Soil question

[loco41]

I just started making little batches of mixes. The Flower Blend from BAS gave me the idea, and when I ran out of it I decided to make my own. I just use EWC, pumice, biochar, and whatever dry amendments I decide to add. It's much more readily available since it's already been getting broken down.

I was impressed how much of a difference it made. I use it as a top dressing though.

I like the idea of using the biochar in the top dress like that, give those fresh microbes that luxury hotel up there...

Could someone answer a couple questions about composting my soil?

I plan to use a 22gal storage tote as composting bin. My question is given that where I live is currently 100+ degrees every day, Should I be sealing the lid to the tote to lock in the moisture? Or should I leave the lid off? Because it's the summer time we have a lot of little bugs flying around too that I wouldn't want living in the moist soil.

Also, does the order in which I add my ingredients matter? Or can I just mix my Peatmoss/EWC/Perlite + Dry Ammendments and simply throw the soil mix into the tote and call it a day?
View attachment 4612519

I generally just keep my totes indoors to avoid any heat/cold issue with my totes. I have a really small little tent, so I dont have a ton of soil on hand at any given time though. My two totes for soil are like 19 gallon totes, so similar size to yours.

As far as mixing a fresh batch, I would mix and properly wet the base, peat/ewc/aeration, then add your dry ferts after that. I dont think you can go wrong by mixing all the things together at once then getting it all to a proper moisture level though. Just think I read somewhere that mixing/wetting the base was more of an ideal practice. Maintaining a proper moisture level in the bin will be the most important thing however you get to that point.

Some really good advice for you in this thread so far, these guys will get you to growing some nice plants. Best of luck and take care sir.

 

[RonnieB2]

Hi all,

I'm looking to start another run and want to switch things up this time around! I'm trying to get away from using bottle nutrients and want my soil to do all the work. I just need a little help getting there

First off, I do not want to experiment with trying to create my own soil mix I don't know the nuances enough and would definitely make an unbalanced mix. I was reading about Subcool's soil recipe and I think I'm going to give it a shot. I'm only running a 2x4 space this time so IDK if I need to make 50gallons of the stuff... I found a recipe for smaller batches.

• 1 ten gallon bag of high quality Organic Potting Soil Such as “Roots Organic Soil”
• 3 to 6 pounds of Organic Earthworm Castings (1 lb. of casting = about 1 gal.)
• 10 ounces of Blood Meal ( 10 oz. of blood meal = about 1 & 1/2 cups)
• 10 ounces of Bloom Bat Guano ( 10 oz. of guano = about 1 cup)
• 10 ounces Fish Bone Meal ( 10 oz. of bone meal = about 1 cup)
• 6 ounces Rock Phosphate
• 1&1/2 tablespoons Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate)
• 2 tablespoons or 1 oz. (liquid measure)of Dolomite Lime
• 1 tablespoons or 1/2 oz. (liquid measure) of Azomite (trace elements)
• 1 teaspoon of powdered Humic Acid

My question... What should I use as the base soil? Can I use FFOF or is that too hot? Should I just go with straight up peat moss? Do I need to mix in compost to this or are the listed ingredients good enough?

I should also say I want to reuse this soil for multiple runs.... I don't want to use perlite because it breaks down. With the given ingredients will I have good enough aeration or do I need to add rice hulls/lava rocks?

I also don't really want to brew compost teas. I wanted to inoculate the soil using URB. As far as feedings, can I get away with just using water/liquid seaweed/alfalfa + kelp meal and molasses with this mix?

Thanks in advance!!

I was taught to layer super soils So by the time the roots hit it, the plant is mature

 

[Budzbuddha]

It's supposed to be good stuff. But you don't want to use a lot. I bought the pre-charged stuff from BAS.

Bio-Char – BuildASoil

Enhance your soil's performance with our premium-grade Bio Char, a revolutionary product designed to improve soil health, water retention, and plant growth. At BuildASoil, we offer two types of Bio Char - Raw and Pre-Charged, tailoring to a variety of gardening needs. Raw Bio Char is perfect for...

buildasoil.com

Guess I should do a compare grow with and without just see .

