Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

IIReignManII

Well-Known Member
I have Alfalfa, Blood, Bone, Kelp, Greensand, and Azomite on hand. In a 33/33/33 coco/humus/perlite, would I be safe just tossing in a half cup of each ingredient per cuft?
 

Trippinout

Well-Known Member
Starting to see a deficiency
Can anyone help me with what I should add to correct
These are about 8 weeks old and are in coots mix and have been giving them water and coconut water every other feeding
Might top dress but not sure what to use A94350FB-3DFF-4D0C-979A-13BB32E9418E.jpeg
At first I thought it was nitrogen but I don’t think it is since it seems new growth is more affected then the old growth
This has been progressing for about a week
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Starting to see a deficiency
Can anyone help me with what I should add to correct
These are about 8 weeks old and are in coots mix and have been giving them water and coconut water every other feeding
Might top dress but not sure what to use View attachment 4255286
At first I thought it was nitrogen but I don’t think it is since it seems new growth is more affected then the old growth
This has been progressing for about a week
Definitely not N, you are correct in that.

I would start by testing your soil's pH. Generally when the freshest growth is affected, it's because of an unavailability of nutrients. You're in cootz mix, so I know for a fact that the nutrients are in your soil... but the plant is having trouble getting them. Might I also suggest backing off on the coconut water. You're adding a lot of sugars to the soil, which promotes excess bacterial growth and can lead to them creating a slightly alkaline or neutral soil pH. The plant will give the organisms all the carbs they want. I know this is not your intention by using this product, but remember, this soil is designed to grow a plant start to finish with water only. You must remember, the plant is capable of growing itself. All you have to do is care for the soil.

Is this your first run with this soil, or have you recycled it before?
 

Trippinout

Well-Known Member
Definitely not N, you are correct in that.

I would start by testing your soil's pH. Generally when the freshest growth is affected, it's because of an unavailability of nutrients. You're in cootz mix, so I know for a fact that the nutrients are in your soil... but the plant is having trouble getting them. Might I also suggest backing off on the coconut water. You're adding a lot of sugars to the soil, which promotes excess bacterial growth and can lead to them creating a slightly alkaline or neutral soil pH. The plant will give the organisms all the carbs they want. I know this is not your intention by using this product, but remember, this soil is designed to grow a plant start to finish with water only. You must remember, the plant is capable of growing itself. All you have to do is care for the soil.

Is this your first run with this soil, or have you recycled it before?
First run I added some Epson salts for magnesium might get back to just water see if it clears up. I did by a water barrel that was food grade and held soy sauce but I made sure to rinse it four times maybe it’s possible the salt from that but it seems only a few plants are showing signs of it. Also have some fun gas gnats that I have been treating with nematodes
C45DA8F1-F119-4FA3-9726-838463C6E96B.jpeg
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
First run I added some Epson salts for magnesium might get back to just water see if it clears up. I did by a water barrel that was food grade and held soy sauce but I made sure to rinse it four times maybe it’s possible the salt from that but it seems only a few plants are showing signs of it. Also have some fun gas gnats that I have been treating with nematodes
View attachment 4255317
looks real good for the most part man. see if the soil will sort it out. Mg will get pulled from the lower leaves, it's mobile in the plant. So you'd see Mg def. in the oldest growth first.
 

Trippinout

Well-Known Member
It seems to have bounced back did a foiler spray a day ago with Epson salts aloe and coconut water. Also think it’s playing a role with it being far away from heater since tent is in garage and it’s winter here gets to about 64 with lights off. Had to start running exhaust fans since humidity jumps to 80 percent without them running. So currently the exhaust runs for a half hour every 2 hrs. Also if we use the garage door which I only use when lights are on might be affecting them with the burst of cold air. So I’ve moved the one showing signs of lockout to right by the heater and this is how they look today542F61D2-49FB-4023-AF2C-A9C3F704A6EC.jpeg
 

Labrador weed

Active Member
Hello, I am just starting out with growing and about to go my second run. I was using general organics but want to switch to the super soil I’m about to use by a company named natures living soil, it’s already cooked and u add to potting soil (I will be making my own soon). they seem pretty solid and the people are nice,
my question is can I take a plant that was fed general organics and switch it to super soil Without any repercussions?
Also if somebody can give me a recipe or a link to a well-rounded and easy to obtain Organic tea/brew or any other information I should be aware of I will be much appreciated
Thank you
 
