Need a KISS organic soil recipe for autos

[Tommy McCain]

I ran this for a few cycles before mixing it up. I now add bio char, homemade ewc, and basalt(for my rock dust instead of azomite ...azomite has high aluminium). These are not required but I add this to let you know that this recipe is a starting point and you can add to it and mix things up as you learn organics more. I now feed most of these amendments to my worms before adding aeration and bio char (most of my aeration is now precharged homemade bio char) to the mix.

I found this on another website and my mix currently does not resemble this because I have ran the original peat moss mix through 5 or 6 cycles. I add more peat when I think it is needed.

This is more of an art not a science.

Note: we are using a 5 gallon bucket to measure, so 1 part=1 full 5 gallon bucket, 1/2 part=1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket, or 2.5 gallons

To make 1 cubic foot (7.5 gallons) of base soil:

1/2 part peat moss
1/2 part humus (compost and/or ewc- can do all compost or all ewc or some mixture of the two)
1/2 part aeration amendment
1 cup lime (per cubic foot)

Nutritional amendments: you want to add about 2-3 cups total of all your nutritional amendments per cubic foot (7.5 gallons) of soil. Note that this means 2-3 cups total, a combination of all your nutritional amendments, not 2-3 cups of each amendment.
1 cup kelp meal
1.5 cups dry organic fertilizer
I mix other amendments sometimes to experiment. I find if you keep this around 2.5 cups total amendments you will not burn your soil.

Mineral amendment: now add 4 cups of your rock dust per cubic foot (7.5 gallons) of soil

edit: let this sit and cook for three weeks minimum. I like to let mine cook for 3-6 months so I always have three or four large Rubbermaid tubs full that are ready to "roll" in my cabinet.

 

[hecno]

Tommy , Do you have worms in your soil . And what is your thinking on Bio Char .

 

[A-Train]

Dont know about TLO.... i do have newbie advice... if your stateside.

Roots original soil and order yourself some of mephistos auto mix and get to growing in a water only setup build for success right out of the gate. Once you start learning to grow cannabis then you can branch out as your knowledge increases.

Cannot beat the mephisto in roots organic.

No recipes. No cooking now tending. Just mix and water and harvest

 

[Tommy McCain]

OK @hecno I may have to hijack this thread for a moment to answer this...sorry OP.

I did not add worms to the original mix because I knew nothing about no-til indoor gardening. I learned about making my own vermicompost with a Rubbermaid tub. I have since changed my technique to using a 50 gallon or larger Smart Pot fabric pot because the worms are happier with the extra space and air. I felt that every time I watered my worm bin in the Rubbermaid...the worms got pissed because I added to much water. I then switched to the fabric pots and now my worms are SUPER happy because of the improved drainage. I have learned that food scraps are not enough...for my soil at least...IMHO. I feed most of my nutrients straight to the worms now over a long period. I will sprinkle some kelp meal here....a little horse manure there....some composted chicken manure from my chickens another day. You get the idea. Just watch how much you add because they do not like "HOT" soil. This does not mean that I do not add food scraps to my worms. I add these food scraps to my worm bin after a three month session in my thermal compost pile outside. Worms hate high water environments. Google "water content of fruit and vegetables".
I do not add worms but because I use my own poorly screened worm castings, I always have worms in my soil after the run. I used 7-15 gallon fabric pots indoors. I know multiple growers who do add handfuls of worms to their pots...they run 50 gallon + notil beds indoors and never change or til their soil. They just pull the previous plant and add a clone. They do not worry about feeding their plants and only worry about "feeding" the micro life in the soil. They view these huge indoor pots as a "slice" of the earth. If I had room indoors I would do this but I only have a small grow space.

Biochar:
I love biochar and so do my plants. Not only does it add carbon to the mix but it gives a "place" for bacteria and nutrients to hideout. I have done a whole run with biochar as my aeration but I feel that adding a pumice or lava stone is a better aerator for the soil. This is because pumice and lava add other minerals to the soil that I believe improve my mix. I have a rule that I want my amendments to pull "double duty". Perlite is a great aerator but with these other options that can give other benefits it does not make sense to have something in the mix that only serves the purpose of "aeration".

Biochar is free because I make it with a small drum that I fill with wood and seal up. Then I throw it on a big fire. Lastly you have to "charge" the biochar because the carbon will steal nitrogen from your soil. I take a bucket and add chicken manure, water and uncharged biochar. This sits for about a month.

Sorry for the long winded response. I love this stuff. And can talk on worms and soil life for hours...my wife thinks its real sexy....

