Trying to start a open conversation on living soils . Anything that will help a new organic grower like me is welcomed. I just found out , it takes Mycorrhizae 90 days to mature. So many auto grower who don’t reuse soil , is basically wasting their money ( bro science).I don’t know why ,they don’t put that on the label . Another thing is about watering your plants. I was taught to water damp to dry in cycles. This is for synthetic growers . If you have living soil you should never let your soil dry out… Any tips or known bro science practices, please share.
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I would love to follow and know for myself! Great question!
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More Bro Science, I just watched Linda Chalker Scott , a respected scientist. She was talking about compost tea. She broke my heart . Compost tea is only as good as the compost. And is always different. She pretty much said it is a waste of time. You are better off applying compost and watering with kelp and molasses. Better in all categories. Do you know how much time I wasted making watered down compost. WTF. I will be switching to SST or Sprouted Seed Tea and Kelpak
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Perlite isn’t the best way for aeration, rice hulls ,pumice, or Biochar is way better. Rice hulls break down . Microbes and fungi love the pores in pumice and biochar.
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I am using molasses and have epsom salt on hand. But I did amend with perlite. Im in happy frog but I don’t want to use any salt nutes. That’s some great info @KoolHandLuke. Thanks! My girls are living the molasses btw
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Fresh wood chips mulch is great for microbes. Stay away from bark it has too much wax in it. People who use straw needs to try fresh wood chips. Don’t work the mulch into the soil . It has a high nitrogen count
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Cool topic, I’d like to follow along 
It’s my understanding that they start to go to work when they hit the root. They do not reach colonization quickly but they still have benefits and are beginning a symbiotic relationship with the plant. Takes carrots for example. They take about 70-80 days to mature. Studies have shown that even in short lived plants, like the carrot , increased growth is observed. So imho, it could still be beneficial.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01904167.2017.1385799
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@GreenJewels, from what I’ve read you are absolutely correct. Longer grows benefit more and 2nd runs in your soil is even better. The question is , is it worth the money
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Dolomite lime
Vermicompost
Bat guano
Rice hulls
Pumice
This is 1 and a half drums of soil from my last organic grow. This soil looks great before cooking.
@Covertgrower, @Cannabian, do you know of any organic grower , that can add to this conversation
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@Budbrother and @Mrcrabs and a few others I’ll add if I remember later.
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@Covertgrower, Thanks , knowledge is power. Trying to absorb as much as possible
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@Skydiver @AAA @RAP @Big123 I believe are organic growers 
@Hoppiefrog @hoppiebunny @shindig153 and @elheffe702 too
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.Just got back from the grow store .About to sprout some barley for some SST, I was told this is 100% better than a compost tea
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SST
Make Sprouted Seed Tea (SST)
Supercharge and store your SST through Fermentation!
This is a great recipe I think you guys are really going to like. Have you heard of SST (Sprouted Seed Tea)? If not you can read about it here.
SST or Sprouted Seed Tea is where you take a bunch of seeds, generally of a fast growing plant like alfalfa, and you soak them in water overnight or so, then drain and keep them moist. In a few days they will sprout.
So now you have a whole bunch of seeds that are just starting to sprout. Once you see the roots start popping out, the seeds are really sprouting and sending out their earliest roots. At this time, they are packed with growth hormones as they struggle to get started growing. You are going to harvest those growth hormones and use them to give your plants a big boost. The growth hormones will trigger your plants to put energy into root development and plant growth which helps growth rate – add fertilizer at the same time to maximize growth rate in your plants. This is good stuff.
To make a traditional SST, you would get the seeds right as they have sprouted roots, about 1/4-1/2 in long. Collect all the seeds at this point and put them in a blender. Blend them up very well. Then just add this concoction to your water supply and water your plants.
Now say you want to store this mixture and use it a bit at a time on your plants. At the same time, you can enhance its effectiveness, so a little bit goes a long way. We’re going to ferment it!
Take your freshly sprouted seeds, but before throwing them in the blender, estimate their weight (or weigh them). Take 1/3-1/2 that weight in sugar (or volume molasses where 1ml=1gm). Add the sugar source to your sprouted seeds in the blender. Now blend them all up. Once that’s done, just add a little lacto and then seal the whole mixture up in an airtight container. Now ferment the whole thing for 3-6 weeks.
