I always like to tell people starting off that our shit is technically organic, but this doesn't make it good or useful! Please don't interpret that statement as sarcasm or me being a dick because I'm quite serious, allow me to explain.
A few things need to be kept in mind when looking into "organics". This is going to be a bit of a novel, but it will perfectly outline the facts that; 1) "Organics" is a vague term, 2) Organic soil and living soil are similar, but not the same, and 3) There is a lot of deception concerning "organics" due to the fact the OMRI and USDA are essentially shills and scam artists, as well as the fact that "organic" compounds can be synthesized in a lab from their respective derivatives.
First, let's analyze the definition of organic. 1) "noting or pertaining to a class of chemical compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but that now includes all other compounds of carbon." and 2) "characteristic of, pertaining to, or derived from living
organisms". So, as you can see, organic is an incredibly vague term. The main word that I want to emphasize here is
derived. Anyone here that's taken calculus knows full well that the derivative is not the same as the original input. The derivative of x^2 (x squared) is 2x, the graphs for x^2 and 2x are completely different things. So why do I point this out? Let's take those bottled "organic" fertilizers that people use. I can't analyze the Earth Grow products because you can't find information about the ingredients in them! Always a bad sign! Let's take a look at Fox Farm's "Grow Big" and "Big Bloom" products instead, at least they will list ingredients! Grow Big is "derived" from Worm Castings, Kelp, Ammonium Nitrate, and a whole host of other organic compounds that have been synthesized instead of produced naturally. Big Bloom is derived from guano and worm castings. I'll get into the differences between the original and derivatives in point #2, but for now what needs to be emphasized here is that
fresh worm castings are not the same as a bottle of liquid that has been
derived from fresh worm castings. This is being generous and assuming they're fresh and full of microbiology. I can take old worm castings devoid of life and make a "tea" out of it, it's technically derived from worm castings but that doesn't make it good by any means. Much like x^2 is not the same as 2x, so too are fresh castings and liquid castings completely different.
Secondly, we'll analyze the differences between an organic soil and a living soil. Let's compare Fox Farm's soil+nutrient line up to that of Clackamas Coot's/Cornell University's living soil mix. Now, Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and Happy Frog are actually good products. Way overpriced for what they are, and certainly not fresh or alive if you made it yourself, but it's a good product. FF's soils are filled with plenty of organic inputs such as kelp, worm castings (EWC), guano, etc. However, the soil isn't "alive" until you've watered it for a bit and allowed things to breakdown and get colonized by microbes. Eventually, if you use Tiger Bloom (not organic) you'll kill what little microbiology you were able to cultivate simply by using one of their products. These products are
technically organic because they have organic inputs in them, but they are not
alive.
Coot's/Cornell's recipe is significantly different, mainly because it requires the freshest and most quality compost you can source. This typically involves doing it yourself. Coot's Worm Castings take nearly a year to make because he meticulously develops his own high quality compost over months worth of time, then feeds this compost+neem meal and Oyster Shell Flour to his worms which in turn provide some of the best quality worm castings you can find. He then mixes his EWC with equal parts peat moss and aeration, then amends it with crab/kelp/neem meals and a blend of minerals (Basalt and Glacial Rock Dust I believe). So how is this different? Well, those quality worm castings that have taken months to produce are filled with billions upon billions of microbes where as bags of soil have little to no life in them at all. Once the EWC/microbes are added to the Peat Moss and organic amendments, they start breaking these inputs down immediately. So rather than having to wait months to cultivate a mediocre microbiology, you have compost that has been doing this for months for you instead. The
life is what makes the soil work, not the inputs. This is why people tend to fail at "organics" when they try it, because they're used to hydro. In hydro/soil you are feeding the plants. In a living soil you are feeding the microbes, which then feed your plants for you. These microbes latch on to the plants roots and form a symbiotic relationship with one another. The roots and microbes interact with one another and go through great lengths to keep each other alive. In a living soil, the roots exude signals via terpenes to the microbes to signal what they need. The microbes will then proceed to munch on the amendments in the soil and defecate the nutrients near the roots for the plant to absorb them. So, if your plant needs Phosphorus, the plant's root exude terpenes inside the soil to signal to the microbes that it needs Phosphorus. The microbes then start eating the Crab Meal (2-4-1 NPK) and then shit the processed food near the roots for the plant to intake. Notice how we aren't actually taking care of the plant, we're feeding the microbes that take care of the plant. Microbes do so much more than provide food, they go after pests, they break down chlorine, they automatically adjust the pH of the soil, and so much more.
Finally, the deception concerning "organics" and why the OMRI/USDA can't be trusted. Remember how we analyzed how vague the word organic is earlier? This is where the deception comes from and where my topic sentence was coming from. I can take a shit and put it on my plants. My shit is technically "organic" but that doesn't mean it's filled with life or a good source of nutrition. Even if a human's diet is 100% perfect, it will still pale in comparison to chicken/cow shit because of how different a human's stomach processes things as opposed to various animals. Things may be organic, but that doesn't mean they are full of life.
So, in closing, you want a
living soil and not just an
organic soil. Google "Clackamas Coot's soil recipe" and you're going to find threads that are 100s upon 100s of pages long. Read every single last page, all of it. It will be well worth your time and then some! I've used this recipe for over 5 years now and can't recommend it enough. It is as effective as it is simple! It's simply a 1:1:1 ratio of Peat Moss, Aeration, and Compost amended with Crab/Kelp/Neem meals and minerals. That's it. Less than 10 ingredients with a culmulative NPK ratio of roughly 9-5-3 in veg and 3-5-3 in flower.
And just to show the results of his soil..
Those were taken 3 months apart and is the same plant. It is only in 20 gallons of Coot's/Cornell U's soil recipe, buried in the ground. This is one of 5 plants (trees) inside of a 10x16x8 greenhouse in a mere 20 gallons of soil. They're all 8ft tall and trained heavily to keep them under 8ft for discretion/legal purposes. The diameter of them is anywhere between 5-10ft wide due to training. I'm not trying to brag about my "ability", I have no ability as I'm not doing the work. I'm bragging about the ability of the life in the soil and the work these billions and billions of microbes are putting in! And it takes little to no work either! I only top dress every 2-4 weeks and water, that's it.
Your results in organics will be directly proportional to the amount of life in the soil. I recommend reading Teeming with Microbes, that book has a wealth of information in it. The ROLS sticky thread on here is also worth the read, every single page. And finally, google "Clackamas Coot's soil recipe" until you find threads/stickys from other forums. You'll know it's the right thread because it'll have 300-400+ pages in it. Read every single last page of everything I just mentioned and you will have little to no questions and will be armed with a wealth of information that will allow you to grow not only some of the best cannabis, but fruits and vegetables as well.
This information needs to be free. If everyone in the world grew food in this soil there would be a revolution in the agricultural industry over night.
Edit: And by the way, The Rev is an amateur and his TLO book is mediocre and outdated at best. Same with Subcool. The difference between them is that at least Subcool admits he doesn't know what he's talking about and simply shares his recipe because it's what works for him, he constantly admits he knows nothing about living soil and there's a better way to do things. The Rev is an egotistical jackass that thinks he knows everything despite knowing nothing.
