K.i.s.s. Soil

[motorcitymeds]

To each his own.  the feed store is less than a half mile from my house.  A garden supply shop is basically the same thing.  There are dozens of them in those two counties.  Just do a Google search.  I live in a county with 27, 000 people in the whole county and there are at least 5 feed and/or garden stores within a 15 minute drive of my house, compared to two hydro/grow stores.  The feed/garden stores charge a lot less for the same products too.

 

Why are trying to find fault with KISS?  It's not your cup of tea, and that's fine.  But to keep saying false things about it to make it a worse system then what your using isn't doing anyone any good and it's just making yourself look like a bitter person.  It's alright if you don't like KISS, even if you don't fully understand it.  You just don't have to cut it down as a growing system especially since there are hundreds of people fully satisfied with it because they have taken the time to understand it and try it.  

Bro..get off it already...I am simply stating it is very easy to open a bag of roots organics and add 2 things and put the pot under the light and walk away until watering time.  For those of you that wanna be Farmer John go ahead.  for those that want to buy a bag of dirt add 2 things and be done all the power to them as well.

 

You guys are looking way to far into this.

 

Thats all.

[pergamum362]

Lol...you guys crack me up.

[mibrains]

Bro..get off it already...I am simply stating it is very easy to open a bag of roots organics and add 2 things and put the pot under the light and walk away until watering time.  For those of you that wanna be Farmer John go ahead.  for those that want to buy a bag of dirt add 2 things and be done all the power to them as well.

 

You guys are looking way to far into this.

 

Thats all.

 

I am going to try to say this as nicely as I can.

 

get out of my KISS thread with your insistence that roots is better and easier. 

 

Please.

 

start a new thread if you want to debate roots organic products

 

this thread is to help people understand the simplicity that this build your own, water only, simple, organic, entry level grow style has to offer.

 

if you don't like it... DONT READ IT.

 

but please don't befuddle people that want to learn to KISS

[mibrains]

 Just curious about this soil method. Sounds pretty straight forward and I like the sounds of it but I am curious. With the ingredients listed, how many pots/containers would that fill and what would be the best container to use?

 

hey Rusty

 

thanks for asking

 

its difficult for me to answer that question because I now add back 50-75% of my used soil once every cycle so I increased my soil life a bit...

I transplant from 1.5 inch grodan rockwool cubes (my clones) into a 1 gallon pot with a couple inches of KISS in the bottom and then straight promix to top it off.

they go about 4 weeks then I transplant to 3 gallon pots in full kiss and veg another 4 weeks.

then I transplant into 10 gallon pots in full kiss and then i flower them anywhere from 2-4 weeks after that transplant.

most of my strains are 8 week to flower but I have a couple that do better when left in there a bit longer.

 

for the first time in four years I have seen awesome plants (with nothing but water).... they are happy and all I have to do is make sure they get clean fresh water for their life cycle.

 

tea is great

it can and does help..

I haven't perfected any yet.

 

I am sure mal or cel could tell you exactly how many containers you can fill... I use a kiddy swimming pool to mix it and store it in..it fills it up pretty well...

 

also bear in mind.. different strains grow at different rates.  some of my strains are quick and only spend 2 weeks in each cycle before they reach the required size to move along the line.  only one strain goes longer... most do well at the 4 week mark in each "zone" I have before being transplanted and moved along.

[Celliach]

A half bale fills about 5 or 6 five gallon pots.  I buy all the nutrients in bulk to save money.  50 lb.bags of bone and blood meal are incredibly cheap.

[+Malamute]

Hello everyone, I'm a daily reader of the site and would like to chime in on this subject. Ive used the kiss method for several years now. Price you can't beat it. I can fill 18 five gallon pots with the recipe mentioned by Mal and Cel for less than $60. I do add compost teas and find that some strains like to be top dressed with guano week one of flower others might get topped with Plant tone or Garden tone. Between the teas and top dressing my plants bath in biology. I have used the roots organic soil and had great success but the cost to fill those same five gallon pots $120. I personally think my teas make all the difference....The old soil ends up in the garden and now friends and family want to buy the old soil for their gardens. Monster veggies can cause jealousy too.......God bless

 

 

 That's awesome. :-)

 

 Glad to hear you have ventured into fine tuning your grow with natural teas and some guano supplements etc.

[rustyjams]

hey Rusty

 

thanks for asking

 

its difficult for me to answer that question because I now add back 50-75% of my used soil once every cycle so I increased my soil life a bit...

I transplant from 1.5 inch grodan rockwool cubes (my clones) into a 1 gallon pot with a couple inches of KISS in the bottom and then straight promix to top it off.

they go about 4 weeks then I transplant to 3 gallon pots in full kiss and veg another 4 weeks.

then I transplant into 10 gallon pots in full kiss and then i flower them anywhere from 2-4 weeks after that transplant.

most of my strains are 8 week to flower but I have a couple that do better when left in there a bit longer.

 

for the first time in four years I have seen awesome plants (with nothing but water).... they are happy and all I have to do is make sure they get clean fresh water for their life cycle.

