So who here is growing in true organic living soil?

[Rrog]

Organics are very important to me and thought I'd see what other MI growers are doing for soils. If you're growing chem hydro, that's great, but just looking for soil thoughts.

I know Buckaroo is a soil guy, and so is Abe.

For example, I'm growing in a modified SuperSoil right now, and I amend with natural products and natural predators to take care of insects and disease. Plants (just like people) then wind up with much higher and faster immune response. Consequently I haven't had a pest in 1.5 years.

I like knowing that I'm vaping / combusting a product with zero harmful materials.

 

[medical/420]

I grow useing happy frog and ocean forest made in to "SUPER SOIL" for a water only method. I also do Pro-mix Bx with worm poo stew and bat shit soup, The only non organics i use is My rooting hormone, and Liqid karma.

I enjoy smoking the very best possible Ganja. and organics give my final product A+.

 

[stumpjumper]

I grow in dirt, but I use Veg+Bloom or previously MaxiBloom.. I guess I'm not worthy, but I get 0 complaints.

 

[ThatGuy113]

Im in super soil. Is it bad I will base who I do my hydro store business only with people who can talk soil for a good 15 minutes the first time I walk in (Of course if they arent busy) If they have no idea what Im talking about when I ask if they carry certain amendments I end the convo quickly purchase one of the things on my list and then dont come back.

On the phone with the store

ME: Do you guys have powdered kelp meal?

Hydro Store: Whats kelp?


My face.

 

[Rrog]

If a guy can consider growing in soil, then can maybe also consider not buying bottled ferts. The soil + trillions of microbes is really all that is needed for the plant. The rest just benefits some corporation somewhere.

You want some of the best fertilizer available? Take your kitchen scraps and make Bokashi. It's free and natural.

If a guy knows his soil, it's far and away the cheapest way to grow.

 

[stumpjumper]

That's all fine and dandy if you have a place to do all that composting and mixing n cooking.. Some of us don't. I resort to using chem ferts but I try to find the simplest. most effective product without having to add bottle after bottle of different chemicals to the mix..

VegBloom had a few high counts of metals, but the Veg+Bloom is awesome shit and I use so little of it.. I don't think there's anything harmful being taken up by my plants. Can't say the same for a lot of guys using 10 different bottles of bushmaster and that kind of shit though.

 

[bowlfullofbliss]

Ick...get your poopy dirt away from my weed! lol.

runs and hides......

 

[Rrog]

Sure not looking to alienate any growers and don't want to come off as holier-than-thou. I started the thread for exactly this sort of discussion.

I think a lot of people thing of organic farming as requiring a farm. Piles of compost, chickens shitting, soil cooking. I can relate to that thought. I've been looking at ways that someone tight on space can still compost and use a natural soil.

Bokashi is simply a small bucket of your table scraps or plant cuttings on the kitchen floor, or under the sink. Sealed up so no smell. The microbes in the bucket start breaking down your food scraps into some excellent fertilizer. Free.

For soil, I have two garbage cans cooking for the next grow. So all in all, maybe 12 square feet of floor is taken up.

We have to keep in mind that the soil microbes are an army of trillions. Their only mission is to support and defend the plant. If we add chemicals, that relationship is severely strained or gone, despite the presence of soil.

 

[ThatGuy113]

I don't compost and I live in a smaller space. I have my couple of sturdy tubs full of soil and that's all I need. No bottled ferts and I feed once in a while with teas made up of my left over soil amendments from mixing the super soil.

 

[bowlfullofbliss]

Sure not looking to alienate any growers and don't want to come off as holier-than-thou. I started the thread for exactly this sort of discussion.

I think a lot of people thing of organic farming as requiring a farm. Piles of compost, chickens shitting, soil cooking. I can relate to that thought. I've been looking at ways that someone tight on space can still compost and use a natural soil.

Bokashi is simply a small bucket of your table scraps or plant cuttings on the kitchen floor, or under the sink. Sealed up so no smell. The microbes in the bucket start breaking down your food scraps into some excellent fertilizer. Free.

For soil, I have two garbage cans cooking for the next grow. So all in all, maybe 12 square feet of floor is taken up.

We have to keep in mind that the soil microbes are an army of trillions. Their only mission is to support and defend the plant. If we add chemicals, that relationship is severely strained or gone, despite the presence of soil.

All smiles bud! I'm just playing.

Honestly I wish I had the patience and intelligence to grow like you guys do. I need to be spoon fed a feeding chart and bottles of expensive synthetic nutrients to get the job done. Its a cool thing, but so complicated. i'm afraid of having to learn so much with SO much at stake if/when something goes south.

Sure is fun to read about all the cool shit (pun intended) you guys get into with organic though.

 

[Rrog]

ThatGuy, have a look at these vids if you're interested in what Bokashi is. Very simple, requires a bucket and extremely good compost results. http://www.prokashi.com/videos/

Bowlfull, It's not a brain thing, it's just a new thought is all. I'd be happy to help you or anyone else that wanted to try this. I can spoonfeed all day long if anyone wants to just try it.

