Living soils anyone?

Ptree

2021 COE Winner
So I just grow bored of liquid nutrients.
So far I used plagron / biobizz / canna / atami / and few others... I like biocanna the most as I have a feeling it is most near to outdoor grow in flavours.

As I always wanted to grow and water with just dechlorined tap water, I started thinking of my own soil mixes.
The history behind building my own mix started with premade soils with perlite and coco added, later I started adding wormhumus - even tho I didnt knew for what reason really - at that time ;)
I will not talk about trying all sorts of composted material as I find it hard to pinpoint accurate dosages of theese... Please dont blame me ;)

Some 5 years back I have started to mix just simple garden store soil (possibly with mykorhizie) with perlite a bit of coco and some wormcastings and bat guano this was good for above till the preflower stage in wich I had to start adding in some flower nutes and it did itself perfectly.

In last few years I have upped the guano and worm levels to suitable peace in soil vs. plant. So no more nutrients needed to be added..



Now back to the header, I could not prenetd i did not saw Mr.Cannucks growlogs on ytb using ammendments.
I wanted to try theese, but gaia isnt selling to europe.

As Iam bored with using holland botlles, I searched a bit and find living soil fertilizers based in UK.

If anyone have some info about theese, or gaia or simillar, feel free to post here, also ppl who mix their own blends are welcome here as I think every piece of info can be used.

Now as Iam starting to think about it, I have a few visions:
1) mix soil for each plant stage and transplanting into this soil based on the stage of growth
2) premix hot soil for inserting developed young plants and try to not use any more nutrients if possible
3) premix some mediocre ammended soil mix and add some ammendments as plants grow (based on the schedule)
 
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lsoifert.png

So far, I have pin pointed what is made for what and got done myself some table of informations about theese ammendments each..
Also I am thiking of adding a bit of bat guano powder I got, the wormcasts are the onlůy thing added to plagron, so I will not be adding more.
The initial soil mix is my day work of thinking. And the next tables are suggested dosage for top ammending for 2 gallon pots (around 8 l pots)...

What do you think of it ? Total garbage or ?M?

Feel free to give a hint or tips ;)
 
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HI
i was looking too because of Gaiagreen is not accessible in eu or its so damn expensive so i was looking and i find organic dry ammendments for Fruit trees what have a NPK ration i think is ok for Cannabis
im not sure if its what i have find because its been a while
how about Biobizz they have dry ammendments what isnt to expensive and there is please no hate🙄 Green house seeds buts its to expensive
 
I was using both biobizz worm castings and premix. Used for outdoor...
I always mix some bat guano and wormcastings to fresh made vegetable crops, so it enriches the taste and adding volume.

I was looking at greenhouse minerals, yet I wanted something more managable, something more custom to say controlable, and the price is big also... I believe it is working tho..

I have ordered what i left in sheet in previous post, so I will be making my own soil and hopefully, wont need any more ammendments threw the grow, just in transition stages of plants life..

Hope my measures are utmost light, but not too light for the soil.
 
So my mixture seems to be good, yet I had put seedlings in and, burned them a bot, as they grow more. They become healthy enought..

Just to tell you..

Will give you my input once more in some time...
 
yeah be careful with guano :) I added a tablespoon of guano on the topsoil and watered it into the soil. Sativa got burned leaftips but indicas never showed any sign of overfeeding. They both already had a strong rootsystem before I gave it.
I also stick my mouth and nose into my tshirt while spooning them guano as that stuff really stinks and has many fine “dust” particles. :)
But it is a must to have as organic grower imo.
 
Have you thought of trying any of the off the shelf living soils like Sohum or Eco life ?

I have been experimenting myself for a while
By adding guanos and other soil amendments,
Normally buy some light mix and add my stuff to that .

I've watched alot of the videos on YouTube, problem is most of the stuff is not available in the UK . Instead of the gaia green I prefer the down to earth soil amendments.

I'm starting a new grow very soon, and I'm going to be using Guanokalong complete soil .

