Got Dirt? - My first Organic Go Around

Hi guys, long time lurker first time poster
I've got some Subcool gear comming in and decided it was a great time to just onto the site and get keyboard time with the man himself and some of the other sages from rollitup.

So after chasing the chem dragon for quite awhile I wised up and finally decided organic was the way to go. So happy I did. [Exceprt taken from my personal recipe file]


History - used a 50/50 mix of FFOF/HF over a period of a few years, for the transition I saved the last 50 gallons of spent soil to use as the new BASE mix.

DICTIONARY
EWC - Earth Worm Castings

BASE - my old spent dirt

VEG MIX - Mix used for all transplanting

FLOWER POWER - top dress recipe used on plants transfering to flower.

WATER ONLY - in my case it actually means + 2ml Liquid Karma + 2ml Cal/Mag per gallon of water. Also a potential of up to 10ml / gallon of Carbs during any particular watering (I use alot of carbs). if using an RO system add 5ml/gallon of cal-mag (depending on strain).


STARTER MIX - for clones and seedlings - WATER ONLY - not sure on length of activity, have not taken past 3 weeks yet but no def or toxicity have shown up in any plants using this.
Per QUART of BASE mix
1 cup EWC
1 - tbl - Kelp Meal
1 - tsp - Calcimatic/Dolomatic Lime


VEG MIX - for all plants basic needs - WATER ONLY - life span unknown but at LEAST 6 weeks of veg time probably longer.
Per GALLON of BASE mix
Handfull of Perlite to keep texture.
1.25 Cups - Kelp Meal (1-0-2) - micros/fulvic/humics
1.25 Cups - Bone Meal (4-12-0) - long breakdown
1.25 Cups Calcimatic/Dolomatic Lime (cal/mag - PH buffer)
FUTURE ADDITION - 1 cup - greensand - long breakdown
FUTURE ADDITION - 1 cup - azomite - long breakdown
When transplanting add 1 tbl - mexican guano per gallon of soil or use 1 tbl as a top dressing


FLOWER POWER
Mix ahead of time - for top dress heading to flower use 1 cup per pot (under 5 gallon) - make sure transition plants get water only for first week of flower to avoid burn.
1 cups EWC
.5 tbl Mexican Guano (N)
1 tbl Indonesian Guano (P)
1 tbl Kelp Meal
1 tbl Bone Meal


AACT Tea - use once per month in flower or with plants in transition
Per gallon of water (filtered non-RO)
10ml Carbs
2 cups EWC
10ml Liquid Karma
2 tbl Kelp Meal
Bubble for 18 hours (Fungi Profile)
DOES NOT STORE - USE IMMEDIETLY


Guano Tea - Veg - max use is once every other week, once a month is probably better.
*Note - can be mixed as an AACT as well with guano addition
For 5 gallons
5 gallon H2O
4 tbl - Mexican Guano
25ml Carbs
10ml Liquid Karma
Bubble 12-24 hours before use.


Guano Tea - Flower
Same as above but instead of Mexican Guano use indonesian or general purpose if yellowing.


*AACT & Tea Note - you can use the sludge leftover from the tea as a top dress for deficient plants, use as needed or toss DO NOT STORE. BE CAREFULL can burn easily.

I started using this mix back in OCT 2010 if anyone is keeping track.

Good looking soils and teas you have there....Organics FTW!

I was a little skeptical at first but its the best decision Ive ever made. Plants are completly healthy and happy and instead of spending an hour + three times a week mixing and PHing all I gotta do is grenade the PH in the right ballpark and just water.....so simple....so awesome!
Its not like I was growing bad plants before either but this mix gives me health that matches or excedes what the fox farm mix was giving me when it was brand new. If my theories are correct then this soil should just get better for future runs. And yes...water only until 2nd week of flower (flowers showing), from there you can make your own choices.

Working on soil V2 that will be 12 weeks water only through flowering - figure by the end of 2011 I should have all of this figured out.

Shout out to Sub for planting alot of the ideas Im working with in my head.

