100% Organic Living Soil

[AeroGanja]

For the sake of trying it, learning, and developing my craft. I want to try a few grows, who knows maybe it will become a staple method. I want to make a living soil I understand the idealism behind it, focus on the microbes, fungi and ect. I guess what I'm after is specific brands or products. Example... My first purchase of Coco was Mother Earth, I've later learned I may have been better off with Fox Farm's. Essentially trying to circumvent those types of mistakes. What's the best of the best? I appreciate yall...this community is...lit

 

[SecretSquirrel]

BuildASoil: Organic Living Soil, Fertilizers, and Soil Amendments

Everything you need to grow no-till with organic living soil. Our mission is to support organic gardeners and to provide the best products and information on how to use them. We carry pre mixed super soil, living soil, organic soil fertilizers, organic water soluble nutrients, soil minerals...

buildasoil.com

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Tons of info on how to DIY and also products if you want to go that route.
I use all kinds of buildasoil stuff.

 

[AeroGanja]

Thanks SecretSquirrel, looks like exactly what I wanted!

 

[JL2G]

For the sake of trying it, learning, and developing my craft. I want to try a few grows, who knows maybe it will become a staple method. I want to make a living soil I understand the idealism behind it, focus on the microbes, fungi and ect. I guess what I'm after is specific brands or products. Example... My first purchase of Coco was Mother Earth, I've later learned I may have been better off with Fox Farm's. Essentially trying to circumvent those types of mistakes. What's the best of the best? I appreciate yall...this community is...lit

Welcome to the club. ???
Imho great choice going ROLS. It's all I do here, pretty much water only growing.
My base mix was/Is peat and some coco mixed together, and a good organic compost. About 50/50 on the compost to medium ratio, and adding alot of aeration like perlite or similar. Then amending it with a good organic fertilizer, or make your own, and letting it set in a tote for a month or more before use.
Dr earth is a great one to use imho, very simple. Epsoma is another good one I like. Down to Earth if your doing separate custom amending.
Key point is feed the Soil, not the plant. The plant will be happy if the Soil is happy too.
Your Soil will get better and better over time as it gets cycled through. All the old roots become new organic fertilizer. Add in all your leaf trim to the totes of cooking soil for added compost. Reuse all of everything except branches. Lol.
Happy to provide any other info.

 

[Rozgreenburn]

Good luck, @JL2G is spot on! I switched over a year ago and 'why did I wait 40 years to try ROLS'? Just clean water and a 'tea' every 3 weeks. No PHing, no flushing, just easy. Don't forget to use a mild organic soil for seedlings and cuttings, that's the only soil I buy now, ROLS or super soil will burn them fast. There is an incredible bonus in recycled soil, it actually gets better with each recycle. Good luck.

 

[Gentlemancorpse]

For you guys doing ROLS already, would I be able to it in 3 gallon grow bags or do you think that's too small of a container? Now that my local hydro shop carries the build a soil line I think I'm gonna make the change myself possibly even for my next grow

 

[OldG]

I have had my totes now for close to a year...ROLS for life.

3 gallons can be used but you will be making tea for every watering to keep up. I think 5s or 7s are about the least you can grow in without pounding kelp, alfalfa and barley enzyme tea (constantly).

I have KIS soil....Stepwell soil...whateveri used...now i chop...let the planters dry right out and put the dirt in a tote...knock the ball out in a couple of days..when it gets full hit it with food (gaia 2 8 4, 4 4 4, Rock powders, OR black swallow soil ammendment pack) and let it steep....totes are numbered 1 to 5 and i rotate them...using #2 currently.

I was using perlite forever and then i got a bag of rice hulls...50 pounds of rice hulls expands to 6 cubic feet (42 gallons or so)...so its lasts...and rice hulls are 6% silica so you dont need to sumplement silica.

At first it was expensive...probably twice what coco coir would cost..BUT I have used it 4...5 times...maybe more. So the price is pretty good.

Now it is so easy. And i have 130 gallons of soil in totes...all planters in play soil FOREVER...

Buildasoil and Jadam changed how i see it. And a lot of folks on here grow organically so it was easy to get help if i was stumped.

 

[Rozgreenburn]

I have had no problem with 2 and 3 gallon nursery pots. I am using the Rev's TLO living soil recipe that I've tweaked. It's hot but it is great, except for seedlings and fresh cut clones, those get Pro- Mix organic mix. A good living tea every 3 weeks or less and I'm set. Agree with @OldG, soil Forever.

