So a few people have asked about my super soil, or living soil. For me i approach these differently, although similar, they are 2 differnt things. Super soil is, well SUPER. Loaded with the kinds of things that cannabis needs. And i try to make it available to them from multiple sources, in large enough quantities they will never have any chance of def’s. And a healthy thriving community of healthy microbial life.
SUPER SOIL. recipe(general amounts, to give you an idea)
Base: home made compost( has all our food, yard, garden scraps,small mammal, chicken,goats and reptile waste and bedding, ) i sift it threw a screen so i dont get big clumps. 1 heaping full wheel barrow full, dumped on a big tarp in the driveway in full sun.
.2x 40-50lb bags of worm castings
.1x 25lb play sand
.2x 8lb bags of vermiculight
.1x 1.5- 50lb bags of pumic stone
.1x box of bio-live
1/2 box of Amozite(trace minerals)
1 cup of calcium powder( sell this for use with reptiles)
1x container of simulac baby formula
2-5lbs of organic dog food(helps cook fast)
1/2 box of kelp meal
1xbox of bat guana
1xbox insect fras
1/2box of greensand
1/2box of soybean meal
1/4box humic acid
5lbs bag of blood meal
5lb bag of bone meal
This last batch i had a 15lb bag of composted cow manure i threw in.
1/2-3/4 bale of peat moss
2 big blockes of coconut husk, but i use compost tea i make to wet/hydrate the bricks
Then i mix it up using the tarp to flip the pile. And i fill up buckets or trash cans and dump them back out, over and over until its mixed really well. Then i wet the mix.The last batch i timed making so i could clean the fish and frog tanks. I generally change about 70% of the water and refill with new water, but u have to leave some so the healthy bacteria in the tanks isnt totally wiped out, and then used that water to help wet the mix. It needs to be wet but not soaked. Letting it dry out is bad and letting it be too wet is bad. I found smaller batches cook and store great in my compost tumblers. But covering them with a black tarp works too. Then just let sit in the sun for 90days, i stir mine about every week or two.
Hopefully this gives you a idea how to start a super soil batch. It does cost some $ up front but you end up with enough left each time that the following batch isnt so bad. I also like to throw live worms in the soil when its already cooked a month or so. An amish boy near me sells nightcrawlers and red wigglers and the batch im growing in now i threw a few dozen of each in it, and 60days later when i was filling containers there were so many worms it was crazy. .
Also the brand i most use when possible for most is “down to earth” organic amendments. You can even compost the box it comes in, i do and they go fast, but i compost then in my regula compost pile. And that pile is what i use as my base is what we use year round. Its a 4x4x4 spot.sitting side by side with another 4x4x4. When ones fairly full we continue turning it with pitch fork till its done and start throwing our new scraps on the other side, and the process starts over.
Have you ever heard of black soilder flys ? They are the ultimate composting machine.I pick up the local fruit stands rotten fruits an veggies. I’m been having great success with them.
No i havent heard of them, but i would like to read about them. Do u have a link? I grow alot of fruits bc i make wine, so naturally i get a decent amount of fruit n veggys in my compost.
No I don’t have a link, I actually stumbled across them by accident, when a bag of corn got wet and when bad in a bucket. So I did my research to find out what they where. So no I have free fish food and bird food. Google black soilder fly larvae and lots of info should pop out.
I get a bag of the organic dog food at tractor supplies for lile 18.99 for 35lbs. My grandpa use to use it in his compost to jump start it. Crazy how warm it it gets after it gets wet and starteds to breakdown. And i only used the fish food bc its basically kelp, fish and crab meal and all kinds of minerals and vitamins. And i had a big container left over from my daughters fish tank. But plain fish or crab meal would work just fine.
Kool, thanks for sharing, I love how nature gives us all we need to maintain our passion without spending that extra cash. My next investment will be rabbits, I’ve heard that there poop is awesome for growing herb. Haven’t tried yet
We raise rats n mice to feed our reptiles, and rabbits as food and pets. And then chicken n goats so they use straw bedding,ive used that straw in my veggy gardens as mulch keeps weeds down and then gets tilled in in the spring to add organic matter to soil .so all that poop and beding that is soaked with urine even the newspaper from bottom of cage composts very quickly. Its pretty cool how the cycle of life goes. We throw the egg shells back into the compost for calicum.The chickens turn the compost pile and eat the bugs,.
Sorry but what are you using to aid in composting of animal waste, I use bokashi in my Living Soil grow to aid in compost… You can actually feed it to your animals to aid in digestion and add topped dressed to aid in composting of it… if you aren’t using it you might want to research it…
It will all compost on its own pretty fast we have big piles and a setup ive used for 15yrs or more, but yes adding the dog food speeds up composting, jump starts new piles, adds benificial vitamins and minerals back to the compost. I normally with my compost pile typically dont add anything to assist it though. I make enough in large enough batches that i always have plenty. But i do know people who use that stuff for smaller batches.
If I had space and didn’t live in the heart of a small town I be doing it the same way…
Yeah we are achieving the same thing in living soil grow in different ways…lol… I add 1/2 pound of red wigglers to my 4x4 bed… I will do an inventory check next spring to see if I need more or not… I shouldn’t as they should winter well in it…
I throw all my trimmings under my straw and use the boakashi just to speed it up since I only make 40gallons of my living soil over the winter…
I have untoasted malted barley in a tote to keep the mice out… How can I keep it dry so it doesn’t start making mycrocelia (however it’s spelled) …lol…
Small handful of worms per container In beds, lets say 4x8 for example, something like a handful per 2x2 area is more than plenty. I’ve seen quite a number of instances where a very large number of worms are started with and while there is nothing wrong with that I feel it not only detracts from the purpose but is wholly unnecessary as worms will regulate their population in containers so you risk simply a huge waste of money and worms right out the gate. IMO it is better to start with a small amount and allow your mini ecosystem to develop ‘naturally’ and soil life will find it’s own balance that is most appropriate for any given size body of soil - make sense?
Keep in mind, if you build a soil that at least somewhat resembles the recipe above, the addition of worms (or not) at the beginning will not make one iota of difference. It is in the long term where the benefit of a diverse healthy soil life, including worms, that you will see a benefit……and please please do not skimp on the humus portion of your soil mix, as my good friend Coot has said, “get your humus right, and the rest is like a pleasant drive through the countryside.” And I’m sure there’s a number of variations on that quote, some not as savory as others! LMAO!!
Here’s an example of a tried and true watering schedule (because I personally used it for years) to use from day 1 to ensure your plants are being pushed to ‘peak health’ and expressing their full ‘genetic potential.’:
Day 1 Plain water
Day 2 No watering
Day 3 MBP top-dress watered in with Aloe/Fulvic/Silica (agsil or your silica source of choice)
Day 4 No watering
Day 5 Plain water
Day 6 Neem/Kelp tea
Day 7 No watering
Day 8 Plain water
Day 9 No watering
Day 10 Coconut Water
Day 11 No watering
REPEAT - Beginning to end, no changes needed for various stages of growth, simple enough right
I like adding worms if its going to set for a while,bc they reproduce so fast and we use them as turtle and tortoise snacks. An amish boy a few farms from us sells em fairy cheap to me. He has coon hounds i transport for him some times and he gives me alot of them free. I agree a few goes along way if ur not harvesting them out of the soil. Most times just making it outside worms come in it on there own.