Living soil recipe and tea and watering schedule

@hoppiefrog

Base soil mix:

1:1:1: CSPM (Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss) : Pumice/Lava rock : Compost - Malibus B/U is an excellent choice if it is available in your area.

Amended per cuF with:

1/2 - 1 cup Neem or Karanja
1/2 - 1 cup Kelp
1/2 - 1 cup Crab/Crustacean meal
1 cup MBP (Malted Barley Powder)

1/2 cup Gypsum (nice sulphur source)
4-6 cups Basalt
6-8 cups Biochar

Small handful of worms per container In beds, lets say 4x8 for example, something like a handful per 2x2 area is more than plenty. Iā€™ve seen quite a number of instances where a very large number of worms are started with and while there is nothing wrong with that I feel it not only detracts from the purpose but is wholly unnecessary as worms will regulate their population in containers so you risk simply a huge waste of money and worms right out the gate. IMO it is better to start with a small amount and allow your mini ecosystem to develop ā€˜naturallyā€™ and soil life will find itā€™s own balance that is most appropriate for any given size body of soil - make sense?

Keep in mind, if you build a soil that at least somewhat resembles the recipe above, the addition of worms (or not) at the beginning will not make one iota of difference. It is in the long term where the benefit of a diverse healthy soil life, including worms, that you will see a benefitā€¦ā€¦and please please do not skimp on the humus portion of your soil mix, as my good friend Coot has said, ā€œget your humus right, and the rest is like a pleasant drive through the countryside.ā€ And Iā€™m sure thereā€™s a number of variations on that quote, some not as savory as others! LMAO!!

Hereā€™s an example of a tried and true watering schedule (because I personally used it for years) to use from day 1 to ensure your plants are being pushed to ā€˜peak healthā€™ and expressing their full ā€˜genetic potential.ā€™:

Day 1 Plain water
Day 2 No watering
Day 3 MBP top-dress watered in with Aloe/Fulvic/Silica (agsil or your silica source of choice)
Day 4 No watering
Day 5 Plain water
Day 6 Neem/Kelp tea
Day 7 No watering
Day 8 Plain water
Day 9 No watering
Day 10 Coconut Water
Day 11 No watering

REPEAT - Beginning to end, no changes needed for various stages of growth, simple enough right

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Yay tks man that looks easy enough

Its final then going living soil on a table or two.i will have a few questions once i get going

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include @Packee on all questionsā€¦ we did very little differentā€¦ he just went through far more tea ingredients than Iā€¦ he had beastsā€¦ but it is apples to oranges as I started my plants far later than I wanted too as I killed my tent and all plants in early May due to issuesā€¦

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@Packee how much extra neem cake /kelp flakes / alo flakes /coconut water should i order for 160 gallons of l.s. for a crop its all new to me.

I have to walk the dogsā€¦ not sure of your questionā€¦ I will see if I can get the answer when I get time in a bitā€¦

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I calculated how much of each item i need gor the soil mix but i have no idea how much to order for the teas and top dress in the feed schedule

Also i only need a median feed schedule but may need a bit heavier where its the first run in it .if i understand it will take time to break down a bit

Also where do u guys get ur red wrigglers?

I hope you guys donā€™t make me write up a super soil recipe. It takes forever. And a pain on this tiny cellphone

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I get the reds from Kathyā€™s Wormsā€¦ sheā€™s on the netā€¦ and @MK3_Pharms I posted a recipe in the top of this threadā€¦lolā€¦ I will get around to the teas and quantities we ordered per yd and what I have leftā€¦ I get my barley from a local micro brewery thoughā€¦

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Thats where the vlub just told me to get mine

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And black swallow for aloe x200

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Compost i have to source from three places to get a great blend im told

Lol i hear ya i only have a cell phone w a broken screen to type lol takes forever lol i need a laptop asap

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Same here. With auto correct and mistakes. It takes me three times as long to type anything.

My tablet I broke over me knee one day. Kinda regret that now. Lost ten years of photos. So yeah

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I used black swallow as they had everything required for that recipe and shippedā€¦ 3 yards was 36x75lb bagsā€¦lolā€¦ the ag-sil we split 3 waysā€¦ the rest is what is left from 9 outdoor plants and a bit of indoor sinceā€¦

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I got the agisil already

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Need to know hm alox200 & mbp& kelp to buy for teas and top dress

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I bought a 50lb bag of untoasted malted barley and milled it to powder myselfā€¦ 50 is a lotā€¦lolā€¦ kelp I bought from black swallow by the 55lb bag and that is the left over aloe in the small jar and I donā€™t top dress itā€¦ bokashi can be just any compost aid and I get from TSCā€¦

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