@garrigan62 I’m preparing some holes for next spring and I was thinking about using your super soil mixture. How deep should the super soil mixture be (top of layer and bottom of layer) for an outside in-the-ground grow?
Do you think it’s a bad idea to prepare the hikes now and allow them to age over the winter?
Could you post the recipe for me in here so I’ll be able to find it easily?
No problem glad to do it for ya. But first how many plants are you planning on growing ?
But here’s a start…
MY SUPER SOIL
@garrigan65’s soil recipe:
Full Recipe
8 1.5 cubic ft bags of Roots Organics soil or a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil)
25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
5 lbs steamed bone meal
5 lbs bloom bat guano
5 lbs blood meal
3 lbs rock phosphate
¾ cup Epson salts
½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
½ cup azomite (trace elements)
2 tablespoons powdered humic acid
1/2 Recipe
4 1.5 cubic ft bags of Roots Organics
12.5 to 25 lbs of organic worm castings
2.5lbs steamed bone meal
2.5lbs bloom bat guano
2.5lbs blood meal
1.5lbs rock phosphate
3/8 cup or 6 tablespoons Epsom Salts
1/4 cup or 4 tablespoon sweet lime (dolomite)
1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons azomite (trace elements)
1 tablespoon powdered humic acid
1/4 Recipe
2 1.5 cubic ft bags of Roots Organics
6.25 to 12.5 lbs of organic worm castings
1.25lbs or 20 ounces steamed bone meal
1.25lbs or 20 ounces bloom bat guano
1.25lbs or 20 ounces blood meal
3/4 lbs rock phosphate
3/16 cup or 3 tablespoons Epsom Salts
1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons sweet lime (dolomite)
1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons azomite (trace elements)
1.5 teaspoons powdered humic acid
1/8 Recipe
1 1.5 cubic ft bag of Roots Organics
3.125 to 6.25 lbs of organic worm castings
.625 lbs or 5/8 lbs or 10 ounces steamed bone meal
.625 lbs or 5/8 lbs or 10 ounces bloom bat guano
.625 lbs or 5/8 lbs or 10 ounces blood meal
3/8 lbs or 6 ounces rock phosphate
3/32 cup or 1.5 tablespoons Epsom Salts
1/16 cup or 1 tablespoon sweet lime (dolomite)
1/16 cup or 1 tablespoon azomite (trace elements)
3/4 teaspoon powdered humic acid
Soil Recipe to be mixed with 1 to 1/1/2 cu ft of base soil
.3125 lb or 5 oz Fishbone Meal 3-16-0
.3125 lb or 5 oz Steamed Bone Meal 2-14-0
.625 lb or 10 oz Bat Guano 0-7-0
.3125 lb or 5 oz Blood Meal 13-0-0
.3125 lb or 5 oz Feather Meal 12-0-0
.375 lb or 6 oz Colloidal Rock Phosphate 0-3-0
1 tbsp Potassium Sulfate 0-0-53
1 tbsp Souluble Kelp Powder 0-0-17
1 tbsp Mycorrhizal Fungi (300 spores per gram)
3/4 tsp Powdered Humic Acid (90 % pure)
1 1/2 tbsp Epsom Salt
1tbsp Sweet Lime (Dolomite)
1 tbsp Asomite (Trace Elements)
6.25 lbs Worm Castings
Thanks for posting the recipe. That make it easy for me to find quickly!
So, I’m trying to get 6 holes dug. Each will get one plant that has the capability to get large like a Mazar cross, probably a DP Ultimate and something else capable of XXL yeilds that’ll do well in a very sunny climate that’s pretty dry all summer and that gets 2.5 months of temps at or above 100°F. . I also have an Auto garden in 10-15g grow bags and I’ll have another 6 plants in 30-50 gallon bags. Right now I’m working on excavating the holes (with just a shovel, ugh!) out of the native soil that has a fair amount of clay. It’s nutrient rich and slightly alkaline but has that darn clay which turns to concrete. Lol. So, I’m planning to do 3 holes (6-7 feet diameter x 20” deep) with all new soil and 3 holes with about 30-40% amended native soil. I’m adding gypsum and green sand to help break up the clay, perlite, several composts, sphagnum moss veg and bloom guano. worm castings liquid humis sweet lime and some other bites from your list. I want to compare how the native soil works as compared to the new and super soil holes.
