Homemade soil

L

Lrn2Yield

Well-Known Member
Hi guys,

I have one grow under my belt ( basically brand new to growing ), which was a soilless grow and looking to try organic soil, teas etc. The strain i'm going to be growing is ghost og, by Canna Venture.

I'm on the east coast of Canada, and I don't have access to much soil, ingredient wise and will have to order most online. I've been reading about organics a couple of weeks now, and looking to do it on the cheaper end if at all possible. Not so much a recipe, but a list of items I plan on using and hopefully you guys will chime in if I'm going in the right direction.

Premium Peat moss
Perlite
Malibu compost blend/EWC
Down to earth - All purpose mix ** or Gaia Green living soil blend ( Only being able to order online, it would cost me a small fortune to source out individual ingredient list so I hope that going pre-mixed won't hurt me too much? )
Rock Dust

To make 7.5g would these numbers be right for the base, using a 5 gallon bucket to measure ?
Ex: 1 part = 5 Gallon
.5 part = 2.5 Gallon

1/2 Peat moss
1/2 Perlite
1/2 Humus (Compost/EWC)
1 Cup Rock Dust

How much all purpose mix or living mix, which I believe would be the nutritional amendment of the soil be added to the base mix? Also, will I notice a huge difference between using a premade mix like the down to earth, compared to picking up each individual ingredient, and mixing them myself?

I plan on top dressing, and feeding tea's during the flowering period. Would these be needed during veg as well?

I hope I am at least going in the right direction. Look forward to any information you guys are willing to share with me. I certainly need the education lol.

Thanks!
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Lrn2Yield said:
Hi guys,

I have one grow under my belt ( basically brand new to growing ), which was a soilless grow and looking to try organic soil, teas etc. The strain i'm going to be growing is ghost og, by Canna Venture.

I'm on the east coast of Canada, and I don't have access to much soil, ingredient wise and will have to order most online. I've been reading about organics a couple of weeks now, and looking to do it on the cheaper end if at all possible. Not so much a recipe, but a list of items I plan on using and hopefully you guys will chime in if I'm going in the right direction.

Premium Peat moss
Perlite
Malibu compost blend/EWC
Down to earth - All purpose mix ** or Gaia Green living soil blend ( Only being able to order online, it would cost me a small fortune to source out individual ingredient list so I hope that going pre-mixed won't hurt me too much? )
Rock Dust

To make 7.5g would these numbers be right for the base, using a 5 gallon bucket to measure ?
Ex: 1 part = 5 Gallon
.5 part = 2.5 Gallon

1/2 Peat moss
1/2 Perlite
1/2 Humus (Compost/EWC)
1 Cup Rock Dust

How much all purpose mix or living mix, which I believe would be the nutritional amendment of the soil be added to the base mix? Also, will I notice a huge difference between using a premade mix like the down to earth, compared to picking up each individual ingredient, and mixing them myself?

I plan on top dressing, and feeding tea's during the flowering period. Would these be needed during veg as well?

I hope I am at least going in the right direction. Look forward to any information you guys are willing to share with me. I certainly need the education lol.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
i would aim to run about 2.5-3.5 cups of all purpose mix per cubic foot of soil (7.5g). the only thing that's convenient about sourcing all the ingredients separately is the ability to play with the mix. an all purpose mix will do just fine. If anything, I would get some additional Kelp for micros and trace minerals in addition to the all purpose. honestly no need to make teas, the soil will have everything the plant needs. if you make a tea, keep it simple... but again.. the soil already has the plant food and you don't need to feed the plant anything else. topdressing early in flower will have its benefits to carry a plant all the way through with no issues. Sounds like you are headed in the right direction.

tip for growing organic, don't let the soil dry out like people suggest with soilless mediums. the biology in the soil requires water to remain highly active. So allow it to get light, but not totally dehydrated if you get what i'm saying. also, don't water to the point of runoff, or you will leach nutrients out of your soil. find that sweet spot where you can saturate it well but not have run off. this will help you retain your nutrients for the plant.

remember, you don't need to worry about feeding the plant with a good soil... it will feed itself. worry about the soil! you are a soil farmer in this style of gardening.
 
L

Lrn2Yield

Well-Known Member
Thanks so much for the response. That's what I kinda figured with the premix, but wanted to double check.

I will skip out on the teas, and do a top dress early into flower. Sometimes a KISS approach isn't such a bad thing. I would love to source out all the ingredients, but lack of availability here keeps me from doing it. I will reuse what I recycle this time and add some amendments as time goes on.

Would I still have to let this mix cook? Or would most of the ingredients be available after a few waterings? If I did need to let it sit, would it best to water it with a tea, before sitting or will regular old water do just fine?
 
rollangrow

rollangrow

Well-Known Member
yes you will need to let it cook and i just used water while cooking mine, but if you do use say a compost tea that will add in more organisms to the mix so it cant hurt.. though idk if their is much point.
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Lrn2Yield said:
Thanks so much for the response. That's what I kinda figured with the premix, but wanted to double check.

I will skip out on the teas, and do a top dress early into flower. Sometimes a KISS approach isn't such a bad thing. I would love to source out all the ingredients, but lack of availability here keeps me from doing it. I will reuse what I recycle this time and add some amendments as time goes on.

Would I still have to let this mix cook? Or would most of the ingredients be available after a few waterings? If I did need to let it sit, would it best to water it with a tea, before sitting or will regular old water do just fine?
Click to expand...
regular water is fine, compost tea (properly brewed) won't hurt a thing and will speed up the breakdown and inoculation process. it's not "cooking". it's being inoculated with microbes, and breaking down organic components in the soil. I wish that "cooking" term would go away lol. but i understand it has become part of the vernacular of building a soil. :D Cheers.
 
L

Lrn2Yield

Well-Known Member
I get what you mean shluby. When I first started reading organics, I seen that the soil needed to be cooked. I was thinking to myself, gonna need a pretty large oven to cook all this soil lol. Upon further reading, I found out you more so water, and let sit while the components break down and become available in the soil. What's a good length of time for this process to happen? 4 weeks should do the trick huh?

Thanks again guys
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Lrn2Yield said:
I get what you mean shluby. When I first started reading organics, I seen that the soil needed to be cooked. I was thinking to myself, gonna need a pretty large oven to cook all this soil lol. Upon further reading, I found out you more so water, and let sit while the components break down and become available in the soil. What's a good length of time for this process to happen? 4 weeks should do the trick huh?

Thanks again guys
Click to expand...
yup, 4 weeks should be fine. the mix should stabilize by then.
 
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