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

We have a growing school of organic cannabis farmers on 420 Magazine and we figured it might be time to begin consolidating the recipes we have used to build the soil that grows our respective plants. The recipes follow different paths to the same ends - growing the best cannabis we can using organic methods and components. Our goal is to build soils that will carry our plants from seed to harvest with little effort on our part. We acknowledge that it isn't us that grow our plants at all, but rather the vibrant and vigorous soil food webs that we create in the limited plots of land we keep in our containers.

My hope is that we can demonstrate photographically the process we use individually to build our soils. Let's begin a spirited discussion on the diversity of our methods. Hopefully we can inspire positive changes along the way.

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Let me start the ball rolling with my own chosen recipe. I use the recipe developed by a gentleman named Clackamas Coot, infamous on some competing sites. This recipe will raise a plant from seed to harvest with water only and absolutely stun you with the health of your charge and potency of the eventual harvest. If you plan to build a no-till, as I have, you need only do twice weekly teas and drenches, alternating with water. This is my gold-standard recipe. It's suggested that, for the first two runs at least, you stick closely to this recipe as you take on the challenge of understanding the dynamics of what the recipe entails. There are no-tills running with this soil now into 13 cycles and still clicking smoothly along. My kind of gardening.

The Basic Clackamas Coot's soil mix recipe for growing cannabis (in his own words):

"Equal parts of Sphagnum peat moss, some aeration deal (pumice, rice hulls, lava rock - whatever is sitting in the garage) and finally some mix of humus - my compost, worm castings some black leaf mold I bought from the local 'worm guy'
To each 1 c.f. of this mix I add the following:
1/2 cup organic Neem meal
1/2 cup organic Kelp meal
1/2 cup Crab meal (or Crustacean meal when available - it has Shrimp meal with the Crab meal. It's a local product from the fisheries on the Oregon & Washington Coasts) *
4 cups of some minerals - rock dust

After the plant is in the final container I top-dress with my worm castings at 2" or so and then I hit it with Aloe vera juice and Comfrey extract. Or Borage. Or Stinging Nettle. Or Horsetail ferns. Whatever is ready.

The Rock Dust Recipe
4x - Glacial Rock Dust - Canadian Glacial (Gaia Green label)
1x - Bentonite - from the pottery supply store
1x - Oyster Shell Powder - the standard product from San Francisco Bay
1x - Basalt - from Redmond, Oregon (new product at Concentrates - about $18.00) ."

I believe that this recipe allows for some substitutions and that the biggest thing is to stick to the 1/3 SPM, 1/3 aeration, 1/3 humus and the amendments at the specified ratios. I have seen people (including myself) vary the actually "rock dusts" but don't if you can help it, and certainly don't omit the oyster shell flour in place of something else.

Living organic soil is very rewarding to grow in, give it a try, no one has ever looked back after going this route."


* Coot highly recommends the crustacean meal. In his own words, as of 4/20/15;

BirchPlease, on 4/19 said:
If I were to add OSF to this mix, how much would I add? A cup per c.f.? Any other suggestions?

Coot answers:
Why?

Crustacean Meal = Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) layered between extremely thin segments of Chitin (C8H13O5N)n which you want (need) in a potting soil mix

Oyster Shell Powder = pure Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3)

His supporting data:
Chitin Data Sheet at EPA

Chitin is used for controlling soil nematodes on ornamentals, turf, and many food and non-food crops at commercial and residential sites. The active ingredient is isolated from the shells of crustaceans, especially crabs and shrimp. Given its lack of toxicity, chitin is not expected to harm people, pets, wildlife, or the environment when used according to label directions.

1. Description of the Active Ingredient

Chitin (poly-N-acetyl-glucosamine) is one of the most common polymers found in nature. Structurally, it is related to cellulose, which consists of long chains of glucose molecules linked to each other. In chitin, the building block of the chains is a slightly modified form of glucose. [For another pesticide structurally related to chitin and cellulose, see Chitosan, also known as poly-D-glucosamine.]

Chitin is present in the shells of all crustaceans and insects, and in certain other organisms including many fungi, algae, and yeast. Commercially, chitin is isolated from the shells of crustaceans after the edible parts have been removed.

Chitin appears to control pathogenic nematodes by stimulating the growth of certain naturally occurring microorganisms in soil, which, in turn, release substances that kill the pathogenic nematodes and their eggs.

