Inspired by many others before me, I'd like to start a journal to document my Organic journey. I feel that all my past grows have led me down this road. I feel ready for this.
This will hopefully be an ongoing one. Lets begin with details of my soil mix. Targeted minimum 240 litres of soil to fit around 10 x 5 gallon and 1 x 10 gallon fabric pots.
I have around 120 litres or around 30 gallons of recycled soil that has been used twice. All plant matter goes into this pile and is slowly composted by just leaving it in a bin with a lid, watering with EM1, photosynthetic Bacteria, molasses and Wood Vinegar these past 5-6 months. Top dressed with Neem Cake every now and then to prevent pests. I also gave rain water to the pile once. I will add another 20 litres of peat moss to this 120 litres of old soil to make up 140 litres of base soil. This base Soil already has Perlite and Pumice from past grows. Its already quite well aerated so am gonna cut down slightly on aeration inputs later on.
Another 40 litres of Worm Castings will be added. I will add another 30 litres of Palm Compost innoculated with mycos and some local raw compost to diversify the compost types.
Aeration of around 30 litres will consist of Biochar, Coarse Rice Hulls, Fine Rice Hulls, Char Boiled Coarse Rice Hulls. As mentioned, the base soil above already has lotsa Perlite and pumice. I'm gonna stop adding Perlite and just let the existing ones slowly break down. Pumice, Rice Hulls and biochar will be the main aeration components from here on.
So in summary we got:
140 litres of Recycled old soil mixed with 20 litres of Peat Moss
70 litres of Composts (Worm Castings, Palm Compost and Local Raw Compost)
30 litres of Aeration (Biochar, Rice Hulls - Fine & Coarse, Char Boiled Rice Hulls)
In total, should be 240 litres of soil mixed!
Then, comes the fun part of various amendments:
Per each batch of about 50 litres that I mix, which is about 1.75 cubic foot of soil, I'll add in the below:
For NPK:
Local made IMO5 (Indigenous Microorganism 5) fertilizer 2-2-2 ~ 250ml A KNF (Korean Natural Farming) input
Organic flowering fert 3-5-15 ~ 100ml
Alfalfa Pellets 2-1-2 ~ 100ml
Seaweed Powder 0.6-6-20 ~ 100ml
Insect Frass 3-6.4-2.6 ~ 100ml
Neem cake 4-1-1 ~ 100ml
Dolomite Lime ~ 100ml
Guano 5-18-5 ~ 15ml
Epsom salt ~ 15ml
Humic Acid ~ 15ml
For Minerals:
Azomite 250ml
Rock Phosphate 250ml
Gypsum 250ml
Zeolite 250ml
A little note on the measurements. 1 cup is around 250ml. Half cup is 125ml or so. The usual soil mix recommendation is around half cup per cubic foot of soil for most amendments, which is 125ml. I am mixing around 1.75 cubic foot batches. This means my amendments should be around 215ml or slightly less than 1 cup.
However, you'll notice I only added mostly 100ml instead of the recommended 215ml. Few reasons for this:
1. The old soil should still have nutes in it. The past 5-6 months have broken up much more available nutrients in the soil. Don't want it too hot.
2. This soil mix is for autos. I can and will be top dressing along with several other soil and foliar inputs. So really don't wanna overdo it. Can always add more later or in future mixes depending on what I observe.
Basically, this means I halved the recommended amounts and a little more, since I’m not starting with 1/3 peat moss. It should still be slightly on the hotter side but I’m letting them cook 2-3 months. I am hopeful this will work out just fine
As for nutrient regiment, the above amendments will be selectively used as top dressing during different times.
For Soil Drenches/ Foliar
In Veg, I'll have homemade Fish Amino Acids (FAA) and Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) along with Lacto Bacteria (LABS). Also Oriental Herbal Nutrient (OHN) + Wood Vinegar for pest management.
In flower, pretty much the same but substitute with Fermented Fruit Juice (FFJ) instead of FPJ. Most of the difference will be in top dressing choices.
Will probably use up the bottle of multi bacteria/fungi product I still have left. This is pretty standard commercial product with NPK solubilising bacteria, mycos, tricho, streps etc.
In transition when Ca and P is needed more, will top dress with Gypsum and some Insect Frass. If it’s too slow acting or if I top dressed too late, I may consider making some Water Soluble Calcium or Calcium Phosphate. It’s as simple as dissolving charred eggshells and bones in Vinegar. Few days in hot weather and voila, water soluble Cal and P!
Many of the inputs above are from KNF practices. I am kinda combining no till, living soil and KNF inputs to see how it works out for me.
For more info on KNF Korean Natural Farming, this site has good info
naturalfarming.co
I'll be mixing up the above in a couple of days. PLEASE feel free to critique and provide input. I am open to changes in my recipe.
Pictures coming as soon as I begin!
