I’m about to do my final transplant into 10 gallon containers, and I know I will put a supersoil/perlite mix at the bottom 1/3 of my container. But for the top (regular soil) I was reading I should mix 1 part compost with 1 part peat moss (and/or coco coir), and 1 part perlite. For the 1 part compost, can I replace it with 1 part super soil? I have super soil on hand, but no compost.
Sounds like a whole lot of complicated. Why not just make a good organic soil mix and fill the pot with it? That's what most organic growers do anyway.
I’m currently living in Mexico, doing an indoor grow - been an adventure finding the basics, I gave up on finding the more exotic organic soil amendments. Pretty much all I could find is perlite, soil from the local forest, peat moss, coco coir, and organic super soil (pretty much guano and azomite and all that good stuff already mixed up). I am a noob in terms of biology, and doing my first grow. Any advice on what I should do with the above ingredients, for my transplant to the 10 gallon? Currently got 3 plants in a 3 gallon containers with just the forest soil and perlite mixed together (70/30). They’ve been growing slow, it’s been 3 months now, but I think they’re ready for flower. One is already showing preflowers (or flowers I think? They all kind of seem to have preflower, but one has the hairs growing out of them already, what looks like buds).
Soil is just that ,, you start mixing in other things like perlite and its not considered soil anymore. If you grow in compost and you hand water that is considered a passive hydroponic system .
super soil and compost are two different things sorta. compost is filled with biology and super soil has biology because compost was used to make it. if the super soil has grown a couple plants from start to finish 2 or more times, then the biology has built up enough that you may be able to use it in place of compost to build your soil. i think people like to use the soil for 4-5 rounds before using it to build new soil as a compost component and at that point i think a better term is humus.
You can make organic soil with compost, peat and perlite. As far as amendments go, i'm sure you can find somethign that will work, it doesn't have to be what everyone else is using. Surely there are organic farms in Mexico, maybe try to contact some and see what they use for their soil? Even an all purpose organic dry fertilizer will work in a pinch. You could also make your own fertilizer using Korean Natural Farming (KNF) techniques
Perlite is a type of volcanic rock. It's from the earth. It's organic. Sent from my SM-N960F using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Thanks Scoobie - definitely still looking for organic compost but it can be really tricky to find that stuff here - I've invested probably over 100 hours in searching for ingredients here, it's mostly word of mouth, internet only get's you so far. This turned into a long post, but the purpose of my response was mainly to ask: With what I have been currently able to find (after many, many, many hours... lol... trust me when I say I miss how easy it is to find things back in the US) - how should I move forward? Been in veg for 3 months and I think they're ready to flower. Currently have: organic supersoil mix, perlite, peet moss, coco noir, and soil taken from a local forest. In the future I know I'll find organic compost but just hasn't happened yet unfortunately. I'm starting my own compost dirt bin as well. But for right now just trying to figure out what the right way to move forward is, with my current 3 plants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long response: I'm learning as I go, finding organic farms is on my to do list, for compost and also for organic meat, milk, etc - it's possible to find some of that stuff here but always better from the source. Most everything here is word of mouth, you can find some things by internet, but many times the phone and email contacts don't work, and you literally have to go to the location to actually see if the store/farm still exists, which many times it doesn't (which is a long bus ride, at least an hour to the outskirts for the farms, or more - or a very expensive uber ride). I've definitely done my share of those bus ride adventures to get to where I'm at lol - I miss how easy it is back stateside. Definitely a bit more tricky here - I'm still talking to many people trying to get connections to find all the ingredients, but it takes time. Took me a few months just to get to where I'm at right now and find the ingredients I have, working on it in my free time outside of work (I'm still learning how everything works here, I'm not a native and didn't know anyone before moving here to central Mexico). It's mostly a process of asking around, calling different stores to see what they carry, visiting different stores, getting advice from them on who might carry it, etc. Had to bring my LED grow light and air scrubber in my check-in baggage on the flight here recently, as well as organic seeds for companion plants. Stuff I just couldn't find here and decided to bring back. I'm still trying to find a source for ladybugs, many of the gardening stores I've found don't carry them, and used to know of a place that had them but moved or closed, and they don't know where to find them now - it's a bit of shooting in the dark and getting lucky - my mind is blown whenever I get back to the US and see the variety of products and how easy it is to get things. I love it down here as well, it's just that it's tricky a bit when it comes to these things, and my limited knowledge of biology doesn't help. Anyways, I digress - I am starting a separate compost pile and will read up on KNF, thank you for the link. Already saving vegetable rinds and eggshells and researching on how to do that. Found a source for red earthworms, going to pick some up Monday (long bus ride to the forest outside the city lol). But regarding my current situation, just trying to move forward to flowering (been 3 months of veg). Any advice on what I should do with the ingredients I currently have? I know ideal is using compost, but at this moment, I don't have a source. I've spent tons of hours calling and searching around, but I still haven't found an organic source for it - I will one day but just hasn't happened yet. I can pick up some commercial stuff from the local home depot but am trying to do full organic. Some pics from today:
That’s styrofoam. Perlite is considered and accepted as organic even though it’s processed. It’s heated to remove water.
