Greetings everyone. I decided shortly after flipping my girls from my first grow, that I wanted to try my hand at making my own organic soil. This will document what I did and maybe help any other organic growers that are thinking about making their own soil.
I probably went a little overboard with everything I added into my soil. You can certainly start much more simple with far fewer ingredients. I wanted something a bit on the more complex side....a full course buffet for the good things in my soil to eat. My goal is for there to be enough in my soil that I don't need to add any nutrients for the entire grow.
Here are the ingredients and amounts of what I used in my mix. I came to these ingredients through quite a lot of reading and taking things from some recipes and other items from other recipes. Some of the items I have been using in my outdoor vegetable garden and I figured throw it in there as well.
(2) 10 gallon bags of Roots organic soil
(1) Bag of Coco Coir
(1) 30lb bag of EWC
(1) bag Humus Soil
(.5) bag of Bio-Char
(2)lbs Fish Bone Meal (4 cups)
(1/3) cup Dolomite Lime
(1/4) cup Azomite
(2) lbs Blood Meal (6 cups)
(2) lbs Bat Guano (3 cups)
(1/3) cup Epsom Salt
(1/2) cup Roch Phosphate
(2) cups Shrimp Meal
(2) cups Oyster Shell
(2) cups Crab Meal
(2) cups Bio-Fish
(3) cups Alfalfa Meal
(2) cups Kelp Meal
(3) cups Green Sand
(3) cups Soybean Meal
(2) cups Feather Meal
(2) cups Langbeinite
(4) cups Neem Seed Meal
(2) cups Bone Meal
(1) cup Mykos
(4 tablespoon) Azos
(1 tablespoon) Humic Acid
I decided to mix ingredients two or three at a time and turn the soil over well before adding the next two or three ingredients. My reasoning is it would lead to a much more thorough and better blend.
Just a quick glance of some of the stuff going into the soil
Step 1. Spread a bag of Roots Organic Soil onto tarp (You still have one left to add later)
Step 2. Add bag of Coco Coir to the Roots Organic Soil
Step 3. Add 30lb bag of Earth Worm Castings to the mixture.
Step 4. Add bag of Humus Soil to the mixture.
I mixed these 4 items together via a flat shovel until it was blended together and no noticeable chunks or streaks. After this, there is no specific order to start adding the other ingredients but this is the order I chose to go. I did choose to do the Fish Bone Meal because it stinks the most.
Step 5. Mix in 4 cups of Fish Bone Meal (very stinky)
Step 6. Mix in 6 cups of Blood Meal (stinky)
Step 7. Mix in 3 cups of Bat Guano
Step 8. Mix in 1/3 cup of Dolomite Lime
Step 9. Mix in 1/4 cup of Azomite
Step 10. Mix in 1/3 cup of Epsom Salt (forgot to take picture)
Step 11. Mix in 1/2 cup of Rock Phosphate
Step 12. Mix in 2 cups of Shrimp Meal
Step 13. Mix in 2 cups of Oyster Shell
Step 14. Mix in 2 cups of Crab Meal
Step 15. Mix in 2 cups of Bio-Fish
Step 16. Mix in 3 cups of Alfalfa Meal
Step 17. Mix in 3 cups of Greensand
Step 18. Mix in 2 cups of Kelp Meal
Step 19. Mix in 3 cups of Soybean Meal
Step 20. Mix in 2 cups of Feather Meal
Step 21. Mix in 2nd bag of Roots Organic Soil
Step 22. Mix in 2 cups of Langbeinite
Step 23. Mix in 4 cups of Neem Seed Meal
Step 24. Mix in 2 cups of Steamed Bone Meal
Step 25. Mix in 4 Tablespoons of Azos
Step 26. Mix in 1 cup of Mykos
Step 27. Mix in 1 Tablespoon of Humic Acid (powder, not liquid)
Step 28. Mix in half a bag of Bio Char
Ensure all your ingredients are mixed extremely well together. This will take some time turning your soil mixture with a shovel (or cement mixer if you have one).
Step 29. Wet your soil mixture so that it is damp to the touch. Do not soak it, just dampen it.
I folded my tarp over and put blocks down overnight and came back out the next day and remixed all the soil again, turning it repeatedly with the shovel.
This batch yielded me approximately 48 gallons of soil. I put the soil into 2 twenty gallon trash cans with lids and the rest fit into 2 five gallon buckets with lids. Let your soil 'cook' in the sun for at least 30 days. It will become hot to the touch. Check occasionally for dampness and add water if necessary. After 30-45 days, your soil will be ready for use. I will be using my soil on my next grow. Cheers and happy growing!
