So who here is growing in true organic living soil?

NickNasty said:

I know wiggle worm which is probably the most used store bought worm castings say they are not sterilized.

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Nice, boy am I glad I'm re-reading this thread. I know where to get wiggle-worm locally

st0wandgrow said:

Rrog, I read a comment earlier (can't remember who posted it) saying that since this person switched to organics from synthetics he could notice a great improvement in taste, but the yield was cut in half. Was this your experience with taste and yield as well?

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You may lose some weight growing organically but I dont think I lost anywhere near 50%. I average about a lb per 600 watt or .75 GPW. Adding minerals to your soil and getting your brix up helps with that.

QuentinQuark said:

So what's the alternative in a soil-less mix - peat? Wouldn't that also compost and compact?

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Yes it would that is why you add things like perlite to the mix to keep it airy and perlite doesn't compost.

Here are some cool biochar images

Hi Rog,
Good for you...I'm an AZ cardholder.
I do it the "old fashioned" way, too. Compost and what manures are locally available...nothing exotic.,,,or purchased. Just for the record, it doesn't take acreage to have compost heap. And, done properly, will not smell bad. If you nave a yard, you can have a compost heap. Grass clippings and kitchen [veggie] waste. egg shells, coffee grounds, pulled weeds, leaves.....

good to see biochar. Gave that as an amendment, too. Didn't do side by side. But is a good buffer to keep nutes from leaching out. Has no NPK value, If your soil is infertile, biochar will not help.

Cool pics NN. And if I understand correctly, biochar works primarily by it's incredibly high surface area which serves to house beneficial microbes, correct?

st0wandgrow said:

Rrog, I read a comment earlier (can't remember who posted it) saying that since this person switched to organics from synthetics he could notice a great improvement in taste, but the yield was cut in half. Was this your experience with taste and yield as well?

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I only grew hydro for a year, so I've been doing soil longest and my yields are larger now, but I'd attribute that to experience, not the soil. I believe in a race Hydro wins.

Regarding compaction, worms and fungus help define soil texture, in addition to the initial aeration amendments.

Carbon's benefit comes from surface area.

QuentinQuark said:

Cool pics NN. And if I understand correctly, biochar works primarily by it's incredibly high surface area which serves to house beneficial microbes, correct?

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Yes and it holds/draws water,air and micro nutrients to it. It also keeps all this from leaching away when watered/rained on.

So I got what I cld today and mixed it up. Realized I forgot a couple things so I will add them tmrw I guess.I used 1 orange bale promix, per.abes rec. 1 bag roots original. 6 cups worm castings, 1.3 LB fish meal, 3 cups kelp meal. 1.5 cups alfalfa meal. Maybe 3/4 cup bone meal. Couple tablespoons of some foxfarm marine something or other. Was the only thing I could find witj crab meal in it. Couple tblspoons botanicare zho. I forgot thr cowboy charcoal and need to find my dolomite lime. Also need to add the local soil and lactose-b when it is ready. Will liwuid humic do same humus? Does that mix sound alright? Anything else I am missing?

finally got my utility vehicle on the road. i have an ok list of amendments thus far, but I really need mutiple XL bins. figure I'll do what I can an add as more appears. also considering 'hammer' power drill w side handle and lg concrete type coarse mixer attach.

I have a Makita w/ paint paddle for my hydro barrel. Works great! Need cement mixer from Harbor Freight set up in garage for all this.
I read a bunch more of True Living Organics last night. IMHO there is a lot of great info in there. It explains what ingredients are needed and why.
I think I am going to give The Rev a try and see how it goes.

fattiemcnuggins said:

Does that mix sound alright? Anything else I am missing?

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You have any compost? More worm castings! Go buy a dozen shrimp from the store. Take the shrimp peels and dry them. Crush them and add to soil. That substitutes for crab. Add a shovel of good local dirt.

Do you have any BTI Dunks? Head over to Ace Hardware.

Rrog said:

You have any compost? More worm castings! Go buy a dozen shrimp from the store. Take the shrimp peels and dry them. Crush them and add to soil. That substitutes for crab. Add a shovel of good local dirt.

Do you have any BTI Dunks? Head over to Ace Hardware.

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Ok so I need the skeeter dunks, nematodes, shtimp, biochar, good local dirt, and compost. I have more worm castings, how much more you thinkin? I really appreciate you walking me through this rrog.

I thought I had a decent list going as well. Then I find out there are two different kinds of bone meal (bleached and unbleached), that many of the ingredients are powered and chunky for different time releases like the oyster shell. Holy shit is there a lot to know and understand!

Nematodes are not cheap. I wish there was a MI source for Nematodes and other predatory critters.

Soak a BTI dunk overnight, then break up any remaining chunks and use with the LactoB to initially water the soil.

I'd look at 10 pounds of worm castings per bag of soil.

Real compost and worm castings (EWC) are a big deal.

Local soil has the microbes we want!

Rrog said:

The amendments are top-dressed into the top couple of inches then watered in over the next few weeks. The soil doesn't need to cook, as the amendments like fully-composted compost and EWC are ready to go. You'd have to be really careful with young plants and hi N sources like Alfalfa.

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Ok so my plans were to sub-irrigate the container. Which means it's watered from the bottom not the top, and the water wicks up through capillary action. Thing this'll still work?

Not as well, no. The components of the top dressing are leached down into the soil with the watering. Are you automating the watering somehow?

gladstoned said:

I thought I had a decent list going as well. Then I find out there are two different kinds of bone meal (bleached and unbleached), that many of the ingredients are powered and chunky for different time releases like the oyster shell. Holy shit is there a lot to know and understand!

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Most slow released amendments would not be available until 2-3 grows.

How about blood meal? I have some but didn't add any because I wasn't sure.

FattieMc, check out my post #98 on this thread. You'll want blood meal for N. You could also use Alfalfa from the feed store. The microbes will stow it for you so not so hot.