I will use it as it is first , because it has alot of amendments and guano already in it .
The EC is 1.3 and ph is 5.9 .

Respect 👍
 
So Iam back here.

So far I did not turn to use top soil feed (amendments) but rather mixing my soil using theese and it works great so far.

Plants in this type of soil were getting BioCanna nutes + some occaissonal amendment :D

And it seems easy.


Now I will be switching more towards this Super Coco thing..

Iam working on post, where I explain my plan.
 
After some time of testing these and some research (mainly online), I have made a formula of how to mix innitial/final mix for organic coco grow.
This mixture seems to be used as normal soil, yet is based on Coco..

!! Caution - If you want to try it, do it on your own risk, Iam in phase of trial and maybe error !!

- I will use just coco/worm/perlite mix for seedling stage
- Innitial mix in 3 l texpots for growth period
- Final mix in 7,5 l texpots for flowering
- Each mix will be made 2weeks prior to poting)

- Watering will be made with dechlorined tap water pH 6,2-6,5 (till just slight water run-of)
- Table shows, when to apply top amendments and also dosages (for 10 l of this Coco substrate)
- I will occaissionaly add some biocanna nutes instead of making organic teas ( I think there is some molassis in biocanna - not sure now )

-hope it will work as planned, also feel free to comment, I will show how it goes, when I start-


SUPER COCO MIX v0.1

living soil coco.jpg
*** not mentioned in table, dosage is for 10 l of soil, and is based of makers web pages and my guess ***

And here some info about each part of Super Coco „soil“
I just hope It will not look like advertisement, if it will work, then I will be happy that I show it here, for someone who is searching info about it, as I did whole last year...


Base ingredients for Super Coco from Plagron

Coco bricks
-buffered coco peat and fibres
pH 6.1 - 7.4 / EC 0.09 - 0.14

Mega Worm
-Dendrobaena Veneta wormcastings, for starting the microbial life in Coco
pH: 6.9 - 8.5 / EC: 1.0 - 1.5

Perlite
-airates and improve drainage of the soil
pH: 6.5 – 8.0

Main amendments from Living Soil Fertilizers

Grow NPK 4-6-4
-all the macro and micro nutrients and trace elements for growth period
( 18 different species of mycorrhizal fungi ,loads of insect frass, blood meal and alfalfa meal as well as EM1 infused bokashi bran )

Bloom NPK 2-4-6
-this is usefull mixture, for when you switch to flowering, the plants are still in stretching phase and are still using some Nitrogen
( organic bat guano, organic scottish seaweed, sterilised bone meal, soybean meal, mined sulphate of potash )

Bloom2 NPK 1-4-8
-post stretch flowering fertilizer
( Organic bat guano, Organic Scottish Seaweed, sterilised Bone meal, mined Sulphate of potash, UK sourced worm casts )

Benneficial amendments from Living Soil Fertilizers

Frass NPK 2-2-2
-full of nutrients from diggested plant matter + chitin, which triggers plants immune system to deffend against predators

Barley NPK 1,4-0-0
- help microbial life break down stuff, enzymes, hormones

Rockdust
- trace elements for your plant ( Azomite and volcanic rock dust )

Mycoboost
- great for transplanting the plant, provides calcium and magnesium, aid pH issues, add mycorrhizal fungi

Neem NPK 2-1-1
- effective natural pesticide Azadirachtin, it is also good source of macro and micro nutrients

Diatomite
- great insecticide against Fungus gnats, Aphids, Thrips, Ants, Mites
! need to be used with caution, can kill benneficial insects like bees too !



I told everything Important I think...
Like I said earlier, feel free to give me your impressions, add some info, or just say good luck :D
 
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After some time of testing these and some research (mainly online), I have made a formula of how to mix innitial/final mix for organic coco grow.
This mixture seems to be used as normal soil, yet is based on Coco..

!! Caution - If you want to try it, do it on your own risk, Iam in phase of trial and maybe error !!

