I have posted before about this but I can't seem to find that thread. I need to know the basics of building a water only soil. I'm tired of using bottled nutrients (even organic ones) and the option of just watering the soil and maybe top dressing it once or twice the whole grow sounds amazing. My question is though, what do I need to start it off? Do I need a base soil? What kinds of amendments do I need? I've seen others talk about "overdoing it". Is it really possible to do that? Also, I don't want to half ass this thing. If I'm gonna take the time and effort, I wanna make sure it's worth it.
It most certainly is possible. Spend some time going over this thread. It's basically how the grand majority of us got started mixing our own water only soils... http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/1116550-easy-organic-soil-mix-beginners.html
I think teas are best, you can do water-only but you'll get the best results when using proper teas too.
Read the link Waktoo showed. Yes a water only soil is not only possible but my question is why shouldn't it be? Why do people think plants need something extra in a viable soil? Do the giant Sequoias in California need people feeding them extra nutrients? Have you seen these behemoths? Nature does a darn good job of growing plants through the action going on under the soil surface and a soil like Waktoo gave you to look at will give you a soil that needs only water.
Like wak said, it is most definitely possible. My buddy pakalolo is having a great time in his water only soil. I suggest checking out his thread. He is super friendly and loves to help out and answer questions. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1285821-pakalolos-organics-win.html
As a total noob who just finished my first grow ever using a water only soil, yes. It most certainly is possible. These guys have given you great advice. Start reading that thread and as many others as you can here in the organics section. And peruse some organic grow journals. You can learn all you want to right here. Sent from somewhere over there. No, not there...over THERE.
Re: "is it possible" - It's all we do here. I don't believe you'll find one gardener here in the GCO forum that uses bottles of nutrients - of any kind... J
compost bins, and soil ammendments,,, anything non meat, except fish can be composted., ie. veggie discards/fruit discards tea coffee grounds, lawn cutting, leaves, biodegradable cardboard boxes even.. .. i even put the fan leaves and stalks back into compost.
My uncle is making some high quality compost, and I am working on producing my own high quality worm castings. Would it be okay to mix all of this with just the compost for now and then possibly add the EWC later? Also, is it okay to mix all of the soil I will need, put it into pots, and let it sit for a while until I'm ready to use it or does it "go bad" after a while?
If it's mostly finished compost or vermicompost then yeah use it but only if it's as close to a "humus" source as possible. You shouldn't be able to easily identify the materials used to make the compost or vermicompost. Soil doesnt go bad, it may dry out and need some love to get things going full speed again should you get lazy or busy and forget about tending them. Just keep the soil moist like a plant is growing in it and it will be good to go after 2-4 weeks of cycling.
Right, so basically what you're saying is, the compost should be VERY composted and "fine" as opposed to some where I've seen sticks and whatnot still in it, right? Great, so id theoretically be able to mix it up now with the compost, moss, perlite and the nutrient meals, and then add my own EWC later on when my worms have produced enough?
That should work. Again, spend most of your time sourcing the best compost you can find; nutrition is easy to supply but humus is necessary for this deal to work. Properly composted material should contain some humus, humin, etc. and should look like rich soil when finished. These were from my (almost finished) compost pile at a buddys house and my own vermicompost bin.
Be very careful to make sure the compost you are using is indeed finished. The best way to do this is by testing your compost and soil mix w some extra seeds you may have around. If not plant a few tomato seeds and see how they grow. Basically employ the Scientific Method. Hypothesis, Experiment, Conclusion. The first time I used my own compost, it wasn't finished yet and I burned up a couple flowering rooms. Now I simply let worms work my compost before adding it to my soil. I always test a plant or two now if I am using anything that I haven't in the past.
There is a misconception here I believe. Compost is soil and materials that has been acted upon by numerous type of microorganisms, sometimes at temperatures over 130f degrees in the middle of the pile, to break down larger materials in to smaller ones, I.e. veggies, cats, lawn refuse, etc. EWC is a type of compost, well really it is just poo, that has under gone pretty similar break downs, just in the worms gut (by microorganisms). Soil is just that, soil. It is a mixture of sand, COMPOST (if you don't have your own use EWC, making your own outdoor compost pile and not using it for anything outdoors is just asking for issues), rocks, clay, perlite (indoors), and amendments. amendments are things like kelp meal, lime ( i don't use it), organic fertilizer like jobes or epsoma, bone meal etc. This is food for the microorganisms that it into waste that plants use a food, the essence of any cycle is who is eating who's poo. a tea is use to re-innoculate a soil with new microorganisms. Can your soil be all compost? Mine is mostly compost, with some perlite added for aeration. But that being said I do add sand in at about 25% to just have more raw material. I didn't even let it cook, i just mixed it up and used it. The compost must cook. Its kinda cool.. certain bacteria like a certain temperature range, so as species grows, it heats up the environment to a degree to which its own species can no longer survive at, and they die off, leaving room for new ones that can grow at those temps and so on and so on until you reach hyperthermophiles, almost like the ones everyone learns about in HS bio on the volcanic sea vents, same guys (mostly archea, some cool shit). This is when the real magic happens, this why you need a big pile, this is why it needs to cook, this is why SOIL is just not the same thing as compost. Talk amongst yourselves /EndNerdRant
There are a couple of threads in the Indoor Garden journals that grow using SIP's, recycled soil, compost, complete dry organic fertilizer, and well water. they're pretty much maintenance free grows for those folks. The results can be of exceptional quality.
dude.. i was very skeptical about the whole "water only" soil thing after many years using bottled nutes in my soil. My big concern was it not lasting during the whole flowering stage. Running veg is 1 thing, but flowering? I didn't believe it could be possible. finally tried it out for myself, and couldn't be happier. this one flowered for 13 weeks. water only, with 1 or 2 top dressings of kelp and ewc along the way. no teas, no ACT's nothing.
I just started "water only" and I love it. Its the simplicity of it that drew me in. I just add water when they need it and thats it. My soil mix ( that I made) seemed a little light on K ( I used bone meal... but I will likely change it for something easier to break down.) I fixed the K shortage by adding some grandmas molasses with my last watering and never looked better! I honestly don't even know why people use bottled salts. I don't need to pH adjust, its cheaper, easier etc.
Yep. My favorite part of water-only is being able to water them, and knowing they'll be fine for the next half week when I water again. That peace of mind is invaluable and allows for me to take hiking/camping/beach trips w/ no worries. I think i'll look into building a SIP system soon so I can take week-long excursions.