I know soil gets bashed a lot by the hydro crowd (especially when people bring their dirt indoors), but soil is fascinating! In the space equivalent to your thumbnail you can find billions of organisms, making soil one of the most complex ecosystems on our planet. University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 is currently conducting the ongoing LEO study, which is a longitudinal examination of microbiology as it forms over time. The results will provide a foundational understanding of how life comes to be. Interestingly, nobody reading this post will ever get to see the finished product…why? You’ll be dead! The final results wont be published until around the time my grand kids are old…so yeah, it’s, like, complex and stuff.
The outdoors and soils go hand in hand like camping and s’mores, but I’m always surprised when I go into a facility and see a no till setup…it touches my little agrarian heart!
I love building super soils; whether it’s finding the perfect recipe for my cannabis plants or making some long-term food for my citrus trees, I want to feed those soils since they feed my plants…and the soil life cycle continues. Do you build super soils? Do you have a great blend we all should try? Does your oyster shell to feather meal ratio just crush it? Why is your elemite superior to my azomite? Are you growing your own fungus on old oats (oh yeah, you can do that) or do you have a preferred mycorrhizae? @memberdirectory, let’s talk about soil blends.
I spent a lot of time on this for my last grow and put it into my ERP system. The ingredients follow. I think I am putting too much into it. The results from this grow are good. I wanted to get the soil tested in a lab but it was kind of expensive. I have one of the do it yourself tests I should try it on to get the PH. Any feedback will be appreciated. Got it off the youtube videos’s. I had the extra michigan mix laying around and threw it in for filler.
Nah really! Traditional amendments are mostly time released. Indoor soil that is reused frequently needs more available method for optimal growth to occur. Liquid fertilizer usually has stabilizers in the bottle which can lock up your soil. We work with agronomist on this exact topic.
Outdoor you have the long winter to allow breakdown and dormancy with microbes. Indoor, unless you have a mega facility, you would need space to condition your soil.
Our new method allows our clients to pull the rootball, leave remaining roots in soil for a food source.
My thought on lab analysis is a question for you: how much are you spending on soil amendments for each grow? Multiply that over several grows. It is always advisable to get those lab tests done. Contact your county extension and ask for resources for soil and water testing.
Here is my list for making soil im going to cook. Amounts vary based on total needs.
Perlite
Earth worm castings
Promix HP or MP
Diatomaceous Earth
Neem Seed meal
Bio Ag Ful power
Bloodmeal
Alfalfa meal
Green Sand
fish meal
soy meal
kelp meal
rock phosphate
bark mulch
Indonesia bat guano
mexican bat guano
Mycorr
Dolomite lime
Azomite
Oyster shell
compost liqufied
This list is top of my head. Let this cook atleast 30 days. maybe longer. the cost of building this way up there. Easier and cheaper to just buy a blend. I want to get some MetroMix and try it. However its challenging to find. Ive talked to the Reps and Distrubtion guys. No one has it. They would gladly ship it to me if i wanted like 20 pallets. lol
There are many approaches to building the super soil, but the idea is that the biological processes symbiotically feed one another. Many growers will brew a compost tea to feed once a week or so to stimulate the microbial activity. Many will add synthetics from time to time to ensure the plant gets a healthy dose of NPK. Some growers will use microbial products like Mammoth P to unlock the phosphorus naturally occurring in the rhizosome.
We like want to know how the growers here on GNET are doing things
So yes basically. I will use enzymes and microbes. using things like extra EWC, Humic/Fulvic acids. Some Guanos i listed are used during specific times. But esentailly no nuets needed. The soil improves grow after grow. Usually need to start amending after grow three.
When you have (Watch for flames) “Living soil” it will have a discharge of electricity. be it small, a voltage type meter will register a spike. or is it a emf meter? either way. You need to use caution with this blend. It might be too HOT for your plants depending on age. I Like to use this blend as a top dressing i work into the soil over time. A company called “Coast of Maine” they have a few products i like. Also there are places who makes Super Soil concentrates.
I work for American Cannabis Company, the makers of SoHum Living Soil which is a winner of High Times S.T.A.S.H. Award for BEST POTTING MIX. We have SoHum in hundreds of commercial grows around the country using the soil successfully without adding ANY amendments.
I’ve been using the Coast of Maine Stonington Blend and adding limited amendments through each growth cycle and topdressing with some things in between cycles. On my third round in these 15 gallon smartpots, I know they’re on the smaller side, and haven’t seen any deficiencies at all. I add a little bit of each of these just by mixing in water every week or two: aloe(in veg), coconut water powder(in bloom), thrive-n aminos(beb), FulPower, silica, yucca extract, and a few other things. Basically just following buildasoils amendment schedule. Too dress with kashi and modern microbes every couple of weeks. Work castings on occasion, although with the amount of worms in my soil I don’t know if it’s really necessary. Don’t forget rock dust. I haven’t added biochar but i intend to. It’s worked like a charm so far.
Im always looking for different medias to try. Ive seen some crazy results. I tell guys interested in this topic. I think of a full super soil grow as a outdoor crop mainly. Transplanting four foot plants into twenty gallon pots. or in the earth with a hole aroumd twenty gallons. This will give you some beautyful fifteen footers. For indoor grows. I suggest a hybrid supersoil mix. I fill the bottom one third of the container with mostly perlite and small rocks. the next third is my blended mix. Usually something like promix and some form of clean soil. Once the plant takes hold visually. i top coat with my cooked soil. from this point on. Very little if any nuets are used.
Also remember this:
It isnt sustainable. It needs mantinence. It needs attention. But on the same token. If done correctly Super Soil allows you to lazy grow. Just letting the plant do what it does. The less WE inject ourselves into the growing process the better.
