Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

[st0wandgrow]

View attachment 3311235 Hey, I'm a total newbe in the area of no till indoor gardening as well as to forums online of any sort. So please excuse me if I commit any forum sin and educate me.
I've grown off and on since 89. A few years ago I finally realized my dream and bought a farm out in the sticks. View attachment 3311235View attachment 3311236 I'm working on being off the grid and as self sufficient as possible.
I got on here originally to find companion plants for MJ. Wanting to do a biodynamic grow approach.
Wow! You guys are amazing! First thank you for putting such great info out there. After reading such good stuff I know my instincts were right on but how to execute is another matter. I live in an unfriendly state so I stay four plants or less. ( misdemeanor ) and tried growing outside a few times. Last time a cow got loose and ate my girls about two weeks from harvest. Boy was I sick. So I now only grow indoors for myself and a sick friend. I use a 4 1/2x4 1/2 x7 tent. And currently1000w hps but am considering a smaller different light source.

Now for my questions. What can I use from my farm to start my no till set up inside. I have chickens, ducks, sheep, a cow, soon bees and rabbits. I own woods on a hillside with a creek and pasture on bottoms. Most things like nettle etc grow wild out here and I've always watered my plants from the creek although in winter ph is usually around 7.5-8 so I adjust. Lot of limestone and ball clay here in bourbon country. The forest is full of humus and leaf mulch(obviously)
Any suggestions on how I might get started?

The possibilities are endless. If you wanted to, you could put together a really kick-ass soil for next to no $$. Leaf mold, rabbit poop, nettle, borage, comfrey, dandelions, yarrow, horsetail, clover, lavender, compost..... all can be used.

What do you have access to from that list?

 

[farm hippie]

In a 4x4 tent i would go with 4 7 gallon smart pots. They can be a bit of a pain to move around and are best placed in a catch tray for more easily moving and to obviously catch run off which can be an issue. I have seen root rot occur in large plastic pots even with adequate drainage. The smart pots allow for more even moisture distribution imo because of their ability to breathe.

Yes, a good and plentiful humus source is the key. Mineral amendments are also very important for micro and trace elements. Combine the two and let the plant do its thing. Its great peace of mind knowing your medicine was only given water throughout its entire life.

Thanks a bunch. Makes total sense. Natural grown veggies and weed and meat. Who could ask for more. Ok I'm starting to brew my own beer too. Which by the way is a great co2 source for the tent

 

[farm hippie]

The possibilities are endless. If you wanted to, you could put together a really kick-ass soil for next to no $$. Leaf mold, rabbit poop, nettle, borage, comfrey, dandelions, yarrow, horsetail, clover, lavender, compost..... all can be used.

What do you have access to from that list?

Most all of it. Including lichens and mosses. My creek is clean from chemicals since closest city is 45 miles. It is all spring water and runoff from pastures and forests

 

[farm hippie]

A

Most all of it. Including lichens and mosses. My creek is clean from chemicals since closest city is 45 miles. It is all spring water and runoff from pastures and forests

lthough this time of year most is dormant but the bluegrass region is great as much of that grows on my land wild.

 

[st0wandgrow]

Your base should consist of equal parts peat moss (or in your case leaf mold), compost, and aeration bits. You may need to spend a few bucks on something like crushed lava rock or rice hulls for aeration.

You will then want to collect the native plants from that list above. Nettle, horsetail, dandelion, comfrey, borage, etc and split them in to 2 groups. One you will leave out to dry, and eventually (using a mortar and pestle) turn those in to meals. The other group you will use fresh, and turn in to an FPE (fermented plant extract). This website will give you some pointers on that. http://www.frenchgardening.com/tech.html?pid=3164873867231346

You will add your various meals to your base at apx 1-2 cups per cubic foot. Add some rabbit poop in there, along with some rock dusts and minerals. If you have a local rock quarry you may be able to score some free fines. Picking up a small bag of greensand, garden gypsum, dolomite lime, and azomite would be a good idea too. Your minerals will be added at 3-4 cups per cf.

Once your soil has sat for a month or so, you should be ready to rock, and you should have some fermented extracts at the ready too. You can use mostly just water, and the occasional FPE and compost tea.

 

[SouthernSoil*]

Awesome info guys ! farm hippie your land looks pretty perfect to get some serious permaculture done, looks like you got some awesome water catchment opportunity on that land !

 

[farm hippie]

Thanks for t

Awesome info guys ! farm hippie your land looks pretty perfect to get some serious permaculture done, looks like you got some awesome water catchment opportunity on that land !

he help all. I've been experimenting with hugelkulture mounds. The couple I have really produce well. I wonder if that concept could be converted to indoor.

Concept is easy. Take some wood preferably logs pile them up to about five/ ten ft high to build a mound Then add compost and soils to cover it a few ft thick. You now have a mound that will grow richer over the next many years as the wood decomposes.

It uses the concept of a mother log like a downed tree in the forest that supports life for a long time

 

[farm hippie]

Your base should consist of equal parts peat moss (or in your case leaf mold), compost, and aeration bits. You may need to spend a few bucks on something like crushed lava rock or rice hulls for aeration.

