Post your Organic Soil Mix

Bulldog11 · Oct 3, 2015

Total Exchange Capacity. Same thing really. :)

nazarbattu · Oct 4, 2015

Bulldog11 said:
Still no soil tests in this thread? You guys just guessing what works and doesn't work? Here are some test results of the best first year soil I have used. I suggest you guys start testing your soil, or you have no idea how good it is. The difference between a healthy plants, and a perfectly healthy plant is huge. Use Logan Labs, and stop guessing.

View attachment 540264

Is your soil a water only blend or do you still add in top dressing or teas? Danks in advance.

Bulldog11 · Oct 5, 2015

That is soil results from coots mix. What determines if a mix is water only is the volume of media. If you have the best, most nutrient rich mix, in a one gallon pot for an outdoor monster, you will have to feed. However the same soil in 400 gallons of soil will be water only.

Soil all comes down to meeting the William Albrect numbers. The longer you can maintain those numbers through your grow, is what determines how good your product will be. So I argue, that almost any soil mix, will need some sort of feed during the year. I get my soil numbers right on the money, then I concentrate on keeping those levels throughout the grow. That may mean an extra foliar feed here, or a top dress there. However, when your soil volume is high, and your soil is quality, the closer that soil is to water only. Hope this helped.

BTW - I pulled two harvests off that soil test without re-amending. I did feed a couple times each season, but very little. Those plants where 4' tall plants in 45 gallon pots in my deps that averaged about .75 #'s each.

epitome · Oct 5, 2015

Bulldog11 said:
That is soil results from coots mix. What determines if a mix is water only is the volume of media. If you have the best, most nutrient rich mix, in a one gallon pot for an outdoor monster, you will have to feed. However the same soil in 400 gallons of soil will be water only.

Soil all comes down to meeting the William Albrect numbers. The longer you can maintain those numbers through your grow, is what determines how good your product will be. So I argue, that almost any soil mix, will need some sort of feed during the year. I get my soil numbers right on the money, then I concentrate on keeping those levels throughout the grow. That may mean an extra foliar feed here, or a top dress there. However, when your soil volume is high, and your soil is quality, the closer that soil is to water only. Hope this helped.

BTW - I pulled two harvests off that soil test without re-amending. I did feed a couple times each season, but very little. Those plants where 4' tall plants in 45 gallon pots in my deps that averaged about .75 #'s each.

Not bad numbers out of 45 gal light deps, this info really helps thanks and if you don't mind, how do you transition into your first light dep harvest of the summer?

Bulldog11 · Oct 5, 2015

Numbers could have been better, I messed up my veg times for the space. It was my first dep in that greenhouse, so I could improve.

Not sure what your asking in your last question.....Could you explain please? Transition into dep?

epitome · Oct 5, 2015

Bulldog11 said:
Numbers could have been better, I messed up my veg times for the space. It was my first dep in that greenhouse, so I could improve.

Not sure what your asking in your last question.....Could you explain please? Transition into dep?

Were they seed, clone, started indoor or out...stuff like that and how soon is to soon in the spring to do first light dep

Bulldog11 · Oct 6, 2015

I mix up my starts, but I usually start everything indoors. I grow almost all seed, except for my GSC family cuts. I first pop all my seeds on Holy week in April. This date varies, and has to do with lunar dates. When planting properly, the lunar cycles can help germ rates substantially. This coming year, 2016, holy week is at the end of March. So next year my plants will be bigger than normal, with the extra veg time.

As for my light dep, I normally start my seeds two full months before I want to pull my tarp. I like getting two harvests off my deps. First harvest is in early July, then restocked for another natural finish. Natural meaning no tarp pulling the second harvest. I don't have a heater yet, but as soon as I do you can add another harvest from Jan-April.

The product that comes out from the deps is AMAZING! Next year, I will be moving toward more deps, and smaller full season plants. 14' tall plants are a bitch to harvest.

dutch69lover · Nov 18, 2015

The following mix has proven great......great for plants..great for recycling soil mix as I do. The soil and microbial life gets better and better with time.

3 gallons peat moss ( buy it by the bale as its usually not been treated with anything or processed when packed like this)
1 gallon earthworm castings
1 gallon cheap bagged top soil
2 gallon rice hulls (organic substitute for perelite....aeration)
2 gallons coco husk ( a good brand thats been well rinsed)
1 gallon high quality compost ( I make my own but you can get good bagged stuff if you don't make your own )

1/2 cup of the following lime mix ( helps stabilize ph espcially when recycling soil mix over many grows)
.........1 part dolomite lime
.........1 part gypsum
.........2 parts powdered oyster shell

now add

3 cups crab shell meal
4 cups kelp meal
2 cups fish meal
2 cups high N bat guano
4 cups fish bone meal
1 cup sul-po-mag (langbenite)
2 cups neem seed meal
1 cup alfalfa meal
1 cup humic acid ore
1 cup azomite
1/2 cup rock phosphate powder
1 1/2 cup crushed oyster shell ( crushed chunks help with aeration plus break down slowly over time for slow supply of calcium and further help with recycling soil

Mix well, water til moist not soaking, and let sit and compost for at least a month. Use straight filtered water, rain water or RO water during your grow. I usually only need a occasional compost tea (a simple microbial boos tea nothing fancy) with fresh mix during veg. I have loads of this mix around now that has been thru many grows. After each grow the mix with root balls is thrown in my soil composting drum....thrown in some fresh worm castings that come from my worm farms and maybe a little alfalfa meal, fish meal, ect... and sits for another month so worms can work their magic. Most all of my mix had a good deal of live worms in it so I know that the soil's micro life is right on. As I said before the more this mix is recycled the better it gets.