Starting a compost pile AND a wormbin will set you up for future grows, good move! I would look into what dynamic accumulator plants grow in your area and try to gather as much as you can to incorporate into you compost pile. A List of Dynamic Accumulators (masanobu fukuoka forum at permies) as for right now, what exactly is your supersoil brand? Dont use coco coir to make soil it doesnt play nice with organic soil.
The supersoil brand I’m using is called “Mountainside organicos” - Tierra viva Actually that brand I realized can ship some stuff like cold pressed organic neem oil and diatomeas (diamotaceous earth?), so I’ve found a good source it seems for certain elements that I can’t find in my local city (mountainsideorganicos.com) Supersoil ingredients: Worm castings Vegetable based compost Minerals Coco fiber Pumice stone Microrrhiza Crab flour (crab meal) Vegetable flour/meal (alfalfa, nettle, comfrey) Fish flour/meal Fish bone flour/meal Efficient microorganisms How do you think I should use that supersoil in my final mix, given it’s ingredients. Thanks again for your help! Pics:
can't attest to the quality of each ingredient, but overall the soil ingredients don't look bad at all. based on the list you provided in the first post, I'd make life really easy for yourself and simply use the organic soil you have in the bag. you just need more of it. it has all the important stuff in it already and should grow your plants fine. If and when you can later aquaria quality EWC's and/or other quality soil amendments than you can use those as topdressing to replenish the soil. Also, once your own compost and EWC's you are going to star building become usable, you can add that to the other peat moss you already have to make additional soil. Until your compost and EWC's are ready to use though the bagged organic soil should work for you.
Seek out chicken, goat, donkey, and burrow poop. Go out to the country to get it, don't try and buy it at a shop. cheers os
Neem oil is good for pest management spray, you should get some but it's not something you would add to the soil. I wouldn't bother with diatomaceous earth either. If they can get neem meal/cake and/or kelp meal and/or alfalfa meal then you should get those as well. As for your soil, since its based on coco coir, I wouldnt try and mix it as a base but rather just try to use it as is, it probably will need to be amended with some kind of fertilizer. If you cant get any of the stuff I mentioned above try to at least get some generic dry organic fertilizer (like for tomatoes/peppers)
1. Thanks Scoobie, I’ll try to source some kelp and alfalfa to mix with the neem spray. That is what you meant right, to mix it with the neem spray, to give a fertilizing as well as anti-pest effect? 2. Regarding soil, I’ll mix the current super-soil I have with perlite (80/20 or 70/30 mix) so that it can drain, and just use that throughout the whole 10 gallon pots. Good ratio? 3. Some have mentioned topdressing with organic fertilizer once I can get my hands on some. Would you recommend generic dry organic fertilizer, or should I try compost tea, worm castings, compost, etc? 4. I’ve also bought white clover seeds. Should I plant them around the transplanted cannabis plant, in the 10 gallon pots? Not sure if it would do anything, since I’m not doing no-till, but I’m interested if it would do anything. I have 4 months until I have to leave my apartment here in Mexico for a few months, hopefully it’ll be enough for flower and curing and all that.
1. The kelp and alfalfa I would mix in with the soil or top dress as a fertilizer. 2. If you were mixing your own soil from scratch then yes but since your ready-made soil is based on coco coir, I don't think it will need additional aeration as coir drains very well on itself already. 3. You will need some sort of fertilizer, compost alone and/or tea won't really cut it IMHO. 4. I wouldn't add cover crop in your situation as you don't want it to deplete your soil that is already in need of a boost.
I feel like someone should mention that your plants are flowering. Probably 2-3 weeks in. They won’t be getting much bigger or putting much energy into the root system. The last thing in the world you want to do is mix kelp into a coir based mix. Coir is naturally high in K already. In the US, supersoil is a term used for a water only mix. Considering the size of your plants and the fact they are in flower I would transplant them into the bagged soil and be done with it. This allows you to see how it performs all by itself. If it works well, you have an easy solution. If it doesn’t work well, you can blame the bagged soil instead of wondering if it was the bagged soil or adding the amendments that caused the issue. The more variables you throw at it the less you will learn/know. If you’re the kinda guy that just can’t help but tinker around with stuff, build a different soil mix for each plant but plant one in just the bagged mix as your control. This will give you an idea of wether your actually doing any help/harm vs. the bagged soil. RD