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Organic soil mixes

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Praxis.

Praxis.

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I'll be moving into my new place this February, and after the move I'll finally be able to start my own indoor garden! šŸ˜

I've been doing a lot of research on exclusively organic methods and I was curious what folks here use for their medium. There's so much info out there in regards to soil mixes and amendments it's a bit overwhelming.

What do you think is a good mix for seedlings, and what do you amend with as the plants mature? How long do you cook your soil for? Do you use compost teas and foliar sprays? If so what do you include in those mixes?

I have a general idea of the mix I plan on using but I have so much floating around in my head it'd be nice to get some feedback from folks here so that I might condense some of this information in one place. And it's always fun to see what other Nexians have going on in their gardens.

Right now I know for my basic soil mix (for seedlings) I'll be using peat moss, humus, perlite, lime, and worm-castings. I'm wondering if I should include vermiculite in the mix as well, and if there's anything crucial I'm leaving out that should be included with the basic mix as opposed to being amended in later? I'm just worried about overdoing it and burning my seedlings.
 
Hello VTSeeker

my soil is sunshine promix#4 i amend with 20% worm castings and 1tbsp rock dust per gallon. Been experimenting with paramagnetic rock dust recently although at the same amount as normal rock dust I am seeing no difference in growth,taste, smell etc.

Depending on where you live I like the nectar for the gods soil. if you live near oregon it might be cheaper then here and worth getting.

I give compost tea once a week. I really really like the boogie brew tea and sea90 Boogie Brew | Make Your Plants Dance!

As far as doing the super soil mixes and composting I think thats really cool if you have a garden outdoors and a nice pile to compost with, since you can add amendments to that and have your own worm bin. In my experience the soil cooking thing doesn't work so well, alot of amendments don't become available to the plants unless you compost for a long time, or you veg your plants for a long time, which is unlikely indoors.

I like nectar for the gods fertilizer which is organic and you feed it often and can mix it with compost teas. I have used other fertilizers and I think I ll stick with this since its quite ecofriendly and the results are excellent.

Also if you are thinking about guano be aware of how it is sourced since alot of it is not gotten sustainably.

Although organic composted soils can work for cannabis, you will have better results with a well draining soil that is lightly amended (worm castings for microbial life, and rock dust for trace minerals) and organic fertilizers. At least thats been my experience growing cannabis for the past 9 years and the past 3 I've gotten away from the cooked soils.

For seedlings same soil as above do nothing special but feed at half strength until well established.
 
Thanks adam

I think you might be right about sticking to lightly amended soils with organic fertilizer as a supplement. I've been reading a lot about the benefits of composting your own soil and I think that's something I'd like to do anyways, but as a long term project. Like you said most nutrients don't become available for quite some time which could create more trouble than its worth in the short term.

I've been looking at the sunshine promix so its reassuring you recommend it.

Nectar of the Gods is a great line. I'm pretty far from OR but I might be able to find it cheap somewhere, though I'd be very surprised. On a side note, when I was living in Oregon I actually met the guy who started Nectar of the Gods. He manages a garden center in Southern OR. Interesting guy...definitely knows his stuff but he's a bit on the abrasive side and oddly secretive about how/where his ferts/nutes are sourced, which has led me to be a bit more cautious with that line than I might otherwise be. Definitely works wonders though, can't argue with the results. I don't have any experience with their soil but I've heard great things so depending on cost I will definitely be looking into it.

So you feel that composted soils don't really compare to "traditional" methods? In what ways specifically? Yield, potency, taste, growth? There seems to be much debate on this topic wherever I go, and I'm hesitant to pick one route over the other in fear that on one hand I might be losing out on quality of the final product or on the other I pose the risk of compromising my belief in sustainability and ethically sourced products. Does anyone else here with experience have an additional opinion?

Thanks for the suggestions man, more helpful than you might think! I'll be sure to update as I gather supplies in the next few weeks.
 
The main thing I believe you would miss out on is yield, at least that is my experience. It is hard to get the plant to uptake all those components in the short life time of an indoor cannabis plant, unless you are vegging for months. Composted soils for plants that have longer lifespans is wonderful , but even with a very microbially active soil I don't think you can get the plant to uptake elements at the rate that fertilizer allows.

If you are growing just for personal use, and cost, yields etc. aren't the most important than I say go for it.

I have used cooked mixes I will post a couple recipes if I can find them.

If you have a recipe in mind put it up I would be interested in seeing it.
 
Thanks for your input, that definitely makes sense.

I dont have a specific recipe as of yet, as I'm still researching and feeling out what will work best for me. Once I have a general idea Ill definitely post it though.

Thanks again :)
 
I personally use Subcools Super Soil and cant find anyone who can out grow me in terpenes and flavornoids! Organic growers grow for quality > quantity. Substitute Co2 and SCROG for quantity. This recipe yeilds you ~90 gallons of HOT dirt. Use streight tap water from start to finish.

I scrog 1 plant per 4sqft with 64tops per plant each cola weighs avg 7grams. I avg just over a pound per plant per 1000w light. So a lot has to do with how you train your plant when it comes to quantity.

Boat load of info on google about super soil. here is the recipe.

Recipe:
8 - 1.5 ft3 bags of high quality base soil
1 33lb. bag of Worm Castings
2.5 lbs. Fish Bone Meal
5 lbs. High Phosphorus Bat Guano
5 lbs. Blood Meal
2.5 lbs. Bone Meal
3 cups. Oyster Shell
3 cups. Kelp Meal
3 cups Alfalfa Meal
3/4 cup Epsom Salt
1 cup Dolomite Lime
2 cups Azomite
2 TBS powdered Humic Acid

Where To Buy Super Soil
Also check out his youtube channel Subcool420
 
It is beneficial to let your soil sit for as long as possible so that everything can start to be broken down to become more readily available. jamie is right though, you don't want to let it dry out. I let my soil sit for a little over a month and I kept it moist but not 'wet', with good results.

Peat Moss
Humus
Perlite
Azomite
Lime
Neem Meal
Crab Meal
Alfalfa Meal
Espoma Fertilizer

This recipe is from another forum and has worked well for me with some minor adjustments
 
Best soil mix i have found over the years simple and effective and no need to cook can plant right away.

(1 Cubic Ft Soil)
1 part sphagnum peatmoss 1 part aeration 1 part compost/earthworm castings

1 cup kelp meal
1 cup neem meal
1/2 cup gypsum
1/2 cup garden lime
4-6 cup basalt rockdust
6 cup activated charcoal/biochar
1 cup malted barley or powder

Mulch with straw or something to prevent top-soil from drying out

Never change the base, just top-dress with kelp/neem/compost and maybe some gypsom every few months and it only gets better and better

Water every 3-4 days
 
Just knocked up some soil mixes as cannot buy dedicated compost here.

7 parts hummus based compost (black and heavy)
1 part rice husk
1 part "leaf compost" (basically just uncomposted leaves
1/2 part perlite
1/2 part vermiculite
1/2 part coco coit
1 part dried cow manure, ground.


tbh am not too happy with it, it feels really heavy and not very light at all. Due to the black hummos based compost, but that's all I had access to. I think next time, I'll go heavier on the rice husks / leaf "compost" to try and get it as light and airy as possible
 
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