Bulldog11 · Nov 18, 2015

@dutch69lover That seems really loaded up. Got any soil tests?

dutch69lover · Nov 18, 2015

Bulldog11 said:
@dutch69lover That seems really loaded up. Got any soil tests?

No tests other than worms thrive in it and plants are happy. May sound like a lot of amendments but most of the meals(neem..alfalfa..fish) are slow release in their nature and that helps in the recycling and reusing of the mix

Bulldog11 · Nov 18, 2015

Good for you. Glad to hear you got your soil dialed in.

Love your sig, both lines.:)

sweetolmaryjane · Nov 24, 2015

Im just going with flora bloom, worm castings, bloom bat guano, and super thrive

dutch69lover · Nov 24, 2015

sweetolmaryjane said:
Im just going with flora bloom, worm castings, bloom bat guano, and super thrive

Get away from the bottled nutes your plants will thank you lol

Bulldog11 · Nov 24, 2015

Nothing organic about that mix........

Seamaiden · Nov 24, 2015

Flora Bloom is actually pretty good in terms of a partially synthetic fertilizer. It's low NPK, so it's not going to kill microbes, and it stains so badly because of its humic acid content. I feel it can be used in a 'best practices' style.

You can lynch me now.

dutch69lover · Nov 24, 2015

Seamaiden said:
Flora Bloom is actually pretty good in terms of a partially synthetic fertilizer. It's low NPK, so it's not going to kill microbes, and it stains so badly because of its humic acid content. I feel it can be used in a 'best practices' style.

You can lynch me now.

Who said lynch lol. To each their own..I just been off the bottled stuff for quite awhile. Now somebody get a rope lol

sweetolmaryjane · Nov 24, 2015

Never said i was going organic. I know this is a post your organic grow thread. (The bat guano is approved for organic agriculture). I know flora bloom is not organic tho and i would have loved to have gone with general organics, i got this flora bloom free from someone who uses it all the time. Thanx for the input tho guys. I love this site

Quagmire · Dec 3, 2015

I tried so many different mixes over the years... my main mix in the end was a simple mix of Perlite, Coco, worm castings and peat.. I then simply added Plant starter plus and walla..
I then found the bomb of all soils... Roots Organic Mix.. I reuse it up to 3x's without refreshing, then start adding new soil to it.. I've actually grown plants out in the new soil when I first get it without a feed except a PK booster at weeks 5 + 6 running Auto Flowering plants and they love this shit.. the best soil I've found and trust me when I say, tried them all over past 12yrs... even did Subcools Super Mix back when I knew him pretty well.. expensive for a small grower to do also.. nope, hooked on Roots at $16 for 1.5cu ft.. peace

Redneckg33k · Dec 9, 2015

Pro mix, if indoors I tend to use mostly coco as Ffof is peat based
Ffof
Perlight
Vermiculite
Worm castings
Happy frog all purpose 7-4-5
Roots organics Uprising grow
Roots Elemental
Roots foundation
Rare earth excelerite
Greensand
Roots organism xl

I pre water my soil with half strength Neptune's harvest and general organics liquid diamond black at full

You can plant directly into this mix, I use a two to three inch Vermiculite hole in the center when sprouting seeds so they can work there own way into the soil, had great results

Dunge · Dec 9, 2015

This formulation is extracted from readings on the subject on thcfarmer.com and a desire to create a reproducible medium from available products.

When properly executed, six bags of purchased goods will blend together to yield a very
reliable organic soil.

It is demonstrated to carry a plant through 9 weeks of flower in a three gallon pot.
Water, light, humidity (most like about 50%), and keep the temps in the 75 to 85 deg F range.
Heavy watering every 3-5 days.
one bag of each:

ProMix HP large bale
compost large bag from Down to Earth (DTE)
Worm castings from DTE if you can find them or the best you can get.
3 pound bag of blood meal
3 pound bag of bone meal
DTE high P Bat Guano (0-7-0) or like product ie. rock phosphate.

Mix well and use.

If smaller quantities are wanted the bucket recipe is:
ProMix - one five gallon bucket
Compost - 6 pounds 7.5 quarts
worm castings - 3.8 pounds 2.75 quarts
blood meal - 136g 210 ml.
bone meal - 136g 220 ml.
bat guano - 384 ml.

Post your Organic Soil Mix

Post your Organic Soil Mix

Bulldog11

nazarbattu

Bulldog11

epitome

Bulldog11

epitome

Bulldog11

dutch69lover

Bulldog11

dutch69lover

Bulldog11

sweetolmaryjane

dutch69lover

Bulldog11

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

dutch69lover

sweetolmaryjane

Quagmire

Redneckg33k

Dunge

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