Well here is another organic soil recipe... hope its okay. If anyone can think of something I really should do to improve it, please let me know. I would really appreciate the advice. I put together an organic soil today. I am going to write the recipe here hoping to save me from having to remember it or write it down somewhere else where I am sure to lose it! Peat Moss about 50L Perlite 17L EWC 10L Dol. Lime 750ml (3 cups) Gaia Green Glacial Rock dust 500ml (2 cups) Blood meal 500 ml (2 cups) Bone meal 500 ml (2 cups) Alfalfa meal 1000ml (4 cups-ish) I didn't have any kelp or neem oil but I will pick them up later. I wanted to get the basic soil soaking (its pretty moist now.. but not soaked/floating). I won't touch it for a month at least which means a nice slow veg. cause I will transplant the young ones into it just before flowering. I would love to have them in it now, but it would be miles too hot. I will top dress and make tea from EWC, fish emulsion, etc. as the grow progresses and as needed. The great thing is this soil is reusable for at least three or four grows as long as I add some amendments along the way (if I am not mistaken!). I have high hopes for organics, even if it is a bit slower than hydro. Any comments anyone? The Idiot.
Hey VI, welcome! You've got around 20 gallons of soil if my calculations are correct. Couple things: 1) more rock dust. You want 4 cups of rock dust per cubic foot, so you need to add 9-10 more cups. 2) more ewc, a lot more. You want around 25-35% humus, so add another 20L of ewc. 3) more aeration. You're pretty light on aeration, and especially will be once you add more rock dust. You want 25-35% aeration, so add another 10-15L of perlite. 4) Definitely add some kelp meal in there. I'd do 2 cups of kelp meal. Also neem cake (neem meal). You said neem oil, not sure if you meant neem meal, but you wouldn't want to add neem oil to your soil lol. You've got 4 cups of alfalfa in there, plus 2 cups of blood meal, both of which are pretty hot, so make sure to give it plenty of time to nutrient cycle before planting in it. This soil is reusable forever! Seriously, I won't ever get rid of my soil, I'll take it with me when I move. It's good for 3 or 4 grows easy without adding anything else, but you can top-dress with stuff as you go if you like. Happy gardening my friend.
Hey ITG(can I call you that? ) Thanks for the tips I will get on it ASAP. The rock dust I already have more of, but I will grab another bag of perlite and another bag of ewc as soon as I can. I have to track down some kelp meal... I am not sure who in my area carries it. Ditto for neem MEAL... I defo wouldn't want neem oil in there... more likely on the plants themselves. Anyway.. thanks again. I appreciate it. The Idiott
This place carries the very best organic neem and karanja meal out of India - Neem, Neem Oil, Karanja Oil, Neem & Karanja products 5 pounds for ten bucks and 44 pounds for $54, ya simply cannot beat it. This is probably some of or the best neem products in the world. J
@ING...how do you reuse your soil. When I pull plants out of a pot, all I have is a big root ball. Do you just shake it or do you just let the old roots say with your dirt?
Hey Jerry! Thanks for stopping in.. you are the inspiration for my change to organics in the first place. I will see what I can do about the neem meal. Thanks again. Also, goodforohio, great question.. I would also like to know whether its simply a case of tearing the plant away from the root ball and using the roots for subsequent grows, or whether you should sort of try to shake off the dirt and try to remove the roots. I would imagine its the former and not the latter... Anyone have an answer?
ohio, if you check out the thread in my signature, and skip down to post #3, that one's all about "re-using your organic soil". I typically leave what I can in the pot, although it's more difficult with small pots. edit: You're definitely right VI, you shouldn't worry about removing roots. The microbes break those old roots down into good nutrients.