 

[Rozgreenburn]

Another composter of recharged supersoil sieved and ready for action! The next batch is in the composter now. Tomorrow I'll start a new batch for a pre-cook. I sure am satisfied with organics and love recharging my spent medium.
I am rather embarased about the large quantity of medium that I filled holes in the grass and added to my vegetable gardens over the decades.

 

[greenmachine29]

Nothing better IMO. Been at it for a while now. I have a recipe posted in my sticky thread that’s pretty tried and true feel free to take a look!

 

[Rozgreenburn]

Nothing better IMO. Been at it for a while now. I have a recipe posted in my sticky thread that’s pretty tried and true feel free to take a look!

Thanx amigo, I'll check you out soon. I have been using the Rev's TLO {true living organic} recipe for nearly year now. Every new batch gets 1 item added or tweaked. I'm still fine tuning my recipe before I post it up. Maybe your recipe will inspire me!

 

[greenmachine29]

Thanx amigo, I'll check you out soon. I have been using the Rev's TLO {true living organic} recipe for nearly year now. Every new batch gets 1 item added or tweaked. I'm still fine tuning my recipe before I post it up. Maybe your recipe will inspire me!

I started with the rev. It’s definitely and good jumping in point. I believe his inputs and methods are extremely over complicated though and he really pushes slaughterhouse products which I firmly stay away from. For me, no blood bone or feather meal. I think it comes from using products like beastie blooms and it makes since to increase our NPK numbers. Most phosphorus isn’t even plant available so why dump huge number at it? I find much more ease and aromatic healthyflowers without the NPK over 5 or 6.


No matter what flavor of cake(recycled soil) , it’s all delish.

 

[greenmachine29]

Good luck, @JL2G is spot on! I switched over a year ago and 'why did I wait 40 years to try ROLS'? Just clean water and a 'tea' every 3 weeks. No PHing, no flushing, just easy. Don't forget to use a mild organic soil for seedlings and cuttings, that's the only soil I buy now, ROLS or super soil will burn them fast. There is an incredible bonus in recycled soil, it actually gets better with each recycle. Good luck.

Hey there, just thought I’d share but I have great luck using recycled soil with no reammending on clones and seedlings. Just mix in a bit of pro mix to “lighten” It up a bit if needed.

 

[Rozgreenburn]

For you guys doing ROLS already, would I be able to it in 3 gallon grow bags or do you think that's too small of a container? Now that my local hydro shop carries the build a soil line I think I'm gonna make the change myself possibly even for my next grow

Hey amigo, I use 2 and 3 gallon pots with great sucess. I also add a floral tea every 2-3 weeks. I hope organics works for your grow style. It literally blew me away right out of the gate. Good luck...

 

[Gweedo's Growroom]

I'm currently taking my second wack at organic soil first go started out great but ran out of gas at about week 4 and I had to supplement with mineral based feed to finish them out, my mistake is im wanting to go the true no till route very little teas and a few top dressings once in a while, that isn't happening id say in anything smaller than a 10 honestly, so this go I reamended my original mix (coco,peat,soil conditioner aka compost, worm castings, pumice,vermiculite,perlite,amended with gypsum,oystershellflower,basalt rock dust,azomite,kelp,neem,alfalfa,crab meal,fishbone meal,bokashi grains,biochar, watered in with recharge and greatwhite, I reamended it with neem, bio live, gypsum,rock dust, and some more crab meal, from what I've gathered with a highly organic mix like this we really need to make sure we don't skimp on the minerals or calcium. I'm going into 10s this time instead of 5s and will run a tea every 3 weeks and top dress for flower a week before flip, next go im wanting to up it to lined 15s with full cover crop and see how that does

 

[Rozgreenburn]

I bought some cheap potting soil from the grocery's garden area. I just wanted a mix without too much heat. It was rather wet from being stored outside, so I dried it out. Friggin clay and perlite, I will just make all of my own soil from here on out.
I guess it's time to make another composter. Has anyone here ever gotten caught up? Not me, for sure!!!

 

[Rozgreenburn]

It was great soil, after adding coco, perlite, compost, worm castings and vermiculite.

 

[Gweedo's Growroom]

Just cut these last week, first what I would call a success in organics water and tribus and recharge the whole way through

 

[Rozgreenburn]

NOYCE