 

[hic]

View attachment 2412312 I have no use for these they were a gift from Growco in grand rapids. I know I am interrupting but I thought I could offer these away to one of you as to let em rot. They are only little packs as you can see but if it helps anyone or if they wanna try the product just pm me they are free.

 

[Rrog]

Not interrupting at all, Hic. Glad you came by, in fact.

 

[Huel Perkins]

Any of you organic guys have any scientific evidence that organic is better than inorganic? I'm not talking about pesticides or hormones either, just actual base nutrients.

I am personally anti-organic. The main reason I try to strictly use inorganic nutes is because I grow hydro and hate growing in soil. I've does all organic soil grows before and was really disappointed with the results, the growth was slow and the end result was much less flavorful compared to my hydro.

Just expressing my views here, please don't turn this thread into a nasty argument.

 

[dbkick]

Organics are very important to me and thought I'd see what other MI growers are doing for soils. If you're growing chem hydro, that's great, but just looking for soil thoughts.

I know Buckaroo is a soil guy, and so is Abe.

For example, I'm growing in a modified SuperSoil right now, and I amend with natural products and natural predators to take care of insects and disease. Plants (just like people) then wind up with much higher and faster immune response. Consequently I haven't had a pest in 1.5 years.

I like knowing that I'm vaping / combusting a product with zero harmful materials.

zero huh? Guess the heavy metals don't count.

 

[ThatGuy113]

All smiles bud! I'm just playing.

Honestly I wish I had the patience and intelligence to grow like you guys do. I need to be spoon fed a feeding chart and bottles of expensive synthetic nutrients to get the job done. Its a cool thing, but so complicated. i'm afraid of having to learn so much with SO much at stake if/when something goes south.

Sure is fun to read about all the cool shit (pun intended) you guys get into with organic though.

You want to know whats funny ? The bottle nutes and charts always confused the hell out of me so I went organic then started picking things up and then learning the specifics over time.

 

[Rrog]

No nastiness from me. I grew chem hydro for a few grows 5 years ago. Once I saw that I could inoculate my res with beneficial microbes to keep it clean, I became turned on to the power of microbes. Then did a 1/2 "soil" 1/2 fert routine, then on to full soil and never looked back. The microbes can keep pests and disease away. Chem ferts require as sterile an environment as possible, and that sets you up for pests and disease. Same as with people.

One thing to maybe note, there are good and bad microbes. Bad microbes are characterized as being fast to populate an area if they can, but they're weak. Good microbes are characterized as slow, but strong. Also keep in mind that these microbes, millions upon millions, are in the air at all times. You breathe in tens of thousands of fungal spores, bacteria of all sorts, yeasts, etc with every breath you take.

In a temporarily sterile environment, the first microbes that will try and populate are the faster bad microbes. Their speed is their advantage. In a normal environment, good microbes have set up camp like guard dogs and when bad microbes come along they are pounded, as microbes can be territorial to protect the plant.

As I said, I haven't had a nute deficiency or a pest in 1.5 years thanks to the microbes.

Also, soil is cheaper if you recycle and amend with a little compost (could be bagged) and worm castings.

 

[Rrog]

zero huh? Guess the heavy metals don't count.

If your soil and amendments are not pulled from a landfill, previous industrial area, or factory site, the presence of chromium, arsenic, cadmium, etc is not likely. Would you agree with that?

 

[Bigtacofarmer]

Mix of Ocean Forest and Happy Frog. Adavanced Iguana and all the organic fixins, bactera, and mychorazae. The most questionable thing I use is Azamax. I don't need it but I use it for a soil drench during my final transplant just for preventive measures. It's supposed to be organic and safe but I still have a little guilt, but it never comes anywhere near flowers. I learned with Fox Farm, and have ran Botanacare, General Organics, Alaska (actually before I learned), and so many different additives and supplement I'm not even going to try listing them. I ran the Non organic Advanced for about a year but kept feeling bad about it. Now I'm back on the Organics and my yields and flavors are better than ever!

 

[Rrog]

My favorite natural amendment for pests has got to be crab shell meal. It's just crab shells, and you could also use lobster shells, shrimp, etc. Anyway, I buy a bag for cheap.

Crab shells contain Chitin. Adding crab shells to the soil encourages the growth of Chitin-eating bacteria. Who cares? Well, little larvae care because their jaws are made out of Chitin. So when these little bastards stop of in my soil, their jaws are immediately eaten. All while I'm sleeping or enjoying a sunny Friday afternoon with a doob.

I also like predatory nematodes. They reproduce and also eat nasties. You can take nematodes and BTI dunks and spray as a light foliar. They'll set up base camp in the phyllosphere (leaves) and protect them as well.

It's all put in my soil long before I plant so my army will have wiped out the bad guys by the time I'm ready.