Finally found a forum for soil growers!

[TryingOui]

Considering this is an organic forum, I'm curious about some of the comments:

Why would anyone flush an organic soil when the intent is to build and feed a designed, living soil, normally using AACT teas? Sounds like a carryover from hydro growing to flush salt buildup from chemical nutrients. Just curious.

I am a first time grower growing outside in soil but an experienced gardener otherwise. It is my experience that plants grown slowly and naturally in living microbial (organic) soil yield better tasting fruits and vegetables. I will find out if this also applies to MJ.

With good organic soil, one usually doesn't have to add any other nutes throughout a growing period unless the plant is overwatered.

For this first grow, I used a sativa clone from a dispensary, and 2 indica clones from an inexperienced grower (growing for 8 months).

I mixed EarthGro steer manure (1 cu ft from Walmart for $1.28), a bag of the cheapest potting soil to increase aeration ($1.89 from Walmart), a little compost, a little urea (pee), and mixed it in with garden soil. The plants get about 3.5 hours of direct sun and the remainder of indirect daylight. In my Colorado dry climate, I watered every 3rd day.

Here is a pic of the sativa. The canopy is about 40in x 40 in. It is healthy without any pest or nute problems whatsoever. That is a foot ruler for scale.

https://www.420magazine.com/gallery/data/500/Haze_Canopy_-_3x3sq.JPG

I did learn quite a bit about organic nutrient brands and soil from all the posts. I am getting ready to try my hand at cloning using Pro-Mix recommended by a garden supply store and will transplant these if successful to pots using the soil mix above but adding some blood meal.

 

[GreenLove]

yes, from the book teaming with microbes by jeff lowenfels. i got some biozome in my mail yesterday here in socal the one that hard to get archaea bacteria. i started a little veggie garden in my sideyard today and used some on strawberries and artichoke so we will see how it does.

right on. Looks like I need to get that one....

 

[NH4 Organix]

Would anyone care to experiment with me? I want to get accurate results, that are unbiased, and proven more than once. I have made several very successful cultures and teas, but want to get a little more in depth.

I know many of you would love to see something like that put together, and many of you would love to participate.

I'd love to just get some ideas going;
I was thinking...

-A gardeners Microbial guide, that focuses on Do and less of how.
I think that would be a good way to give to the community cheap efficient solutions. Breaking down complicated science into integrative info, is a fantastic way to learn.

Theres just one, I think we could build something great my fellow gardeners.

 

[TryingOui]

Would anyone care to experiment with me? I want to get accurate results, that are unbiased, and proven more than once. I have made several very successful cultures and teas, but want to get a little more in depth.

I know many of you would love to see something like that put together, and many of you would love to participate.

I'd love to just get some ideas going;
I was thinking...

-A gardeners Microbial guide, that focuses on Do and less of how.
I think that would be a good way to give to the community cheap efficient solutions. Breaking down complicated science into integrative info, is a fantastic way to learn.

Theres just one, I think we could build something great my fellow gardeners.

Hey Organix, I will sure enjoy participating. It's good to be able to duplicate and compare results. Fantastic idea!

 

[XxUpInSmokExX]

what is the difference betweeen black strap molasses and unsulpharized molasses

 

[Believer]

what is the difference betweeen black strap molasses and unsulpharized molasses

unsulphurized is top quality then would be sulphured then blackstrap.....or so the cooking books say

Unsulphured Molasses is the finest quality, they are taken from the juice of sun-ripened Sugar Cane which is then clarified and concentrated.

Sulphured - These are made from green sugar that has not been matured enough, it is treated with sulphur fumes during the sugar extracting process. It then goes through a first boiling process - the Molasses from this first boil are the best as only a small amount of sugar has been removed.

The process then goes into it's second boil which makes the Molasses a much darker colour, they are also not as sweet and are not distinctively flavoured.

Blackstrap - These are Molasses that have gone through the third boil. There main use is in the manufacturer of Cattle Food and Industrial Uses. Saying that these Molasses are extremely high in Iron and are also used in the health food industry.

 

[Planter]

Re: Finally found a forum for soil growers!!

I have become a bit partial to "Roots" organics soil and their nute line...

i think i might try this stuff next grow. i hear good things about it over here in CO.

 

[Advocate420]

Subbing up. I love my pre made soil. Coast of Maine stonington blend. Believe it’s considered a super soil. Definitely considering progressing in re usable soil and teas.

 

[bobrown14]

Anything From Coast of Main is good. I use the Lobster Compost in my soil mix.

What soil is considered to be the best?

Home made compost mixed with amendments and minerals.

Coots mix
No-till

are a few.

 

[bobrown14]

Cottonseed meal is from well cotton seeds and cotton is one of the most heavily chemically treated crops with herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer.

I try and steer clear (see what I did there) and go with home made compost/EWC
Peat Moss and Aeration.

Add in some nutrients and minerals and call it no-till.

If you like meals these are the ones I use:

Kelp Meal
Crustacean Meal

and these:

Karanga Cake
Neem Cake


Malted Barley ground to a fine powder is an excellent catalyst for plants and soil microbes.

