Super Soil Super Thread | Share Your Soil Recipe's! | DabberDan

[DabberDan]

Hey everyone, I'm DabberDan and I'm a newbie here on the Rollitup forums but I've been captivated by the generous community with your guy's ocean's of knowledge of everything cannabis culture! I'm newer to growing indoor organics but I'm utterly fascinated by the whole idea of ROLS with great quality tasting, and smelling buds! At this point I'm looking at all these different recipes and nutrients for a super soil mix and it occurred to me, there are so many different fertilizers and amendments that somebody can add to their mix! But that arose another question, which fertilizers make the best mix? I've been looking at different mix's lately and trying to find a mix that can accommodate my current grow space(5' x 5' x 2' tent w/ 8 42w 5600k CFL's and 4 68W 2100K CFL's | 608watts total) but can't seem to find a good mix without breaking the bank while still maximizing growth potential. I know that sounds like a lot to request but, I'm sure there are a lot of people with my same question as me. So if you have had any success, or are having success with a specific mix of fertilizers that you think may be beneficial, comment and share with us! If it is a past grow, it'd be nice to include any numbers you may have with it like total harvest, environment, light, and space; the more the merrier! If it is a current grow, maybe some pictures of your lovely ladies and overall growth and health. If you're a saint, you can go as far as to post any past smoke report's you may have done in the past! So thanks in advance to anyone willing to shell out a few minutes to help out us noobies to the organic lifestyle!

 

[st0wandgrow]

I've got a few questions for you first....

Do you live in area where there are farms and feed shops, or are you in more of an urban area where you have hydro shops and garden centers?

Do you have the ability/desire to start a worm bin and/or compost bin?

What size containers are you considering flowering in?

How much time do you have before you plan on using this soil?

 

[DabberDan]

@st0wandgrow I live in urban placer County area with a lot hydro spots around. I have about a 14 gallon container for composting and I'm open to written farms as long as it's small and manageable. I'm using 5 gallon buckets but I'm switching to a 12/12 schedule so I'm thinking I won't need 5 gallons. Time wise I got a month until I can start

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[st0wandgrow]

Ok. Here's what I would suggest. Start planning for your second grow. There's no realistic chance of you sourcing everything you need, making the soil, and allowing it to sit for a decent amount of time all within a month. I'd pick up some quality bagged soil, go ahead and buy the equipment needed to brew teas, and rock a good bagged brand (that you could slightly modify) for the first one, supplementing with teas as needed. Good practice run.

While this first batch is going you will be busy sourcing ingredients and putting together a worm bin. Some of the ingredients you can find for free (in your back yard, or at a rock quarry, etc). Others you will find very cheap, in bulk at feed shops. A short trip to a local farm could be a gold mine as well. Hydro shops are sorta frowned upon around here, but I see nothing wrong with picking up the odd thing from there either.

Here's what I feel your shopping list should look like for your second organic grow:

-Kelp meal. Tons of trace minerals and a decent source of potash.

-Neem seed meal. An important part of a pest management repertoire, and a good source of nitrogen.

- Crab shell meal. Can be a good source of N and P, with a substantial amount of calcium. Also an important part of pest management.

-Oyster shell flour. Slow release, liming agent.

-Rock Dusts. These will cover your bases on minerals. A lot of people that shoot for high brix numbers emphasize the importance of rock fines.

-Sphagnum peat moss/ coco coir. This will be 1/3 to 1/2 of your base.

-Worm poop you'll make yourself....


The worm bin is a must IMO. Your source of compost is the most important part of your grow. You can have a couple really simple, cheap bins that will kick out a good amount of quality castings, all made from kitchen scraps that would otherwise be tossed. There's a good thread on here all about worm wrangling.

That's where I'd start.

 

[DabberDan]

@st0wandgrow i think your suggestion is a damn good plan of action for the first run, I picked up some Kellogg's Organic Gromulch from home depot along with other amendments that I got like blood meal, bone meal, perlite and bat guano; I haven't even opened the bag yet but it seemed like a decent soil and one of the few I could find that wasn't Miracle Gro But I've heard of people just having worms in their soil itself, I live in an apartment and with my girlfriend so she's not too fond of having a box full of the slimy things but maybe I can add worms to the actual mix and just recycle them with each harvest. here's a link to the soil I'm using now by the way-->
Home Depot Link

 

[youraveragehorticulturist]

This looks like a good plan.

In addition to what Stow and Grow recommends, I also like alfalfa meal. It works in the soil as a source of N, and if you soak it in water for awhile you can use it right away like a liquid nutrient.

Half a cup of alfalfa meal and a whole cup of kelp meal, soaking in a 5 gallon bucket, then watered down for use will probably be enough fertilizer to get you through your first grow.