I do t want to do all this work in the spring and I may be switching jobs soon and that will cut into my free time. So, preparing my sites now and into the fall will be a big help come spring. Plus, my understanding is that letting everything sit in the hole for a while can be a good thing. I thought about planting a winter cover crop on the holes and then turn it into the holes this spring, to keep them charged. We have a very long growing season where I live so plants can/have the time to get big. So, I’m trying to give them all the advantages they’ll need to flourish.
If I don’t use the cover crop, my plan was to cover the new soil filled holes with weed cloth and a layer of cedar bark mulch for the winter. I plan on giving the holes some water periodically from the drip system I have -to keep the micro organisms happy until spring.
It’s a TON of work digging these holes. I’m almost finished with the first one and it’s taken about 6 hours with a shovel and a pick and water to soften the compacted soil about 12” down. I wish I could bring in a bobcat but this is a semi-guerilla grow so that just won’t work. 
One of my problems is going to be calculating how much soil I’ve removed and how much to mix up. It’s going to be a little trial and error on the first couple. Lol.
Do you think I can get away with a 16” deep hole or is 20” better; or do I need to go even deeper?
The deeper the better, sorry… You are wearing me out …. lol
and ya you’ll find out how much soil you’ll need after the first one or two
I was afraid you were going to say that. Lol!
I have learned the hard way about the holes through the winter wild animals will smell the blood meal and dig the holes out so I started placing rocks over my holes through the winter. Remove rocks spring of the year and plant. By then the smell has died down . Happy growing
I could see that but I think the dogs and the hunting that goes on here through the winter will keep what few coyotes we get close in down to a minimum. But I am going to plant a cover crop of ‘green manure’ to grow through the winter. I’m sure some deer will end up hitting it also but we’ll just have to see.
Yeah, I kinda figured. Lol. I watched an interesting video with Jorge Cervantes where he was visiting a Oregon Co-op that was growing some giant plants in 500 gallon (72” diameter) grow bags only 16” tall. He and the lead grower agreed that the “16” is the perfect depth for cannabis. The majority of a cannabis plant’s rootball is in the top 16” of soil and that most of the ‘feeder roots’ are in the top 2” of soil.” So, now I’m wondering whether I’m doing more work than really necessary? What do you think about that root analysis?
I’ve decided to do 4 holes as I described (3’/1m deep x 7’/2m wide with an additional 1’/35cm raised bed on top) but I’m going to cheat and do 6 holes that are 2’/65cm deep. Then I’m going to compare whether there’s any significant difference between the production. Yes, I’m cheating. I know! But I only have so much time to spend on this and my budget has limits. Refilling these holes is not going be cheap. If I can get away with the slightly shallower holes (which are still damn deep!) it’ll save a lot of time and money. If this works, I’m going to expand my grow to 20 holes next fall.
Here’s another thing I’d like to run by you…I visited with a well known gardener in my region that has a radio show on organic gardening and is pretty reknowned. Of course, we discussed my plans for growing “tomatoes” LOL. Anyway, he advised me not to put more than 25% organic compost at the bottom of the 3’ hole because he said he was concerned it might begin to “rot” if I introduced more than that. That got me thinking again about what Cervantes said about the optimal depth for cannabis. Maybe these really deep holes are simply more than necessary. I dunno. Just curious about your thoughts on all this.
Thanks Garrigan!
FWIW- I have 2 deep holes finished now, the 3rd will be finished tomorrow and I have a 4th started. I had to buy a new shovel cuz I broke my heavy duty shovel in half, working on the 2nd hole. Lmao!
Respect your forward planning, dedication and hard work.
Inspirational.
Very best of luck.
You’re a smart grower.
O’wee
September 3
kellydans:
I have learned the hard way about the holes through the winter wild animals will smell the blood meal and dig the holes out so I started placing rocks over my holes through the winter. Remove rocks spring of the year and plant. By then the smell has died down . Happy growing
I could see that but I think the dogs and the hunting that goes on here through the winter will keep what few coyotes we get close in down to a minimum. But I am going to plant a cover crop of ‘green manure’ to grow through the winter. I’m sure some deer will end up hitting it also but we’ll just have to see.
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August 20I have learned the hard way about the holes through the winter wild animals will smell the blood meal and dig the holes out so I started placing rocks over my holes through the winter. Remove rocks spring of the year and plant. By then the smell has died down . Happy growing
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