Yo what's happening, i'm kinda prepping for next year and am planning on doing 100% organic guerrilla growing. I'm pretty sure i'm gonna plant in the ground and i'm wondering how different this is compared to planting in pots in terms of making and amending the soil. I read that most plants including cannabis only go down about 12-18 inches deep but expand pretty wide if given the opportunity. So uhmm I was thinking I would dig like a 2X2X1 foot hole and make a soil mix, fill the hole back up with this, and then the plant gets it's nutrients but also can expand if needed? But then I started thinking that if the native soil is already pretty good I could just blend the mixed soil and native soil like 50-50 or something like that. But then, I was thinking, what if the native soil is SOO GOOD that I only need to add amendments like kelp meal and alfalfa meal and such? I'm also planning on scouting out my spot a bit more either today or tomorrow so if you guys have any suggestion for what to look out for regarding the soil i'll do it. I can probably get some pics for you all also of the native soil.
Hey ob, welcome to GC. First thing is to figure out the quality of the soil you plan on planting in. You will need to add humus (compost and/or ewc) regardless. Some aeration wouldn't hurt either. Then some kelp meal and whatever other amendments you want to add. But the humus is the crucial part.
Okay well how exactly do I figure out how good the native soil is? Like look at the other vegetation or see the color of the soil (maybe darker brown soil is better than something else idk). So for example let's say I have like moderately good soil, for a 2x2x1 hole, would I dig out all the soil then mix it with compost and ewc and then amendments and some aeration? At what ratio?
ob, check out the thread in my signature. It's an organic soil mix for containers, but you can use the same ratios of compost/ewc, aeration, and amendments. As far as the quality of the native soil goes, you can do a "jar soil test" to see the ratio of loam/clay/sand, etc. in your soil. Here's a good link with lots of info-the "jar soil test" method is at the very bottom: Soil Types and Testing If your soil is heavy and full of clay, you're going to proceed differently than if you have light, sandy soil. Do the jar test and check out that link and let us know the results and we'll go from there. edit: also check out this link. There's lots of good info on different soil types. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/334332-organic-soil-amendment.html
If you've got your site picked out, consider planting some legumes now to improve the soil tilth prior to your next years grow. Does your area get a hard freeze during winter? The reason I ask is that planting Oilseed_Radish now will break up compacted and marginal soils with its tuberous root system. When temps get down below twenty, it dies off leaving the tubers to decompose and enrich the soil. Legumes work similarly but bring nitrogen fixers into the mix. This method is also known as using green manure. The benefits to doing this now is that you don't have to pack a sh*tload of amendments into the woods. I would also add rock dust at this time so it would be well incorporated into the soil. A month or so prior to planting time, take a shovel with you and turn under the cover crops and amend the soil with a good organic fertilizer. I would make sure that I had feather, fish, alfalfa, kelp, crab, neem and fish bone meal for an outdoor grow and ag lime or oyster shell for lime. If you get a head start now, you'll have your holes well on their way to a productive finish without having to haul a lot to the site. When the time draws nearer, we'll talk about the chicken manure....the one thing I would want to pack in. Cheers, Chunk
Alright thanks, and i've been reading the link in your sig, that's where i've gotten most of my information already.
Chunk's idea about a green manure is fabulous, and something that you should definitely do. That will do a lot to improve the soil, and a bag of seeds is pretty light to pack! You can choose what kind of crop to plant based on the type of soil you're dealing with. Like chunk said, if you've got heavy clay soil, oilseed radish would be a good choice that will break up the soil and provide nutrients. If you've got good loamy soil, a nitrogen-fixing legume like clover might be a better option. I just planted some clover seed in my outdoor beds the other day.
Aight so basically this is what i've picked up so far: do the jar test and determine what kinda soil i'm already dealing with. Then knowing that pick a good cover crop to plant in the very near future to help out whatever soil I have. Then Chunk said something bout putting rock dust in now, but what type of rock dust and how much per cubic foot? And for aeration well I guess I gotta see what im dealing with first naww mean? Then finally like a month before planting my weed I need to turn over the cover crops and add all the amendments. Do I have it all right, anything i'm missing?
Oh and I hear that worm castings are real important to the soil but damn i've been looking online and they're some expensive shit lol. How do you all get yours? I was thinking of making my own but it seems real complicated and unless you have some giant operation going on, you don't get much reward.
You've got it my friend! Mix the rock dust into the soil before you plant the cover crop. You want an igneous rock dust like: granite dust, basalt dust, glacial rock dust, or azomite. 4 cups per cubic foot is the magic number for rock dust. Worm castings can definitely be expensive. They are cheaper if you can find a local source. Raising your own worms really isn't complicated at all: get a big smart pot, fill it with composted manure (or manure-based bagged compost from the store), add worms, add food from time to time. But you're right, unless you have a big worm bin you probably won't be able to produce enough castings to fulfill all your humus needs. I've got a worm bin but I still am going to have to buy castings and compost. The thing is, the stuff that you harvest from your own bin is of super high quality, so a little bit goes a long way. You can use as much ewc as you can afford, then use chicken compost like Chunk suggested for the rest (chicken compost is cheap). Your cover crop (once you till it in) will also add good organic matter and nutrients to the soil.
Yooooo aight I found this: Gaia Green Glacial Rock Dust (50 lb) Does it look good enough? About how many cups are in there, like would this be aight for 50 Cubic feet of soil? And any suggestions on where to find ewc locally?
Hold up I have another question! For the jar test should I dig into the ground a couple inches or just use the soil up on top, or does it not matter?
Dig down a couple inches- you want to get at the soil that you would actually be planting in vs just the surface, which has a different composition than 6 inches or so down.
Okay aight cool. And that link you gave me, idk if it's just my browser or something but some of the characters aren't being shown. So if you could just tell me that'd be aight, whats the ratio of soil to water I should put in the jar?
copied and pasted: "I found this test in a few places each with different instructions, but the premise was the same. Find a mason jar. Add soil, water and dish soap. (The best combination for a large jar was 1 cup of soil, 1-2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp of dish soap) Shake it up for a minute to break everything up, and then let it sit. The soil will settle into layers. Set the jar where it wont be disturbed, and in 24 hours all the layers should have settled. The 1st layer on the bottom will be sand. The 2nd layer is silt and the 3rd layer is clay. Organic matter will float to the top of the water. (the more organic matter, the better). If you have equal parts sand and silt with a thin layer of clay and some organic stuff floating on top, you have great soil! (40% sand, 40% silt, 20% clay). Sandy soils drain too quickly, unable to retain moisture or nutrients to feed your plants. Amend sandy soils by adding 2 inches of organic matter (composted yard waste or manure) mixed in with the top 6 to 12 inches. Clay soils dont drain well and drown your plants. Amend by adding an equal amount of sand and compost to create 2 inches mixed in with the top 6 to 12 inches. (dont forget the compost… clay plus sand equals cement!)" Basically: mix it up, let it settle, then measure the height of the total amount of soil in the jar. Then measure the height (in inches) of each individual layer. height of each layer /(divided by) total height x 100= percent of that layer (sand, clay, loam, etc) in the soil So if the total height of soil in the jar is 8 inches, and the sand layer on the bottom is 2 inches high, you'd have: (2 inches/8 inches) x 100= 25% sand make sense? Then tell us what you come up with and we'll go from there.