True Living Organics
Man o man, you guys got me itchin' to spit out soil info. I'm new to this forum. I am usually on the skunk mag forum where True Living Organics is all the rage...and for good reason(increased flavors, potency, legs).
Anyhow, recycling soil is very possible and highly recommended under the right circumstances as stated before in this thread. If you are using any liquid nutes other than Fox Farms Big Bloom, a few by Roots Organics, and stuff like liquid fish/kelp/guano it's not a good idea to recycle cuz those synthetic salts in the nutes build up in the soil over time which can cause problems. With TLO growing, the soil gets better over time as nutrients get broken down.
Bone and blood meal happen to be great additions to an organic grow. By organic, I mean all of the bacteria and fungi, and other microorganisms that live in healthy soil without synthetic chelating salts that will kill them. These microbes are what feed the plants the way mother nature designed. It's true, some of them need to die to feed the plants, but not all of them. There are natural cycles of population explosions and population deaths. This is why it is a good idea to use a compost tea once in awhile to reintroduce fresh supplies of microbes to the soil.
I have started seeds and cuttings in my full-strength organic mix without problems....however, results may vary(i don't want to be responsible if this does not work for someone else). In this system, the nutrients are only available through the microbes, so the plants don't get burnt.
Mycorrhizae innoculants are for promoting root health. When they become activated in water and find roots, they attach themselves and effectively extend the nutrient delivery system to the roots.
With TLO, there is no need to add liquid ferts. Just water with RO, distilled, or rain water.
Here is a soil recipe that many over at Skunk mag follow with fantastic results. It is from Rolan Terroy, the cultivation editor of skunk.
http://skunkmagazine.com/forum/index.php?topic=7923.msg134307#msg134307
Master Soil-Mix Recipe
MIX TO BE USED WITH PURE WATER SOURCES ONLY NO TAP, SPRING, OR WELL WATER
BASE MIX
2 gal Ocean Forrest (or good organic soil mix)
2 gal Coir (coconut fiber)
2 gal Perlite (small nugget size)
2 gal Castings (earthworm castings, or fresh compost works too)
AMENDMENTS
1.5 cup All Purpose or Bloom (Organicare Pure) OR 1 cup 5-5-5
1 cup Greensand
1 cup Ground Oyster Shells
2 cup Crushed Oyster Shells
½ cup (heaping) Powdered Dolomite Lime
½ cup Prilled (pelletized) Dolomite Lime
½ cup Blood Meal (or High N Bird Guano 12-8-2 NPK if flowering)
½ cup heaping un-steamed Bone Meal
¾ cup Bulb Food (3-8-8)
½ cup Soft Rock Phosphate powdered
1 cup Gypsum powdered
1 cup Kelp Meal
½ cup Zeolite or Azomite granular **optional
½ cup Humate granular **optional
1 cup Alfalfa Meal (or 2 cup pellets) **optional
1 cup Rock Phosphate Granular **optional
1 cup organic rice **optional
FLOOR: Steer Manure + Coir/Perlite + Crushed & Ground Oyster Shells
SPIKES: Blood/Feather Meal + Ground Oyster (+ Steamed Bone Meal and Bulb Food added if flowering) and kelp or alfalfa meal.
This mix should be moistened (Do not get it soaking wet!) with chlorine free water, and turned over every few days, for about 7-10 days before use. This is what I call “cooking” your soil, and letting it get pretty dry before use, is fine. The nutrients don’t evaporate or anything, so no worries there, per storage over time.
And here's a quote on soil recycling by Rolan.
="http://skunkmagazine.com/forum/index.php?topic=7923.msg134307#msg134307"
Ummmm... I can't remember how long it took them to ship. Sorry amigo.
Here's the thing you should start out doing I think...
Just recycle all the roots, plant matter, alfalfa if you have some, kitchen scraps, you know, organic matter. Then, if you had say 16 gal (US DRY MEASUREMENTS) of this soilmix. I would add about 1 cup of greensand, 1 cup of blood meal, 1 cup of powdered dolomite lime, 1 cup of all purpose 5-5-5 or whatever, just make sure the last NPK number (K) is high. Plus about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of SRP powdered.
Just keep that moist and turned once a week or so. It should be done cooking within 30 days. Then, you can treat it just like you would Ocean Forest in my 2.0 mix and see how that plays out for you. Anything you run shy of you just up your additions next time around.
See bruddah, there's no perfect mix I can give that would work for everyone exactly the same, because there are a lot of variables involved, from grow to grow. But damn stinking close heh heh
so expoect to do a little observational dialing in and you will rock and roll!
"
- REv
On the matter of soil compaction, if there is enough perlite in your mix you will not have to worry about compaction. It is good to add more perlite to recycled mix because the bacteria break it down over time.
There is a learning curve involved with this style of growing, but it's short. After the soil is mixed and cooked, JUST ADD WATER. Two points I want to bring up before I finish this long-winded post. Always water twice to make sure there are no dry spots in the soil. Very important! Just water lightly first with RO, distilled, or rain water.....wait 30 mins to an hour or more, then water again with water or compost tea. The other important thing is soil pH. Microbes have a wonderful way of naturally regulating soil pH, but you wanna shoot for 6.0-6.5 before anything gets planted in it.
Thanks for letting me post this stuff. It works great and I get excited talking about it.
I love this forum and would really love if peeps here starting getting into the TLO. It is truly a smoke in a league of it's own. Exquisite flavors, exceptional smoothness, and super-potent herbs.
Peace,
G4G
P.S. I modified the soil recipe by using 240mL B.L.O.O.M. #1 fertilzer/28L of soil instead of all the dry ingredients rolan uses. I find it to be working out very well.
"http://www.soilminerals.com/BLOOM1_AllVegetablesMix.htm"/BLOOM1_AllVegetablesMix.htm
