Organic soil vs compost.

I'm going to assume that making your own compost can be better than organic soil correct?

If so, are there any good organic soils out there so I don't need to make my own compost?

Composting seems somewhat difficult to me. I understand it does all the work but I mean watching what you throw in it. How do you find the right balance?

Connoisseurus Rex said:

I'm going to assume that making your own compost can be better than organic soil correct?

If so, are there any good organic soils out there so I don't need to make my own compost?

Composting seems somewhat difficult to me. I understand it does all the work but I mean watching what you throw in it. How do you find the right balance?

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we used to chuck absolutely everything on our compost heap, everything in our garden loved it.

Well what sort of things could you throw in there to harm them?

stay away from a lot of citrus. good things would be leaves crumbled up, coffee grounds, grass clippings egg shells ect. shredded paper alfalfa hay
..
.

It would be hard to hurt plants with compost. The only way you could harm them is if your compost was 100% made from lemons or acidic fruits. And still I don't think it would do much at all

You can purchase compost really cheap if you don't have space or desire to do your own. I tend to think of compost as an ingredient in my organic soil, not as a comparison to organic soil.

Bugeye said:

You can purchase compost really cheap if you don't have space or desire to do your own. I tend to think of compost as an ingredient in my organic soil, not as a comparison to organic soil.

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Indeed. I don't speak for cannabis, but for our garden plants and flowers and fruits and veg, we just dump the compost ontop of the soil and it goes from there.

I just made some yummy looking compost.... like "tip top toker" I chucked everytinggggggggggggg on it
and its looking lovely .......... mmmmmmmmmmmm.......... wish I was a ganja plant!

Bugeye said:

You can purchase compost really cheap if you don't have space or desire to do your own. I tend to think of compost as an ingredient in my organic soil, not as a comparison to organic soil.

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So organic soil is what you would use to grow and compost would be more like additional nutrients?

organic soil is a blend of things including compost. i use composted manure or leaf compost. i need so much compost and the process takes too long for me to make it. compost is a soil amendment, not something you grow in exclusively.

dannyboy602 said:

organic soil is a blend of things including compost. i use composted manure or leaf compost. i need so much compost and the process takes too long for me to make it. compost is a soil amendment, not something you grow in exclusively.

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Thanks. What's the big diff between regular and organic?

I guess the semantics are a little confusing and I may be guilty of using the words 'organic soil' incorrectly. My base mix is roughly 1/4 top soil, 1/4 coir, 1/4 perlite, 1/4 earthworm castings. I then amend with another 20+ ingredients, compost being one of them. I refer to this entire mix as my 'organic soil' while others might say that the top soil I use in the mix is the organic soil. Sorry if I'm using words wrong, something I'm trying to work on!

Compost is something that's on the way to becoming organic soil....It's organic, it's added to soils to amend them with things like nutrient value and texture.
Go out to the woods. Walk out into them. Now look down. The leaves/sticks and even the rotting logs you see on top of the ground are composting as you stand there.....Bend over and brush back the leaves until you hit "soil". This is the final result of natural composting in the woods, "Humus" the beginning of true organic soil....

Tip Top is quite right,,,,keep your citrus waste low for potted plants.
Do NOT add any meat, or meat by products (bones, etc from your house hold waste) to compost for potted plants or veggie gardens! (Unless your adding a packaged amendment that been sterilized and is used for gardening)

Read this book;

Teaming with Microbes The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web.

Learn about Organics and just what that is. Learn about composting and Bio tea's (AACT's).
I can't suggest a better book for "understanding" organic.
EASY to understand and read!

Ok. That sounds like a badass mix. I was just wondering if organic soil you can buy in bags is any good?

Sure is!
Dr Earth POTting soil
Potters Gold

A couple of the best one's out there! Your looking for a "complete" formulated organic soil with things like this (The ingr. of potters gold)
Long-fibered blond Canadian Sphagnum peat (Von Post H2)
Coarse screened horticultural perlite
Composted northern red pine bark
Screened deciduous leaf humus
Premium earthworm castings
Horticultural vermiculite
Mycorrhizal rooting stimulants
Pisolithus tinctorius, Glomus intraradices
Rhizopogon amylopogon, Glomus mosseae
Rhizopogon fulvigleba, Glomus aggregatum
Rhizopogon luteolus, Glomus clarum
Rhizopogon villosuli, Glomus monosporum
Scleroderma cepa, Glomus deserticola
Scleroderma citrinum, Glomus brasilianum
Lacarria laccata, Gigaspora margarita
Lacarria bicolor, Glomus etunicatum
Amino acid and vitamin complex
Humic acids
Alfalfa, Poultry, Fish, Crab, Lobster, Feather and Kelp Meals
Rock Phosphate
Complete starter nutrient package
Wetting Agent


See? Nice stuff and damn easier then doing my own. (I just don't have the time anymore)

Thanks a lot. That really helps. Just one more question as I'm thinking about converting to organic. What is the difference between organic soil and regular soil maintenance wise? Anything special I need to do to it?

If it don't say organic, it's not.....Regular soil, whats regular soil?
The "nutes" available in a good amended organic soil will last aprox. 30 days.
At that point you will need to "add some" back. I like a mix of guano's (bird and bat) among other things.....Bone/blood/alfalfa meals......Try looking at the organic thread and see what others are doing - be sure to check the "sticky's".

I like AACT teas and sometimes a feeding of a nute tea also.

Read up...check that book out.....It helps!

Thanks. I will definitely check it out. I appreciate the help tremendously. It's easy to just read up on it but I like to talk to veterans before I get hasty. Thanks again. Happy growing.