Vegan living soil mix review

Hey all I'm sorta new here. I had an old account I used to lurk around on here with but have since forgotten all the log in info. Just like many of you I like to try and continue learning this amazing craft of growing and add or subtract new methods and techniques to my arsonal. I'm just looking for some of your thoughts on this attempt at making a vegan soil mix.

Base:
Peat Moss 3.8cuft or 28.5 gallons
Earth Worm Castings @ 2 gallons
Rice Hulls @ 15 gallons


Amendments:
Down To Earth Vegan Mix @ 6 cups
(Derived from: Soybean Meal, Neem Seed Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Rock Phosphate, Langbeinite, Greensand and Kelp Meal)
Down To Earth Azomite @ 2 cups
Down To Earth Lime @ 6-8 cups
Diatomaceous Earth @ 8-10 cups

That's it. Pretty cost effective and simple. My question is will it work? Anything that I could add that might be really beneficial? I'm thinking a chitin source but crab meals out...maybe insect frass? Not sure where that lands on the vegan scale haha.

I do supplement with malted barely, coconut powder, molasses, and make teas with extra alfalfa, kelp and neem.


Thanks for the input!

Hmmm... ive been pondering different soil mixes for a while. It may be old news but check out TGA subcools super soil recipe. Ive been considering switching over from what I used to use which was a coco mix and fed with nutrients but dialing in feeding schedules with different strain genetics all the time becomes a full time job. I was reading that his super soil recipe feeds the plants exactly what they need at exactly the right times. All that's said is required is watering. Maybe checking pH runoff but unless there are problems with the plants then messing with pH is not necesarry... ill pull up the recipe for you.

I myself have not tried this soil recipe yet but im curious. Maybe someone else here will chine in with more info...

Hempzilla said:

Hey all I'm sorta new here. I had an old account I used to lurk around on here with but have since forgotten all the log in info. Just like many of you I like to try and continue learning this amazing craft of growing and add or subtract new methods and techniques to my arsonal. I'm just looking for some of your thoughts on this attempt at making a vegan soil mix.

Base:
Peat Moss 3.8cuft or 28.5 gallons
Earth Worm Castings @ 2 gallons
Rice Hulls @ 15 gallons


Amendments:
Down To Earth Vegan Mix @ 6 cups
(Derived from: Soybean Meal, Neem Seed Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Rock Phosphate, Langbeinite, Greensand and Kelp Meal)
Down To Earth Azomite @ 2 cups
Down To Earth Lime @ 6-8 cups
Diatomaceous Earth @ 8-10 cups

That's it. Pretty cost effective and simple. My question is will it work? Anything that I could add that might be really beneficial? I'm thinking a chitin source but crab meals out...maybe insect frass? Not sure where that lands on the vegan scale haha.

I do supplement with malted barely, coconut powder, molasses, and make teas with extra alfalfa, kelp and neem.


Thanks for the input!

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I like the looks of that amendment mix, but I am a little skeptical of the compost and aeration portions. I personally go with closer to a 1/1/1 mix of peat/aeration/humus (ewc/compost). Not that this is the set in stone ratio, but I think adding some more humus would be beneficial to the overall soil health especially during the first run while things are fresh in the soil.

I use pretty much all vegan inputs (if we are counting frass as vegan) except for crab meal. I like the frass so far though, my newest addition to my mixes, with it's pretty balanced npk and other benefits so I would suggest using it if it fits into the vegan side of things for you. In my opinion it would be a valid vegan input, similar to accepting the ewc as vegan as well. I think your mix would turn out to be a nice mix though and you have the available tools to fix any hiccups with the individual meals/things you have on the side. Best of luck with everything though and hope to see some results down the road from it.

Much more compost
Check “Back to Nature Cotton Burr Compost” fantastic, used ten years or more. Accept no substitute.
Double on Rice Hulls or add perlite, they will slowly compost!

I can for sure add more worm castings.. I was kinda thinking it was slacking there. I was gonna play it safe with 1 cup of ewc per gallons but I'll start with more. I'll add more rice Hulls too. I didn't really put much thought into the exact ratio with it because they're so small. I've often found my self adding it until I'm happy. Probably ends up being twice the amount I put to be honest. I prefer the rice Hulls over the perlite since it does slowly break down and provide silica. Perlite always seemed unnecessary if I add enough hulls.

I've read mixed opinions on using the insect frass in growing vegan. Does it work in a tea? Maybe I'll supplement it in that way? Its pretty expensive so adding cups and cups to my mix could get costly..

Awesome feedback so far

EWC are great and I use 10% of my own in every mix but the more broke down the castings the stupider they get when wet. That’s why I keep it at 10 %.

In my opinion rice hulls are awesome and perfect if you plan on recycling your mix. If you were going no till though I would probably use some other stuff too. I ran out of hulls my last couple recycles/soil builds, but that will be the one thing I buy after this run. I like the idea of readily compostable inputs that serve a purpose until then. Plus it's a great mulch layer too.