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My only addition to this would be to add mycorrhizal fungi innoculant to the soil mix in advance of planting, or dust the roots with it before transplanting.

I made my life easier and purchased a nutrient kit from a company that was based on Coot's recipe. It gave me the chance to mix up a limited amount of soil quickly, without having to source large bags of components. We live in a tiny apartment with severely limited storage space.

SOIL BUILDING:Living Organic Soil (LOS)

I don't think there are many things more pleasurable than building a strong Living Organic Soil.

We begin by collecting rainwater. I'll need about a gallon and a half for this batch. I'm only mixing up a cubic foot of the LOS. I already have two pots. I just need some on hand for germinating and seedling stage.

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Living Organic Soil is a building project to me. It's formulating a fine recipe to feed the herd. There's tremendous diversity in the mix.

My base mix is equal parts by volume of sphagnum peat moss, Worm Power vermicompost and pumice.

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That's the Worm Power Vermicompost on the left, compared to Wiggle Worm Earthworm Castings on the right. Worlds apart in quality. I love digging into the Worm Power. You can feel the energy ready to burst out. Look at me - excited about high quality worm pop! :laughtwo:

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To the base we add 4 cups of the Clackamas Coots-style minerals mix and 1.5 cups of the accompanying. CC-style nutrient mix. I purchased this kit from an online company specializing in helping you Build a Soil.

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Coots has recommended adding the malted barley grain directly to the soil mix for the added enzyme boost. His success inspired me to do the same with this mix. It's something I will do from now on with each new batch. Using the coffee grinder purchased just for grinding malted barley I powdered up 2 cups of the grain.

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I have Yum Yum Mix, so 3/4 cup of that, along with 3/4 cup of zeolite (helps with water retention) and some biochar I had on hand, so why not? Only good can come of it. Oh, and about a half cup of some exotic Japanese river sands, just because they're interesting shapes and surfaces.

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I use a SWICK watering system, which means I want extra aeration in the mix to help with all that wicking that will keep my soil matrix evenly hydrated. An evenly hydrated matrix means the micro herd and fungi can more efficiently shuttle nutrients around when called upon.

My choice for extra aeration is rice hulls. They're beautiful, fragrant, add silica to the food cart and some interesting surface areas for the micro herd. One of the things I'm always trying to accomplish with my soil mix is a wide diversity of surface areas. I like to imagine the biota making use of all this diversity, places to hide and hunt, living out their destiny with an abundance of available options. It's that Mother Earth thing run amok again. :love:

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Now for my second favorite part - the initial mixing.

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At this stage I'm working for a homogenous blend. There should be no big chunks of peat moss, so I break them up as I go. Then it's just dredge and lift, toss and tumble, mix and churn until everything looks completely dispersed throughout.

Using the Chapin, spray with 1 1/2 gallons of rainwater.

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My favorite part - the final mixing.

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I love the feel of the soil components, the smells of the mingling. Using my bare hands allows for a finer mix IMHO. Any larger pieces of peat are easier to feel than see at this stage and, darn it, I just LOVE getting my arms up to the elbow in fabulous soil. This soil fills ME with energy. You can imagine the happy plants that will benefit from my efforts today.

I mean really, isn't this just the most beautiful stuff? You should smell it. Dank and sweet at the same time. It smells like life to me.

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Water and mix, water and mix - the time is lost in the joy of playing in the dirt. I could never do this with gloves.

It's hard not to linger a moment and just appreciate all this loveliness. Life will spring from this soil that will help my family be healthier. What a blessed thing, eh?

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The soil building is complete. It will be covered and stored, being turned once a week for the next month.

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:Namaste:
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

:popcorn:
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

I used my soil in its initial run, and one of the pots is in it's second run right now. My initial grow with my awesome recipe yielded 4.5 ounces from two plants under CFLs. Lest you try to convince yourself that they must have been air buds, I offer this proof to the contrary. This is the top of a fairly representational bud from my THC Bomb Auto, which gave me a whopping 2 ounces of incredibly potent and dense buds.

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Nothing airy about these buds. Look at the health of the branches!

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I may be a novice to this cannabis growing, but I know a healthy plant when I see one. Dried and cured, this harvest screams of quality.