 

tea is great

it can and does help..

I haven't perfected any yet.

 

I am sure mal or cel could tell you exactly how many containers you can fill... I use a kiddy swimming pool to mix it and store it in..it fills it up pretty well...

 

also bear in mind.. different strains grow at different rates.  some of my strains are quick and only spend 2 weeks in each cycle before they reach the required size to move along the line.  only one strain goes longer... most do well at the 4 week mark in each "zone" I have before being transplanted and moved along.

Thanks!!!!

[rustyjams]

A half bale fills about 5 or 6 five gallon pots.  I buy all the nutrients in bulk to save money.  50 lb.bags of bone and blood meal are incredibly cheap.

[baddog]

Little help? Because of my fathers physical condition I cannot go all over town searching for my goodies. He is hospice care at home, not doing very well. Does anyone know of a store in south east mi. preferably close to southfield that I can obtain all of the items needed for growing in K.I.S.S soil? It is nearly impossible for me to be gone for more than a couple of hours. Thanks in advance.

[imiubu]

I am having difficulty in the Lansing area also.

 

lil help would be awesome !

[Celliach]

Many of us up here in the UP just buy the ingredients online.

[mibrains]

i ordered many of my ingredients online.
 
i asked at least a dozen times for my local grow store to order some.. but he didnt-wouldnt-couldnt... so i searched the best deals online.
 
Amazon
gardens alive
Neptune harvest
 
including shipping i saved well over half the cost i was paying locally at several places... and now have a full years supply of pretty much everything except the Promix.
 
i buy the promix HP (high porosity) from a local place for just under $30
 
i thought i would keep my business local and help out the local economy but after repeated attempts at getting them to carry these ingredients i found it was much easier to let my finger do the walking and order the things to my doorstep.
 
i will say it again.. this is the best results i have ever seen with cannabis as far as ease of mixing and using this soil.  i know i could increase yields with more additives but this basic simple mix covers nearly everything and i am beyond satisfied with the results especially considering the simplicity of the KISS recipe...

[imiubu]

Many of us up here in the UP just buy the ingredients online.

 

 

i ordered many of my ingrediants online.

 

i asked at least a dozen times for my local grow store to order some.. but he didnt-wouldnt-couldnt... so i searched the best deals online.

 

Amazon

gardens alive

neptunes harvest

 

including shipping i saved well over half the cost i was paying locally at several places... and now have a full years supply of pretty much everything except the Promix.

 

i buy the promix HP (high porisity) from a local place for just under $30

 

i thought i would keep my business local and help out the local economy but after repeated attempts at getting them to carry these ingresdiants i found it was much easier to let my finger do the walking and order the things to my doorstep.

 

i will say it again.. this is the best results i have ever seen with cannabis as far as ease of mixing and using this soil.  i know i could increase yeilds with more additives but this basic simple mix coveres nearly everything and i am beyond satisfied with the simplicity of the system...

 

Cool, thanks guys.

I have been looking for a local granary/ feed supply store w/ out much luck, lol.

 

 

mibrains... you prefer the HP over the BX and why ?

[+Malamute]

HP stands for "High Porosity" and contains about 10% more perlite than BX has.  It allows for easier draining and more oxygen to the roots.  I find both(and others) work just fine and dandy.  Some have found that BX is cheaper than HP(wholesale at least) and they can just buy big bags of perlite and add in their own extra perlite for a slightly cheaper price. :-)

 

But both are fine. I use what is on clearance prices. ;-)

 

 And yes, it is easy to order the basics online.  Just find a good deal and have it delivered to your door. Not much easier than that.  But generally, feed and seeds and garden stores and greenhouses and Big Box stores in spring have the ingredients available. 

 

 

 sidenote:

 

 

Do not buy miracle grow/Scotts/Schultz perlite. they have  been known to have chem fert sprayed on it. :-) Learn from my mistakes.... heh.

[imiubu]

HP stands for "High Porosity" and contains about 10% more perlite than BX has.  It allows for easier draining and more oxygen to the roots.  I find both(and others) work just fine and dandy.  Some have found that BX is cheaper than HP(wholesale at least) and they can just buy big bags of perlite and add in their own extra perlite for a slightly cheaper price. :-)

 

But both are fine. I use what is on clearance prices. ;-)

 

 And yes, it is easy to order the basics online.  Just find a good deal and have it delivered to your door. Not much easier than that.  But generally, feed and seeds and garden stores and greenhouses and Big Box stores in spring have the ingredients available. 

 

 

 sidenote:

 

 

Do not buy miracle grow/Scotts/Schultz perlite. they have  been known to have chem fert sprayed on it. :-) Learn from my mistakes.... heh.

 

Thanks Mal,

 ~ and mibrains for bringing this thread back around.

Excellent job Mal, putting all KISS information together in a comprehensive manner, way to go

I appreciate the time you took to make this information available to the 'masses'.

 

Good to know about the perlite brands to avoid.

I buy BX bales, perlite separate & add accordingly.

 

A friend and I are splitting costs/ ingredients on

smaller amounts for the basic recipe @ 1st.

