The Organic Way: Soil Science 101

[Conradino23]

Natural loam in my zone is of rich/dark brown colour that gets darker if you have more organic matter in it. This one however was corrected for High Brix grow, mostly lithothamnium, red lava rock powder and some powdered egg shells, which gives it slightly greyish hue.

 

[Conradino23]

And yes this type of loam has fair amount of clay, we sit here on so called marl, which is a rock structure dominated by calcium/magnesium carbonate.

 

[oldnoob]

Thank you for this information. It's more along my own way of thinking after being a gardener for 40+ years. Start with good soil and work up what you need to add.... (if anything).

So if I follow, what we need to do is build a soil with the mineral ammendments the plant will need over the 6 +/- months till harvest.

 

[bobrown14]

Thank you for this information. It's more along my own way of thinking after being a gardener for 40+ years. Start with good soil and work up what you need to add…. (if anything).

So if I follow, what we need to do is build a soil with the mineral ammendments the plant will need over the 6 +/- months till harvest.

If you've been gardening without chemicals and using compost as your soil humus portion.. you already have all the info you need to grow GREAT cannabis.

The only difference is this plant can flower for 60-100+ days, that's a long time and requires some extra attention to what minerals we add into the soil mix.

I add calcium of some sort ... rock dusts ... feldspars (granite dust) of some sort or another and organic amendments ... I grow indoors so it's a potted plant that flowers 60-100+ days. It's important to get the soil right in the beginning for best result.

 

[oldnoob]

Thanks bb. Its good to hear that i'm on the right track with something.

I'm trying to set up a perpetual, so potted plants is what I was aiming for as well. Doing a bunch of reading and really liked the high brix threads. Was considering looking into Doc Bud's kit but finances are a big restraint for me. Using my own soil is right up my alley! I'm thinking that the main amendment would be for minerals - primarily calcium, magnesium and silica. Would that be close?

 

[Tomula]

For all organic growers, that want to save some money on water and time I got together irrigation system for your LOPSAM (Living Organic Potted Soil and More) It is called olla (vase from spanish) and it lets the flowers to drink whenever she feels like and not use one drop more water and time on constant can watering. Also you cannot over-water your plant as she the one who does the watering. The terracotta vase in soil (that's it!) is acting like a reservoir which the plant embraces with roots and prunes them. That plus you simply can gravity fed the whole system. I'm currently testing one with amazing results. Here The stem is super thick for how tall she is.

One week difference with manifolded plant (8 main tops):

Tank you for your time and happy watering!

 

[Amauulu]

Conradino.....Can I water my plants with a diluted solution of Organic Yogurt or diluted Kefir to add Lactobacillus acidophilus?

 

[Amauulu]

Robert Celt....would Insect Frass have the same beneficial effect as Crab Shell Meal?

 

[Amauulu]

BoBrown14....How much kelp meal to mix into 1 cu ft of soil, please? I need measurements. Thanks.

 

[Amauulu]

I am a total beginner. What do you think of directly putting seed (Auto Flowering Plants) into its forever pot to avoid any transplant handling.

On another thread, I learned that one way of germinating seed and growing Autos in its final pot is (1) fill the pot to its rim with your properly prepared organic soil. (2) Wet this soil thoroughly without compressing it. (3) In center of that soil, scoop out enough soil to form a 6-inch diameter x 6-inch deep planting hole. (4) Fill that scooped out 6" x 6" planting hole with fine soil especially made for germinating seed. (5)(a) poke a 1/2 inch hole in the germination soil with the eraser end of a pencil and put the seed into it, or alternatively, (5)(b), first place the seed into a coconut water soaked grow plug like a Root Riot plug, then place that plug with its seed into the germination soil. (6) Gently cover plug containing its seed with 1/4 inch of germination soil. (6) Using a spray bottle filled with a weak solution of Chamomile tea (anti fungal), moisten the germination soil, being careful not to soak the area.(7) Leave it alone for 24 hrs, watching to ensure the rooting plug does not dry out. Put the pot under lights, or outside in a shaded area (when the night time temperatures are 50 F or above).

If I am posting to the wrong thread, please tell me of my infraction and I will repost my question in another thread you recommend. Thank you.

 

[bobrown14]

BoBrown14....How much kelp meal to mix into 1 cu ft of soil, please? I need measurements. Thanks.

Acadian Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot

Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 1/2 to 1 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Malted Barley @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot (ground fine in a coffee grinder)

Gypsum Dust @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Brix Blend Basalt @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Glacial Rock Dust @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Oyster Flour @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Mix with:

Quart of EWC (can be as much as 25% of the humus portion)
EWC = earth worm casting
1/3 humus = Compost/EWC/Vermicompost
1/3 aeration = Rice hulls or Perl-lite
1/3 CSPM = Canadian Spagnum Peat Moss (look on bag for country of origin = Canada)

Amend at up pot with 1 cup of the amendment mix and 1 cup EWC then into flower.

This is the soil mix I use - "Coots Mix" as it were. I thank Clackamas Coots for this soil recipe. Can stand behind, on top and in the can with this mix. Can go no-til for several rounds without needing to change it out. Amend at up pot, water FTW. All you need.