Also important note is that I do NOT use any base dirt to buffer in the pots, I use all mixed soil in transplanting with NO buffer dirt.
Thats part of why this mix is water only. I've come to the conclusion that using just about any N fertalizer within a month of planting with this soil is a BAD idea all around.
if your gonna experiment start with 10% and work up from there. I did a feeding at 25% bottle recs and got tip burn. Personally I dont see any reason to mess with it.

Small changes, Ive stopped putting the kelp meal in the teas (sick of the sludge) and have replaced it with 10ml of neptunes harvest Fish/Seaweed blend (liquid) instead.
Also started using the Azomite yesterday at 1 cup - 10 gallons base soil.

Oh and that soil recipe is for a 10 gallon base soil mix NOT "Per GALLON of BASE" like it says, that would destory plants if it was to a single gallon

Im interested in this...

Well here was an interesting twist.
I got some peruvian SeaBird Guano thinking I would replace the mexican and indonesian guano I use for the flower power transition top dress. Well much to my dismay the seabird guano is in large hard pellets that really dont seem very good for trying to make into a top dress (hard chunks with obvious long breakdown). So what I decided was this.

Instead of mixing in any mexican guano into the base organic mix what I am now doing is mixing in 2 tbl of the seabird guano INTO my base organic mix. Im thinking that this will provide a long term N and P source since its not in an easy to release form.
Transplanted a couple girls into it yesterday and will be keeping an eye on them this week for reactions.

Posting updated recipe in a sec, sorry for spelling issues...its early

Are you from nyc?

Updated recipe

STARTER MIX - for clones and seedlings - WATER ONLY - Active for 2 weeks, no toxicity have shown up in any plants using this.
Per Gallon of BASE mix
4 cups EWC
4 tsp – Kelp Meal
4 tsp – Calimatic/Dolimatic Lime

VEG MIX - for all plants basic needs - WATER ONLY - life span unknown but at LEAST 6 weeks of veg time probably longer.
Per 10 GALLONs of BASE mix
Handfull of Perlite to keep texture.
20 Cups - EWC
1.25 Cups - Kelp Meal (1-0-2) - micros/fulvic/humics
1.25 Cups - Bone Meal (4-12-0) - long breakdown
1 Cup – Peruvian Seabird Guano (10-10-0)
1.25 Cups Calcimatic/Dolomatic Lime (cal/mag - PH buffer)
1 Cup - Azomite - long breakdown
1 Cup - greensand - long breakdown

FLOWER POWER
Mix ahead of time - for top dress heading to flower use 1 cup per pot (under 5 gallon) - make sure transition plants get water only for first week of flower to avoid burn.
1 cups EWC
1 tbl Mexican Guano (N)
1 tbl Indonesian Guano (P)
1 tbl Kelp Meal
1 tbl Bone Meal

AACT Tea - Use once per month in flower or with plants in transition
For 5 gallons water (filtered non-RO)
5 Cups EWC
50ml Carbs
15ml Liquid Karma
50ml Fish/Seaweed Hydroslate
Bubble for 18 hours (Fungi Profile)
DOES NOT STORE - USE IMMEDIETLY

Guano Tea - max use is once per week.
*Note - can be mixed as an AACT as well with guano addition
For 5 gallons of AACT (remove EWC for non aact base)
5 tbl - Mexican or Indonesian Guano

I see you say from the land of original sour deisel thats why i asked....

We're talking orginal clone only diesel here
ECSD!
As the storys been told to me Im about 2 hours from where it was first bred.
Land of the Dumpster would probably be more accurate.

randomseed said:

We're talking orginal clone only diesel here
ECSD!
As the storys been told to me Im about 2 hours from where it was first bred.
Land of the Dumpster would probably be more accurate.

Click to expand...

haha it originated in mass if the story serves right but it is east coast..

Just wanted to throw it out there that this soil is ROCKING....................
Ill get some picks up but damn

this is very good info!!!! I've been using subcool's recipe but i want to recycle my soil after the run and am having trouble getting sub to answer my question. How would you recommend i recycle and then re-amend my soil. I worried there might be leftover nutes from his recipe and if i re-amend at full strength i might burn them on the next run. Any input would be greatly appreciated

cageuser said:

this is very good info!!!! I've been using subcool's recipe but i want to recycle my soil after the run and am having trouble getting sub to answer my question. How would you recommend i recycle and then re-amend my soil. I worried there might be leftover nutes from his recipe and if i re-amend at full strength i might burn them on the next run. Any input would be greatly appreciated

Click to expand...

