DeeCee’s Living Organics Garden: No Tillin’

[DeeCee112]

Hi and welcome! I’ve been growing for a couple years now, relying heavily on this community for each grow and tried a few different styles indoor and outdoor in southern Ontario looking for the best return for the least effort and time. This journal will document my dive into the “No Till” Organic style first put together by the legendary Clackamas Coot and pulling from companies like Build-A-Soil, Black Swallow and KIS Organics.

Without further ado, the stars of the show:

Blue Gelato - in 20gal pot with 15gal of homemade Coots soil. It started as a clone.
Blue Gelato is a slightly indica dominant hybrid strain (60% indica/40% sativa) created through a delicious cross of the classic Thin Mint Girl scout Cookies X Blueberry strains. Infamous for its insanely delicious flavor.

Pineapple Express - G13 Labs from seed in 20gal pot with 15gal of
Pineapple Express by G13 Labs Seeds is impressive but here we are with an improved version of this amazing plant. Highly resistant to moisture and perfect for hostile climates. The undisputed hallmark of Pineapple Express #2 is its quick flowering stage (45-50 days) This Indica-dominant variety has the taste of lemon, pine and spices.

Trainwreck - From clone, in a 20gal pot with 15gal of Coots soil. This strain is a favourite of mine.
I don’t know where the strain came from but it is a favourite daytime smoke despite many write ups suggesting Indica dominant, I find it energetic and uplifting, just don’t smoke too much or the train will smack you in the face.

Northern Lights - in 5gal pot of 30/30/30 peat moss/perlite/worm castings and pre charged with Gaia Green 4-4-4.
It is a stable marijuana strain that grows short plants with great uniformity and which feature a high calyx to leaf ratio. Its ancestry is that of an inbred line of Afghani provenance.
The flavour is full-bodied but quite neutral with sweet, earthy with pine notes. THC and CBD production fall into the medium category and together produce an effect that is euphoric, happy and relaxed. The high is soft and comfortable and extremely unlikely to lead to any feelings of anxiety or paranoia.

Thanks for stopping by, next post I will turn back to document every step of how to mix your own No Till Organic soil from scratch and document some of the other techniques I’ve adopted for this relatively new style of growing that is emerging!

Tapping some old and new friends:
@DutchinAB
@InTheShed @Backlipslide @cr8grow @Nunyabiz @MrSauga @bluter @bobrown14 @farside05 @Van Stank @Stunger @StoneOtter @Amy Gardner

 

[InTheShed]

Looks like they're off to a terrific start DC.

I'm willin' for no tillin'!

 

[Nunyabiz]

Looking good.
Wouldn't exactly say that LOS no-till is a newly emerging style of growing.
We are actually coming back to the oldest style of growing, and what all plants have been doing for 400 million years.
Only advice I'd give at this point is if you have your soil tilth correct then keep your soil moist at all times, never allow it to dry out.
Water it with about 5% of what soil volume is.
So 15 gal of soil is around 3/4 gal of water.
If plant is small and temp is below 70⁰ it could take a little less.
If its in flower and large or its also hot out it could take a little more.
But main goal is to keep the soil moist, not wet and definitely not dry.
You need the soil food web to flourish, the mycelium, worms, bugs, nematodes etc all need pretty constant moisture.
So do the tiny root hairs and tips.

 

[bluter]

great start.
this is the type of growing i would go to under better circumstances. something to work towards.

 

[DeeCee112]

Looks like they're off to a terrific start DC.

I'm willin' for no tillin'!

Always welcome around these parts Shed!

Looking good.
Wouldn't exactly say that LOS no-till is a newly emerging style of growing.
We are actually coming back to the oldest style of growing, and what all plants have been doing for 400 million years.
Only advice I'd give at this point is if you have your soil tilth correct then keep your soil moist at all times, never allow it to dry out.
Water it with about 5% of what soil volume is.
So 15 gal of soil is around 3/4 gal of water.
If plant is small and temp is below 70⁰ it could take a little less.
If its in flower and large or its also hot out it could take a little more.
But main goal is to keep the soil moist, not wet and definitely not dry.
You need the soil food web to flourish, the mycelium, worms, bugs, nematodes etc all need pretty constant moisture.
So do the tiny root hairs and tips.

You are right I should’ve said re-emerging! They’ve been watered pretty much every other or every day, top soil has been kept moist and full of life!

great start.
this is the type of growing i would go to under better circumstances. something to work towards.

Thanks bluter, I’ve enjoyed it immensely so far! If it goes well these pots and soil will go into my tent in the fall, to continue growing!

 

[bluter]

If it goes well these pots and soil will go into my tent in the fall, to continue growing!

watch for pests. i'm not for bringing outdoor plants in. a few battles with thrips and stuff will illuminate why.

