Living Soil

Proud Kraut said:
Check out if you can get your hands on some legit Terra Preta around your neck of the woods...
Click to expand...
Hey PK thanks for your input.
I doubt anybody would be shipping that stuff to Australia.

I was surprised that my other thread on living soil didn't garner any interest or helpful comments.

I was personally hoping to stick with the soil mix recommended here but add myco etc and bring it alive.
The current soil mix is kind of living with the compost and castings in there.

It's a big and broad subject that is just hitting the mainstream now, so hopefully time will bring it to light.
Then we can all have a crack at it.
 
Yeah i think its a topic not many growers can actually contribute much as bottle fed babys...
Plus there are many debates on what is living soil, true living soil and so on...
Does it need worms? good to have for sure.
But if you can make a blend of 50% gypsum charged coco and 50% compost you already have a good base to start.
If you then have some proven organic inputs for amending (not sure whats available up in australia) all you need is some inoculation of IMOs if not already soil present. Bokashi will do add a lot of good stuff since its EM fermemted, pretty sure shot and you can use kitchen scrap.
Add some rockdust, volcanic at best fo the lithobionts and it just got better.
Mycos from a bag? Throw em in!
Fermented plant juices JADAM stylen or just manure from nettles...all works very well together there are literally no limits.
You can make.Terra Preta out of your base mix if you add 10% activated charcoal which you can make yourself if youre motivated.
I tried so many DIY things and living soil or better regenerative soil is the future without a doubt. sustainable quality and your grand children wont piss on your grave for ruining the planet are just 3 of the many reasons to try ;)
 
Uncle Jack said:
My interest is not in the crop but in the living soil mix you used.
I thought that would be already known.
I can see the plants like it and that is good enough for me.
Click to expand...
High Powered Organics are based in N.S.W. and have everything you need to make your own Living soil.
You might be able to source these ingredients & amendments elsewhere at a cheaper price though.
highpoweredorganics.com

Amendment Avenue

A super awesome lineup of ultra-premium dry amendments, including plant-based, mineral-based and animal-based ingredients, of the highest quality!
highpoweredorganics.com highpoweredorganics.com
 
Iam thinking if my mix is Living Soil :D

I started with https://livingsoilsfertiliser.com/
- but I was not so much aware of good mixing ratios, so I left that idea

Now Iam making coco + some perlite / or coco + some light mix with perlite
- then Iam adding in whole range of plagron soil ammendments.
(calcium kick / bat guano / supermix / and loads (around 40%) of wormcastings
- plus adding some beneficials from Living soil fertilizer
(frass / rockdust / malted barley / mycoboost)
- and as a bonus, I have sourced some crushed Neem

-> so far my second mixture works
-> Iam still occaisionaly giving some botlled nutes from Biocanna (Iam thinking about it like, it is like the tea everyone brew)
-> and Iam always pH my water to 6,1-6,4


MY 1ST FUNCTION EXPERIMENT

MY 2ND EXPERIMENT

ps. When I see defitiencies, I ammend top of the soil with wormcastings, as LEDs needs lot of Calcium and Magnesium (I will try to add Calcium Kick too, once needed)
 
Last edited:
Uncle Jack said:
I have been told that introducing a few worms into your pots can also be beneficial.
If a cover crop is sown and then chopped down it would mimic how nature works.
Thanks for sharing your approach and results @Ptree
This is the direction I would like to take as well.
Click to expand...
Living soils are not so much available to us in europe either..
So I had to end with Plagron cause of ease of use.
Once I get more into it, I will again try the UK LivingSoil fertilizer I mentioned up...

Thanks for the covercrop tips. I will try once ;)
 
Uncle Jack said:
I have been told that introducing a few worms into your pots can also be beneficial.
If a cover crop is sown and then chopped down it would mimic how nature works.
Thanks for sharing your approach and results @Ptree
This is the direction I would like to take as well.
Click to expand...

I've been using living soil outdoors for my veg/fruit/berries/nuts along with yellow sulphur/bonemeal/gypsum.

I use ecothrive products like biosys & frass to add additional myco & trich. I think you only need to do this once to get them established in the soil mix, no need to be buying loads of extra stuff that's in the soil anyway.

My basic mix is compost/topsoil/peatmoss/perlite

I can buy ton bags of processed compost from a company called Envirogrind for around €60 delivered - the mix really depends on what they are currently processing (sometimes you can get a lot of shell in the mix)

I mix this with bagged topsoil & bagged peatmoss & perlite from the local garden centre using a cement mixer. I throw my ammendments in as it's mixing. I also fire in the contents of my compost bin (which usually has bokashi waste in it) and liquid bokashi.

I've used coco coir in this mix before, but prefer peat moss outdoors. I think I'll use coco when I try this indoors as it will (?) allow the pots to dry out a little bit faster than peat moss.

I just let it do it's thing in outdoor pots, and topdress if necessary. Because it's outdoors, worms move in naturally, and I just use whatever takes hold as a cover crop. I just "mow" this by hand, tearing off excess growth as needed.

@sneakyfeck has more experience of running living soil indoors, so worth checking their posts!

This year I dug out some topsoil from my veg patch, as I was reshaping my garden, and have bagged that up to use in the next mix.