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ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Hello, I am just starting out with growing and about to go my second run. I was using general organics but want to switch to the super soil I’m about to use by a company named natures living soil, it’s already cooked and u add to potting soil (I will be making my own soon). they seem pretty solid and the people are nice,
my question is can I take a plant that was fed general organics and switch it to super soil Without any repercussions?
Also if somebody can give me a recipe or a link to a well-rounded and easy to obtain Organic tea/brew or any other information I should be aware of I will be much appreciated
Thank you
this thread and many others are full of stuff for you to look into, and the info is not hard to find if you poke around. you will have no issues switching to a living soil. i've done it with plants i've gotten from friends who grow with coco and synthetics. i just made sure to rinse the living hell out of the medium and root ball before i transplanted to living soil. i've never had one go to shit. the plant is genetically programmed to live in these environments, so it will figure it out quickly.

if your company's soil is already composted and good to go, you really wont need to do any teas, as it should be full of microbial life. get your hands on some good compost, start a worm bin (if the grow goes well and you like the method), and start reading some materials like teaming with microbes and teaming with nutrients by Jeff lowenfels.

the biggest piece of advice i can offer you is to let the plant grow itself, and lose the feeling of needing to care for the plant, it only needs you to provide water as needed :) you can manicure it the way you want of course. Just focus on taking care of your soil.

microbial teas do not need to be applied often, and typically you're better off brewing fungal teas rather than bacterial ones. elaine ingham has compost tea recipes on her site soilfoodweb.com

good luck!
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Been growing 99% organic for years and because I use about 7 qts/liters of mix I do feed both castings teas and light Alfalfa based teas. I also like “teas” made with a mix of minerals like green sand, azomite, limestone, gypsum, hardwood ash, kmag, Diatomaceous Earth and dolomite. Light amount of molasses with teas.

I keep my feeding teas very light, 1/2 tbs/gallon Alfalfa tea for example. Plants seem to enjoy the routine. My worms are also fed old forest leaf mold with fungi and whatever else is in that bottom layer.
 

SouthernSoil*

Well-Known Member
Greetings again fellow growers, im starting to get back in action after being quiet for a few years and have a few questions to clear up if anybody is willing to help : ) . What would you guys suggest regarding amount of plants in a 3x3x6H 600w HID ? Had 4 pots last time and i also recently made a 2x2x3H 150/250w HID that i was planning to veg/mother.

Would you guys suggest i stick to 4 x 5 gal / 20 litre pots for flower ? What sort of pot size would be recommendable for veg and transplant ? Thank YOU !

Current Base Mix :

1/3 Aeration
1/3 Sphagnum Peat
1/3 EWC

Seedling Mix :

2/5 Aeration
2/5 Sphagnum
1/5 EWC
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Greetings again fellow growers, im starting to get back in action after being quiet for a few years and have a few questions to clear up if anybody is willing to help : ) . What would you guys suggest regarding amount of plants in a 3x3x6H 600w HID ? Had 4 pots last time and i also recently made a 2x2x3H 150/250w HID that i was planning to veg/mother.

Would you guys suggest i stick to 4 x 5 gal / 20 litre pots for flower ? What sort of pot size would be recommendable for veg and transplant ? Thank YOU !

Current Base Mix :

1/3 Aeration
1/3 Sphagnum Peat
1/3 EWC

Seedling Mix :

2/5 Aeration
2/5 Sphagnum
1/5 EWC
Stick with 4 plants. Run 7 gals instead of five if plastic, run 10 gals for fabrics. I think I’m putting away my 5 gallon plastics for good.

Also I’ve been putting my seedlings right in my normal strength soil with zero issues, not using a seed mix anymore.

Happy growing :)
 

SouthernSoil*

Well-Known Member
Stick with 4 plants. Run 7 gals instead of five if plastic, run 10 gals for fabrics. I think I’m putting away my 5 gallon plastics for good.

Also I’ve been putting my seedlings right in my normal strength soil with zero issues, not using a seed mix anymore.

Happy growing :)
Thanks Shluby ! Im definitely going to switch to fabrics aswell, so i take it i can use my base mix for my seedlings aswell ?

If i may ask what sort of size would you use for the seedling pots that i will be transferring to the 10 gallons ?

One more thing, if i had to do a practice run in the 2x2x3H with the 250W HPS for flowering would you say the best approach is to go with 1 topped plant in a 10 gallon atleast ? More soil the better the micro biome ? I take it 4 x 3 gallons would not be sufficient to support proper life or am i incorrect ? Thanks bud !
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Thanks Shluby ! Im definitely going to switch to fabrics aswell, so i take it i can use my base mix for my seedlings aswell ?

