Building A Better Soil: Demonstrations & Discussions Of Organic Soil Recipes

[Beardog205]

Morning Sue,

I'miss not much of a poster but have casually followed your grows for a while now and just want to say thank you for the wonderful information you and your fellow veterans provide! One bit of info I've been trying to find for some time now is what to do with my soil between harvest of crop 1 and transplanting of crop 2? Let's say I'm using 5 gal pots for each plant and let them veg for 2 months, how long do I need to wait before I can transplant a new seedling after harvest? Thank you for your time, and apologies if you have already covered this.

 

[kelticBlue]

... go up in early June plant seedlings ...

Funny you should mention that.. I was passing thru maine and then near ottawa and I was thinking hey if i dropped a couple of seeds here and there, not that i would return to see them in glory sadly. Would be cool to see a wild field.
I hear there is a seed bandit on the loose

 

[yankeetoker]

It's a Potassium Silicate. Stress, drought and pest resistance.

Pro-TeKt(R) --3

So Agsil would serve the same purpose, correct?

YT

 

[Radogast]

Morning Sue,

I'miss not much of a poster but have casually followed your grows for a while now and just want to say thank you for the wonderful information you and your fellow veterans provide! One bit of info I've been trying to find for some time now is what to do with my soil between harvest of crop 1 and transplanting of crop 2? Let's say I'm using 5 gal pots for each plant and let them veg for 2 months, how long do I need to wait before I can transplant a new seedling after harvest? Thank you for your time, and apologies if you have already covered this.

Sue and I both tend to replant on harvest day. She usually does seeds, I replant with a clone that has been early vegging in a 3" pot

I tuck the transplant in with a bit of mycorrhizal powder and a layer of fresh worm castings.

 

[SweetSue]

Morning Sue,

I'miss not much of a poster but have casually followed your grows for a while now and just want to say thank you for the wonderful information you and your fellow veterans provide! One bit of info I've been trying to find for some time now is what to do with my soil between harvest of crop 1 and transplanting of crop 2? Let's say I'm using 5 gal pots for each plant and let them veg for 2 months, how long do I need to wait before I can transplant a new seedling after harvest? Thank you for your time, and apologies if you have already covered this.

As Rad already pointed out (I can't believe I missed you Rad. ) I drop my seed or plant my seedling within 24 hours of harvest. After the chop (done right at the soil line, leaving the rootball in place) I gently move the mulch aside and top with about 2" of vermicompost before replanting. I run no-tills, like Rad, and you want the next plant in there to give the myco something to grab onto. This way you get the immediate benefit of the fungal community with your new plant.

We have no egos here, and we honestly don't care if we answer the same questions over and over. It gives us practice and allows us to refine the answers. Please, pepper us with questions. It's a good part of what we're here for.


......... Where are my manners? Welcome Beardog. Are you growing in living organic soil?

 

[SweetSue]

So Agsil would serve the same purpose, correct?

YT

That's what Agsil is, potassium silicate.

 

[yankeetoker]

That's what Agsil is, potassium silicate.

Duh....

Sent from my LG-V410 using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[handy afteral]

Hi all,

Would anyone be able/willing to recommend a good early flowering top-dress for outdoor plants, please? I'm thinking of top-dressing some alfalfa meal, and some crab meal. Does that make sense?
My plants are growing outdoors, in holes I dug and filled with 18 gallons of mixed soil:
1/3 compost
1/3 peat
1/3 perlite
Amended with:
Crab meal
Alfalfa
Neem meal
Kelp meal
Some dolomitic lime (I know..but only choice at the time - I've got oyster shell flour for next time)
Gypsum
Basalt
Malted barley

All that considered...does it make sense for me to top-dress some alfalfa meal and crab meal, now that flowering is just starting? I should mention there's no way I can get teas out to my plants, so those are out of the question.
I was gonna post pics, but can't figure out how to do that when using my phone on this site...

Thanks for any and all advice,
Handy

 

[AngryBird]

Morning Sue,

I'miss not much of a poster but have casually followed your grows for a while now and just want to say thank you for the wonderful information you and your fellow veterans provide! One bit of info I've been trying to find for some time now is what to do with my soil between harvest of crop 1 and transplanting of crop 2? Let's say I'm using 5 gal pots for each plant and let them veg for 2 months, how long do I need to wait before I can transplant a new seedling after harvest? Thank you for your time, and apologies if you have already covered this.