When you get your worm bin going, you can use castings as a top dressing or to make tea to improve the your Home Depot soil.

Also, don't be afraid to buy a bag of commercial worm casting just to get you started. They won't be as great as homemade compost or EWC, but even the bagged stuff should help to make your home depot soil more "alive." They can also be added to your own worm bin to help get it started in the future.

 

[DabberDan]

This looks like a good plan.

In addition to what Stow and Grow recommends, I also like alfalfa meal. It works in the soil as a source of N, and if you soak it in water for awhile you can use it right away like a liquid nutrient.

Half a cup of alfalfa meal and a whole cup of kelp meal, soaking in a 5 gallon bucket, then watered down for use will probably be enough fertilizer to get you through your first grow.

When you get your worm bin going, you can use castings as a top dressing or to make tea to improve the your Home Depot soil.

Also, don't be afraid to buy a bag of commercial worm casting just to get you started. They won't be as great as homemade compost or EWC, but even the bagged stuff should help to make your home depot soil more "alive." They can also be added to your own worm bin to help get it started in the future.

I actually like the idea of the kelp and alfalfa meal in a liquefied fertilizing medium. I have a bag of worm castings on the way now, nothing special, just a $30 bag or organic castings. But Like I asked before, am I able to just add some worms to the bin and have them live in the bucket with the plants? As it is right now, all Home Depot had at the time was bone meal, blood meal, and bat guano's. Can a liquid kelp fertilizer act as the same thing as a granulated kelp meal?

 

[st0wandgrow]

I actually like the idea of the kelp and alfalfa meal in a liquefied fertilizing medium. I have a bag of worm castings on the way now, nothing special, just a $30 bag or organic castings. But Like I asked before, am I able to just add some worms to the bin and have them live in the bucket with the plants? As it is right now, all Home Depot had at the time was bone meal, blood meal, and bat guano's. Can a liquid kelp fertilizer act as the same thing as a granulated kelp meal?

You can use a bottled kelp product, but IMO the meal is better as you can use it both as a slow release soil amendment and as a tea. The idea with living organic soil is to load it up with various meals that the microbes will break down over time which will feed the microbes (and in turn the plant) throughout the entire cycle allowing you to pretty much have a water-only set up. The liquid fertilizers on the other hand would need to be applied frequently.

As for the worms I see nothing wrong with adding them to your plants soil. I would still *really* encourage you to start a worm bin though. They are absolutely 100% no hassle, no stink, and very easy to care for. I feed them once a week, which takes all of 10 minutes. Best thing you could do for your plants!

Tell your old lady to suck it up!!

Edit: I agree with the above suggestion for alfalfa meal. I use it myself. Look up triacontanol

 

[DabberDan]

You can use a bottled kelp product, but IMO the meal is better as you can use it both as a slow release soil amendment and as a tea. The idea with living organic soil is to load it up with various meals that the microbes will break down over time which will feed the microbes (and in turn the plant) throughout the entire cycle allowing you to pretty much have a water-only set up. The liquid fertilizers on the other hand would need to be applied frequently.

As for the worms I see nothing wrong with adding them to your plants soil. I would still *really* encourage you to start a worm bin though. They are absolutely 100% no hassle, no stink, and very easy to care for. I feed them once a week, which takes all of 10 minutes. Best thing you could do for your plants!

Tell your old lady to suck it up!!

Edit: I agree with the above suggestion for alfalfa meal. I use it myself. Look up triacontanol

I'm looking at this kelp product -- here. I'm wondering if that would be a viable supplement for the granulated kelp meal. I'm not really sure where to find alfalfa meal though. I'm guessing a hydro shop?

 

[st0wandgrow]

I'm looking at this kelp product -- here. I'm wondering if that would be a viable supplement for the granulated kelp meal. I'm not really sure where to find alfalfa meal though. I'm guessing a hydro shop?

That kelp product will be fine.

As for alfalfa look for a feed store or pet supply store. If you can find alfalfa rabbit pellets that will do the trick. I get a 10lb bag at a feed shop for $4.50

 

[DabberDan]

That kelp product will be fine.

As for alfalfa look for a feed store or pet supply store. If you can find alfalfa rabbit pellets that will do the trick. I get a 10lb bag at a feed shop for $4.50

I'm assuming alfalfa hay and alfalfa pellet's are pretty much the same thing? They

 

[DonTesla]

Yea, 10 mins a week is really all it takes to be a worm farmer. Make a hole, plunk your goop, cover up, spray down, sprinkle some super food for them, and turn in a bit if compacted etc. Literally can do it in 5 mins. But Petro is in the worm farms like a kid at the sand table in kindergarten, lol. As much as possible. Just look out for cocoons! Don't wanna squish any babies! I get everyone on the worm farm, ganja specialist or not! Everyone should have one, really.