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It smokes clean and smooth. A consistent 5 "cannabis fragments" hit high. (A private joke. I take tiny hits. :laughtwo:)

This soil recipe really is golden. Highly recommended.
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes


Welcome, brother BAR. I'm going to PM PeeJay to see if he'll post his mixes here.
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Such an awesome read, this is something i definitely have to read more into for my next grow :thanks:

Welcome FeralA9X. Please jump in to question or contribute. Might I ask what medium you're growing in now?
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Did you use the buildasoil CC soil mix kit?

Yes I did Boogyman. Such simplicity. Unbelievable, but indisputable results. This soil mix made me succeed against all odds. That nutrient kit made it happen.
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Welcome FeralA9X. Please jump in to question or contribute. Might I ask what medium you're growing in now?

Kind of embarrassing but im using the good old out of the bag potting mix you find at any old garden store with a slow release fertilizer lol

Has served us well over the past few years on our outdoor grows but being my first full indoor grow i thought i would use it again, Im only new to the whole 420mag world but have learnt quite a bit over the past few months and will continue to learn as i work my way around the transition from out to in haha

This for me is a great topic i will definitely be subbing to keep an eye on different approaches and benefits from different additives etc
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Awesome! That makes it super simple! You added nothing else besides the ewc, peat moss and aeration?

Edit: Woops, you have your mix right in front of me lol. 2stoned4posting
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Yes I did Boogyman. Such simplicity. Unbelievable, but indisputable results. This soil mix made me succeed against all odds. That nutrient kit made it happen.

I've been reading their site and like what I'm seeing. I also found Rev's TLO site. I really like the idea of just watering and maybe adding a topdressing. I really need knucklehead-proof soil.
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

I've been reading their site and like what I'm seeing. I also found Rev's TLO site. I really like the idea of just watering and maybe adding a topdressing. I really need knucklehead-proof soil.

The Rev was really my starting point, but he lost me with the guano (couldn't justify the ecological damage with this one - yes, I know how selective that is) and the idea of layers and spikes. I knew instinctively that the soil would perform better with a homogenous mix. The Rev never caught on to the true workings of the soil food web IMO, and his method was too complicated for me. I was looking for something that was even easier. Can't get much easier than plant the seed in the final pot and watch it grow, harvest by cutting at ground level, recharge with top dressing and drop the next seed. What I found in CC's mix was the ability to keep the soil community going through years of cycling. No-till was right up my alley. Finding BlueJay's thread was a banner day in my gardening history.

The use of guano was actually what kept me from trying PeeJay's mixes too, although I believe his are one of the better soil mixes I have come across to date and I hope to eventually include them here. I was actually researching alternatives to the guano so that I could use PeeJay's recipes, and even had the orders ready to go for supplies, when I stumbled onto COorganics. He pointed me to CC's recipe and the band of gardeners operating on other sites refining the process of growing no-tills with the soil. You've been there sheepleschism. You've seen how successful they've been. If I hadn't already bonded so closely with members of this community I would have probably ended up there. I AM already in their group, just sitting on the sidelines at this point. This is my home.
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

When you maintain a tiny soil community in a pot you have a responsibility to supplying a continual source of building blocks to the soil. I follow a simple plan of drenches and teas, done with weekly regularity. The only other things that gets added to my soil are topdressings of homemade vermicompost and the occasional sprouted seed tea or aerated compost tea with added plant materials, ie comfrey, dandelion, stinging nettle, etc. These add a nice mix of micro-nutrients that are always a benefit.


CONTINUOUSLY AMENDING THE SOIL
This is my dream watering schedule. I still lack some components, most obviously the neem meal and Agsil. I should finally get both of them next month.

For my grow it wasn't necessary to water from the top once I installed the SWICK system, so this became my plan for drenches.

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Water seedlings with coconut water or rainwater only.

The watering/amending schedule is done consistently, regardless of where the plant is in its life cycle.

Two to three waterings a week (basically every other day: I do twice a week)

- One enzyme tea watering (measurements for one gallon)

Combine and steep in 1 quart of good water for about 4 hours
* 1/8 cup powdered malted barley (measurements for one gallon)
* 1 heaping tsp reconstituted kelp meal

Stir and strain into the watering can. Add
* 10 ml Fulpower fulvic acid
* 1/4 cup aloe vera juice
* 5 ml Agsil
Top off with enough water to make up to a gallon. Use it all. This does not store well.