@Gladiators
This will hopefully be an ongoing one. Lets begin with details of my soil mix. Targeted minimum 240 litres of soil to fit around 10 x 5 gallon and 1 x 10 gallon fabric pots.
I have around 120 litres or around 30 gallons of recycled soil that has been used twice. All plant matter goes into this pile and is slowly composted by just leaving it in a bin with a lid, watering with EM1, photosynthetic Bacteria, molasses and Wood Vinegar these past 5-6 months. Top dressed with Neem Cake every now and then to prevent pests. I also gave rain water to the pile once. I will add another 20 litres of peat moss to this 120 litres of old soil to make up 140 litres of base soil. This base Soil already has Perlite and Pumice from past grows. Its already quite well aerated so am gonna cut down slightly on aeration inputs later on.
Another 40 litres of Worm Castings will be added. I will add another 30 litres of Palm Compost innoculated with mycos and some local raw compost to diversify the compost types.
Aeration of around 30 litres will consist of Biochar, Coarse Rice Hulls, Fine Rice Hulls, Char Boiled Coarse Rice Hulls. As mentioned, the base soil above already has lotsa Perlite and pumice. I'm gonna stop adding Perlite and just let the existing ones slowly break down. Pumice, Rice Hulls and biochar will be the main aeration components from here on.
So in summary we got:
140 litres of Recycled old soil mixed with 20 litres of Peat Moss
70 litres of Composts (Worm Castings, Palm Compost and Local Raw Compost)
30 litres of Aeration (Biochar, Rice Hulls - Fine & Coarse, Char Boiled Rice Hulls)
In total, should be 240 litres of soil mixed!
Then, comes the fun part of various amendments:
Per each batch of about 50 litres that I mix, which is about 1.75 cubic foot of soil, I'll add in the below:
For NPK:
Local made IMO5 (Indigenous Microorganism 5) fertilizer 2-2-2 ~ 250ml A KNF (Korean Natural Farming) input
Organic flowering fert 3-5-15 ~ 100ml
Alfalfa Pellets 2-1-2 ~ 100ml
Seaweed Powder 0.6-6-20 ~ 100ml
Insect Frass 3-6.4-2.6 ~ 100ml
Neem cake 4-1-1 ~ 100ml
Dolomite Lime ~ 100ml
Guano 5-18-5 ~ 15ml
Epsom salt ~ 15ml
Humic Acid ~ 15ml
For Minerals:
Azomite 250ml
Rock Phosphate 250ml
Gypsum 250ml
Zeolite 250ml
A little note on the measurements. 1 cup is around 250ml. Half cup is 125ml or so. The usual soil mix recommendation is around half cup per cubic foot of soil for most amendments, which is 125ml. I am mixing around 1.75 cubic foot batches. This means my amendments should be around 215ml or slightly less than 1 cup.
However, you'll notice I only added mostly 100ml instead of the recommended 215ml. Few reasons for this:
1. The old soil should still have nutes in it. The past 5-6 months have broken up much more available nutrients in the soil. Don't want it too hot.
2. This soil mix is for autos. I can and will be top dressing along with several other soil and foliar inputs. So really don't wanna overdo it. Can always add more later or in future mixes depending on what I observe.
Basically, this means I halved the recommended amounts and a little more, since I’m not starting with 1/3 peat moss. It should still be slightly on the hotter side but I’m letting them cook 2-3 months. I am hopeful this will work out just fine
As for nutrient regiment, the above amendments will be selectively used as top dressing during different times.
For Soil Drenches/ Foliar
In Veg, I'll have homemade Fish Amino Acids (FAA) and Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) along with Lacto Bacteria (LABS). Also Oriental Herbal Nutrient (OHN) + Wood Vinegar for pest management.
In flower, pretty much the same but substitute with Fermented Fruit Juice (FFJ) instead of FPJ. Most of the difference will be in top dressing choices.
Will probably use up the bottle of multi bacteria/fungi product I still have left. This is pretty standard commercial product with NPK solubilising bacteria, mycos, tricho, streps etc.
In transition when Ca and P is needed more, will top dress with Gypsum and some Insect Frass. If it’s too slow acting or if I top dressed too late, I may consider making some Water Soluble Calcium or Calcium Phosphate. It’s as simple as dissolving charred eggshells and bones in Vinegar. Few days in hot weather and voila, water soluble Cal and P!
Many of the inputs above are from KNF practices. I am kinda combining no till, living soil and KNF inputs to see how it works out for me.
For more info on KNF Korean Natural Farming, this site has good info
Korean Natural Farming - Sustainable Organic Farming | Chis Trump
Chris Trump is the #1 American farmer utilizing Korean Natural Farming. Learn from the best on organic and natural farming that works!
naturalfarming.co
I'll be mixing up the above in a couple of days. PLEASE feel free to critique and provide input. I am open to changes in my recipe.
Pictures coming as soon as I begin!
@Gladiators
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