 

[DeeCee112]

watch for pests. i'm not for bringing outdoor plants in. a few battles with thrips and stuff will illuminate why.

Plants will be in jars by the time to pots come in, the soil will be what is reused in the pots. In this style of organics if you have the soil dialed in pests are not a problem, you rely on a balance of predators like beneficial nematodes, rove Beatles and predator mites to keep any invasive bug populations in check! Supplement them with a rotating IPM foliar / drench program of teas, Neem, oils ect

 

[DeeCee112]

Gardening
I will start by stating I am no expert in this, however I’ve done a fair amount of reading and YouTube watching before taking the plunge, as well as a semi organic grow to dip my toes into it while I learn first. This journal will be an easy going story of transitioning to a no till living soil grow where I will be focusing on the experience, the plants and the soil, fully enjoying my garden (cannabis and vegetable) and less on methodical feedings and techniques or maximizing yield or potency. I don’t even have a clue on how old my plants are, when they will flip (outdoor) or really keeping track of when I apply nutrients, teas or foliars. It’s a step back, an outlet to relax and reconnect with the outdoors after a long day in a couple of the most difficult years in a very long time.

This style is a big change from bottle nutrients and, at times, can be difficult to trust as it goes counter to pretty much everything I’ve learned. Hopefully we can learn a few things along the way!
Here is the first step:

Mixing The Good Stuff
A very popular saying in organic growing is that you feed your soil not your plants. Starting out with a very high quality soil is of the utmost importance. This is the base you will be building on for years. There a few recipes out there, don’t mistake it with a “super soil” recipe this is not that. This is what I went with and pretty close to the original, by the pioneer Clackamas Coot:


Base
1 part Canadian Spaghum Peat Moss
1 part compost / 15% worm castings
1 part aeration (perlite, or if you can get it pumice and rice hulls)

Amendments 1/2cup / cuft of each
Karanja Meal
Kelp Meal
Crustacean Meal
Malted Barley Flour

Minerals - 1 cup / cuft of each
Basalt - Huplaso
Gypsum Dust
Oyster Shell Flour
Glacial Rock Dust

The most important advice I got here was to source the highest quality ingredients you can. You want very clean, solid compost especially, but also good amendments free of big industry’s sloppy standards and excessive additives. If you can, avoid the blood meals, bones meals and manures. I used a mixture of organic vegetable and ocean composts that were the best I could locally get my hands on without an arm and a leg for shipping. It can be difficult to source some of this stuff, but most items can be substituted once you understand their purpose. This world is a far cry from NPK values however, I can tell you that, a big part of this growing style is letting go of control, which will be very difficult however once you do it is extremely rewarding. I just suggest you put in some time to understand the purpose of inputs, what they contribute towards total soil health and you can step outside the box. You are striving here to build a rich, sustainable soil ecology that is balanced so that the plant can decide what it needs, when and how much and always have it available.

I mixed my soil up on a tarp in my garage. You want temps to be above freezing, spring temps are perfect, and enough space to do some mixing. Again, we aren’t making a super soil here so there is no need to “cook” and seal it up, as we aren’t using ingredients like Guanos and blood meals but you do want to mix it well and then give it a good week or two to colonize and homogenize before planting.

I really enjoyed this part, here’s The whole family getting in on it!

I used a yucca extract wetting agent to help combat peat Moss’ hydrophobic quality and wetted the mix as I was building it instead of all at the end. You are going for a moist level of water, not soaked. When you squeeze a handful you don’t want to see any water come out but when you open your hand it should retain its shape. It feels amazing, soft, light and smells sweet and earthy. The word dirt seems like an insult to this substance. Maybe I’m just high as a kite haha!

If properly made it will be very difficult if not impossible to over water this mixture in a fabric pot or a raised garden bed. It is filled with textures, aeration and high quality compost, perfect for roots and microbial armies!

That’s it! The only other very important piece of advice for this that needs to be said is pot size is important. A great metaphor I’ve been told for understanding this is:

Picture that your soil is a battery. When you grow a plant in it that draws power from the battery. Like an alternator in a car, your soil can recharge itself, however if you are pulling too much energy too quickly before it can recharge, also like a car battery, you can get to the point where you have to replace it. This is why other methods require you to throw out your medium in between grows. The bigger the battery, however, with a steady and lighter pull, the longer it will last. The main consensus is that you want at least 15 gallons of soil per plant. I will touch on this more in upcoming posts, and as we catch up to my present day plants you will see how much of a difference it can make to have more soil and less plant!

