Organic Soil Recipes

[MightyMightyMezz]

Picked up a pail of crab shell meal and mixed with kelp meal, perlite, worm castings and homemade vermicompost plus a little dolomitic lime and azomite. I figure with kelp at 1-0-2 and crab shell at 2-3-0 that should be a good balance. I have no idea what the NPK on my vermicompost is. The crab shell makes my soil smell like the ocean. MMMmmm...

 

 

 

Neptune's Harvest are savvy marketers. I watched all their videos.

 

Edited April 8, 2011 by MightyMightyMezz

[AbsoluteRoyal]

Picked up a pail of crab shell meal and mixed with kelp meal, perlite, worm castings and homemade vermicompost plus a little dolomitic lime and azomite. I figure with kelp at 1-0-2 and crab shell at 2-3-0 that should be a good balance. I have no idea what the NPK on my vermicompost is. The crab shell makes my soil smell like the ocean. MMMmmm...

 

 

 

Neptune's Harvest are savvy marketers. I watched all their videos.

 

 

 

just testing kelp meal, mine is 1-0-2 as well. Roots organic base soil and then I use ground alfelfa pellets(need to let cook 30 days) kelp meal, perlight, A LOT of wormcastings, dolomite lime and azomite as well. Similiar mixes. I start feeding around 10 days into flower ish, you?

[MightyMightyMezz]

just testing kelp meal, mine is 1-0-2 as well. Roots organic base soil and then I use ground alfelfa pellets(need to let cook 30 days) kelp meal, perlight, A LOT of wormcastings, dolomite lime and azomite as well. Similiar mixes. I start feeding around 10 days into flower ish, you?

 

Until now I've been using a more or less soilless medium and feeding with nutrient tea and compost tea. Now I am transitioning to a living organic soil. I'd like to get to where I can just use water with molasses and occasional compost teas. I'd like all the nutrients the plant needs to be in the soil so the plant can use what it needs when it needs it.

[cmbslc452]

Yes have plenty of outdoor experience, and would luv to help.

 

Here was last outdoor this year. Skunk #1 and family strain called Big Mumma is the indica in background.

The top of the green House was 7ft.

 

I worked the soil in the winter, and poured in about 200KG+ of horse crap, bags and bags of good quality bag soil , Worm castings , my compost, and some old mushroom compost. And let frement for months with tarp over top. Turning every few weeks adding more compost etc.

 

Then Feed: Fish emulsions & worm wee mix Home made, Home made compost tea, Power feed Seasol, Tomato thrive, pk 13-14, Carbo load [which is a b1 thiamine additive]. & a hit of Epsom salt once in a while.

 

Happy to answer what ever questions you have.

trying this, this summer

[cmbslc452]

^{I have an easy 'water only' mix I like. Good for at least 100 days. Add molasses and kelp meal mix in the last couple weeks if you want to.}

 

^{if it seems a bit too many ingredients for you then you could probably leave out the rock dusts and use just wormcastings or mushroom compost, 2 parts}

 

^{3 parts peat}

^{2 parts quality topsoil ( make sure it hasnt any ferts added)}

^{3 parts perlite}

^{1 part mushroom compost}

^{1 part wormcasts}

^{dolomite lime 5g/litre}

 

^{and the ferts, the guano doses are for cavemans (UK Brand which isnt that strong), i reduce the N guano a little for sensitive strains but that mix has never burned anything. obviously for seedlings i leave all the ferts out except the seaweed meal}

^{do you have pictures of your results?}

^{N guano - 4g/litre veg, 2-4g/litre flower (strain dependent)}

^{P guano - 4g/litre veg, 8g/litre flower}

^{Rock phosphate 5g/l}

^{rock potash 5g/l}

^{seaweed meal 5g/l}

 

[Mamó28]

In a few weeks I'll be starting my first proper MJ garden so I've been trying to read all I can. Total newbie question, if I grow organically, do I need to "flush" before harvest? I've been gardening organically for 20 years and never heard of flushing. Thanks for all the great soil & nutrient tips!