Now you have a great plant growth stimulant, saved for whenever you need it. Add it to the water when watering growing plants. You can add it at
1-2tbsp per gallon of feed water.
Here is the recipe in short form with pictures:
- Gather a bunch of seeds, preferably of a fast growing plant like alfalfa. I’m just using bird seed cause it’s cheap but if I had access I would use alfalfa seeds.
Seeds ready to be sprouted - Soak seeds overnight in clean unchlorinated water.
- The next day, drain seeds of water, but keep them moist. You can use a moist paper towel for this, cover the seeds with it and keep it moist
After soaking the seeds we keep them moist - After a few days, you should see white shoots start popping out of the seeds
- When the young roots are around 1/4in long, they are ready for harvest. I’m quite late here but that’s ok.
You can see the shoots coming out a lot now
From the top you can also see some molds taking over too. That’s actually OK too, they look like a nice white non-pathogenic variety and will have just started the breakdown of the seeds into their baser nutrients.
After a few days the seeds sprout
6. Weigh out or estimate the weight of the bunch of sprouts
7. Get 1/3-1/2 that weight in sugar and add it to the sprouted seeds
Get 1/3-1/2 part sugar to blend with the seeds
8. Add this whole thing to a blender and blend it well. You can add a bit of water to facilitate blending. The water also helps dissolve the sugar. You can dissolve the sugar in the water before you start blending.
Now we add the seeds to blender with water and sugar
9. Add a bit of lacto, like 1-2tbsp per liter of mixture
10. Seal up this whole thing in an airtight container. Use an airlock or something as gas will be created during fermentation that needs to be let out, without letting air in.
11. Leave in a dark place for 3-6 weeks to let fermentation run its course. After fermenting it looks quite a bit more broken down.
Now we have our Fermented Sprouted Seed Tea (FSST)
Using the Growth Promoter
Add this growth promoter to your plant’s feed water at 1-2tbsp per gallon. Play around with more or less and report back your findings!
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Make sure to leave room for expansion the seed will swell a lot. For the soak put at least the volume of seed on top of the seed or some will push out of water and may not sprout @Budbrother is the guy to chat w on this topic
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Lol I didn’t read further lol u got it covered 
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Clackamas Coot Soil Mix
By volume mix the following…
1/3 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (CSPM)
1/3 Aeration - I use 3/8" pumice (aka volcanic glass - completely inert)
1/3 Vermicompost
You should ind this at Home Depot and Lowe’s in 3.8 cf bales and if it is not available at your local stores then order it online (HomeDepot.com) and have them ‘ship to store’ at your store of choice. No charge for shipping and handling!
A cubic foot is about 7.20 gallons or 115 cups…
To this I add the following amendments to each 1 cubic foot…
1 cup kelp meal
1 cup neem meal or an equal amount of neem & karanja mix
1 cup of limestone or more exactly Calcium Carbonate CaCO3 so Oyster Shell Powder/flour can also be used as it is also a pure Calcium Carbonate material
1/2 cup Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) available at all DIY stores but you must get the material in the garden section and not in the home remodel section. There are 2 forms of gypsum so make sure you get the one for soil and not walls…
Finally there is the rock dust which I recommend 3 cups of either basalt or granite. Only these 2 materials are ‘paramagnetic’ which is an integral part of the CeC discussion (Cation exchange Capacity).
Rock dusts like Azomite, bentonite, zeolite and others are called ‘colloidal minerals’ - alumina-silicate. For example Azomite is a brand name. A geologist would know it as “Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate” and it’s known as “Montmorillonite clay”
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Have you seen how some actually ground their pots to a copper plate to increase the paramegnetic properties, I had a brief discussion with a fella that was trying the idea out I didn’t follow up to see if he gained anything from it but it made sense
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@Hoppiefrog, no ,I never heard of that method. I was reading about biochar holding a negative charge . I have to do some reading on the topic.
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Giving up the grow store in 2021, I will be getting most things from the feed store. Try to feed my plants food . But I’m not giving up Recharge.
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