Also check out Easy organic soil mix for beginners, another great thread that I rank up with this one Peace
SharkBait - Thanks go to all of the regular contributors to this thread. I've spent the last month reading: Old school grow advice "member cheap old basterd club" - all Jerrys Organic Obsession - 320 pages in - I'm getting there Ed's Organic SIP's - all Easy Organic Soil Mix for Beginners - all and What soil recipes do you guys use? - all I have 40+ pages of notes gleaned from many contributors to these threads. When I realized that I had peat, good compost (5 sources mixed), EWC, and coarse vermiculite from my Square Foot Gardening adventures it seemed a no brainer. SOOOO Much Fun getting together the kelp, neem, alfalfa, rock dust ect. Bags are everywhere in my garage. CA allows 6 mature & 6 immature. Starting with bag seed (out of some killer bags) to work out any kinks. Everything seems to be rocking right along. Started with the Easy Organic Soil Mix for Beginners (2 cf) followed by 6 cf of more amended mix when it all arrived. That is cooking. My plants are about 15" and branching like crazy. Looking quite happy which makes me smile big time. All of this possible ENTIRELY because of the sage advice from the folks here on GC. THANKS TO EVERYONE!
Holy crap ironman i thought i was doing good because i made it through this whole thread! I started reading through GC over a year ago...maybe its 2 years now...anyways i spent most of my time in the indoor or micro sections, i started seeing jerry pop up he would always mention joining the dark side (organics) then id browse through organics and get mesmerized and intimidated. This thread and the fact that i got ripped helped me switch over. Its worth mentioning i cant even really go back to the old indoor threads i just want to yell at everyone anytime i read them and direct them here. And i havent even built my soil yet!!
LMAO I just laugh at all the post that talk about using this newt line and now I'm seeing this, what should I do? I need big supper I have to hope this works monster bud to add then flush and wait to spin the bottle upside down and take 3 teaspoons. Sorry couldn't help myself.
I also want to offer a big thanks to everyone adding to the extensive info on this thread. I just mixed up the basic soil mix last night and I'm eagerly awaiting the Awesomeness to follow. I'm so glad you all showed me a better way than nutes BEFORE I blew all my cash on them.
I just wanted to bump this post because I was looking everywhere for it. Specifically the bit about 2-4 cups of castings in a 1-gallon container shaking vigorously. Tried searching earthworm ewc along with slurry and finally found it. Should've tried castings. Oh well!
I agree cryptic that post is very important, answers a lot of questions. Could I do something like this when I start my mix? I know its recommended to brew up a tea to boost microbes initially but I was hoping to purchase/build a brewer later on....anyone know a good how to thread for building a 5 gallon brewer?
jerry and folk, how do you guys tweak your mix for vegetables? i mostly do leafy stuff, spinach, kale and swiss chard.. could i maybe get away with using my leftover soil, mixed 50/50 with just the "base" mix? basically the same thing, just about half as strong nutrient-wise
MindisMoving - we do make our cannabis soils probably stronger, with more assorted amendments - but it IS our weed, right? Lol I'm a veggie gardener first and foremost - I have been since I was a little kid and I love it! Anything that grows, really - veggies flowers, cactus - If I were to cut down on some assorted items to make a lot for a veggie garden, I would get on Craigslist and try and get a truckload of compost, (or git to making your own!) first. That's one thing you cannot cut back on is your humus components. Mix up a mess of co post with some peat until you hit a food consistency that drains, and then hit it with some blended organic fertilizer like Epsoma Garden Tone or Tomato Tone, or something similar and some kelp meal and you're good to go. This will work perfect - compost and peat with some organic fertizer. As you go you can continue to add a little bit of this or that - some rock dust, some fish meal, some big bags of chicken manure - before you know it you'll have THE best veggie garden in town! I mean THE best ORGANIC veggie garden in town! Man, ya simply cannot beat fresh homegrown veggies, huh?! The big fifty pound bags of chicken manure at the farm store rock - excellent for nitrogen. You can get big fifty pound bags of alfalfa meal for under fifteen bucks too. First thing, though, mix up the compost and peat and use that as your base, and then just slowly add to it. You can dig nice holes and fill them with this mix for each of your plants too. Go nice and big for your tomatoes and