"Best" buy-a-soil organics?

I am thinking of trying a little bit of an experiment between my current organic hydro setup and a soil test. Being that I haven't run a soil grow in about 5 - 7 years, I was wondering what everyone's opinions were on the best buy-a-soil organic option? I used to run FFOF with peat moss and other amendments but switched to hydro due to the control it gives me; but after listening to the pot cast and reading here, it seems there is a lot to be had with growing in soil. Due to this, I am wanting to give it another shot. Which brand and soil mix would you recommend? I've heard of Build-a-soil's coots mix, but there have to be others out there. OR, do you have a soil recipe youre willing to share? I know there is a plethora of recipes on RIU and ill have to weed through them later. Ideally, though, Im looking for a soil in which all I have to do is add water and call it a day. Thanks for the help everyone, I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

-BD

Just use a bail of pro-mix with extra perlite and buy a bag of Mega Crop
Great taste and easy

You’re gonna have to build a soil there’s no soil u can buy that’s water and go for the whole run

If u used ffof u kno it’ tapers off week 3-5 weeks and u have to add Nutes I’m guessing if u start with a hot mix u won’t have to add as much adamants

Making soil ain’t cheap the Organics are expensive unless u can find them in raw form in bulk Also. The soil has to cook unless the Organics u add can be broken down by water they need time to activate

I was gonna build a soil but the time frame made me just run a regular nute setup

Rn I’m using a mix of ffof and strawberry fields they say the new formula is for flowering .. it has less perlite and it’s a darker color compared to ffof

I was planning on "cooking it" in Dec and then using it in the upcoming outdoor season. Honestly, that's one of my concerns, Ive read that some soils only require a top amendment whereas others need to have nutes added to "recharge" the soil. But supposedly there are soils out there that only need water and theyre good to go? As you can tell with my inexperience with soil, Im not sure if these are facts or fiction... I guess im going to have to go through the soil forum to find a good mixture/formula and then cross-reference it.

BDGrows said:

I haven't run a soil grow in about 5 - 7 years,

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About 20 for me, but using something besides hydro buckets would sure be more convenient for moms and clones. May I piggy back on your thread to ask: Is there a medium that doesn't draw insects? Can't co-exist with them; it's what drove me to DWC many moons ago.

Amos Otis said:

About 20 for me, but using something besides hydro buckets would sure be more convenient for moms and clones. May I piggy back on your thread to ask: Is there a medium that doesn't draw insects? Can't co-exist with them; it's what drove me to DWC many moons ago.

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I know that diatomaceous earth is supposed to help prevent larvae and other sorts of pests from being able to inhabit soils due to it basically cutting them up if they move through it. But as for a soil which prohibits insects, im unsure of.

I too am out of the loop on soil growing.It's been a long while. Soiless and coco have made me lazy. Well, as Amos stated,I don't dig insects.
Gnats are an issue with Coco(in some cases) I assume from the coco staying too wet. I dig coco but it must be fed.
I want to run a water only soil in 1-2 gal fabric pots grow for comparative of the end product purposes. Also,I actually NEED soil for the slower growth it has compared to my soiless mix,for my moms. They grow too fast in the mix.

So, I'll be lurking this thread. Some of the soil guys will chime in hopefully. Thanks for starting it @BDGrows

CoB_nUt said:

I too am out of the loop on soil growing.It's been a long while. Soiless and coco have made me lazy. Well, as Amos stated,I don't dig insects.
Gnats are an issue with Coco(in some cases) I assume from the coco staying too wet. I dig coco but it must be fed.
I want to run a water only soil in 1-2 gal fabric pots grow for comparative of the end product purposes. Also,I actually NEED soil for the slower growth it has compared to my soiless mix,for my moms. They grow too fast in the mix.

So, I'll be lurking this thread. Some of the soil guys will chime in hopefully. Thanks for starting it @BDGrows

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We're literally thinking the same things, my friend. I hope someone who is in the know with soil can chime in cause it seems a lot of us are wanting to venture down that path.

The key with water only soil is lots of soil and big pots. Coots recipe is a good one but you must have an excellent source of ewc to make it work. Are you growing in the ground or in pots?

dubekoms said:

The key with water only soil is lots of soil and big pots. Coots recipe is a good one but you must have an excellent source of ewc to make it work. Are you growing in the ground or in pots?