 

[Nunyabiz]

Gardening
I will start by stating I am no expert in this, however I’ve done a fair amount of reading and YouTube watching before taking the plunge, as well as a semi organic grow to dip my toes into it while I learn first. This journal will be an easy going story of transitioning to a no till living soil grow where I will be focusing on the experience, the plants and the soil, fully enjoying my garden (cannabis and vegetable) and less on methodical feedings and techniques or maximizing yield or potency. I don’t even have a clue on how old my plants are, when they will flip (outdoor) or really keeping track of when I apply nutrients, teas or foliars. It’s a step back, an outlet to relax and reconnect with the outdoors after a long day in a couple of the most difficult years in a very long time.

This style is a big change from bottle nutrients and, at times, can be difficult to trust as it goes counter to pretty much everything I’ve learned. Hopefully we can learn a few things along the way!
Here is the first step:

Mixing The Good Stuff
A very popular saying in organic growing is that you feed your soil not your plants. Starting out with a very high quality soil is of the utmost importance. This is the base you will be building on for years. There a few recipes out there, don’t mistake it with a “super soil” recipe this is not that. This is what I went with and pretty close to the original, by the pioneer Clackamas Coot:


Base
1 part Canadian Spaghum Peat Moss
1 part compost / 15% worm castings
1 part aeration (perlite, or if you can get it pumice and rice hulls)

Amendments 1/2cup / cuft of each
Karanja Meal
Kelp Meal
Crustacean Meal
Malted Barley Flour

Minerals - 1 cup / cuft of each
Basalt - Huplaso
Gypsum Dust
Oyster Shell Flour
Glacial Rock Dust

The most important advice I got here was to source the highest quality ingredients you can. You want very clean, solid compost especially, but also good amendments free of big industry’s sloppy standards and excessive additives. If you can, avoid the blood meals, bones meals and manures. I used a mixture of organic vegetable and ocean composts that were the best I could locally get my hands on without an arm and a leg for shipping. It can be difficult to source some of this stuff, but most items can be substituted once you understand their purpose. This world is a far cry from NPK values however, I can tell you that, a big part of this growing style is letting go of control, which will be very difficult however once you do it is extremely rewarding. I just suggest you put in some time to understand the purpose of inputs, what they contribute towards total soil health and you can step outside the box. You are striving here to build a rich, sustainable soil ecology that is balanced so that the plant can decide what it needs, when and how much and always have it available.

I mixed my soil up on a tarp in my garage. You want temps to be above freezing, spring temps are perfect, and enough space to do some mixing. Again, we aren’t making a super soil here so there is no need to “cook” and seal it up, as we aren’t using ingredients like Guanos and blood meals but you do want to mix it well and then give it a good week or two to colonize and homogenize before planting.

I really enjoyed this part, here’s The whole family getting in on it!

I used a yucca extract wetting agent to help combat peat Moss’ hydrophobic quality and wetted the mix as I was building it instead of all at the end. You are going for a moist level of water, not soaked. When you squeeze a handful you don’t want to see any water come out but when you open your hand it should retain its shape. It feels amazing, soft and earthy and smells the same. The word dirt seems like an insult to this substance. Maybe I’m just high as a kite haha!

If properly made it will be very difficult if not impossible to over water this mixture in a fabric pot or a raised garden bed. It is filled with textures, aeration and high quality compost, perfect for roots and microbial armies!

That’s it! The only other very important piece of advice for this that needs to be said is pot size is important. A great metaphor I’ve been told for understanding this is:

Picture that your soil is a battery. When you grow a plant in it that draws power from the battery. Like an alternator in a car, your soil can recharge itself, however if you are pulling too much energy too quickly before it can recharge, also like a car battery, you can get to the point where you have to replace it. This is why other methods require you to throw out your medium in between grows. The bigger the battery, however, with a steady and lighter pull, the longer it will last. The main consensus is that you want at least 15 gallons of soil per plant. I will touch on this more in upcoming posts, and as we catch up to my present day plants you will see how much of a difference it can make to have more soil and less plant!

Exactly correct, Grasshopper

 

[Amy Gardner]

I’ll be along! I’m hardly able to be online atm but I will definitely drop in here as much as possible - right in my wheelhouse.

yucca extract

Awesome. What did you use and where did you find it? I’ve had trouble sourcing it as a garden input here (in Aus) and can only find cosmetic versions of it - I’ve wondered if I can just use that but don’t know enough about it to even know which one to choose. Yucca is also fantastic IPM defence against fungus gnats.

Nice lineup of plants

 

[InTheShed]

DC!

 

[Azimuth]

Ok, I'm in. I'm heading down this road as well, and mixed up my soil (essentially same recipe) a month or so ago. My understanding was that it did have to cook for a bit. I also understand that unless you have a very deep understanding of the various ingredients and how they work together that, like baking a cake, substitutions are not recommended.