I also chuck in any spent mycelium/medium from mushroom grows. (I'm just guessing it'll do no harm, I it doesn't do any good!)
 
Last edited:
I too have tried lots of ways but laziness and forgetfulness visit often. It is good that this topic is coming up and though not new it seems to be generating more interest as of late. So thanks to @Uncle Jack for asking the question. It is amazing how much information is available on the net and how some things have changed and other ideas refined. Here were a few I learned from today:

Background of soil food web:
Key take aways:
- Rhizophagus Intraradices is the only mycorrhizal fungus that associates with cannabis. It may also go by the name of Glomus Intraracides. Introduce as early as possible.
- Cannabis likes bacterially dominated soil.
- Glomalin is where the carbon comes from in the soil. The extreme importance of fungi to life itself.
- Plasma light- mimics sunlight, impact on microbiology? Thanks for bringing that up @Proud Kraut ;)
- Cut off male plants, transplant on top of it to take advantage of existing fungi and exudates. Ding, ding, ding!

I use most of these ingredients most of the time. Occasionally veering into amnesic negligence and then remembering once again. Of course I know that you know ;)
So here was a refresher for me from some guys who explain it easily. Simple "super soil recipe" formula, is good soil mixed with:
20% biochar
20% hydrocorn
20% worm castings
Key take aways:
- Hydrocorn has best BSA. Bacterial surface area. I will add for more aeration and bacterial growth.
- Biochar- known as an ECM. Electronic control module. I haven't yet but definitely will.

There are so many different approaches to this; just as long as plants get the 17 essential elements with a little help from friends. Mitakuye Oyasin.

mu
 
Yeah lets keep this going. Terra Preta soil (10% activated biochar min. in mix) is also said to balance due to the carbon.
So the Hazes and Diesels who love their N low and the P K up (overall a lower feed) could really grow well you wont ash out nutrients, soil will be long term friendly, should be amazing for mothers also.
I have yet to take it to the real test level of side by sides or at least true TP runs but am currently implementing step by step more and more charcoal solutions to my soilmix.
I think there will be some real Terra Preta grown Cannabis in my Jars rather sooner than later...
Spent filters pellets charged with EM or even better Bokashi juice (EM and liquid nutes) are something every grower can make once in a while and this way you will keep improving your soil over time to some kind of Terra Preta derivate.
Ive done it myself before you ask and i had no negative side effects, but as it was no side by side i can not (unfortunately) brag about this or that improvement in detail. (plus it was a rather small filter used on a 65L batch of soil so so not sure if even close to 10% mark i wouldnt dare to call it Terra Preta, rather regenerable upcycling, trying to close the loop) The run was pretty good tho.

Vermiculite also deserves a mentioning as it is mostly Fe Mg and Al the Al rather undesired but i used it as i got a bag for free in a organic mix (50/50!) and had great results. Seeds made that run have popped up all over the place all by themselves even after the soil has been thrown in a big tub outdoors over the winter. Not even a lid or a blanket, just a bare plastic tub in the cold and heat and in summer/springa couple that mustve been fallen at harvest just sprouted healthy. I mixed that ssoil to break the roots apart and so in so they where randomly inside at.different undefined dephts. I even used a few hands of the same tub on some other plants in the garde and guess what, seeds pop all over XD

Fe and Mg are highly beneficial to the plants metabolism. S is often overlooked also.

Not sure about that
Rhizophagus Intraradices
beeing the only one working with Cannabis but i defintely use myco mixes from bags or IMOs all the time. You definitely notice a difference in vigor to say the least.
Real Terra Preta is also big on IMO and mycos. Its tge whole package and you can always add a bonus.
There are so many pests and problems that you just wont have with a healthy soil.
It may be some hustle to get it all right together if you have no plug and play source but so many infos for free just choose what you can get and start from there, if you dont experiment too wild or mix too hot you will be amazed how fast you wont buy any 'grow soil' again.
Most is simple peat with guranteed fungus gnats. It harms the planet and harms your grow. Fuck that. Better off with a 50/50 mix of coco and local compost and go from there. Coco bricks are a waste peoduct of the Coconut industry and while.they are no pure better world product they are sustainabke, renewable and happen to be great if used right.

Id love to hear from you guys experience, experiments or just not well known ways...or stuff worth trying in general. This is some of the most fun and rewarding stuff in growing for me.
It doesnt stop at growing or breeding weed, lets grow and breed soil also!

Basically you all want to get a great product so you grow your own weed with the best seeds/cuts you can get a hold on, its the same with your medium.
 
Last edited:
musashi said:
Key take aways:
- Rhizophagus Intraradices is the only mycorrhizal fungus that associates with cannabis. It may also go by the name of Glomus Intraracides. Introduce as early as possible.
Click to expand...
Is this really true? Do you have sources I could look into? I am an avid user of Michorrazae, and want to ensure my children can properly utilize the fungal colony I'm attempting to establish for them.

Thank you in advanced for any and all info.

Diesel840
 
Diesel840 said:
Is this really true? Do you have sources I could look into? I am an avid user of Michorrazae, and want to ensure my children can properly utilize the fungal colony I'm attempting to establish for them.

Thank you in advanced for any and all info.

Diesel840
Click to expand...

Even if this was true you will still do good for all involved by sticking to that plan. Funghi are basically THE www of nature. Nothing much happening without them...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top