Hello all. I am a new member of the ilovemarijuana community and I was wondering how much of a response I could get from this forum. Anyways I have a big (20×36ft.) Greenhouse that I am growing in. The soil that was there to begin with was adobe clay and was not suitable for growing so my partner and I dug the whole thing out and brought in fresh soil. My question is, what are some things I can do now to enrich and maintain my soil and to keep it full of life? I’m planning on watering my plants with compost tea once a week and possibly adding live worms to the soil and also start a compost pit to create fresh soil continually. Is there anything I am missing?
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PH buffered to correct range for cannabis. Dolomite lime and gypsum. A soil analysis would be helpful to set up your space. Be aware that a greenhouse will boost humidity to unsafe levels for late-flowering plants: bud rot. You really need to have a plan in place before you have trouble.
Containers make more sense to me and you can control the entire soil volume.
There are a number of grow journals here that use living soil or are organic. You might want to look around the forum.
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There are several people that are masters of different areas @garrigan62 is the soil guy.
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All great advice on the humidity. I like that you are going into the ground, zero limitations of root growth.
I suggest you call customer service at Buildasoil dot com. They can make you custom amendment package. Most of the guys there grow cannabis and are very helpful.
Also I just learned recently that not only are rice hulls good for drainage, but they also add silica to the soil for strengthening stems.
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I only use my compost, but this is my first grow too. I have compost bins made of pallets forming a square. After a year of adding all kinds of natural material it makes a great soil. I know mine is better than what I get at most stores.
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Wow thanks everyone! I will look into the PH buffer options with lime. I have grown in this greenhouse for two years and have battled the humidity and know at least enough to get by. I was using pots and ff ocean forest with ff nutrients. We wanted to start fresh this year and build the soil into an organic oasis. I appreciate the input and I will look around the forum. I have learned quite a bit in the short amount of time I have spent on the site. Here is a picture of my grow show so you all can see what I’m dealing with.
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As man, that’s a dream!!!
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Thank you AAA! It should be a great year
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My greenhouse soil is around a 7ph so I need advice on how to lower it organically. Ive heard that coffee grounds are good for that but I don’t know and don’t want to add it if it will hurt Nything. Other than that I went and bought a bag of dried black soldier fly larvae and topdressed my soil with it for a source of organic calcium.
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AAA are you doing an outdoor this year?
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Is there a mustache in Mexico?
I’ve had 2 harvest already this year!!!
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Hi guys
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Idk if that is correct but please let me know if it’s true haha. What is the N-P-K values ingredients? Looks like it contains cow manure with is high in nitrogen. Idk bro
Lol. Good answer
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the NPK of Purple Cow IndiCanja is 0.8-0.8-0.8
Dam sweet looking setup . Do you have any fans hanging from the top center of the shed ? Which should help some towards the humidity issues . Even better a window ( which you can open and close ) in the top center of the arch .
Coffee grounds can be considered green manure. Top dress only, i get it from local coffee shops. Its a ammendment only. May I ask what soil type are you using? Does it have good drainage?
To control humidity in the fall i use a fan to exchange the air during the day. And close it up at night. As well, I reduce water applications somewhat.
I use clover and organic partially decomposed hay as a top dressing with African red wrigglers. I also add compost as a top dressing. I think teas and such are also a great idea, just use them sparingly. My greenhouse is half dome shaped with a flat back wall. I have 4 openings at the top that slide open and shut. If the day is hot I open them and the heat pulls cooler outside air in and flushes the hot air out like a chimney. Its a great design actually. I do like yours too though!
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That’s very nice! Thanks for the input your plants look pretty healthy. So for my soil… It’s kinda complicated and vague lol… Half I got from a hippy couple that was growing but they got a divorce and so I got to take the soil. The 2nd half is a soil mix from a landscape supply center and I have very little idea about what it’s actually made of.
Could you please explain a bit more about the clover and decomposing hay? And the African Red Wigglers? Are those worms? I have always thought coffee was very acidic therefore I use it only very sparingly. Also I am using compost teas about once every 4 watering. Do you think this is adequate? Overkill?
Thank you @Cannabian for your thoughtful response
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Yeah, sure… the soil I use is from a ditch at a farm up in the hills. The material is loamy clay made primarily from hundreds of years of leaf litter from cottonwood trees. To ammend this soil going forward I am using old hay or more accurately field grass that comes off a farm to prevent grass fires. It was mowed prior to it seeding and bailed and stuffed in a barn that is now decaying. The hay is free of herbicides and that is super important! My neighbor got some hay for bedding that was sprayed and they used it in their gardens and it killed their plants! So be careful with green manure! Anyway to make a long story longer… Ive been using the Ruth Stout method in my outside food gardens, look it up on the internet so my fingers dont go numb lol. It works fantastic! Thats the hay part over with. Now the clover is crimson clover, a widely used cover crop… the idea is clover scavenges nitrogen from the atmosphere and affixes it to its roots, super beneficial plant. It also breaks up soil and adds green manure when its killed by covering with a layer of hay! This in turn makes food for the worms. Combine these things with organic compost layering and the odd tea now and then, maybe some seaweed extract too and your soil will be heavenly.
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