In any event, I'll be doing it in much smaller pots (2gal) and plan to add some homemade organic nutes along the way.

Good luck with the grow.

Azi

 

[Azimuth]

yucca extract

Awesome. What did you use and where did you find it? I’ve had trouble sourcing it as a garden input here (in Aus) and can only find cosmetic versions of it - I’ve wondered if I can just use that but don’t know enough about it to even know which one to choose. Yucca is also fantastic IPM defence against fungus gnats.

You can use aloe in its place. I've got a few plants growing in pots inside that I use.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Can use aloe in its place.

cool. In what form? Powdered? I can find powdered yucca as a cosmetic product. I’ve wondered if that could simply be added to soil. It’s pure I’m pretty sure. I’ll check out the aloe options, thanks for substitution tip

 

[DeeCee112]

From what I understand the main ingredient you want from a wetting agent is the saponin which has a few other plant health effects.

Aloe contains these as well as yucca. I planted this guy not only for sunburns but also adding the gel to some foliar sprays!

 

[DeeCee112]

Ok, I'm in. I'm heading down this road as well, and mixed up my soil (essentially same recipe) a month or so ago. My understanding was that it did have to cook for a bit. I also understand that unless you have a very deep understanding of the various ingredients and how they work together that, like baking a cake, substitutions are not recommended.

In any event, I'll be doing it in much smaller pots (2gal) and plan to add some homemade organic nutes along the way.

Good luck with the grow.

Azi

Im no expert as I said and that’s what I understood at first but like I said once you start to understand what the end goal is for your soil and then what the ingredients contribute to get there you can substitute for others that you also understand that being the same or similar properties. I am still a long way from understanding enough to be able to confidently offer any advice on it but it is out there if you take some time to read. I think the reason a lot of people suggest not to substitute is that it takes this understanding to be able to without running into issues.

 

[Azimuth]

cool. In what form? Powdered? I can find powdered yucca as a cosmetic product. I’ve wondered if that could simply be added to soil. It’s pure I’m pretty sure. I’ll check out the aloe options, thanks for substitution tip

I use the raw aloe plant. Cut off a chunk of leaf, or an entire leaf depending on how much I need, run it thru a blender with some water (you can drink the stuff so no need to dedicate a special blender for the garden) and give the plants their own smoothie or blend it with other liquid inputs. Organic, of course. Aloe also has salicylic acid in it which plants and people use for its healing properties. The plants love it.

Try it just once and, like potato chips, you'll be back for more. I use it almost every watering.

As a wetting agent, it will foam up and help hydrophobic soils accept water, and will help foliar feeding sprays by wetting the leaves allowing for a smoother coating of your application and make it stay on the plant longer rather than a typical spray that beads up and then rolls off.

I usually cut off a bit and then stand it up in a glass for 10-15 mins to hold it upright and that will let the yellow latex resin drain out. Not necessary to do, but that stuff can smell and irritate skin, so I usually do.

You can usually find aloe plants everywhere, grocery stores, big box and hardware stores, garden centers, etc.

The small ones are cheap and you can grow them out to be pretty big plants even in containers. That way you'll be growing your own supply of this very versatile plant.

Aloe fertilizer

 

[Stunger]

Great start DC! I am going to love watching the progress, looking really good so far!

 

[bluter]

Aloe contains these as well as yucca. I planted this guy not only for sunburns but also adding the gel to some foliar sprays!

it's also an excellent cloning gel alternate.

 

[DeeCee112]

I use the raw aloe plant. Cut off a chunk of leaf, or an entire leaf depending on how much I need, run it thru a blender with some water (you can drink the stuff so no need to dedicate a special blender for the garden) and give the plants their own smoothie or blend it with other liquid inputs. Organic, of course. Aloe also has salicylic acid in it which plants and people use for its healing properties. The plants love it.

Try it just once and, like potato chips, you'll be back for more. I use it almost every watering.

As a wetting agent, it will foam up and help hydrophobic soils accept water, and will help foliar feeding sprays by wetting the leaves allowing for a smoother coating of your application and make it stay on the plant longer rather than a typical spray that beads up and then rolls off.

I usually cut off a bit and then stand it up in a glass for 10-15 mins to hold it upright and that will let the yellow latex resin drain out. Not necessary to do, but that stuff can smell and irritate skin, so I usually do.

You can usually find aloe plants everywhere, grocery stores, big box and hardware stores, garden centers, etc.

The small ones are cheap and you can grow them out to be pretty big plants even in containers. That way you'll be growing your own supply of this very versatile plant.

Aloe fertilizer

Nailed it, great info!

Great start DC! I am going to love watching the progress, looking really good so far!

Thanks and welcome Stunger!

it's also an excellent cloning gel alternate.

Yet another benefit!