Well the good news is that up to now it has not presented any problems or issues with recycling, it seems most of the stuff is consumed during the run (good fall colors).
I do share that concern with a few items
EWC - cant overdue outside as long as you dont let you soil drainage suffer from constant breakdown (perlite additions).
Kelp Meal - not a worry, hard to overdue
Bone Meal - not sure if it is concentrating over time, P is hard to burn on so its not a huge worry (low N), also since it can only be converted and used my microlife and not the plant itself burn potential is minimal.
Guanos - seem to get eaten up before the end of the run, by not adding any for the last 1-2 weeks I think the concern for this is negligable (vendor recs are 2tbl per week so we are not anywhere near that level)
Azomite, greensand, Lime
these three are the hardest for me to predict, all are pretty damn slow release so the chance of them building up over time is a real concern, esspecially with the lime. For the time being I plant on skipping the lime every other time through recycling to hopefully negate, keeping my eye on out for micro burns on future runs.

For this year I do plan on skipping most the admendements (az,lime,green,bone) for a middle of the year run to drain out the soil again just in case.
Wish I had better answers but Im looking into the same question myself. As is I dont think the soil is particularly hot so it seems pretty safe for at least a few runs in a row amended as listed.

so are you saying adding perlite to the soil is detrimental? i was a little confused about that earlier in the post. But thanks for the response. I've heard microbial life allows the plant to thrive in a wider ph range. What are your thoughts on that? Also i use ro water and hear people talking about having to add a cal mag supplement. I haven't yet and have seen no problems so far, but then again i'm only a week into flower. Any thoughts on this?

cageuser said:

so are you saying adding perlite to the soil is detrimental? i was a little confused about that earlier in the post. But thanks for the response. I've heard microbial life allows the plant to thrive in a wider ph range. What are your thoughts on that? Also i use ro water and hear people talking about having to add a cal mag supplement. I haven't yet and have seen no problems so far, but then again i'm only a week into flower. Any thoughts on this?

Click to expand...

No, Im saying you need the perlite to keep the consitency from clogging up as more and more organic material breaks down and turns to mud over runs.
For PH yes, I rarely even bother to PH anymore and even when I do its just to make sure things are not way out of whack, if its close I dont care (the lime is a stabalizer as well).
With my soil the only real source of cal or mag is the lime and thats slow release. I have water hardness of around 150 (filtered) so I dont worry about it much but once a week I will include some cal/mag just in case. Using RO I do think it starts to become more important but the cal/mag needs of plants seems to be highly strain dependent as well.

randomseed said:

I was a little skeptical at first but its the best decision Ive ever made. Plants are completly healthy and happy and instead of spending an hour + three times a week mixing and PHing all I gotta do is grenade the PH in the right ballpark and just water.....so simple....so awesome!
Its not like I was growing bad plants before either but this mix gives me health that matches or excedes what the fox farm mix was giving me when it was brand new. If my theories are correct then this soil should just get better for future runs. And yes...water only until 2nd week of flower (flowers showing), from there you can make your own choices.

Working on soil V2 that will be 12 weeks water only through flowering - figure by the end of 2011 I should have all of this figured out.

Shout out to Sub for planting alot of the ideas Im working with in my head.

Click to expand...

Yep...this is very similer to what I experianced in my current grow. Plants needed fuel around week 2 useing supersoil mixed as per subcool. Love the shit man...so many more flowers...so many bigger lower flowers and colas that are solid without any space between nodes...one long bud 14 inches. At least my bluecheeze is this way. Its a heavy feeding plant for sure. Im gonna borrow some of your teas. I have found that once you build up the fuel in the soil and the microbes are busy....and the plant is budding out good every night then I just water really lightly twice then one good watering. Keeps them budding.

GH

GH

Im think if recycling be sure to douse the soil good with hygrozyme to eat up all the dead roots left in the soil.

GH