[MightyMightyMezz]

In a few weeks I'll be starting my first proper MJ garden so I've been trying to read all I can. Total newbie question, if I grow organically, do I need to "flush" before harvest? I've been gardening organically for 20 years and never heard of flushing. Thanks for all the great soil & nutrient tips!

 

I think if you are using amended soil it can't really be flushed of all nutrients, but that is okay. You can use water at the end of flowering to get the plant to use up nutrient reserves and that is about as close to flushing as you can get. I don't think it is nearly as critical with organics as with chemicals. Unflushed chems make for unacceptable quality, but unflushed organics shouldn't really be a problem.

[Mr&MrsPurplekush]

Until now I've been using a more or less soilless medium and feeding with nutrient tea and compost tea. Now I am transitioning to a living organic soil. I'd like to get to where I can just use water with molasses and occasional compost teas. I'd like all the nutrients the plant needs to be in the soil so the plant can use what it needs when it needs it.

 

My thoughts exactly, awesome dirt should leave the plants needing less and less from us!

[dank.Frank]

Base medium: (in gallons)

 

3g organic potting soil (no fertilizer)

2g coconut coir

2g peat moss

2g calcined diatomaceous earth

1g coarse perlite

1g EWC

 

Makes 1.5 cu ft of a base medium you can either amend organically or use bottled nutes.

 

On "flushing" organically amended soils -

 

The point being to force usage of the plants reserves. If the micro herd dies, the plant can't uptake nutrients...to kill the herd, allow the soil to dry out. So basically, stop watering 4-5 days before harvest. Simple.

 

dank.Frank

Edited October 29, 2011 by dank.Frank

[dank.Frank]

For my personal garden, I use the above base medium amended with 26 different organic amendments. (NSPB mix) From there, I just add water.

 

For something more simple that still allows 70% of strains to grow by simply watering, try this:

 

2 - 1.5 cu ft bags of pre-fertilized commercial potting soil (i.e. FFOF, Roots Organic, Just Right Xtra, etc...)

1 - 3.8 cu ft bale Pro-Mix Bx

(extra coarse perlite to personal liking)

 

ADD

 

1c Seabird guano

2c Blood meal

2c Bone meal

2c Kelp meal

2c Dolomite Limestone

2 gal EWC

 

This mix makes roughly 60 gallons and will suit most plants, VEG OR FLOWER, by simply watering, but some may want extra Cal/Mg or will benefit from a P/K boost, so keep those bottles near by just in case...

 

Hope this helps keep it simple. I will say, this is a basic stater mix that ANYONE can make and produce very good medicine.

 

 

dank.Frank

Edited October 30, 2011 by dank.Frank

[Shredder]

Until now I've been using a more or less soilless medium and feeding with nutrient tea and compost tea. Now I am transitioning to a living organic soil. I'd like to get to where I can just use water with molasses and occasional compost teas. I'd like all the nutrients the plant needs to be in the soil so the plant can use what it needs when it needs it.

 

 

Kudo's for going to a living soil Mezz.

 

The best way to get a living soil is to have either thermo compost or high quality ewc. Both ewc and thermo compost are the main source of soil microbes that you will need. The best compost and ewc are homemade, hands down better than bags of the same that have set around hydro stores for many months. I have used too much store bought ewc and it was muddy in the pots and did not drain well. The compost/ewc will provide soil microbes that will eat the nutrients. The nutrients are then stored in the microbes, whenever the plants want something, they signal the microbes by exuding sugars that attract certain microbes, then those microbes supply the plant what it wants in exchange. So in a living soil the soil microbes and the plant call the shots as nature intended. And to my surprise this process takes only hours,not days as I thought it would.

