No till soil and worms

[zmutt00]

Hello,

New to this site/magazine and have enjoyed reading thru and digesting as much as I can the discussions in the organic soil forum. I'm well in to flowering in my first truly organic soil grow and I have to say it has been a very positive experience that I owe entirely to someone at the hydroponics store here in So. Maine.
I'm using a local veg/boom soil in a 10 gallon fabric pot.
The grow is indoors with a Platinum LED 600W
The 2nd week of bloom I dressed with Hot soil from the same local source.
I did not know about compost teas at the beginning of the grow so it was late in veg that I started and it consists of:
compost - 1cup
molasses - 1 tbl spoon per gallon
Kelp Meal - 1 tbl spoon per gallon
Azomite - 1 tbl spoon per gallon
Alfalfa Meal - 1 tbl spoon per gallon

I brew 2 gallons each time ( using a 5 gallon bucket ) but only use one gallon for the cannabis plant and the remainder for the house plants.

I use clover as a cover and early on added composting worms ( about 15 worms ) to the soil but until recently never fed them. Just this week I saw one thread where someone mentioned adding banana or potato peels to the soil so i added a few banana peels and some of the worms still living seem to be thrilled. I'll continue to do that. I'm going to start another 10 gallon pot within the next few weeks for the next grow.

I see EWC mentioned repeatedly in these posts but have not seen any discussion around adding living worms to the living soils. It all seems so fundamental yet it took a kid at the hydro store to turn me on to it. Trained to think about bottled nutrients I guess.

Anyway, it has been a wonderful experience thus far and I would be curious if others are putting worms in their soils and if so, are there tips to care for them?

 

[Blew Hiller]

I make my own soil with 50% of it being finished vermicompst (VC) which is the total product of the worms processing food in the (old soil) medium...complete with all the dead worms. I make the VC in the summer, overwinter and use it in the spring. Rinse and repeat. The other 50% of my soil is perlite/coir/vermiculite/axzomite/kelp/granite rock dust/mycorrhizae/elf magic.

I use larger pots and there are enough nutrients to sustain them through the grow with water only.

Blew Hiller Worm Bins4.jpg

• Blew Hiller
• Mar 17, 2018
• blew hiller worm bins

Blew Hiller Worm Bins

 

[Blew Hiller]

 

[zmutt00]

Awesome ! I will eventually get to the point where I'm making my own soil and compost. That is my goal anyway but much to learn for now. I'm going to have my soil tested after this grow because i know I have a deficiency or an excess in something. Nothing major. Just ordered more worms last night for the second 10 gallon pot for the next grow.

Do you indoors, outdoors, or both ?

 

[Blew Hiller]

Awesome ! I will eventually get to the point where I'm making my own soil and compost. That is my goal anyway but much to learn for now. I'm going to have my soil tested after this grow because i know I have a deficiency or an excess in something. Nothing major. Just ordered more worms last night for the second 10 gallon pot for the next grow. Do you [grow] indoors, outdoors, or both ?

If you want to start a worm bin, try to get a larger container (like a 15 gallon tote with a lid) and throw in a few inches of old soil and then just start adding veggie scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, dryer lint (puts it to good use and worms dig it)...and that's all...keep it simple and it will work its magic. Takes about 3 months to process a bin, and when it is finished you can just move them to a new one.

I grow in a GH in the summer and last winter was my first indoor grow...I def prefer GH but the winer grow keeps me busy and adds a little much needed greenery to my surroundings.

 

[zmutt00]

I was looking at grow journals last night and saw yours so I knew about the GH. Its a long thread you have there so I have a long way to go to read thru it all, but I will and I expect I'll learn along the way.

 

[gr865]

@zmutt00

What is the makeup of your compost. Am not growing organic at present but when I did I would do light topdressing with a grass/leaf based compost and also use that same compost for making my compost tea.
When I raised composting worms I used some fresh veggie waste but mainly I would use a grass/leaf compost and add a 1 to 2 inch layer every few days. Made some great compost.

 

[zmutt00]

The compost I'm using in the ACT is Coast of Maine's Penobscot blend compost & peat. Great company in Maine with a few different composts, soils, etc... Using that in my ACT.My goal is to get to where I'm making my own compost and soil and have a nice vegetable garden as well. I have more worms on the way so I can get my 2nd 10gallon pot ready for the next grow in month or two. The greenhouse is a few years off but i will do it eventually.

