Will this soil mix work for starting and maintaining living soil

[indicagrower42020]

Will the following mix work for the red wrigglers, african crawlers, mycorrhizae, of course id add cover crop like crimson clover for the nitrogen intake. But for the most part I understand how living soil works about 50 50 , still gotta research some more but yeah I got all this info from a youtube video what do you guys think?


1) Super charcoal

(20%)



2) Hydro corn ( crevace , valleys, nooks for air, water, food, bacteria, fungi an roots to move through)

(20%)



3) Boogie brew/tea- USE WEEKLY to 10 days and dilute it 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 for the baby plants and with older plants your ok to use as normal or use vermi tea or compost tea, molases tea.





4) worm castings from organic solutions

(20%)



5) Neem seed meal - nitrogen

( 1 to 2 cups per batch, try 1 and add more , remember you can always add more )



6) Age old Kelp meal – good potassium

( 1 to 2 cups per batch, try 1 and add more , remember you can always add more )

Then for top feeding id use

1) Natures pride top dressing



2) sucanat dehydrated sugar from Florida if possible

 

[bobrown14]

Google "coots mix" thats an organic mix you can use no-till (over and over).

Compare that mix to what you want to do. You're missing several KEY ingredients.

The coots mix has the least amount of inputs that you will find in a re-usable organic soil mix.

I'm on my 4th YEAR with the current soil I've been using in containers.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Yep need a Clackamas Coots soil recipe.

 

[bobrown14]

here ya go

Coots Mix:

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 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.

 

[indicagrower42020]

Thanks you guys I already learned that clackmas is someone important in the community. Just off 5 mins on a video people are already talking about the guy very highly so im gonna research about him an the recipe thanks you all!

 

[bobrown14]

Hes an old timer with BOEL ties. Which was huge into cannabis smuggling in the 60s

 

[indicagrower42020]

Ok so is this correct?

Then its just maintaining the living soil with the water on some days an others like Neem/Kelp tea, coconut water?

Im confused when to add in the worms and spring tails or cover crop like crimson clover.

 

[indicagrower42020]

Deleted

 

[indicagrower42020]

You know what after re reading bob brown post I see that coots mix is separate from the vermicompost. Ok i understand. Thank you guys. What do i charge the soil with now? And when do I add the worms and other beneficial bugs

 

[Nunyabiz]

 

[indicagrower42020]

@Nunyabiz thanks an i could have sworn I heard your name on a YouTube video lol I forgot which channel but they talked about living soil an they read off forum questions an responses an i think yours made it lol

 

[Nunyabiz]

@Nunyabiz thanks an i could have sworn I heard your name on a YouTube video lol I forgot which channel but they talked about living soil an they read off forum questions an responses an i think yours made it lol

Yeah probably a few here and there.
Like Dude Grows I've been on a couple times and Grow weed Easy been mentioned a few times.

Jeremy Silva from Buildasoil and
Shango Los Shaping Fire
Are a couple good sources of info on growing with Living Organic Soil

 

[indicagrower42020]

Appreciate the push in the right direction for reals. That first video lacing me up

 

[bobrown14]

You know what after re reading bob brown post I see that coots mix is separate from the vermicompost. Ok i understand. Thank you guys. What do i charge the soil with now? And when do I add the worms and other beneficial bugs

Vermicompost is the same thing as worm castings. You can treat them the same.

Vermi-compost is part of the mix - the humus portion. You can do all vermi-compost or mix it with other humus like EWC or some other composted material. I've even used Coast of Main lobster compost with good result. Its just part of the mix.

1/3 humus (compost/ewc)
1/3 CSPM (peat moss)
1/3 aeration - per-lite

then add in the minerals and amendments.

 

[bobrown14]

Tad from KIS is a family friend of Coots. Jeremy from BAS used to post here and was learning from Coots when I was on a few other forums.

 

[greenjeans]

Is "EWC" earth worm castings???

 

[indicagrower42020]

Thank you bob. and greenjeans yes ewc is earthworm castings

 

[greenjeans]

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

I find this topic fascinating!!!! And am trying this approach on a very remedial level. Where the heck could I go to get all this stuff??? Garden Gallery??

 

[canagen]

If you are up in Canada, Black Swallow Living Soils in Brantford ON has them and ships via CanPost.

They are on the net just don't know if I could link them here. HTH.

 

[bobrown14]

Black Swallow for sure in the GTA. Ask them for "Coots mix" they will have something close enough.