Substitute like you're baking a cake ... not really many subs for the above. It's a balanced soil mix. I get this soil mix tested at our state Extension Service every time we mix a batch and it's damn near perfect every time.

 

[totalnoob]

Does diatomaceous earth have a place in this soil recipe? If so, at what amount per cuft is recommended?

 

[GodOfPot]

The simplest answer would be no, follow the recipe. The most important piece to this recipe isn't the amendments....what I've come to learn in the past months is you can't amend your way to success, the key is in the humus portion of a soil.

There always seems to be so much emphasis on the amendments added in but EWC/compost/vermicompost is where it's at.....stick to the recipe and focus on getting or making the best humus you can....if you compost or vermicompost on your own even better, can add things like DE and other amendments into your compost if you want

 

[bobrown14]

Does diatomaceous earth have a place in this soil recipe? If so, at what amount per cuft is recommended?

What GoP said.... ask yourself why do you want to add XXX amendment to the mix?

So what's the benefit of adding DE to a soil mix?

What is DE?:
Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms. Their skeletons are made of a natural substance called silica.

It's composed of 80-90% silica - SiO2·nH2O


OK that's the simple answer. Yes it's mostly all silica. Silica is good for plants and humans. Over 20% of the earths crust is made up of silica. It's literally every where and all of our granites, clays and soils will have an abundance of silica in them.

So silica is a predominant part of our mineral mix that we use along with humus. peat moss, aeration and amendments.

It's brings some good things to the table or agriculture and there's evidence that bacteria will break it down into soluble silica. Good thing right? Yes of course... can we add it to our soil mix.. yes very likely we can.

A few years ago when a bunch of us were working on this soil mix and we were experimenting with the mineral portion, some of us used DE along with the other minerals we were trying out.

I'm not sure and this is where it gets murky in my brain but I think we decided to go with Basalt/glacial rock dust - as they are paramagnetic minerals. My best guess would be since all these minerals are VERY closely related that it came down to cost and availability.

DE (the proper form for gardening is food grade) and comparing the cost of DE to the cost of rock dust... not even close. I have enough balsalt dust to last a few lifetimes cost is a few cents per pound! DE food grade, its WAY more money.

So you could surely add in DE...

Price comparo - a quick google:

Food grade DE on Amazon = 10#s for about $24

Glacial rock dust = 50#s for $26

Brix blend basalt - 40#s for $48

So cost is a thing... also have to think about what other minerals the other rock dusts bring to the table. As noted, DE is almost ALL silica. The other mineral mixes are about 20-25% Silica with many many more minerals. Plants need about 70 or so different minerals to remain healthy and also keep animals that eat the plants healthy and since human at top of food chain also keeps us healthy.

IF I was going to add in DE... I would skip it since I've got enough other rock dusts to last me for a long while.

It's 1 (silica) of many minerals plants need... and a big one, but we also the rest of the mineral menu! So I go with the rock dusts and supplement silica weekly.

CEC (cation exchange capacity) is a big thing as well .... we get that mainly from the rock dusts and of course bacteria working on them and this is a reason why PH is important .... slightly acidic soil and water will help break down the minerals in rock dusts. Don't go out and buy a PH meter... a soil test will tell PH story.

 

[Mort7161]

Recently a good friend on here has seen what some of us here are growing with organic (water only) soils and is wanting to head in that direction. I started my journey organically from the outset but was flying by the seat of my pants and learning as I went.

I big to my friend Kraize for his interest in going organic and asking his questions on my thread. This prompted me to compose my research into a single article on Soil Science for him and others to reference as they follow down the path of organic gardening.

Have been looking for thread for a week now but forgot where it was and couldn't find till now is there a way i can save it new to this sorry

 

[I'mOne]

Ok, here's what I have and I wonder if it will work and what proportions. I know I probably need to add dolomite and perhaps bone meal. I am probably starting with Lebanese landraces and others that will need low nitrogen relatively speaking.
For my coots mix I have 3.8 cu ft spagnum moss
4 cu ft perlite
2 cu ft Foxfarm ocean
2 cu ft Foxfarm happy frog
1 cu ft earthworm casting
1 cu ft organic miracle grow with kelp, ewc, Coco, moss, and alfalfa (no idea what proportions)
1lb. Oyster shellmeal
,1 lb azomite
Diatomaceous earth (I have lots...)
Epsom salts
Of course I have mollasses,wood ashes..and ...charred leaves, coffee grounds and eggshells in small amounts I can add

 

[Conradino23]

Sounds like a twist on supersoil to me... I tried it in the past, but I settled on High Brix eventually.

 

[I'mOne]

Would you add lime or bone meal? I know you don't like too much potassium right?

 

[Conradino23]

Yes less than 100 ppm of K is what we’re shooting for in soil mix and we bring base saturation of Ca and Mg high to around 70-80% keeping the Ca:Mg ratio at optimum 7:1.

 

[I'mOne]

Sounds like I need a test mix than get it tested!