Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

Bed Wetter

Bed Wetter

Member
What’s the consensus on red brick shards for aeration?

On the east coast it’s difficult to find aeration materials that make sense for a yard of soil. Old/OG red brick is a material that I have access to that may work. the brick is the remains of my old chimney.

It would be crushed,screened, and rinsed by myself.
The second tier of aeration may be biochar and leaf mould, a smaller percentage of pea gravel perhaps. I’ll save the rice hulls for the worms.



I can alway ship BAS here but If I don’t have to drop $1,500 on a yard of soil, I won’t.
 
M

Mexican bagseeder

Member
So today I found webs on my buds but when I looked closer they belonged to a tiny blue spider with yellow spots on its back. Their are about 4 spiders all together. They definitely are not mites they are to big. Will these eat spider mites... I think they will because they are smaller than lady bugs. Any input?
 
dubekoms

dubekoms

Well-Known Member
Bed Wetter said:
What’s the consensus on red brick shards for aeration?

On the east coast it’s difficult to find aeration materials that make sense for a yard of soil. Old/OG red brick is a material that I have access to that may work. the brick is the remains of my old chimney.

It would be crushed,screened, and rinsed by myself.
The second tier of aeration may be biochar and leaf mould, a smaller percentage of pea gravel perhaps. I’ll save the rice hulls for the worms.



I can alway ship BAS here but If I don’t have to drop $1,500 on a yard of soil, I won’t.
Click to expand...
Rice hulls are super cheap, $10 for 7 cf
 
hillbill

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Mexican bagseeder said:
So today I found webs on my buds but when I looked closer they belonged to a tiny blue spider with yellow spots on its back. Their are about 4 spiders all together. They definitely are not mites they are to big. Will these eat spider mites... I think they will because they are smaller than lady bugs. Any input?
Click to expand...
If it's a spider it’s a predator but may or may not eat mites. It won't eat your plant.
 
Bed Wetter

Bed Wetter

Member
dubekoms said:
Rice hulls are super cheap, $10 for 7 cf
Click to expand...
I hear you but will they last in rols with worms? I was under the impression I would have to add more aeration once they eventually breakdown.

I can spring for home store red lava rock but I’d still have to toil away for a couple days with a hammer and a quiver of joints.

Brick might not be the best choice but just putting it out there because they are free and as local as it gets for me.
 
Fastslappy

Fastslappy

Well-Known Member
Bed Wetter said:
I hear you but will they last in rols with worms? I was under the impression I would have to add more aeration once they eventually breakdown.

I can spring for home store red lava rock but I’d still have to toil away for a couple days with a hammer and a quiver of joints.

Brick might not be the best choice but just putting it out there because they are free and as local as it gets for me.
Click to expand...
I'd test it take some soil u know is good mix 25% brick chips throw a seedling in the pot
 
sallen35

sallen35

Active Member
I love this thread and was doing some follow up research on nitrogen fixing blue-green algae and stumbled upon a PDF about nitrogen fixing cover crops. Its quite extensive.
I would post link but as new user with no posts or likes yet, I cannot post a link. instead I will suggest a google search string, my apologies if this has already been linked.

Search: Application of nitrogen-fixing systems in soil management
 
Bed Wetter

Bed Wetter

Member
Fastslappy said:
U got any feed stores near u that sell to horses ?
They carry DryStall at $14 a 40 lb bag
It's 100% mined screened pumice
Click to expand...
It seems Agway/southernstates don’t carry it anymore, at least on the east coast. Now they do carry stall dry but it’s not pumice.
I’ve contacted the makers of drystall for a distributor in the east but they haven’t gotten back to me.

I have some pups headed to solo’s soon so I’ll test them and continue into larger containers too. There is so much brick out here in general. I suspect it may not perform as well but we’ll see how they turn out.
 
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Thegermling

Thegermling

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, ive always been an "organic" kind of guy. My last grow was organic, but I was using bottled organic nutrients. I want to ditch the bottled nutrients and step up to the REAL deal organics now. I respect each and everyone on this thread but I dont have the time to read 400+ pages at this time and I was wonderin if anyone can point me in the RIGHT direction to Clackamas Coot (Coot's) Notill/organic supersoil ( is it the same thing?) recipe (2017 version). Ive been trying to look for this guys account on ROI, Grasscity, IC, etc., with no luck, I think he goes by different names. Anyway, I heard Coot's organic soil is the best soil build out here in the organic world, top notch stuff. I would appreciate it if someone help me out with this. I dont want my first transition into REAL organics to be half assed. Reading that last line, I think I will start to read the 400+ pages, any help is appreciated though!
 