I probably went a little overboard with everything I added into my soil. You can certainly start much more simple with far fewer ingredients. I wanted something a bit on the more complex side....a full course buffet for the good things in my soil to eat. My goal is for there to be enough in my soil that I don't need to add any nutrients for the entire grow.
Here are the ingredients and amounts of what I used in my mix. I came to these ingredients through quite a lot of reading and taking things from some recipes and other items from other recipes. Some of the items I have been using in my outdoor vegetable garden and I figured throw it in there as well.
(2) 10 gallon bags of Roots organic soil
(1) Bag of Coco Coir
(1) 30lb bag of EWC
(1) bag Humus Soil
(.5) bag of Bio-Char
(2)lbs Fish Bone Meal (4 cups)
(1/3) cup Dolomite Lime
(1/4) cup Azomite
(2) lbs Blood Meal (6 cups)
(2) lbs Bat Guano (3 cups)
(1/3) cup Epsom Salt
(1/2) cup Roch Phosphate
(2) cups Shrimp Meal
(2) cups Oyster Shell
(2) cups Crab Meal
(2) cups Bio-Fish
(3) cups Alfalfa Meal
(2) cups Kelp Meal
(3) cups Green Sand
(3) cups Soybean Meal
(2) cups Feather Meal
(2) cups Langbeinite
(4) cups Neem Seed Meal
(2) cups Bone Meal
(1) cup Mykos
(4 tablespoon) Azos
(1 tablespoon) Humic Acid
I decided to mix ingredients two or three at a time and turn the soil over well before adding the next two or three ingredients. My reasoning is it would lead to a much more thorough and better blend.
Just a quick glance of some of the stuff going into the soil
Step 1. Spread a bag of Roots Organic Soil onto tarp (You still have one left to add later)
Step 2. Add bag of Coco Coir to the Roots Organic Soil
Step 3. Add 30lb bag of Earth Worm Castings to the mixture.
Step 4. Add bag of Humus Soil to the mixture.
I mixed these 4 items together via a flat shovel until it was blended together and no noticeable chunks or streaks. After this, there is no specific order to start adding the other ingredients but this is the order I chose to go. I did choose to do the Fish Bone Meal because it stinks the most.
Step 5. Mix in 4 cups of Fish Bone Meal (very stinky)
Step 6. Mix in 6 cups of Blood Meal (stinky)
Step 7. Mix in 3 cups of Bat Guano
Step 8. Mix in 1/3 cup of Dolomite Lime
Step 9. Mix in 1/4 cup of Azomite
Step 10. Mix in 1/3 cup of Epsom Salt (forgot to take picture)
Step 11. Mix in 1/2 cup of Rock Phosphate
Step 12. Mix in 2 cups of Shrimp Meal
Step 13. Mix in 2 cups of Oyster Shell
Step 14. Mix in 2 cups of Crab Meal
Step 15. Mix in 2 cups of Bio-Fish
Step 16. Mix in 3 cups of Alfalfa Meal
Step 17. Mix in 3 cups of Greensand
Step 18. Mix in 2 cups of Kelp Meal
Step 19. Mix in 3 cups of Soybean Meal
Step 20. Mix in 2 cups of Feather Meal
Step 21. Mix in 2nd bag of Roots Organic Soil
Step 22. Mix in 2 cups of Langbeinite
Step 23. Mix in 4 cups of Neem Seed Meal
Step 24. Mix in 2 cups of Steamed Bone Meal
Step 25. Mix in 4 Tablespoons of Azos
Step 26. Mix in 1 cup of Mykos
Step 27. Mix in 1 Tablespoon of Humic Acid (powder, not liquid)
Step 28. Mix in half a bag of Bio Char
Ensure all your ingredients are mixed extremely well together. This will take some time turning your soil mixture with a shovel (or cement mixer if you have one).
Step 29. Wet your soil mixture so that it is damp to the touch. Do not soak it, just dampen it.
I folded my tarp over and put blocks down overnight and came back out the next day and remixed all the soil again, turning it repeatedly with the shovel.
This batch yielded me approximately 48 gallons of soil. I put the soil into 2 twenty gallon trash cans with lids and the rest fit into 2 five gallon buckets with lids. Let your soil 'cook' in the sun for at least 30 days. It will become hot to the touch. Check occasionally for dampness and add water if necessary. After 30-45 days, your soil will be ready for use. I will be using my soil on my next grow. Cheers and happy growing!