- I will use just coco/worm/perlite mix for seedling stage
- Innitial mix in 3 l texpots for growth period
- Final mix in 7,5 l texpots for flowering
- Each mix will be made 2weeks prior to poting)

- Watering will be made with dechlorined tap water pH 6,2-6,5 (till just slight water run-of)
- Table shows, when to apply top amendments and also dosages (for 10 l of this Coco substrate)
- I will occaissionaly add some biocanna nutes instead of making organic teas ( I think there is some molassis in biocanna - not sure now )

-hope it will work as planned, also feel free to comment, I will show how it goes, when I start-


SUPER COCO MIX v0.1

View attachment 63588
*** not mentioned in table, dosage is for 10 l of soil, and is based of makers web pages and my guess ***

And here some info about each part of Super Coco „soil“
I just hope It will not look like advertisement, if it will work, then I will be happy that I show it here, for someone who is searching info about it, as I did whole last year...


Base ingredients for Super Coco from Plagron

Coco bricks
-buffered coco peat and fibres
pH 6.1 - 7.4 / EC 0.09 - 0.14

Mega Worm
-Dendrobaena Veneta wormcastings, for starting the microbial life in Coco
pH: 6.9 - 8.5 / EC: 1.0 - 1.5

Perlite
-airates and improve drainage of the soil
pH: 6.5 – 8.0

Main amendments from Living Soil Fertilizers

Grow NPK 4-6-4
-all the macro and micro nutrients and trace elements for growth period
( 18 different species of mycorrhizal fungi ,loads of insect frass, blood meal and alfalfa meal as well as EM1 infused bokashi bran )

Bloom NPK 2-4-6
-this is usefull mixture, for when you switch to flowering, the plants are still in stretching phase and are still using some Nitrogen
( organic bat guano, organic scottish seaweed, sterilised bone meal, soybean meal, mined sulphate of potash )

Bloom2 NPK 1-4-8
-post stretch flowering fertilizer
( Organic bat guano, Organic Scottish Seaweed, sterilised Bone meal, mined Sulphate of potash, UK sourced worm casts )

Benneficial amendments from Living Soil Fertilizers

Frass NPK 2-2-2
-full of nutrients from diggested plant matter + chitin, which triggers plants immune system to deffend against predators

Barley NPK 1,4-0-0
- help microbial life break down stuff, enzymes, hormones

Rockdust
- trace elements for your plant ( Azomite and volcanic rock dust )

Mycoboost
- great for transplanting the plant, provides calcium and magnesium, aid pH issues, add mycorrhizal fungi

Neem NPK 2-1-1
- effective natural pesticide Azadirachtin, it is also good source of macro and micro nutrients

Diatomite
- great insecticide against Fungus gnats, Aphids, Thrips, Ants, Mites
! need to be used with caution, can kill benneficial insects like bees too !



I told everything Important I think...
Like I said earlier, feel free to give me your impressions, add some info, or just say good luck :D
Very nice. Thank you.
Good luck !
 
After some time of testing these and some research (mainly online), I have made a formula of how to mix innitial/final mix for organic coco grow.
This mixture seems to be used as normal soil, yet is based on Coco..

!! Caution - If you want to try it, do it on your own risk, Iam in phase of trial and maybe error !!

- I will use just coco/worm/perlite mix for seedling stage
- Innitial mix in 3 l texpots for growth period
- Final mix in 7,5 l texpots for flowering
- Each mix will be made 2weeks prior to poting)

- Watering will be made with dechlorined tap water pH 6,2-6,5 (till just slight water run-of)
- Table shows, when to apply top amendments and also dosages (for 10 l of this Coco substrate)
- I will occaissionaly add some biocanna nutes instead of making organic teas ( I think there is some molassis in biocanna - not sure now )

-hope it will work as planned, also feel free to comment, I will show how it goes, when I start-


SUPER COCO MIX v0.1

View attachment 63588
*** not mentioned in table, dosage is for 10 l of soil, and is based of makers web pages and my guess ***

And here some info about each part of Super Coco „soil“
I just hope It will not look like advertisement, if it will work, then I will be happy that I show it here, for someone who is searching info about it, as I did whole last year...