Hi all,

Would anyone be able/willing to recommend a good early flowering top-dress for outdoor plants, please? I'm thinking of top-dressing some alfalfa meal, and some crab meal. Does that make sense?
My plants are growing outdoors, in holes I dug and filled with 18 gallons of mixed soil:
1/3 compost
1/3 peat
1/3 perlite
Amended with:
Crab meal
Alfalfa
Neem meal
Kelp meal
Some dolomitic lime (I know..but only choice at the time - I've got oyster shell flour for next time)
Gypsum
Basalt
Malted barley

All that considered...does it make sense for me to top-dress some alfalfa meal and crab meal, now that flowering is just starting? I should mention there's no way I can get teas out to my plants, so those are out of the question.
I was gonna post pics, but can't figure out how to do that when using my phone on this site...

Thanks for any and all advice,
Handy

here EVERYBODY who has the knowledge IS willing to share
your mix sounds good.
Wait for them to wake up/come back

 

[SweetSue]

Hi all,

Would anyone be able/willing to recommend a good early flowering top-dress for outdoor plants, please? I'm thinking of top-dressing some alfalfa meal, and some crab meal. Does that make sense?
My plants are growing outdoors, in holes I dug and filled with 18 gallons of mixed soil:
1/3 compost
1/3 peat
1/3 perlite
Amended with:
Crab meal
Alfalfa
Neem meal
Kelp meal
Some dolomitic lime (I know..but only choice at the time - I've got oyster shell flour for next time)
Gypsum
Basalt
Malted barley

All that considered...does it make sense for me to top-dress some alfalfa meal and crab meal, now that flowering is just starting? I should mention there's no way I can get teas out to my plants, so those are out of the question.
I was gonna post pics, but can't figure out how to do that when using my phone on this site...

Thanks for any and all advice,
Handy

Welcome Handy, to the thread and to the community. Others will be along with their suggestions, but here's one of the options I keep around, along with vermicompost.

An excellent top dress for going into flowering. Expensive, so see if you can source it better than I did. I also have some YumYum mix that I occasionally remember to use as topdressing.

 

[KeifKeith]

Just finished all 62 pages of this thread, awesome, thanks to all contributors.

Keith

 

[AngryBird]

It is an awesome thread

 

[handy afteral]

Thanks for the tip, Sue. Unfortunately, I saw it too late.

In the end, I added the following to each plant, as a top-dress:
2 tablespoons snowcrab meal
2 tablespoons kelp meal
1 tablespoon alfalfa meal

I was trying go light... Does that make sense?

Thanks more,
Handy

 

[bobrown14]

FYI - I just went 50 days in flower nothing but water in Coots style organic soil mix, no topdress or anything but water. My plants never looked better TBH.. just goes to show what I know.

 

[Radogast]

FYI - I just went 50 days in flower nothing but water in Coots style organic soil mix, no topdress or anything but water. My plants never looked better TBH.. just goes to show what I know.

Lovely.

I had tremendous success with my second round in Coots style soil, but trying to go 4 & 5 rounds without proper amendments and foliar was a disappointment,
I'd say you know lot

 

[Amadeus Forzin]

I'm hoping to start my journey into living organic soils for my next round. It is a coots style soil that I will be purchasing ready cooked from a reputable UK supplier. (they do sell all mix separately but I'm lazy) my issue, so I'm told, could me my pot size. I'm unable to run anything bigger than 2 x 3 gallon smart pots as I struggle to move anything bigger. Is it possible that I can make this work?

 

[Radogast]

I'm hoping to start my journey into living organic soils for my next round. It is a coots style soil that I will be purchasing ready cooked from a reputable UK supplier. (they do sell all mix separately but I'm lazy) my issue, so I'm told, could me my pot size. I'm unable to run anything bigger than 2 x 3 gallon smart pots as I struggle to move anything bigger. Is it possible that I can make this work?

Did they recommend foliar sprays and teas? I expect 3 gallon pots need supplemental feeding after the first month.
My experience was a good first run with water and occaisional tea, a fwe great yields on the second run with just worm castings and water, and disappointing yields on 3rd and 4th runs with just water.

 

[Amadeus Forzin]

Yeah they said top dress with kelp Neem and worm castings as required and water with a bubbled barley and compost tea as required.

 

[Fuzznutter]

I'm working my way through this thread, but I'm only on page 19 so please forgive me if what I'm about to ask has already been covered.

First, the cricket poop is an amazing idea. Crickets are too loud for me though. I had some in the house a couple years ago but by the end of a week they drove me so batty I fried them all for a snack. (Kind of nutty tasting. I prefer them over mealworms.) However, I raise mealworms for the outside birds. Could I use their poop?! It would be easy enough to set up a self-sifting poop bin. Then they could perform double duty and finally earn their keep in my home!

Second, I see a lot of people using aloe in their water, but I'm having trouble finding information on what exactly it does. What makes it so popular?

 

[kelticBlue]

I cannot think of the word for what Aloe does. It adds and I draw a blank.

What do ya feed mealworms? I am sure their poop is fine. But ya may make it better by targeting the feeding for nutrient rich poop. I dunno never raised worms meself just thinking out loud.