 

[RonnieB2]

Google search. How to work in or layer super soils. Theres lots of information about this practice. of course all this depends on how hot the soil is to start with. But hopefully you'll find a method that lets you maximize it and not waste it

 

[Gimiik]

I generally just keep my totes indoors to avoid any heat/cold issue with my totes. I have a really small little tent, so I dont have a ton of soil on hand at any given time though. My two totes for soil are like 19 gallon totes, so similar size to yours.

As far as mixing a fresh batch, I would mix and properly wet the base, peat/ewc/aeration, then add your dry ferts after that. I dont think you can go wrong by mixing all the things together at once then getting it all to a proper moisture level though. Just think I read somewhere that mixing/wetting the base was more of an ideal practice. Maintaining a proper moisture level in the bin will be the most important thing however you get to that point.

Some really good advice for you in this thread so far, these guys will get you to growing some nice plants. Best of luck and take care sir.

Do you use the lid to the tote? or just leave the soil exposed to the open air? First time with all this stuff =D

 

[RonnieB2]

Interesting article from High Times https://hightimes.com/grow/subcools-super-soil-step-by-step/

 

[Richard Drysift]

@Richard Drysift

What type of fertilizer input do you mean? A nitrogen rich fertilizer? I have a 9-6-0 or a 6-1-2..... I also plan on using white clover as a ground cover / Nitrogen fixator.

Whatever you want to use. I’m saying just pick one or two inputs in small quantities; no need to add a ton of stuff to a fresh mix unless you know it needs it. There’s no one right way to do this. I add chicken manure to each container directly in the bottom layer but that’s just how I roll.
I have never added biochar to my mix either but seems like maybe that’s a thing I should try. You can layer your pots when you build them or just throw it all in a tote. I would keep a lid loosely on your tote full of soil to keep it moist. In the summer heat you’ll probably need to keep it hydrated. You don’t want to seal it up but protect from sun, bugs, and critters

 

[Gimiik]

Appreciate all the information and feedback everyone!! I'm just waiting on some of my final ingredients to arrive then gunna start mixing it up which means I'll probably be back with more questions =D

Not including the base soil ingredients... here is the list of stuff I bought.
Fish Meal (9-4-0)
Crab Shell Meal (4-3-0)
Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
Neem Seed Meal (6-1-2)
Oyster Shell Flour (Calcium)
Gypsum (Calcium / Sulfur)
Glacial Rock Dust (Trace Minerals)

 

[RonnieB2]

One more article. this is how Ive used it. This is outdoors. I would fill about 1/3 of a big hole with the super soil. Then the rest with a good potting soil that has basic nutrients. when the plant is 45-60 days old. Its old enough and strong enough for the super soil. I imagine an auto plant would be a totally different story, I honestly dont know. https://howtogrowmarijuana.com/super-soil-grow-bigger-buds/

 

[loco41]

Do you use the lid to the tote? or just leave the soil exposed to the open air? First time with all this stuff =D

All good man, I learned a lot through this forum and these guys, so you're on the right path if you choose to follow through with it.

I have the lids on them. I use these bins for worm beds at times too, so there are small holes drilled around the sides near the top, but dont think that's necessary. If you have a drill and 5 minutes though, they dont seem to hurt things. I rarely have to add a little water to them and allows for some airflow/gas exchange I suppose.

Just saw @Richard Drysift post above and goes to show everyone has a slightly different approach with things. His advice comes from a place of far more experience than ne though.

 

[loco41]

Appreciate all the information and feedback everyone!! I'm just waiting on some of my final ingredients to arrive then gunna start mixing it up which means I'll probably be back with more questions =D

Not including the base soil ingredients... here is the list of stuff I bought.
Fish Meal (9-4-0)
Crab Shell Meal (4-3-0)
Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
Neem Seed Meal (6-1-2)
Oyster Shell Flour (Calcium)
Gypsum (Calcium / Sulfur)
Glacial Rock Dust (Trace Minerals)

Looks like a solid list, just know your compost/ewc is heart and soul of your mix so try to grab the highest quality of that within reason.

