the soil recipe. simple version and complex version

Specifically ?
My personal mix is 1 large bag FFOF (fox farms ocean forest) and 1 large bag Fox Farms light warrior
Add ~about~ 1.5 cu. ft. of perlite
About 6 cups worm castings
About 3 cups blood meal
About 3 cups bone meal
About 2 cups bat guano (fruit bat if possible...the package will say)
About 2 cups dolomite lime
Maybe a cup of epsom salts

Everythings kinda about'ish since I really never measure.
Mix the shit till if feels like your arm is going to fall off.
Drink a beer or smoke a bowl
Mix some more.
Put it into a large opaque or *clearish* plastic bin with a lid and set it out in the sun for at least 4-5 days. (DO NOT skip this step)
It will sweat and the texture will change dramatically becoming a foamy kind of thing for lack of a better description...once you see it you'll understand.
Mix till arms fall off.
Use freely at this point.

You will need ZERO nutrients during a 10-12 week flowering plants life cycle, long term sats will need a flowering nute only once.
Tap water only, adjust nothing, straight from tap.

As you can see from that grow log I linked JetDro has a particular hate for anything fox farms so he subbed the base soil for SS#4 and Roots organic.
It should be nearly the exact same as FF.
I've also had luck with Miracle grow moisture control soil as the base....it's not quite as good, but it's close.
Walmart used to carry Sams Choice potting soil in a purple bag, it works every bit as well but I haven't seen it in years and think they stopped making it.

Specific enough ?
Hi n2ishun

may I ask what is the approximate volume of the cups you re using?

DjG
 
We have been using our own mix for our strains since inception...easy to make and scale up.....

50% sterilized potting mix
30% perlite
10% worm castings
5% coarse river sand
5% coco fiber

hope it helps those who like to keep it simple and using this with watering nutrients is fine....we also reuse 50% and mix in 50% new mix each subsequent crop. Then spread the 50% we discard onto the outdoor gardens! Waste not want not! all the best Shantibaba
Hi Shanti 🖖
Your sterilized potting mix, do you buy it sterilized, or do you sterilized it in any way?
Thanks !
 
It's a ratio so it doesn't really matter what size the measuring vessel is as long as you don't change the size halfway through your recipe. It could be one shovelful, one bucketful, one tablespoon.
Hi crazyhorse,

I agree that if you consider only the stuff measured in "cups" it can be regarded as "parts" of the total. However, the ultimate aim is to mix everything with the two large bags of soil and in this regard it IS important whether the "cups" contain 0.25L or 0.5L etc in order to calculate the ratio. If he had said to use 340 "cups" of FFOF and 340 "cups" of the other soil and 42,5 "cups" of perlite, the proportions would be clear.

Peace ✌️

DjG
 
3 cu ft of ffof
3 cu ft of light warrior
in case large bags and earlier convo didn't make that clear
 
Hi crazyhorse,

I agree that if you consider only the stuff measured in "cups" it can be regarded as "parts" of the total. However, the ultimate aim is to mix everything with the two large bags of soil and in this regard it IS important whether the "cups" contain 0.25L or 0.5L etc in order to calculate the ratio. If he had said to use 340 "cups" of FFOF and 340 "cups" of the other soil and 42,5 "cups" of perlite, the proportions would be clear.

Peace ✌

DjG
My mistake, sorry for that Dj.
 
I'm waffling again as I meant volcanic dust for added micro and macro nutes.

I guess DE would work the same being rich in silica, cal/mag

I'd prefer to give them extra silica for the added benefits.
I make use of Azomite. Anyone else use it?
"the clay is similar to Chilean/Peruvian caliche rocks from which much of the world's nitrate was mined."

🤙mu
 
Maybe burning our plantmaterial is the same as burned wood? Maybe a great subsistute for those not being able to compost? There are benefits.

Many home gardeners and farmers choose to use wood ash as a soil amendment. Wood ash contains significant amounts of potassium and calcium, while providing smaller amounts of phosphorous and magnesium and micro-nutrients like zinc and copper. ... Wood ash is a natural substitute for lime to help maintain proper soil pH.

