8 gal perlite
.8 gal EWC
6 tbsp 4-4-4
3 tbsp 2-8-4

So if I’m correct that would only be about .9 cups total including the amendments in the 1 gal of starter charge, and in the rest of the ingredients. Let me know if I’m still missing something or if this clears this up! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[RGWD0202]

Something you could try would be to reuse the soil. Lightly top dress with Gaia green and see how they do in veg and go from there. Living soil usually gets better the longer you use it.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Yes I'm running gaia green 4-4-4 and 2-8-4, I ran the 444 close to the dose you stated but for my low vertical height setup i have to run smaller pots, which made 3tbsp/gal too hot, especially for autos. I do plan on adding gypsum top-dress later on along with the raw rice hulls! Thanks for stopping by!

3 tbsp per gallon of soil is the same ratio no matter what size the pot may be, so it wouldn't be too hot for that reason. If by 'living soil' you mean relying on the role of mycorrhizal fungi to feed the plant, then it's unlikely to be too hot. The fungi regulate nutrient availability to the plant. There might be some nutrients that become directly available. I can't say that I've ever overfed a plant using organic methods, however.

Gypsum is calcium sulfate, which is good for the calcium, but the sulfur and lower soil pH. That's not to say sulfur is not good. It actually can improve flavor, as is the case for several garden vegetables. I find that calcium deficiency is rare in my grows, probably because it's in my tap water. Magnesium is more likely to be deficient, especially under LED lights. For that, Epsom salt is commonly used. It also has sulfur in it, thus creating the same issues as gypsum. An alternative is dolomite lime, which as both calcium and magnesium, but instead has carbonates that tend to raise soil pH.

Something you could try would be to reuse the soil. Lightly top dress with Gaia green and see how they do in veg and go from there. Living soil usually gets better the longer you use it.

I have been reusing the same soil for more grows than I can remember. Admittedly, there has been some learning along the way. One thing I found interesting is how organic matter composts over time. Compost is acidic in its early stages and neutral to alkaline when mature. Also, I've noticed that wood chips that were common in the new FFHF & FFOF that I used have composted completely (apparently). That's a good thing because fungus gnats like wood chips.

 

[Week4Bytch]

Just looking for some input/recommendations for tweaking this recipe, I have done one grow with living soil that went well, it was mango runtz from Mephisto Genetics. Only problem I infer was the recipe was too hot, leading to darker leaves in late veg - early flower and Ca lockout early - mid flower. Regardless the flowers were plentiful and fire, and I have made tweaks to the recipe since then.

The first living soil recipe is what I used as a starter charge for the new recipe as it was too hot for small pots. Here it is:

1 gal starter charge of this mix -- (6.3 gal Promix BX, 2.25 gal Perlite, .5 gal EWC, 9 tbsp 4-4-4, 4.5 tbsp 2-8-4. 9tsp dolomitic lime, 5 tbsp bokashi bran)
7.4 gal Promix BX
2.8 gal perlite
.8 gal EWC
6 tbsp 4-4-4
3 tbsp 2-8-4

12gal total volume
3gal per pot

Raw rice hulls to be top-dressed at day 10-14

I will add pics of how the last grow went where I used the hotter, now starter charge, mix as the base.

Growing under viparspectra xs1500 @ 20/4, fabric root pouches, hand watering and liquid weight 1x per week @ recommended dosage.

I've been starting hot myself but it generally balances out during flower. Killer buds there. And also it varies from plant to plant, really hard to pinpoint a go to recipe if your bouncing from pheno to pheno but if your growing the same strain annually easier to dial down. Good luck man, flowers looking excellent.

 

[MercDod]

This is my mix for four 5 gallon fabric pots, I would love to see your mix LoveGrowingIt

7 gallons ProMix

3 gallons and 12 cups Ocean Forest

3 gallons Happy Frog

5 gallons EWC

1 gallon and 4 cups Perlite

(Figure15 gallons when adding Gaia Green Nutes)

Add Wollastonite for silica ( 3.5 gram per gallon in non soil) 7 grams per pot

Add Epsom Salt for sulphur (1 teaspoon per gallon of soil) 2.5 tablespoons per pot

I mixed each pot to itself instead of all together

For the nutrients I am going with a 70/30 mix of 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 for Autoflowers
I top dress after 4th week 2-8-4, maybe a little 4-4-4 and every approx 3 weeks with what I feel suitable based on what I feel the plants need.

 

[Ninjadogma]

This is my mix for four 5 gallon fabric pots, I would love to see your mix LoveGrowingIt

7 gallons ProMix

3 gallons and 12 cups Ocean Forest

3 gallons Happy Frog

5 gallons EWC

1 gallon and 4 cups Perlite

(Figure15 gallons when adding Gaia Green Nutes)

Add Wollastonite for silica ( 3.5 gram per gallon in non soil) 7 grams per pot

Add Epsom Salt for sulphur (1 teaspoon per gallon of soil) 2.5 tablespoons per pot

I mixed each pot to itself instead of all together

For the nutrients I am going with a 70/30 mix of 4-4-4 and 2-8-4 for Autoflowers
I top dress after 4th week 2-8-4, maybe a little 4-4-4 and every approx 3 weeks with what I feel suitable based on what I feel the plants need.

Just noodling out the ratio of the dry nutes, if you're maintaining a static ratio the entire grow it probably works out alright and less stress not worrying about changing it up after the flip or after the autos transition and especially without knowing what was still left in the dirt. If you wanted to steer it, then alternatively you could put a 4-2-3 together, manage the transitional ratios with liquids and then set your bloom ratio up with dry amends and top dresses. This follows the shifting nute curve but you'll have to also manage the bell curve of demand. With dry nutes, that's all about the timing when you put it in.