Getting Good Soil, The Hard Way.

**sharpe** · 09-22-2007, 11:46 PM

I have been around numerous sites and grow guides, but no one has ever addressed how to blend your own soil mix directly from the ground. I think that if your going to grow organic then why should you have to pay to do something the natural way?

If possible i would like to get as much as posible straight from the ground not from some seedy multimillion dollar company. So if my memory serves me right the basic ingredeints consist of a soil, a draining aid, and fertalizer/nutes.

So what constitutes good soil and where would you find it (in nature)?
What are some good draining aids? And as far as ferts and nutes go what can you make your self and how do you do it?

**natmoon** · 09-23-2007, 10:39 AM

Deep forest soil mixed with cow or horse shit and some pebbles is about as organic as you will get only real problem is that it will not be bug free.
Also try making your own worm farm

**bongo** · 09-23-2007, 03:20 PM

All organic soils normally carry eggs of some shitty insect, forget ground earth unless you have alot of nettels near by and then use their soil, as nettles and mary are first cousins and like good soil to grow

**sharpe** · 09-23-2007, 04:20 PM

Nettles huh? thats funny one of the spots i like the looks of has loads of nettles. Anyone elce have luck with nettels?

**fdd2blk** · 09-23-2007, 04:25 PM

i was drunk one night and fell into a patch of them. not fun......

**th3bigbad** · 09-23-2007, 04:43 PM

when i was growing outside i would try to take a hay bail out to the site and bust it up at least a few months before i planted anything. the hay will boost the (N) of the dirt and as a side bonus worms love it. youll have tons of worm castings for your seeds to start in.

**DND** · 09-23-2007, 04:53 PM

I would say turn the soil real good and use perlite as an additive to help the roots, drainage etc... Use some organic nutes when feeding and I think you'll be fine. Read fdd2blk's thread "it's all bullsh*t"... he keeps it simple and grows monsters.

**sharpe** · 09-24-2007, 10:27 PM

Ok well what about fertalizers? Would composted plant matter be usefull ? Swamp mud?

**DND** · 09-24-2007, 10:47 PM

Wouldn't use swamp mud, but compost should be good. If you don't compost you can use stuff like chicken manure, bat guano, blood meal, horse or cow manure as long as it's been decomposed for a while. There are all kinds man.

Personally I just made up my mind tonight that when I plant outdoors this coming season I'm trying this method, but substitute the the sand for perlite. No way am I lugging heavy ass sand, lol.

**DND** · 09-24-2007, 10:56 PM

Taken from T&J enterprises website.

[quote]

Making your Organic Garden

Step One –
Goal: Establish a deep sandy soil, which contains organic material. It needs to drain quickly yet retain moisture. This kind of soil mix allows the ground to "breathe" so the soil microorganisms have better access to air and moisture without being saturated with water.
If your soil remains loose through the season (if you can easily make a hole in it with your hand), and if water drains through quickly and evenly, leaving the soil moist but not saturated with water, then you probably don’t need to do this step. If you have any doubts, go ahead and do this step just to be safe. This is very important.
Procedure: Spread sand 6 inches deep on top of your garden area. Either buy it as delivered bulk, or buy it in bags. A cubic yard of sand is three feet wide by three feet long and three feet high and contains 6 layers that are 6 inches thick. Each layer will cover 9 square feet for a total of 54 square feet. Measure your garden area then calculate the square footage (length x width) and divide by 54. This will tell you how many cubic yards of sand you will need. It’s very important to find out where the sand is coming from! Sand from rivers or areas where agricultural chemicals may have washed into the sand can inhibit organic growing with Mycorrhiza. Its important to get the sand evenly mixed into the top 12 inches of your garden beds. Power tilling is the best method to mix the sand evenly with your soil. Spading will work, if you are feeling energetic.
Step Two –
Goal: Add organic material to your soil. This material is for feeding the microorganisms in your soil. Your plants will absorb the byproducts of those microorganisms. You will need to spread good organic compost about three inches thick on top of your garden. This is one half the number of cubic yards of sand that you mixed into your soil. Call your local nurseries for a source of good compost. Do not apply Chicken manure or Bat Guano at any time to your garden. The phosphorus levels are too high for Mycorrhiza. And, since fast release nitrogen is detrimental to most soil microorganisms don’t put fresh manure on your garden. Cow or horse manure which has been composted for several months is safe to add.
Procedure: Mix the compost into the top 10 inches of your soil. Most of the soil microorganisms live in this top 10 inches of soil. Do this two to three weeks in advance of planting your garden so the microorganisms have a chance to break down the compost, enriching the soil for your plants.
Step Three –
Goal: Add a good organic fertilizer with trace elements to your garden beds.
Procedure: Add Biosol 6-1-3 or 7-2-5 Organic Fertilizer at 1 lb per 70 square feet and mix into the top 6 inches of your soil. This fertilizer does not have salts in it. It contains organic material and trace elements.
Step Four –
Goal: Adding 4-5 inches of mulch to the top of the garden beds.
Procedure: A good choice is grass clippings from a lawn, which has been treated with BioVam Mycorrhiza. They are enriched and uncontaminated by chemicals. Mix the clippings with sawdust and or bagged potting soils. Do this step at least 2 weeks before planting your garden. This will give the worms and microorganisms time enough to start breaking down the mulch. Your maintenance effort will be one of adding this top mulch to your garden. Gone are the days of having to till this garden!
[/quote]

Continued..........