 
Careful there Canna.
Back in the day they used wood ash and cooked down animal fat as soap,
It's called Lye soap.
Wood ash is super alkaloid (opposite of acidic) and there is no way to know how far it will swing the PH since different woods are different levels of alkaloid.
They said lime, they did not say dolomite.
They also way back in the day used wood ash as the lime component in making concrete.
 
But being careful, it could be done?
I would just burn few plants and add that ash to the soil. It would be no more then 2L ash 80 liters soil. Little over 2%. So hope that is careful enough?

It would be fun to recycle plants somehow because I throw most material out with the garbage, as I have no garden. When using perlite I would just sieve that out to re use it over and over again. Extreme cheapskating.
 
I personally (YMMV) would use no more than 1 liter per 80 of soil....and that might prove too much unless there is lots of compost/mulch/acidic soil additives involved.
Being careful most anything can be done, but should it be done is the better approach to this I think.

I would try to somehow (food processor ?) grind up the old plant material while still wet, or undried, and stick in something like a plastic bin or large plastic bag (trash bag) and set outside for a few weeks to help break it down.
It shouldn't matter if it gets frozen (not knowing your local climate) as long as it gets adequate time to start decomposing.
It *should* get warm on it's own and turn brown rather quickly and ferment a bit....which is what you want.
Be sure to dry it out fully and once dry grind it again before using so it will break down in the soil better and hopefully release any nutrients it might have even better.
Sorry, kinda drugged out right now so it might sound a little like I'm rambling (I am) as I'm trying to think of every angle that might benefit you.
I would also write down every step I took so that you can replicate in the future if it ends up working well, or to know what not to do in the future if it doesn't.
Approach any experiment like a scientist because that's what they would do and it's worked pretty well for mankind in the past.
(yea I know....grain of salt and all that)
 
Recycling sounds smart and responsible to me. Application of an unknown can kill things quick. Note to self-> follow directions. Why I remember a time I got carried away with Monterey Horticultural Oil, can you say napalm(ed)? As always, even the simplest litmus test can inform.

🤙mu
 
Wood ash has to be good. It's been a part of most topsoils at some point. Trees and vegetation have been burning for a long time. So it has to be one of the building blocks of good topsoil you would think.
I have only ever used it outdoors in the ground mixed with composted straw and chicken shit. Excellent results. It may have been the genetics of the plant contributing to the overall result but it never looked unhappy unless I forgot to water it. And it grew until May 21 Southern Hemisphere in Southern Australia picked after a week of driving rain. Very delicate and small plant, sparsely leaved kind of lime green but ah I digress.
Always a little nervous using it in pots inside. I think the thing to do would be get the lumps of black charcoal in your fireplace not the white dusty stuff. Smash up the charcoal and use that in a potting mix. Will do a little side by side when I get a chance and report back. I have read that charcoal has quite a few benefits in the soil. I am pretty sure the white dusty stuff could be problematic indoors silting up the mix a bit too much maybe as well as the PH swing. Azomite is hard to source over here Mu. My experience with rock dusts is limited. I purchased a tub of it once and it was like pebbles not dust. Have not had much luck sourcing anything that is an actual powder. Does course river sand bring with it some of the benefits that powdered rocks provide I wonder?
 
It is def not rambling but wise man talk to me. Thanks for sharing and taking your time n2ishin. Do you really mean ferment it and then use it unburned? Been begging the wife to get some special compostworms but she drew the line and was quite final in her stance. But I just hate throwing stuff out when I see potential resources.

Gonna prep a soil that will only be used in 4 months from now. Before I use it I will do a ph check.
Been doing aeroponics as it is easier, but regular tapwater might be even easier. Oldskool best school.
 
I would be of the impression that burning a piece of organic matter would lessen the amount of available *good stuff* in it.
I'm no biochemist but it stands to reason does it not ?

Yeah mineralisation would be the better choice, but would also take more time before it breaks down to be released to the plant. Fermented material can also be made into tea to boost the living things in your soil instantly. Been considering that Bokashi principle, but that would almost be the same as compostworms (not in principle but storage and grossness). It needs some inoculation though. https://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/fermented-compost-cannabis-bokashi/

For now it will be wormdung, Lava+, bonemeal, extra K (30) and perlite.
Not sure why river sand is added?
 
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