Edit: I wanted to say one last thing. The humus you add to the soil is the most important part. You get this right and everything else will work itself out. If you screw this up and buy cheap store bought humus and your cannabis will resemble cheap cannabis. Making humus is always preferred over buying unless you know the quality of the source.

 

[icky45n]

I live in Canada and can't get any of the premade super soils shipped to me. So gotta DIY.

@lunarman if by KISS you mean keep it simple... here is simple for you, just buy composted sheep manure it's all you need to grow a successful crop. Have done it many times and I believe it is available everywhere in Can. Sheep poo is 2X better than cow or horse. Adding some perlite would be good idea, but not 100% necessary either.

 

[lunarman]

Thanks Icky. That is KISS. But too KISS too LATE. I mixed up the ingredients for soil on Saturday and am cooking it up now. But I can always add more to it. I'm checking and mixing it every couple of days.

I decided to go with Coco, Perlite, some locally sourced EWC, a bag of the same compost the worms eat and some meal amendments. I was looking at some horse manure too but didn't work out. I'll see if I can get some sheep.

 

[Tommy McCain]

Thanks Icky. That is KISS. But too KISS too LATE. I mixed up the ingredients for soil on Saturday and am cooking it up now. But I can always add more to it. I'm checking and mixing it every couple of days.

I decided to go with Coco, Perlite, some locally sourced EWC, a bag of the same compost the worms eat and some meal amendments. I was looking at some horse manure too but didn't work out. I'll see if I can get some sheep.

I want to preference this with...I am not an expert and only know what other great growers have told me about coco vs peat. I just want to make sure you have all the information about coco. Also when I started organics I had many mineral deficiencies without a type of "rock dust" such as basalt or azomite. These show their ugly face somewhere around flowering. I worked through this with foliage sprays and topdressing of kelp meal (one my top three organic tools). Trust me...life is easier now because I only do water and some additions such as fulpower, silica, aloe and coconut water.

Now the info on CoCo Coir. If you google "coir and sulfur deficiency" you will find that people have major issues with this. I will add this quote from another grower about coco and sulfur deficiency.

"the differences between CSPM vs. Coconut Coir. Besides the massive differences in microbiology right up front the limiting factor is the complete and total lack of Sulfur in coir irrespective of where it's grown, processed, etc.

Since coir seems to be the medium of choice for many hydro growers (thought many are strident in their claims that coir is 'just like peat' which falls flat on its face when you look at the CoA) and the approach with hydroponics has nothing to do with nutrient cycling as it's understood in soils. "

and...

Coconut coir does not contain Sulfur which explains why coir growers are always complaining about the lack of taste or punch - Sulfur is a main player in the creation of Secondary Metabolites which include Terpenes & Terpenoids specifically. THC falls into this category.

While Coco coir may be (and often is) used in a soil mix to assist in drainage in your base soil, it will often contain Trichoderma spores which research has shown to degrade Endomycorrhizae fungus.

Coco Coir holds a lower CeC (Cation Exchange Capacity) value than Sphagnum Peat.

I would add some gypsum at about 1/2 cup per cubic foot. For the flavor and smell. I am just giving the information so you can grow the best weed ever. I add gypsum and it changed my medication. I use peat but coco will work great...you just need that sulfur.

 

[lunarman]

thank you for the recommendation tommy. Have not seen much mention of gypsum in organic soil mixing recipes. With coco coir. But what you say makes sense and I'm going to amend.

 

[cwesley32799]

Dont know about TLO.... i do have newbie advice... if your stateside.

Roots original soil and order yourself some of mephistos auto mix and get to growing in a water only setup build for success right out of the gate. Once you start learning to grow cannabis then you can branch out as your knowledge increases.

Cannot beat the mephisto in roots organic.

No recipes. No cooking now tending. Just mix and water and harvest

I don't see much information on what type of soil amendment I would be purchasing from Mephisto. Is it a complete soul amendment? What size is it? How much soil do I mix it with??

 

[cwesley32799]

Dont know about TLO.... i do have newbie advice... if your stateside.

Roots original soil and order yourself some of mephistos auto mix and get to growing in a water only setup build for success right out of the gate. Once you start learning to grow cannabis then you can branch out as your knowledge increases.

Cannot beat the mephisto in roots organic.

No recipes. No cooking now tending. Just mix and water and harvest

I don't see much information on what type of soil amendment I would be purchasing from Mephisto. Is it a complete soul amendment? What size is it? How much soil do I mix it with??

Thanks so much in advance for the info