I've never tried the frass in a tea yet. I would probably use it in a compost tea where its aerated instead of the alfalfa/neem/kelp tea just sitting overnight with stirrings. I bought mine from boogie brew. Not sure about prices now, but think that was the best deal for 5 lbs. and they threw in some free compost tea mix too. I used it in the same amount as my alfalfa/neem when I mixed it in the soil and only added like a tablespoon to my topdress recently. So I imagine my little 5 lb. bag will last a bit. These are just my experiences with it so far, but have some pretty happy looking plants right now in my opinion. However you end up applying it though, I'm sure it'll do its thing with the chitin. If you end up not using it though, I think you'll be just fine with your mix.

Question: What about fossilized bat guano like Archipelago high P? Not like high N Guano, mostly mineral content and up to several thousand years old. Seems further removed from animal life than frass.

An aerated tea with Neem 6 1 2, and Alfalfa 3 1 2 and Kelp 1 0 2 is awesome and I use those ingredients in weak teas for flower.

I do recycle my soil most times. Occasionally I like to start fresh and re-make everything. I havent been able to set up indoor no till beds yet but that's the plan and when that happens I'll definitely be adding a more permanent aeration with the rice hulls. I have some small beds set up outdoors that I've been doing no till in and I love it!

As far as using it in a tea I guess I'll just have to give it a try and see what happens. I've only ever made my teas with air pumps so that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for your input. Once I try the insect frass I'll make sure to post the results

Never considered using any guanos since I wanted this mix to be vegan..but you make a good point. If it's fossilized and from so long ago it might actually be better than the insects that could of been alive just days before. I'll have to look into.

Hempzilla said:

Never considered using any guanos since I wanted this mix to be vegan..but you make a good point. If it's fossilized and from so long ago it might actually be better than the insects that could of been alive just days before. I'll have to look into.

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It’s about same weight as soft rock phosphate or a little heavier and very fine, 0 7 0.

You guys think I'd have to "cook" the mix?

Hempzilla said:

You guys think I'd have to "cook" the mix?

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In my opinion you wouldn't need to cook with those amendments, but I think it is almost always beneficial just to get things more so stabilized. I think even something like a week would at least give the soil some time to buffer itself a bit. Again, no expert but just my thoughts on things.

I've always been wanting to try the no-till method, but space constraints keep me in small pots. My oldest mix is the one I have used my past 2 grows and I think it just has a better look and feel to it than the fresher mix I have on hand right now. So I can only imagine the advantages of keeping the food web alive from grow to grow without having to disturb it as much.

Hempzilla said:

That's it. Pretty cost effective and simple. My question is will it work?

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Simple is sometimes better. I used a LOT of produce in my worm castings and the only other thing that I added was Basalt, Greensand, Azomite, and Oyster shell flour. That's it and my seeds are germinating perfectly and my outdoor plants are growing like crazy. The only other thing that I used was 2yr old leaf mold for a top dressing along with barley and crab meal. If you don't want to use crab, there are insects that have chitin. I don't know if this is breaking any vegan rules, but if you find cicada exoskeletons, then nothing is getting hurt. I don't know if this will work, but I see these guys all over the place here and I actually collect them sometimes. Free chitin hanging on trees. Your right about barley having chitinase, but streptomyces also produces it and I get it from Grokashi, I mix it with barley.

About any compost is going to have animal scat and remains in it whether it be from BSF larvae, composting worms or centipedes or sow bugs(Rollie Pollie), grubs or whatever. At what level of life is that a vegan gardening problem? Serious question, not here to stir things.

hillbill said:

composting worms or centipedes

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I would always get stings on my hands when I would work with my compost. So, I was screening my EWC the other day and found centipede larvae and I think that they were stinging me. I now wear gloves when I work with fresh compost. It sucks...

Does EWC technically count as vegan? It is an animal byproduct after all

Subbed. I am trying something similar, although keeping it a lot simpler at first. It has been cooking for @ 2 mos. Next plants I put into flower im going to use this on half of them so I can compare w my current FFOF/Bu's/EWC/Perlite + Roots Organics liquid nutes. Wanting to eliminate guanos and animal byproducts myself for various reasons

IIReignManII said:

Does EWC technically count as vegan? It is an animal byproduct after all

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Depends how you look at it. We arent making worms do anything they wouldn't do already. And by definition every inch of healthy soil humus on earth has worms in it now or were in it previously. It is a good point though, and if someone is concerned about EWC then something like Kyle Kushmans veganic hydro nutes would be a better choice.

hillbill said:

About any compost is going to have animal scat and remains in it whether it be from BSF larvae, composting worms or centipedes or sow bugs(Rollie Pollie), grubs or whatever. At what level of life is that a vegan gardening problem? Serious question, not here to stir things.

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For me its not that I have a problem with any of what you mentioned, it is also about not supporting animal agriculture via byproduct or waste materials.

I get that there is a strong argument to be made for real biodynamic organic agriculture to recycle everything. The issue I personally have is that a lot of organic inputs are not regulated the way ppl think. Most people do not know that the majority of their organic food is fertilized with pig blood/bone meal. There are a lot of people who would have issues with this for personal or religious reasons.

In the end I am trying to find a balance between organic natural growing methods, and eliminating as many pathogens as possible from my home grow environment.