watch them rock out! Mulching around each plant helps keep down weeds (man - weeds suck!) and also helps keep your soil moist and perfect environments for your soil microbes - so mulch! Just use old hay or whatever you have laying around nice and thick. I like the mulch too, because for plants like squashes, cucumbers (yummy!) that have the veggies laying on the ground, now they are sitting on a nice bed of hay instead of lying in the dirt. Way better. Top dressing with compost scratched into the top few inches is also beneficial. Get yourself a bunch of good compost - this is where you NEED to start! Then get your own compost heaps going - leaves, manures, hay, old rotten vegetables - before you know it you'll have your own excellent compost. Be self sufficient. Start looking around and collecting manures. Save, dry, and label some seeds each year too. There's no sense in buying new every year when you can have all you need right out of your garden. Did I mention I love veggie gardening? this is MY peace and solitude - and the end benefits make it all worthwhile. My advice to all is to become a gardener - and then cannabis will just fall into place. Learn to grow PLANTS - not just cannabis. J
Internet Dan - the most important thing is to have a powerful air pump. Wen brewing ACTs we are basically breeding bacteria in a tea solution, and it mostly comes down to dissolved oxygen levels in the tea solution (DO2) A little fish tank air pump doesn't really supply the DO2 levels we're looking for for these suckers to breed, so first get yourself a good air pump. Once you have it you can just use a 5 gallon pail, throw in a few handfuls of VIABLE worm castings/compost and a tablespoon of molasses as a food source and let it brew for 24-48 hours and you're done! If you're interested in teas (microbe Aerated Compost Tea) then git on over to microbeorganics.com and do some reading. The gentleman that set up this site is probably THE leading authority on this fascinating subject - so listen to what he has to say. Get a GOOD POWERFUL air pump! J
thank you so much dude, solid info per usual . there's definitely not even a contest between homegrown veggies and store bought, i used to have swiss chard and spinach going in hempy buckets under the big fluoro fixture i use for vegging lol. i just fed them with diluted run off from feeding the ganja, they were outstanding (tho clearly i've learned the error of my ways and won't be eating veggies grown with chem ferts anymore!), the best part was they traveled maybe 15 ft from the spare room to my kitchen before being prepped and eaten! so you use way less aeration amendments for your veggies? i just scored a 50 lb sack of rice hulls for $20 at a local beer brewing supply store lol gotta find something to do with em
Thanks Jerry! i have been meaning to pick teaming with microbes up but keep putting it off. Ill consult that website and start putting the brewer together. Also i love the big post about veggies as i plan to grow organic veg as well. But i live in the city...what do you think about container growing in my drive way next spring?
I'm absolute beginner and this helps to an extent... Pictures?! Go a long way and minimizes questions for me I been over this thread allllloooottt so I will go over again but thanks
Look into SIPs for outdoor veggies, I just moved to a new apartment and will be using rain water runoff for a simple,automated system.
This thread is excellent to help build a new organic soil - http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html However, if you want to go even simpler, get yourself some good compost, worm castings, a bag of ProMix and a small sack of Epsoma Garden Tone or Tomato Tone and mix the peat at around 65%, castings and compost mixed for te balance and add two or three cups of the fertilizer for every cubic foot (7.5 gallons) of soil mix. Wet thoroughly and let it sit for a month - plant, keep moist throughout the grow with tap water, harvest, enjoy. There are some pictures in my own grow journal in my signature...or go into the "Organic Grow Journals" forum and start poking around. There are a lot of good organic gardeners in there that will be glad to help you. J
MindisMoving - use them! I love hulls: I use buckwheat myself. I was just trying to keep it very cheap and simple, but absolutely mix some in! Veggies rock when grown organically - you will never taste finer! J
Re: containers - yup they work fine; just use as big of containers as you can. Trust me on this, especially in the heat of summer, small containers can dry out and become root bound very quickly. Containers work good - just use as big of containers (with drainage holes of course) as you can. The big plastic pots with the rope handles can be bought at Walmart cheap - they are around twenty gallons - tomatoes love that space! J