 

[bobrown14]

The compost I'm using in the ACT is Coast of Maine's Penobscot blend compost & peat. Great company in Maine with a few different composts, soils, etc... Using that in my ACT.My goal is to get to where I'm making my own compost and soil and have a nice vegetable garden as well. I have more worms on the way so I can get my 2nd 10gallon pot ready for the next grow in month or two. The greenhouse is a few years off but i will do it eventually.

You should be fine to harvest with that soil. Coast of Main top quality.

On your ACT - you dont need to add any rock dust. Start a compost heap and add the rock dust to the compost pile. The worms will use it to help digest the compost inputs.

Feel free to check out my journal. I'm all organic indoors no-till. Been doing it for years and its fairly documented here. I've gotten less complicated over the years for sure. Less is truly more.

Found that adding in some Malted Barley ground to a fine powder really got the microbe party started. That's probably the best soil amendment I've added in the last 3 years or so.

I'm on my 10th round no-till with the current soil mix so that's like 2 years maybe a little less of nothing but flowers in that mix. The soil just keeps getting better and better.

Home made compost is key. Quality in quality out. But Coast of Main I will use it along with my own when I make a batch of soil. Good stuff for sure and I for sure use it in my outdoor gardens. I have many raised beds. For outdoors I always mix in Coast of Main lobster compost with the rest of my soil mix.

 

[zmutt00]

You should be fine to harvest with that soil. Coast of Main top quality.

On your ACT - you dont need to add any rock dust. Start a compost heap and add the rock dust to the compost pile. The worms will use it to help digest the compost inputs.

Feel free to check out my journal. I'm all organic indoors no-till. Been doing it for years and its fairly documented here. I've gotten less complicated over the years for sure. Less is truly more.

Found that adding in some Malted Barley ground to a fine powder really got the microbe party started. That's probably the best soil amendment I've added in the last 3 years or so.

I'm on my 10th round no-till with the current soil mix so that's like 2 years maybe a little less of nothing but flowers in that mix. The soil just keeps getting better and better.

Home made compost is key. Quality in quality out. But Coast of Main I will use it along with my own when I make a batch of soil. Good stuff for sure and I for sure use it in my outdoor gardens. I have many raised beds. For outdoors I always mix in Coast of Main lobster compost with the rest of my soil mix.

 

[zmutt00]

I've seen your comments on some of the journals I follow so thank you for commenting.

I'm almost a month in to my 2nd grow and started adding the malted barley a few weeks ago, applying it the same way you do. The guys at the hydro store said it was worth doing so I'm in. I had my soil tested and from that learned my N was low as were the micro nutrients, so I started applying feather meal, fish powder, and Re-cover. Great results so far.

I'm going to have the soil tested after each grow for a while. Cool stuff.

 

[bobrown14]

I do no-till so I test my soil at the beginning before 1st round. If its good then it gets better and better.

For N compost is a good thing. Some sources of N are pretty hot ... I think of N as a long term input. Its gotta be there all the time but not it large quantities.

Here's the amendments I add to my soil mix:

Acadian Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot (I usually use 1 cup/cf)

Here's the soil mix

1/3 Humus (EWC + compost) - important part is the compost.
1/3 Peat moss
1/3 aeration (per-lite or similar)

mineral portion:

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

This soil will test pretty darn close to perfect. Can run it over and over again with minimum inputs. I usually add a 1/2 cup of compost and 1/2 cup of EWC with mycos in between flower runs. In veg I just just some older soil that I've made, same mix above but used for VEG. I have that hanging around in totes.

 

[Advocate420]

Just following and soaking up the knowledge!

 

[zmutt00]

I do no-till so I test my soil at the beginning before 1st round. If its good then it gets better and better.

For N compost is a good thing. Some sources of N are pretty hot ... I think of N as a long term input. Its gotta be there all the time but not it large quantities.

Here's the amendments I add to my soil mix:

Acadian Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot (I usually use 1 cup/cf)

Here's the soil mix

1/3 Humus (EWC + compost) - important part is the compost.
1/3 Peat moss
1/3 aeration (per-lite or similar)

mineral portion:

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

This soil will test pretty darn close to perfect. Can run it over and over again with minimum inputs. I usually add a 1/2 cup of compost and 1/2 cup of EWC with mycos in between flower runs. In veg I just just some older soil that I've made, same mix above but used for VEG. I have that hanging around in totes.

