fixing subcool soil

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by posvibetech, Oct 28, 2012.

  1. I have a huge batch of subcool super soil. That i made months ago before i found this website and gain all the knowledge that you guys give out. I know this soil is strong and should only be used on the bottom half of the pot your growing in. I want to "water it down" so I can use it in the whole pot and I would also like to add alfalfa meal, kelp meal and neem meal which I just picked up. Any suggestion on how I should do this. Also should I add more rock dust. I also plan to mix more perlite and compost in too.

    This is what i mixed up
    8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil)
    25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
    5 lbs steamed bone meal
    5 lbs Bloom bat guano
    5 lbs blood meal
    3 lbs rock phosphate
    ¾ cup Epson salts
    ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
    ½ cup azomite (trace elements)
    2 tbsp powdered humic acid

    Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
     
  2. #2 InTheGarden, Oct 28, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 28, 2012
    Hey pos, welcome to GC.
    I'm going to assume that the bags of soil you used were 1.5 cubic foot bags. That's 12 cubic feet of soil right there. Then 25 lbs of ewc is around 5-7 gallons (I think, depending on moisture level). Is it fair to call it 13-14 cubic feet of soil? Plus 18 lbs of amendments, that's around 36 cups of amendments. Way, way, way too heavy on the P amendments. The directions for super soil tell you to only fill half the pot with it, right? In that case it sounds like you'll need to dilute it by at least half. I'd also dilute to knock down the P levels (way too high), since despite what cannabis growers have been told, massive doses of P don't result in bigger flowers, but they do lock out other nutrients and harm soil microbes.

    I'd end up with something like this: 50% super soil, 25% compost/ewc, 25% aeration amendment. Or even 30% super soil, 20% peat moss, 25% compost/ewc, 25% aeration. Depends on how strong the super soil is- you're the one who's been using it so you can best make the call on whether it needs to be diluted by half or more than that. Diluting it by at least half allows you to add a good portion of alfalfa, neem, and kelp- far superior amendments than blood, bone and guano.

    Then make a blend of alfalfa meal, neem meal, and kelp meal (I'd do equal parts alfalfa and neem, 2 parts kelp since you don't have any kelp in the mix). Then add 1-1.5 cups of this amendment mix per cubic foot of soil. You should definitely add more rock dust, that 1/2 cup of azomite isn't doing much of anything. Add 4 cups rock dust per cubic foot of soil.

    That should give you a soil that has around 2-3 cups of amendments per cubic foot of soil. I know you have a lot of soil, but it will help to get a 5 gallon bucket and measure it all out so you know exactly how much you have before you start re-amending. Remember that you will have to let this soil sit and cycle for 3-4 weeks at least before you can use it. Like the title of the thread btw, glad you found your way to a better mix ;)
     
  3. I've made soil that was (for the same of this conversation) "ridiculously hot". When I first used it, it made my plants funky.

    I set it aside for an additional several months, used it and it kicked ass. I personally don't believe in "layering", or only using a soil "on the bottom half". IMO, it all comes down to proper nutrient cycling to give it long enough to break down to the point where I simply use the same soil for everything - including young plants.

    J
     
  4. Thanks a lot inthegarden and jerry. This soil has been sitting for several months. I think i will do the 50% super soil, 25% compost, 25% aeration. I will add more rock dust I have a lot of azomite. Also will add the kelp, alfalfa, and neem.

    I think this is a thread that needed to be started. I think there are probably a lot of people in the same situation as me. The 1st organic soil mix they see is subcool. Then they hopefully start to study more on organic and realize there are a lot better soil mixes, but are left with a lot of soil that they still want to use. I have learn so much from the people on this forum thanks to all of you.

    just finished making a em1 culture. After I mixed the soil I would think watering it with the em1 would be the best then a compost tea before i use it.

    I will think about starting a journal on this too. I think it would be usefull for some people.
     
  5. These guys do rock. When I first went organic intrinsic subcool recipe. Before I planted I read all the stickies and realized that was not optimal I did what u are going to do and dilute it and have been growing with that same soil for a year and a half. I never really thanked the organic guys for their knowledge. Jerry since you are on here thank you for all your post. Everyone here has so much great knowledge. I read all your stuff that of LD and chunk and it kept me from frying my plants.
     
  6. I have read all the stickies and jerry journal and a bunch of other threads. Yes it takes a lot of time to read it all but there is so much good info. Just got to sit down with a notebook and pen and start writing down everything intill you realize you are writing the same stuff for the 4th time and have a stack of notes. That's what i did and once you start reading you won't be able to stop.
     

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