 

[ColaCalyx]

Hello soil lovers! Speaking of fertilization...I'm a big fan of vermicompost. Anyone else run their dry ammendments (kelp,crab,alfalfa,MBP, etc) through their worms first? For my container plant mix by volume I mix about 50% perlite/ 30%CSPM/ 20% vermicompost. I add dolo/or Calcitic Lime @1C/CuFt.
I start them on composted horse/chicken manure and enough CSPM (w/added lime and rock dust for grit) to lighten the mix a little. Then I feed the worms the same things I would put in my mix (including a portion of post-harvest trimmings), and I top dress vermicompost the whole grow.
The plants don't want for hardly anything. Sometimes during the stretch they want a lil extra nitrogen and I add some fish hydrolysate. Then when buds are forming I add a bit of sul-po-mag and near the end I add some molasses to their water.

 

[bobrown14]

Yes !!! I run all of my amendments thru the compost bins. Also add in rock dusts and layer Ginko leaves I've stashed that are 1/2 moldy in between daily scrap tosses.

Gotta keep the worms happy.

sul-po-mag - Prolly nukes the worms right quick. Don't wanna do that in my flower container, if it nukes worms, whats it doing to the roots. Not a fan.

the "po" part that is +20% = Potash (pot ash) = burn some leaves or sticks or both.. collect the ashes and add that to the compost bin. (Potash = ashes in a pot), can choose your wood wisely if science is a thing.

Sul - Sulphur its good and a requirement

mag - here's where I get into trouble with this stuff "in containers". Can cause an cal/mag imbalance (too much Ca to Mg raitio). As the plant uses much more Ca than Mg eventually the container can get into that ratio issue. Looks a lot like Ca deficiency and sometimes people think its Mg deficit as well. They all look pretty much the same.

This stuff in mainly used for outdoors where soil has been over tilled and over worked and the farmer needs a quick fix instead of doing no-till and leaving plant matter and roots to decompose slowly.

For container farming, its all about the compost in my world.

 

[ColaCalyx]

To be clear bobrown14, I don't put sul-po-mag in with the worms. Since I consider vermicompost nice and steady, I like some water soluble quick stuff as a boost....but I use very sparingly.... If I had huge pots I probably wouldn't bother. But I got 9 footers in 45 gallon no-tills. This way I never get deficiencies I know I'd get without the little extras. Compost is the champ for sure, my bread and butter.

 

[bobrown14]

I've composted Sol-po-mag in my vermi bins. Just real light with it. I bought a bag a few years ago to experiment with mainly. I found it pretty concentrated for container use. So one way to get rid of it add to my bins this time of year wont hurt the worms.

Outside or say in your size no-till I think it should work fine. You're getting good result with it.

I'm in 7.5 gal no-till so I'm on the edge of smallest possible no-till. Very easy for me to thro off my soil so I really only amend very little and only do it when up-potting into final container.

Hey Cola you have a journal going?? Love to watch other organic farmers. Specially no-till.

 

[ColaCalyx]

- bobrown14, I wrapped up my grow for the season, and I just joined this forum so a journal will have to wait until next season or until I get some indoor happening. Until then I'm busy with post harvest stuff and I'm hanging out on the Malawi Style Cob thread mostly.
Hat's off for making 7.5 Gallons work. I was doing 20 Gallons outside for a couple seasons until I upgraded to 45s this year. I live in a fairly hot climate so everything cycles faster, and my 20s were running outta steam mid flower. I think the 45s are still too small but I don't have much yard to work with.

 

[bobrown14]

Yeah nice - I'd love to run 200 gal no-till softies but I have to grow indoors and am limited on space and don't like carrying dirt without a wheel barrow, lol. I'd love to grow outdoors but its not an option here.

The pot size limits plant size and I've found anything bigger than 7.5 gal is overkill for me indoors. Plants quickly run out of space and it's a pita to do a lot training in a tight squeeze. So that size works great for me.

I don't run out of gas in the soil, its just the mix I use I've been running it for a few years over and over with minimal amendments. I do let the root ball decompose in the pot and just plant in the same soil over and over. I've been doing no-till since 2014. Just keep using the same soil, it works, worms are great just need to feed them.

Hangin in the cob chew thread with my buddies, nice.

Pinch between your cheek and gum.... chaw tabacca cept canna instead. Much healthier. Lol

 

[Autolabor1]

Flushing is a very last resort to your problem just run off 10% to 20% run off. Let them sit for three day's dry out. But this is a last resort. IMO

 

[bobrown14]

Flushing is a very last resort to your problem just run off 10% to 20% run off. Let them sit for three day's dry out. But this is a last resort. IMO

10% run off is normal watering for me down the stretch and in VEG when plants are root bound or close. Let that water sit in the btm tray and see how quickly the plant drinks it back up. Even 20% the plant will take drink it all back up over night. Try it.

I see flushing as the plant finally getting enough water. I think cannabis growers in general don't water enough. I have an automated watering system. The plants can drink as much as they like, and after 35 days in flower it's a lot of water for each plant every day. Sometimes gallons per plant daily.

 

[Conradino23]

Yeah my air-pots always leak a lot of water to the bowls I keep them in. Even 2-3". But they'll akways drink it up in the following 12 hrs.

 

[Godfather Skunk]

Hello dudes i am happy to see pople who loves soil grow in this days! I am one too!!
In first time last days i start my grow walk with hesi nl. I start with 1.6l plastic pots with Lightmix . I regadening in 25l plastic pots, its two femized photoperiod plants. I ask you what soil i use now for hesi fertilizers? Some mix? With some coco% ? What is better?