Every once in a while substitute alfalfa for the barley grain

- One rainwater watering

- One coconut/aloe watering (measurements for one gallon)
* 1/4 - 1/2 c fresh, young coconut water
* 1/4 cup aloe vera juice
* 5 ml Agsil

Repeat indefinitely.

Every three weeks add 1/4 tsp TM7 to 2-1/2 gallons water.

Beginning when there are four nodes, add bio accumulator teas whenever the urge strikes. (Comfrey, yarrow, burdock, dandelion, stinging nettle, the list goes on)

With new soil do weekly application of two alternating teas

#1. 2-3 tsp neem meal + 1-2 tsp kelp bubbled in a half gal water for 24 hrs.
* dilute to make 2.5 gal water
* add 1/4 tsp aloe + 10 ml fulpower per gallon

#2. same measurements using alfalfa instead of neem


It doesn't get much easier than this.
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Kind of embarrassing but im using the good old out of the bag potting mix you find at any old garden store with a slow release fertilizer lol

Has served us well over the past few years on our outdoor grows but being my first full indoor grow i thought i would use it again, Im only new to the whole 420mag world but have learnt quite a bit over the past few months and will continue to learn as i work my way around the transition from out to in haha

This for me is a great topic i will definitely be subbing to keep an eye on different approaches and benefits from different additives etc

You can super-charge that potting soil by hitting it with a simple aerated compost tea to infuse it with microbial life and then top dress with the best vermicompost you can get. That way every watering strengthens your soil.

We use what we have and make the best of it until more positive change can be instituted. I call that Life. No need for embarrassment. :love:
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Are those holes from mites spider mites any help would really be appreciate
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Are those holes from mites spider mites any help would really be appreciate

lieinlarry7, under Grow Room there's a choice for Frequently asked Questions. That would be a more appropriate place to ask this. You'd get better response, I'd think.

Having said that, I have a large following of very talented and experienced gardeners, and maybe one of them will spot this here and be able to help you out. Obviously, something is snacking on your leaves. Post this in FAQ as well, to hedge your bets. You want a speedy answer to your mystery. Good luck in your quest. :love:
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

You can super-charge that potting soil by hitting it with a simple aerated compost tea to infuse it with microbial life and then top dress with the best vermicompost you can get. That way every watering strengthens your soil.

We use what we have and make the best of it until more positive change can be instituted. I call that Life. No need for embarrassment. :love:

Thanks Sue, you had me at Super-charge hehe, I will be having a good read tonight and heading to the shops again tomorrow i think. All this great information is getting me closer to my next grow even though i have just started one lol, will also make this grow so much sweeter :circle-of-love:
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Thanks Sue, you had me at Super-charge hehe, I will be having a good read tonight and heading to the shops again tomorrow i think. All this great information is getting me closer to my next grow even though i have just started one lol, will also make this grow so much sweeter :circle-of-love:

Have you considered starting a journal? It's a proven way to get many others to watch over your shoulder and offer valuable assistance. It's also a wonderfully effective way to become an active part of our larger community. These are some of the greatest personalities I've found on the Internet. Of course, I'm a bit partial by now. :laughtwo::green_heart:
 
re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Have you considered starting a journal? It's a proven way to get many others to watch over your shoulder and offer valuable assistance. It's also a wonderfully effective way to become an active part of our larger community. These are some of the greatest personalities I've found on the Internet. Of course, I'm a bit partial by now. :laughtwo::green_heart:

I am definitely starting a journal on this grow, have 1 exodus cheese fem seedling about 2 inches high and just planted a THC Bomb reg seed so going to wait for that to pop before i start my journal, also currently only growing under some CFL's that will not withstand a full grow, will be fine for the seedling stage so i have purchased a 300w LED which should be here monday :D :cheer:
Only going small on this grow as im using a cupboard space roughly 2'9 x 1'10 x 5'6 so the 300w should be sufficient for now, still need to sort out a better extraction fan and will probably end up purchasing a tent at some stage during the grow lol, issue is it all costs money and being out of work right now its going to take some time to get setup right but i will get there hehe

Anyways im babbling again, i should have a journal up within the next few days hopefully, i have already started taking pics each day and looking as healthy as a seedling can be atm :p :Namaste:
 
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