 

I make my own thermo compost. The process starts in the fall with me collecting leaves. I collect them with my lawn mower, then make piles of leaves that I run over until there small pieces. I make a leaf pile and add grass clippings and veggie kitchen waste all year. I take this partially composted material and fill up a compost sak (essentially a 100 gallon smart pot) I layer the leaves with alfalfa meal ($12 for 50lb from the farm store) In the middle of the pile i add bakashi (japanese fermented compost) The N from the alfalfa meal fuels a microbe feeding frenzy, the anaerobic bakashi is quickly used up by aerobic microbes. All this microbe activity will get the temps up to 160-170F. The heat helps break down the material quickly and adds different types of microbes at the different temps. when this cools, it still needs some time for curing but it can be used as a top dress, as is, but it does get better with time. Depending on the materials I get compost in a couple of weeks or longer.

 

Since i have been using this thermo compost, my plants have never been better. I get fast growth, healthy plants, and good size harvests. And my last two runs have been with different soil mixes and feeding routines, the constant has been the thermo compost, it's just that good. Last run i fed compost teas mostly, this run because my tea brewer is too big for indoors, I have fed dandelion fermented plant extracts, nettles and yarrow and the plants look just as good as they did with the teas.

 

So now with leaves so easy to get, get composting! shredder

[cindy48647]

I got a question

I grow organically also

which strains are more tender than others, I noticed my Afghan kush seems sensitive to all the ingredients I'm using and also which ingredients do I need to back off on?

[Shredder]

Hi Cindy, how are growing organically? A certain nutrient line? What type of soil?

 

I've found with a living soil, the plants don't burns or have deficiencies. The only problem seems too be keeping them from getting too big. Once they get momentum there hard to slow down........shredder

[Gettingbettertlo]

Heh heh...

 

Master Soil-Mix Recipe

 

BASE MIX

 

2 gal Quality Organic Soil-mix (or good organic recycled soil mix)

2 gal Thoroughly Rinsed Coir (coconut fiber)

2 gal Perlite (small nugget size)

2 gal Earthworm Castings (fresh earthworm castings, and/or fresh compost works too)

 

AMENDMENTS

 

1½ cup Grow or Bloom ‘Pure’ by Organicare (or 1 cup 5-5-5)

½ cup Greensand

¾ cup Ground Oyster Shells (1 cup if no crushed oyster shells)

1½ cup Crushed Oyster Shells (optional)

½ cup Dolomite Lime (powdered)

1 cup Prilled (pelletized) Fast Acting Dolomite Lime

¼ cup Blood Meal (and/or High N Bird/Bat Guano 12-8-2 N-P-K if flowering 1/8 cup of each)

¼ cup (heaping) Feather Meal

1 cup un-steamed (granular) Bone Meal (like Whitney Farms brand)

½ cup Bulb Food (3-8-8 as one good N-P-K example)

¼ cup Soft Rock Phosphate (powdered)

½ cup (heaping) Gypsum (powdered)

½ cup Kelp Meal

4 cups (heaping) Composted Steer Manure (this inoculates your mix with specialized bacteria and primo organic matter)

 

½ cup Azomite granular (add an additional ¼ cup greensand if no Azomite)

1 cup Humic Acid Ore granular (like from Down to Earth brand)

1 cup Alfalfa Meal (or 2 cups pellets – make sure pellets are all organic no additives)

 ½ cup Rock Phosphate Granular (optional)

1 cup (heaping) organic rice (important for the good fungi in this soil-mix)

 

This mix should be moistened (Do not get it soaking wet!) with chlorine free water, and turned over every few days, for about 15 days before use. This is what I call “cooking” your soil, and letting it get pretty dry before use, is fine. The nutrients don’t evaporate or anything, so no worries there, per storage over time. If this soil-mix turns out to be too hot (powerful) for some reason, just cut it with good bagged organic soil until you get the strength your environment and genetics demands.

 

I find cooking mine for about 30 days works the best for me, but I have often used it sooner, like at 2 weeks, and just remember the warmer it is outside wherever the soil-mix is at, the faster the cooking processes will happen. You can use a pH meter (soil pH meter) to tell when it is done cooking too. I wait until it is in the 6.2 – 6.8 range, which normally takes about 2 weeks, because as it kicks off cooking the pH will often be very low, like around 4.9 isn’t uncommon when it first starts to cook.