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Fabric pots

I keep two big bins of soil. One is recycled and re amended more for flower and the other has its amendments tuned more as a starter but basically coots. I use promix hp as my base. When I transplant the little ones they end up getting a few fresh gallons to wiggle their toes in. They usually have more than enough to make it through flower that way. I also do a tea or three through flower and a top dress of kelp and castings when needed.
My biggest issue has been burning the shit out of them with qb's. Less is more so it is said.

I did some searching and this is what I came up with...
Base:
2 bags Black Gold Organic (3 cu ft)
1 bag black gold waterhold (2 cu ft)
30 lbs worm castings (1 cu ft)
1 bag Ancient Forest (.5 cu ft)
.5 cu ft Sphagnum Peat Moss
.5 cu ft coco
Amendments:
[3 cup] bone meal (or fish meal)
[3 cup] bat guano (Phos type)
[3 cup] blood meal
3/4 cups epsum salt (for Mg + S bonus)
[3 cup] Oyster shells (Dolomite lime can be used but it seems kinda harsh)
[3 cup] azomite (for trace elements)
2 Tbls Humic Acid
4 oz mycorrhizae (Great white)
[3 cup] mega crop (additional fertilizer for later use, water-soluble)
[3 cup] LANGBEINITE (felt like the recipe needed more potassium)
[3 cup] Crab shell meal (Crustacean meal can be used instead)
[3 cup] gypsum (Calcium + Sulfer)
[3 cup] neem seed meal (No idea what it does but a lot of recipes had it)
[3 cup] kelp meal (trace minerals + vitality)
large amount rice hulls (Silica, no-till supposedly breaks down as well?)
6.5 cup biochar
Aeration:
.5 cu ft of Perlite
.5 cu ft of hydroton (lava rock can also be used if you can get ahold of it)

It seems a little bit overkill but with the base being 7.5 cubic feet, all of the amendments come out to roughly 1/4 cu ft. I don't think it will be too hot. Then again, as I said, I havent touched soil in years let alone this type of soil. I figure this would more or less be a super soil/no-till recipe so I guestimate with it being this large of a batch, it's going to take at least a month to cook in the middle of winter... I was also contemplating throwing in a container or two of nightcrawlers from my local bait shop just to add additional casting as well as till the soil more, but im unsure if the mix will end up killing them. Let me know if any of you guys have thoughts on this recipe or what to add/subtract.

- BD

Just copy the recipes off buildasoil.com or buy one of their amendment kits or premade soils. They actually test their mixes regularly and update them as needed unlike most of the random recipes online that have you buying every fucking amendment available at the garden store.

Your most important ingredient in organic soil is humus aka worm castings or quality compost or leaf mould. Start there. Most of the bagged stuff at hydro stores is straight garbage with lots of filler. Best to make your own or find a local farmer that knows what's good.

waterproof808 said:

Just copy the recipes off buildasoil.com or buy one of their amendment kits or premade soils. They actually test their mixes regularly and update them as needed unlike most of the random recipes online that have you buying every fucking amendment available at the garden store.

Your most important ingredient in organic soil is humus aka worm castings or quality compost or leaf mould. Start there. Most of the bagged stuff at hydro stores is straight garbage with lots of filler. Best to make your own or find a local farmer that knows what's good.

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I was looking at their premade's; definitely an option. Any specific blends you would recommend?

You know....having had a few minutes and tokes to think it over, I think rockwool will serve my purposes just fine.

BDGrows said:

I was looking at their premade's; definitely an option. Any specific blends you would recommend?

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Probably the 3.0 soil mix. Like I said previously, they constantly send soil samples out for testing and tweak their mixes accordingly so it is some of the best premade stuff you can buy. Or they have kits that you just add to a bale of peat moss with some worm castings.

Amos Otis said:

You know....having had a few minutes and tokes to think it over, I think rockwool will serve my purposes just fine.

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I hate the stuff. I'll admit,those grows with just the blocks stacked on top of each other are intriguing.

M3 Michigan Made Mix

Biotabs has products that allow you to run all organic and after preparation it is water only. Great results on my end with some minor deficiencies seen with some OG strains due to their genetics and me not preparing properly.