You will then want to collect the native plants from that list above. Nettle, horsetail, dandelion, comfrey, borage, etc and split them in to 2 groups. One you will leave out to dry, and eventually (using a mortar and pestle) turn those in to meals. The other group you will use fresh, and turn in to an FPE (fermented plant extract). This website will give you some pointers on that. http://www.frenchgardening.com/tech.html?pid=3164873867231346

You will add your various meals to your base at apx 1-2 cups per cubic foot. Add some rabbit poop in there, along with some rock dusts and minerals. If you have a local rock quarry you may be able to score some free fines. Picking up a small bag of greensand, garden gypsum, dolomite lime, and azomite would be a good idea too. Your minerals will be added at 3-4 cups per cf.

Once your soil has sat for a month or so, you should be ready to rock, and you should have some fermented extracts at the ready too. You can use mostly just water, and the occasional FPE and compost tea.

thank you! I will get started as I can. I've learned a lot already and had some dots connected as well. Will this do well with a long running sativa say fifteen weeks?

 

[farm hippie]

Oh and water catchment? I work on diverting water here. I have learned that if we have a good dryspell then if I can catch a bunch of runnoff from the woods when it starts flowing it is basically a forest floor tea.

 

[st0wandgrow]

thank you! I will get started as I can. I've learned a lot already and had some dots connected as well. Will this do well with a long running sativa say fifteen weeks?

Sure will. You might want to top-dress some compost with some of the meals scratched in half way through flower, but aside from that you'll be good.

 

[farm hippie]

Sure will. You might want to top-dress some compost with some of the meals scratched in half way through flower, but aside from that you'll be good.

Good to know. I grew up in so cal in the seventies and smoked some now legendary strains. My all time favorite was Thai stick. Never found a high quite like that since. Very visual and trippy. Have had some full moon seeds for a few years now it's supposedly a very visual sativa from Thailand but it has a flower time of fifteen plus weeks. Stoooopidly long so have not grown it. But am going to when these autos are done in a few.

 

[farm hippie]

T

Good to know. I grew up in so cal in the seventies and smoked some now legendary strains. My all time favorite was Thai stick. Never found a high quite like that since. Very visual and trippy. Have had some full moon seeds for a few years now it's supposedly a very visual sativa from Thailand but it has a flower time of fifteen plus weeks. Stoooopidly long so have not grown it. But am going to when these autos are done in a few.

this method will hopefully bring out its full potential. My faves are sativas but such bitches to grow. I don't fool with pure bloods much because so damned long in finishing. I mean in the approx six months to grow this I can do almost three runs of autos.

 

[Mohican]

Legend has it that that early Thai stick was dipped in "opium water" a byproduct of opium refinement. I loved the old Thai stick too!

I want to try and get some real deal Thai and try and grow it. I have gotten pretty good at growing sativa.

 

[OutofLEDCloset]

Legend has it that that early Thai stick was dipped in "opium water" a byproduct of opium refinement. I loved the old Thai stick too!

I want to try and get some real deal Thai and try and grow it. I have gotten pretty good at growing sativa.

"u mean that stuff tied to a stick?"
Cheech

 

[farm hippie]

Yeah I always heard that too.

 

[farm hippie]

Yeah I always heard that too.

 

[farm hippie]

It was wrapped onto a bamboo stick. Would smoke it on the way to school. It made the school busses look like giant caterpillars. Great visually trippy weed.

 

[SouthernSoil*]

Oh and water catchment? I work on diverting water here. I have learned that if we have a good dryspell then if I can catch a bunch of runnoff from the woods when it starts flowing it is basically a forest floor tea.

Hugelkultur is awesome dude, it would be really interesting to see some weed grown with a hugel mound ! Read lots of good things about it.

Concerning the water catchment you'll have to read up about how to setup swales on contour and so forth depending on how big your land is, cause by the sounds of it you want a paradise and thats the best way you can possibly do it i rate, you're just speeding up a process of nature.

& dude 6 month sativa's are way worth it ! my home grown outdoor that took 6 months had the most solid high ever ! i had been smoking weed for about 3-4 years at that time, i used to find the bong packed the next day many times because one hit just fucked me up too much ! : )

 

[BluJayz]

Wow lots of information. Why don't I see much talk of indivually potting plants. Then recycle the leftover after harvest , add some more soil/ammendments etc and use again that way? Doesvbit have to be larger containers? Is there a con I missed?

 

[st0wandgrow]

Wow lots of information. Why don't I see much talk of indivually potting plants. Then recycle the leftover after harvest , add some more soil/ammendments etc and use again that way? Doesvbit have to be larger containers? Is there a con I missed?

You can certainly dump the container of soil out and re-amend, then use it again. The "No-Till" title in the thread means that we don't dump the soil..... it's just left in the bucket and a new clone is put right back in there. The thinking behind this is that you've already got a thriving soil food web, with mycorrhizae already networked throughout the container, and your new clone will plug right in to this and benefit from it.