If this method works as it should, we will purchase

in bulk again sharing, saving us some buckarooski's.

She will need help mixing + some heavier work etc,

& I will assist. I need a place for bulk storage atm so...

team work babies, team work!

Heck, what else are a couple of old women suppose

to do, lol.  Just gotta help each other out best we can.

Doin' what we're able, to assist in this here Human Community   

 

 

Not sure what's considered 'bargain' prices for the KISS

(is it suppose to be capitalized? lol) basic ingredients.

I guess it's time for some comparison shopping as

I am cheap and easy.

 

OOPS! did I just say that out loud ?

I meant, I am all for cheap and easy...   

REALLY!

I feed everything I've ever grown with (tap water &)

fish emulsion (cheap & easy [does stink a lil]) with

groovy results, for many a moon.

I recently found that dastardly fungus gnats like it also,

yet only in my medical garden though, shrug.

They will soon be eradicated... kill my seedlings huh? grrr

 

 

Whoot whoot... off to do some shopping 

 

 

 

Some girls like diamonds and gold...

I just want to K.I.S.S.

[Celliach]

 

 

Not sure what's considered 'bargain' prices for the KISS

(is it suppose to be capitalized? lol)

It's anagram for Keep It Simple Stupid

[trichcycler]

I use a bale of promix and two bags of happy frog to amend my cement mixer full of recycled dirt. I employ the services of around 20k worms to recycle my soil for reuse. They're diet consists of daily trimmed garden leaves and spent root balls only. I have no use for commercial fertilizers anymore. Most  will kill the worms present in every plant pot/tray. It's more of a biodome than a garden. Pest management is a natural occurrence eventually, with the right temps, cycles, etc. I do use some sticky traps to monitor populations in the flower room. Nothing but a few fungas gnats over the years.

The KISS recipe is top dog, and actually a lot easier than recycling like I do, but I'm a nut !  thank you for posting it !

[Celliach]

I recycle my soil in the veggie garden.  All my neighbors are envious of my vegetables.

[trichcycler]

ha ! I did that when I lived in the city, until I noticed my lawn was the only one with all the pretty perlite sparkles around the landscaping. made

me a bit paranoid, and now in the country I notice it here and there, mostly around the homes that smell a little skunky ! lol

 

It pizzed me off out here to keep throwing my hard earned dollars out on the lawn, so I invested in a worm farm, oh my.

[Petyr]

I am having difficulty in the Lansing area also.

 

lil help would be awesome !

Right now is a terrible time to be shopping for garden supplies.  Most of the big box stores have their gardening sections closed or replaced with holiday decorations by now.  Next year Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, etc will have some stuff.

 

Soldan's carries a lot of the Espoma products, though I think they are seasonal too.  I think the gardening supplies are probably getting replaced with bird seed, but it might be worth checking.  Horrock's also has some gardening supplies at the right time of year, unfortunately that isn't now.

 

SGS (Superior Grower's Suppply, 3 locations in Lansing) have a few of the Espoma products also.  I think I saw blood, bone and cottonseed meals along with lime, sulfur and a couple others.  The one on Saginaw seems to be the most well stocked.

[imiubu]

Right now is a terrible time to be shopping for garden supplies.  Most of the big box stores have their gardening sections closed or replaced with holiday decorations by now.  Next year Menards, Home Depot, Lowes, etc will have some stuff.

 

Soldan's carries a lot of the Espoma products, though I think they are seasonal too.  I think the gardening supplies are probably getting replaced with bird seed, but it might be worth checking.  Horrock's also has some gardening supplies at the right time of year, unfortunately that isn't now.

 

SGS (Superior Grower's Suppply, 3 locations in Lansing) have a few of the Espoma products also.  I think I saw blood, bone and cottonseed meals along with lime, sulfur and a couple others.  The one on Saginaw seems to be the most well stocked.

 

Ah ha, silly me... wasn't thinking about these items being seasonal, lol.

 

Thank you!

[baddog]

got most everything at superior in livonia. you will definately need some assistance from an employee as they don't keep all of the organic goodies together. sunshine mix is out on the floor, promix is in the back. they have two different worm castings, one out on the floor and the other brand is in the back. bone meal and blood meal are in front as soon as you walk in the door while the kelp meal and plant success is over on the right somewhere. the good news is that the employees seem courteous and will help you find everything.

[baddog]

i do have a couple of questions though. should i be playing rare earth on the stereo or is it a soil amendment? my sales person at superior didn't seem to have heard of it. how big is a small bag of earthworm castings?

[Petyr]

Rare Earth is just GH's name for Azomite, SGS sells it.  Green sand is similar as is glacial rock dust.

 

The castings are usually sold by weight, I think the small bags are 10 lbs.  The larger bags are 40 lbs and seem to be a little under 2 cubic feet worths.

Edited October 24, 2013 by Petyr

[mibrains]

 

http://www.alphahydroponics.com/rareearth4lb-generalhydroponics.aspx

 

this website is not where i got mine but this is a picture and description of the product

 

i use approximately 6-8 quarts of worm castings....