K

keepsake

Well-Known Member
Thegermling said:
Hey guys, ive always been an "organic" kind of guy. My last grow was organic, but I was using bottled organic nutrients. I want to ditch the bottled nutrients and step up to the REAL deal organics now. I respect each and everyone on this thread but I dont have the time to read 400+ pages at this time and I was wonderin if anyone can point me in the RIGHT direction to Clackamas Coot (Coot's) Notill/organic supersoil ( is it the same thing?) recipe (2017 version). Ive been trying to look for this guys account on ROI, Grasscity, IC, etc., with no luck, I think he goes by different names. Anyway, I heard Coot's organic soil is the best soil build out here in the organic world, top notch stuff. I would appreciate it if someone help me out with this. I dont want my first transition into REAL organics to be half assed. Reading that last line, I think I will start to read the 400+ pages, any help is appreciated though!
Click to expand...
Clack's recipe:

1/3 sphagnum peat moss
1/3 pumice stone
1/3 compost and/or worm poo

Mix all that together into 1 big pile. Make sure you make enough for how many pots you're growing. So, if you're growing in 4 pots that are 15 gallons each, make sure you make at least 60 gallons of the mix above.

Now for the amendments (nutrients for plants), you need to figure out how many total cubic feet is your mix.
1 cubic foot = 7 gallons.
In this case, 60 gallons will be 8.8 cubic feet. I would round up to 9 and add the amendments below accordingly.

1/2 cup per cubic feet (9 cubic feet = 4.5 cups):
kelp meal
neem meal
crustacean meal
fine grounded malted barley seeds

2 cups per cubic feet (9 cubic feet = 18 cups):
gypsum powder
basalt rock powder

Mix all of this up thoroughly, water it evenly all around until only a few drops come out when you squeeze a handful.
Cover it up loosely and let sit for 4 weeks.

--------------

After 4 weeks, you can load up your pots and plant your seeds or clones. I would also sprinkle clover seeds, grokashi, and mosquito bits (BTIs) onto the top of soil and water in. Then, on top of that layer a 1/4 inch layer of rice hulls for mulch.

clover seeds = cover crop and helps with nitrogen in soil
BTI = prevents gnats before it starts
grokashi = promotes microbial activity in the soil
rice hulls layer = insulates the soil and keeps it moist longer

From this point on out... all you have to do is water the pot every few days... with JUST WATER only. Or you can do silica, coconut water, aloe vera, compost teas, etc if you want to. But water only will still work and produce better results than any chemical bottled grow. This is what I'm currently doing in my tent, link is in my sig. Good luck dude.
 
hillbill

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Castings at 1/3 of mix can be pretty soupy. Over time I have come to keep castings at 10% and fill the void with Back to Nature Cotton Burr Compost (the only good brand I have found) and Black Kow manure or even good mushroom compost, something with more fiber or body to it. Since using leds I have increased drainage to 50% especially in cooler months.
 
Tyleb173rd

Tyleb173rd

Well-Known Member
hillbill said:
Castings at 1/3 of mix can be pretty soupy. Over time I have come to keep castings at 10% and fill the void with Back to Nature Cotton Burr Compost (the only good brand I have found) and Black Kow manure or even good mushroom compost, something with more fiber or body to it. Since using leds I have increased drainage to 50% especially in cooler months.
Click to expand...
Well said. Increasing drainage in colder months is brilliant. Thanks for the idea......
 
Thegermling

Thegermling

Well-Known Member
Thanks for coots/clacks recipe. If you have a link to it I would appreciate it! Another question, I have a medical marijuana card and I was planning on doing notill outside. Should I do no till outside in a pot or straight in the ground? I was thinking of doing some raised beds and putting in coots recipe. Or I could just mix in whatever nutrients my soil needs. I'm currently waiting for my soil test results from Logans Lab. I live in washington state and it gets the best (worst) of both worlds. Scorching in the summer (100+) which may cook the plants roots if I go with raised beds unless I add a layer of hay to keep soil in raised bed cool (will that work), and the winter (sometimes lower than 30(f)). will that kill the worms or microbes living in my soil?Anyway, What are your prefrences/experiences. I would like feedback from outdoor growers ( leds, hps etc., is not "organic", its a bummer some of my fellow growers can only do it this way.)
 
G

Gumdrawp

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have experience using stall dry in their mix? It's DE rocks and calcium bentonite, I stumbled on it looking for dry stall to use as pumice.

Also it looks like the only pumice I can find locally is the black gold brand, I read it has too many fines and need a to be screened, can anyone confirm this?
 
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