Hey Village. (I'm having a hard time saying "hey, idiot") *lol* Not to get off subject but we have another Blade 'roun these Organic halls named "Dum Dum Dummy" - same thing; great guy, I can't bring myself to call him Dum Dum or Dummy, or at least feel funny when I have to *lol* Back to the subject at hand, re-using soil. This can be done several different ways. You can simply take your buckets when you're done and throw the used soil in your compost heap, to get all mixed back in later. You can screen it, re-amend it and let it cycle for a few-4 weeks and then use it. The way I, and some others as well here do it is called No-Till. I find this works best with larger pots; I use pots that are 12-15 gallons but I believe I remember Stankie using 5 gallon. The same day that I harvest a plant, I make sure that I have another vegging plant ready to go in a 1 gallon pot. I dig a hole out of the center of the big pot to fit the new 1 gallon plant, effectively removing the main stalk and small amount of rootball from the freshly harvested plant. I'll throw a handful of worm castings into the hole, drop the new plant in, cover it up and I'm done. It's that easy. I do top dress with assorted amendments here and there, throw a handful of compost or castings in, always making sure that what gets used is replaced, but the reality is, is that plants actually use very tiny amounts of physical fertilizer/amendments. Minuscule amounts. Until recently, due to an u related incident, I had used the same pots of soil for probably 12 different plants in the last several years, with absolutely no loss of quantity or quality. The premise behind no-till is that microbes and fungus are already well established - why mess with all your hard work? Hth J
Hey Jerry et al! I called myself the VillageIdiott (notice that 'he' can't even spell his name correctly... now that's dumb) cause I hate when people take themselves too seriously and this is my way of just being fine with being me... besides every community has or needs a village idiot! Also, I think there are a certain number of people of a certain personality type who love to micro-manage everything around them.. for those few (or perhaps many?) the idea of putting together soil and watering with .. ah.. well.. water, is a little disinteresting. I am not one of those! I love to sit and look at my plants and I have a hard time not checking them 18 times a day, but I have no desire to micro-manage my grow to the degree where I get anal about having "this" fert or "that" nute. Its a bit of a pissing contest. It is SO refreshing to know that great grows can be accomplished will organic nutrients and subsequent grows can be made with the SAME slightly re-amended soil. Wonderful. Thanks everyone! The Idiott.
Our soil just gets better with time! I think that no-till (or disturbing the soil as little as possible) is absolutely the best way to go with an organic garden. No question. But it's hard with smaller pots (like I use). I do no-till with all my bigger pots (5 gallon and up) outside though- after I cut the plants (like tomatoes, etc.) back, I either go ahead and pull out the stem and put something else in or I let it sit for a couple weeks and then pull the stem. When I wait a few weeks the stem comes right out and all the soil stays in the pot. I always have other stuff growing in the same pots (herbs, lettuces, etc.) so even if the main plant is gone, there are still living plant roots in the soil (microbes need plants just like plants need microbes). I just planted some white clover seed as a cover crop and the idea is to not add anything at all (except maybe a bit of compost/vermicompost), just turn the clover under in the spring and plant.
Ah... maybe this is normal and no cause for concern, but I am getting mould on my organic soil as it sits there doing its thing. Is that okay? Should I just stir it in (I assume so as there wouldn't be any way to 'spray' it)... Sorry if its a noob concern but it is a concern nevertheless. Can anyone shed some light on whether this is normal or not? The Idiott.
VI, that's totally normal. That fluffy, Santa's Beard-type mold is just the good fungi getting established. Nothing to worry about!
Oh! Thank you so much... and that is exactly what it looks like, 'Santa's Beard"... I think that is what it should be named from now on. I would give you some rep if I could but alas the system comspires against me yet again. The Idiott. PS... should I mix it into the rest of the soil or let it do its thing... and more generally, should I be mixing the soil every so often anyway?
Just let it do its thing. How often you mix the soil depends on what kind of container you're using and how wet it is. I let my soil sit in a big smart pot, so it gets plenty of oxygen without me mixing it around. If you've added a lot of water, you'll want to mix more often. I usually give it a stir a couple days after I mix it (usually to ensure that it's evenly mixed), and then I leave it alone. Mixing it won't hurt, and in your case, since this is your first time, it's probably a good idea to give it a stir a couple times while it's cycling. What kind of container is it in?
I have the whole batch in a massive Rubbermaid tub.... a big one. I had planned to eventually use it as a large res. for a hydro grow but I have much less interest in hydro now than I did before.
Hey VI, I'm assuming that tub doesn't have holes at the bottom, right? Since that's the case you will want to give it a turn once a week or so to make sure that anaerobic conditions don't develop in the bottom of the bin (this also depends on how much water you add). The soil can get water-logged at the bottom, creating anaerobic conditions. But as long as you do give it a turn every so often and don't add a ton of water it will be fine.
Well thanks for all the advice everyone! I added another 10L of perlite, 12L of EWC, all the remaining rock dust I had, and 3 cups of Kelp Meal. I am excited because I feel like I now have the basics of a really good organic soil. I can always add a few amendments here and there but I think the main components are there now... brewing away and creating a nice little home for both my future plants as well as untold millions healthy, happy and helpful organisms! Its funny.. I could just buy a bottle or two of chem nutes... follow the labels, flush the plants for 2 weeks before harvest and smoke it... but growing organically is simply more than the sum of its individual parts.. in more ways than one. It has a holistic side that chem growing could never match. Thanks again... The Idiott.