Base ingredients for Super Coco from Plagron

Coco bricks
-buffered coco peat and fibres
pH 6.1 - 7.4 / EC 0.09 - 0.14

Mega Worm
-Dendrobaena Veneta wormcastings, for starting the microbial life in Coco
pH: 6.9 - 8.5 / EC: 1.0 - 1.5

Perlite
-airates and improve drainage of the soil
pH: 6.5 – 8.0

Main amendments from Living Soil Fertilizers

Grow NPK 4-6-4
-all the macro and micro nutrients and trace elements for growth period
( 18 different species of mycorrhizal fungi ,loads of insect frass, blood meal and alfalfa meal as well as EM1 infused bokashi bran )

Bloom NPK 2-4-6
-this is usefull mixture, for when you switch to flowering, the plants are still in stretching phase and are still using some Nitrogen
( organic bat guano, organic scottish seaweed, sterilised bone meal, soybean meal, mined sulphate of potash )

Bloom2 NPK 1-4-8
-post stretch flowering fertilizer
( Organic bat guano, Organic Scottish Seaweed, sterilised Bone meal, mined Sulphate of potash, UK sourced worm casts )

Benneficial amendments from Living Soil Fertilizers

Frass NPK 2-2-2
-full of nutrients from diggested plant matter + chitin, which triggers plants immune system to deffend against predators

Barley NPK 1,4-0-0
- help microbial life break down stuff, enzymes, hormones

Rockdust
- trace elements for your plant ( Azomite and volcanic rock dust )

Mycoboost
- great for transplanting the plant, provides calcium and magnesium, aid pH issues, add mycorrhizal fungi

Neem NPK 2-1-1
- effective natural pesticide Azadirachtin, it is also good source of macro and micro nutrients

Diatomite
- great insecticide against Fungus gnats, Aphids, Thrips, Ants, Mites
! need to be used with caution, can kill benneficial insects like bees too !



I told everything Important I think...
Like I said earlier, feel free to give me your impressions, add some info, or just say good luck :D
Thank you very much PtreeCi! Looks to be complete as a medium.

I do have a question: I've been almost always an organic soil grower. For me it gives the best quality to smoke and I can pull off decent yields.
What would be the advantage(s) of your method with a coco based to a peat based medium which I use now? I could think that the wet-dry cycle and nutrient uptake would be sooner/more.

You've got me intrigued.

Oh, and good luck!

🍀
 
I dont have a simple answer to that..

I like organics for tastes, and I like Coco as medium which hold water pretty well and is sterille.
Also I cannot find soil without additives locally (bentonite and other things). The only one I could find was Plagron pro mix, which is without anything, just wormcastings. And I like to take control over my growing medium and like to mix my own. - basic soil sold over here is of goddamn bad quality -

I always wanted to grow in coco, but it didnt work for me to use the A+B based nutrients pH and EC stuff, so I tried and got back to soil.
Then I saw MrCannucks,... that is when I started to think about it.. But gaia green isnt shiping to europe..

And simply, Iam curious how this would work :)


Watering will be done without runoff, maybe just slight runoff, and feeding will be „heavier“ it is for sure...
 
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Imo the great thing about coco is that it is difficult to overwater (once established) . And it holds the perfect air to moisture ratio. So more frequent waterings means faster growth .
Yeah, I hope it will still work that way with the wormcasting... And also I hope I would not have to adjust pH habbits..
 
Ah, one question emerged...

Maybe someone can have answer..

Would you buffer the coco coir for this style of use?

Iam inclining to yes answer...


What do you think?

I bought Coco brick, so it should be neccesary...
 
Ah, one question emerged...

Maybe someone can have answer..

Would you buffer the coco coir for this style of use?

Iam inclining to yes answer...


What do you think?

I bought Coco brick, so it should be neccesary...
I would say always flush and buffer bricked coco.
 
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