 

ONLY FOR USE WITH PURE WATER SOURCES, LIKE REVERSE OSMOSIS, RAIN, OR DISTILLED WATER. DO NOT USE WELL, TAP, OR SPRING WATER WITH THIS RECIPE.

 

This soil-mix is meant to be used along with the spike and layer TLO dynamic, and while it is quite capable of standing alone, it works supernaturally when you add the spike and layering dynamics.

 

Killer Spike Blends...

 

Spike #1 vegg

½ cup blood

½ cup steamed bone meal

½ cup high N bat/bird guano

½ cup feather meal

½ cup kelp meal

1 tablespoon ground oyster shell (optional)

 

Spike #2 all-purpose/flowering

½ cup feather meal

¼ cup bulb food 3-8-8

¼ cup soft rock phosphate

½ cup steamed bone meal

½ cup high P bat/bird guano

½ cup kelp meal

1 tablespoon ground oyster shell (optional

 

Thanks to the rev

[wingdings]

Ive been on a no till recycled soil for about a year now. 1 part premier brand sphagnum peat moss 1 part homemade ewc/humus 1 part drainage amendment oyster shell powder for ph (no dolomite lime) inferior form of ca/mg at the wrong ratio, and then rock phos. Also now i grow my own alfalfa, comfrey, stinging nettle, to feed with teas. Aloe vera grown for foliar spray. All i buy is kelp meal from the local feed store. Also I buy real humic and fulvic acid from BioAG. The humates from leonardite are not as effective as they say to put it nicely.

Edited August 17, 2012 by wingdings

[Fat Freddy]

Very impressive results in the photo.

However being a country boy at heart, I stick to the rule of kiss. ( Keep it simple stupid ) No offence to anyone intended.

 

My garden mix is quite simple and inexpensive.

 

1 bag of green sand

1 bag of peat moss

1 bag of composted cow manure

1 bag of top soil

Mix well and you may add some bio degradable hollow twigs ( broken up into small pieces about 2-3 inchs long.

Some of last years leaf rakings or fresh grass clippings. " Food for worms. "

Till into garden and add 3 dozen night crawlers.

.

Give it a go and you will see nice results, I wish I had taken pictures of my last crop...But with the current state of affairs I best not take pictures...

[Chaseman]

I am going to be doing my first grow ever this summer and I got this organic medium recipe from a friend but I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether or not if I should use it. It consist of:

3 parts Canadian sphagnum peat moss

1 part chunky perlite

1 part worm castings

1/2 cup green sand

1/2 cup dolomite lime

1/3 cup Peruvian seabird guano

1/4 cup Epsom salts

If this does not sound like a good soil mix, could someone please let me know of another recipe. I would like to keep it fairly simple, as this is my first time growing and I dont know where to find many ingredients where I live.

[shredder0911]

I am going to be doing my first grow ever this summer and I got this organic medium recipe from a friend but I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether or not if I should use it. It consist of:

3 parts Canadian sphagnum peat moss

1 part chunky perlite

1 part worm castings

1/2 cup green sand

1/2 cup dolomite lime

1/3 cup Peruvian seabird guano

1/4 cup Epsom salts

If this does not sound like a good soil mix, could someone please let me know of another recipe. I would like to keep it fairly simple, as this is my first time growing and I dont know where to find many ingredients where I live.

Hello, I have been building my compost pile and worm bins, and have been warned about using and especially re-using dolomite lime and also Epsom salts. In a nutshell I am told to go very easy on these, and if you re-use your soil to NOT re-add these components. Your amounts looks fairly small.

I added way too much Epsom salts a week or 2 ago (a 6 lb bag B~0), so now I gotta flush it out somehow, or just use those piles sparingly and see what happens.

[tricloud]

Hello, I have been building my compost pile and worm bins, and have been warned about using and especially re-using dolomite lime and also Epsom salts. In a nutshell I am told to go very easy on these, and if you re-use your soil to NOT re-add these components. Your amounts looks fairly small.