 

[Gimiik]

@loco41 Yeah I tried my best to source quality stuff -- I wanted to purchase what I could locally but some items I had to buy what I could. I ended up getting this EWC from my local hydrostore.

 

[loco41]

@loco41 Yeah I tried my best to source quality stuff -- I wanted to purchase what I could locally but some items I had to buy what I could. I ended up getting this EWC from my local hydrostore.
View attachment 4613607

Pretty sure that's the same stuff I used on my first mix while my first worm bin was getting going. I'm sure that'll get you rolling and work just fine.

If you're fully invested in going organic, I highly suggest setting up your own worm bin. It's pretty cheap, a couple totes and some worms is about the only expense, then you have essentially an endless supply of the freshest vermicompost available at any given time. Either way though man, excited for you and hope things roll smoothly for you.

 

[Gimiik]

Hey I'm getting ready to mix my soil....

Forgive me if this is a silly question. If I wanted 21gal of soil, I would mix 7gal of each: Peat Moss / EWC / Perlite?
What I plan on doing is just using an empty 7gal pot and fill it with each of the above ingredients, am I approaching this wrong?

 

[loco41]

Hey I'm getting ready to mix my soil....

Forgive me if this is a silly question. If I wanted 21gal of soil, I would mix 7gal of each: Peat Moss / EWC / Perlite?
What I plan on doing is just using an empty 7gal pot and fill it with each of the above ingredients, am I approaching this wrong?

Perfect, I use whatever container size is easy and handy to use. Nothing needs to be exact either.

 

[Gimiik]

Okay sweet! I filled the 7gal with perlite and i was thinking to myself "This looks like wayyy too much perlite" lol.

 

[loco41]

Haha, I know that feeling. I'm pretty sure that's the last of of three you can really overdue though.

After that initial mix and wetting you can adjust as needed based on what it feels/looks like. If it's kinda muddy add a little more peat/perlite and mix again.

Again take this all as opinion as I'm no expert, just how I have approached things so far.

 

[Gimiik]

Yeah once I mixed in the perlite and it was no longer a massive mound it blended in nicely haha.

As far as what quantity of amendments I need to mix in... the recipe calls for a 1/2 cup per cubic foot...

Given that I'm using 21gal that's ~2.8 cubic feet correct? so I'd need around 1.5 cups of each ingredient?

 

[loco41]

Yeah once I mixed in the perlite and it was no longer a massive mound it blended in nicely haha.

As far as what quantity of amendments I need to mix in... the recipe calls for a 1/2 cup per cubic foot...

Given that I'm using 21gal that's ~2.8 cubic feet correct? so I'd need around 1.5 cups of each ingredient?

With your list from a few posts above that sounds about right. I personally would bump the kelp up to maybe 2-3 cups total, rest is good around 1.5 probably (never used the fish meal before, but everything else I use at similar ratios). Your probably safe to bump the glacial rock dust up a bit too if you want. I think I used something like 2 cups of basalt per cu ft on my last mix. Last little bit is maybe go a little more on the oyster, something like 2 cups or so to make sure you have a good buffer for the peat. Again nothing needs to be too precise, but staying around those ranges is a safe place to be for sure. Other than those little bits of possible changes, you look good to go in my opinion.

Just my two cents again..

 

[Gimiik]

Hey yall back again

So I got my soil mixed up and added about 5gal of RO water and stirred it up nicely. The soil is pretty moist but not overly wet. My concern though is because I'm keeping my tote indoors, and my place constantly has the AC on at about 72 degrees that it won't be warm enough to kick start the microbes and cook the soil.

You think I should just leave it outside and keep adding water as it dries or leave it inside and perhaps insulate the container with blankets or something? It's only been a few days but the soil is still really cold to the touch.