When time permits I need to read your journals. I'll give a real reply when I can narrow down the thoughts, questions, and comments I have to a few. Interesting stuff.....

 

[bobrown14]

I've been a Coots fanboy for many years.

Lol... started out on icmag with those guys until asshole storm. Then on to GC where we worked on finalizing soil mix for no till.

I always stayed here at 420mag just way way more positive and friendly.

 

[Mort7161]

I do no-till so I test my soil at the beginning before 1st round. If its good then it gets better and better.

For N compost is a good thing. Some sources of N are pretty hot ... I think of N as a long term input. Its gotta be there all the time but not it large quantities.

Here's the amendments I add to my soil mix:

Acadian Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot (I usually use 1 cup/cf)

Here's the soil mix

1/3 Humus (EWC + compost) - important part is the compost.
1/3 Peat moss
1/3 aeration (per-lite or similar)

mineral portion:

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

This soil will test pretty darn close to perfect. Can run it over and over again with minimum inputs. I usually add a 1/2 cup of compost and 1/2 cup of EWC with mycos in between flower runs. In veg I just just some older soil that I've made, same mix above but used for VEG. I have that hanging around in totes.

I wish i had your knowledge got a simplified version by any chance

 

[Blew Hiller]

I wish i had your knowledge got a simplified version by any chance

Knowledge is acquired over time, so start simple and move forward. Soil companies make some good soil (Coast of Maine Stonington for example) but they charge you for it. Composting with worms (vermicomposting) is easy and can be done indoors in a small space. From his recipe you quoted, the EWC + compost is the one component he makes rather than buys ...you can do the same. Start a small worm bin, feed them carrot/potato peelings and coffee/tea grounds and in 3 months you'll have a foundation to make your soil....add to that some perlite/vermiculite and/or some pro-mix and you're ready to grow. Over time you can add and tweak.

 

[Blew Hiller]

asshole storm

 

[Mort7161]

Knowledge is acquired over time, so start simple and move forward. Soil companies make some good soil (Coast of Maine Stonington for example) but they charge you for it. Composting with worms (vermicomposting) is easy and can be done indoors in a small space. From his recipe you quoted, the EWC + compost is the one component he makes rather than buys ...you can do the same. Start a small worm bin, feed them carrot/potato peelings and coffee/tea grounds and in 3 months you'll have a foundation to make your soil....add to that some perlite/vermiculite and/or some pro-mix and you're ready to grow. Over time you can add and tweak.

Yeah thanks Blue i was also told canna make organic pro mix from the hydro experts here I'll see if they sell a no-
Till soil too

I wish i had your knowledge got a simplified version by any chance

-till soil

 

[bobrown14]

For no-till you really need to build a proper soil. The recipe I posted above is a good one.

It's pretty basic.

Break it down

humus portion = ewc + compost

Aeration - per-lite or similar

peat moss

Minerals - rock dust + calcium (short and long term release).

amendments - these are used again after each round of flowers after harvest so good to have these handy.

Acadian Kelp Meal
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix
Crustacean Meal

This recipe I've been using for years as have many others.

There are other soil mixes for sure. This one works anywhere you want to grow.
I've found it to be one of the shortest list of ingredients of any I've seen in the last several years.

I have a shelf not that big either and mix up the 2 different portions separately and keep them in a few buckets.

Mineral mix
amendments

These can be purchased on line already bagged. @ sources

BAS
KIS Organics

Its called "Coots Mix".

Keep them separate. I only use the amendment mix after the soil has already been in use.

If you just wanna get growing get a bag of Coast of Main - the stuff Blew pointed to is a good start. Throw in a cup of EWC and 1/2 cup of kelp meal and you're off and running. Long term tho you will want to consider the recipe I listed.

I run no-till use the same soil mix over and over and over with very little amending. I also use Malted Barley I grind to a fine powder and mix into soil a tbs or 2 per container.

I always have ewc and kelp meal on hand and ready to go and usually amend soil with a few tbs of each if/when a plant looks like she needs a boost. Which is usually VEG plants that are root bound in small containers.

This recipe is 420% all organic with nothing needed but water.


Here's a pic of a plant I grew in this mix. Pic was taken about 2 weeks before harvest. Yelllow,red,black leaves are completely normal and expected.

DSC_0309 (2).JPG

• bobrown14
• Dec 28, 2018
• slurricane

Slurricane