I added way too much Epsom salts a week or 2 ago (a 6 lb bag B~0), so now I gotta flush it out somehow, or just use those piles sparingly and see what happens.

 

Since Epsom salt is a salt it is that much more difficult to flush out when it's time. If you are using worm castings you have magnesium in your soil mix. Castings make for much tastier flowers than when using Epsom salt. Of course this won't help hydro growers much but I know you are a soil guy.

Edited March 19, 2013 by tricloud

[tricloud]

^{I've also used this recipe, replacing the miraclegro with foxfarm, though.}

 

^{Blazeoneup's Soil Recipe:}

 

^{1 bag of mriacle grow organic + 1 bag of pro mix + 1 cup blood meal + 1 cup bone meal + 1/2 cup dolimite lime + 10-20% added chunky perlite. Im running 3 gallon bags btw this mix will fill 10 3 gallon bags.}

 

Anytime i ever used the miracle grow organic soil my flowers come out with a strange carrot flavor.

[Celliach]

Actually epsom isn't a salt. There is absolutely no sodium present in it. It got the misleading name because it was originally collected from a saltwater spring in England.

[tricloud]

Actually epsom isn't a salt. There is absolutely no sodium present in it. It got the misleading name because it was originally collected from a saltwater spring in England.

 

Sodium is not the only salt on the planet. Epsom salts are a salt and most dry nutes are salt based.

[shredder0911]

I belive it is Magnesium Sulfate, and you may have mistaken me for the soil Shredder. I am working in that direction, but still an aqua man.

Sodium is not the only salt on the planet. Epsom salts are a salt and most dry nutes are salt based.

[imiubu]

This is a great thread I thought should be revived

 

I am learning organic living soil and having a few issues.

All these bags of amendments! How much do I need and at

what ratios?  Questions, questions, questions oh my!

Over at IC I found a ratio guide that I'm sure will help.

 

NPK ratios

Veg; 3-1-2

Flower; 1-3-2

 

I used Earth Juice Rainbow Grow Mix for veg 5-5-2

Organically Done Organic Bloom for flower 3-7-4

Mixed in some extra fish meal and Kelp meal (more is better right).

My base mix has peat, humus, ewc, oyster shell, glacial rock dust.

 

1 plant in flower and one in veg, different strains showing the same issue.

 

I think I will stay away from the pre mixed 'complete' formulas and instead

mix in my amendments according to the above ratios.

 

Now I am off to diagnose and correct (hopefully) the issue and save

my poor girls.

[trichcycler]

I got so pizzed at prepackaged nutrients for hydro, and my inability to use an organic base in hydro that I switched to an all soil mix. I only added composted chicken poo and fresh rabbit pooh, all from my farm. This was kind of dirty in my mind, and I didn't like the whole handling of poop while working with meds, so I added 150k worms to do my composting and fertilizing and scrap disposal all in one swoop. That was very successful, but asking my back the answer would be "a loser".

After going full circle with a dozen soil amendments, to farm poop, to worm fed, I've gone full circle now and use a knife to open a 50 lb bag of Organicare once in awhile. Interestingly its the first organic feed I used in 2010 before making my own. Its got no dust to breathe, no bags and kiddie pools to store, cheaper and lighter than amendments or worms , delivered in no time at all to my door. Since changing to this recipe a few years ago I've put my deficiency charts in the fireplace literally. I no longer need a ph or tds meter, and have not experienced disease, pests, or plant deaths. They grow bigger faster and tastier now and I have time to live instead of build soil every day. The biggest difference is in the finished aroma's. I suspect my amendment plugged nose was unable to pick up on them completely

 

I would not trade the experience though. Building soil from the bottom up is a great learning experience. Seems like making my own wooden wheel to me today, but it was fun while I did it really. I definitely would spend more time in the grow room, diagnosing, mixing, measuring etc, and that was fun too. I hope its as enjoyable to you imiubu as it was to me. good luck, get some charts.