If i may ask what sort of size would you use for the seedling pots that i will be transferring to the 10 gallons ?

One more thing, if i had to do a practice run in the 2x2x3H with the 250W HPS for flowering would you say the best approach is to go with 1 topped plant in a 10 gallon atleast ? More soil the better the micro biome ? I take it 4 x 3 gallons would not be sufficient to support proper life or am i incorrect ? Thanks bud !
by base mix, do you mean your amended mix?

i use a solo cup for seedlings and clones, then move to a one gallon, then to the final pot. i like to establish a good rootball before i move to a larger pot

if you only have 3 feet of height, you could get away with 3 gallon pots because of your small plant size, you'll be able to grow 4 smaller plants faster than one plant spread out through a trellis. 3' is not a lot of height man. that HPS has to be at least 12" away from the canopy... maybe even slightly further.

i would recommend 3 gallon plastics over 3 gallon fabrics. they'll require less water, and be less prone to drying out. i imagine 3 gallon fabrics will need A LOT of attention
 

Northwood

Well-Known Member
by base mix, do you mean your amended mix?

i use a solo cup for seedlings and clones, then move to a one gallon, then to the final pot. i like to establish a good rootball before i move to a larger pot
I used to do that. Now I spout my seeds in 15 gallon pots. I guess I'm lazy, but I pull out a bit of cover crop to have enough bare soil to plant a seed, flatten the vegetation around it to let it get full lighting, and just let it go all the way to harvest. Luckily the worms and 100 other crazy things living in there don't seem to eat it. LOL
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
I used to do that. Now I spout my seeds in 15 gallon pots. I guess I'm lazy, but I pull out a bit of cover crop to have enough bare soil to plant a seed, flatten the vegetation around it to let it get full lighting, and just let it go all the way to harvest. Luckily the worms and 100 other crazy things living in there don't seem to eat it. LOL
nothing wrong with that, just takes a little finesse :) if i had space to do it still, I would!
 

SouthernSoil*

Well-Known Member
by base mix, do you mean your amended mix?

i use a solo cup for seedlings and clones, then move to a one gallon, then to the final pot. i like to establish a good rootball before i move to a larger pot

if you only have 3 feet of height, you could get away with 3 gallon pots because of your small plant size, you'll be able to grow 4 smaller plants faster than one plant spread out through a trellis. 3' is not a lot of height man. that HPS has to be at least 12" away from the canopy... maybe even slightly further.

i would recommend 3 gallon plastics over 3 gallon fabrics. they'll require less water, and be less prone to drying out. i imagine 3 gallon fabrics will need A LOT of attention
Yep my mix of only 1/3 pumice 1/3 ewc and 1/3 sphagnum

Perfect, noted down those sizes for near future use with the 600w.

So you would say 3 gallon plastics would be okay for some life in the soil bud ? As attached in the pics i already have 2 x 3 gallon plastic pots which you can see is quite a tight squeeze in there but 4 will fit ! : ) I do also have a 150w HPS which can allow the plants to get way higher but only gives out a mighty 18000 lumen :D lol 250w puts out 34000 lumen but it does get hot! I can however use the 3x3 600w but i feel that might be a waste of electricity with such small pots ? using the 250w and 150w in the 3x3 would be pretty sweet if i could somehow mount them both in my 6" super sun 2 reflector but i guess a 400w isnt way more efficient than a 600w.

Open to any suggestions. Thanks again bud !!!:leaf::-D
 

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Northwood

Well-Known Member
nothing wrong with that, just takes a little finesse :) if i had space to do it still, I would!
It's a 5X5 foot tent. The 15 gallon pots are actually totes... well those blue-bin recycling boxes they sell at Home Depot for $9 Canadian. Honestly, I'd rather make it one "bed" of soil to grow the 4 legal (Canada here! LOL) plants. Like 100 gallons or something. I was thinking one of those small kiddie pools? Like the 4 foot ones?

Sadly my wife wouldn't like it because we need the space in between seedling time to grow out vegetable seedlings to plant out in spring (for eating, not smoking). I guess I could place those vegetable trays on top of the soil. I'll try convince her!

I plant my cover crop while my plants are still alive in flower. I do a staggerd harvest, where I take all the top ripe stuff off first to allow any buds underneath without as much light to mature. More light then hits my soil, so I plant my cover after that first harvest with an underlying new layer of worm poop. The cover crop grows while I wait for those lower buds to ripen, and when I finally cut off those stalks my cover is usually already a few inches high with a good root system. A couple weeks later, I make room for new seeds.
 
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