Building A Better Soil: Demonstrations & Discussions Of Organic Soil Recipes

[SweetSue]

As promised Sue, here is my first attempt at a living organic soil ecosystem. Let the scrutiny begin haha!

Okay so here is my soil mix;
*25L Seedling soil
*5L Perlite
*8 cups of rock/mineral dust (2 of which is pure quartz). The rock dust and quartz will be acquired from a local dry riverbed, which we will bring home and boil in hot water to kill any baddies in it, then we will further crush to make it as fine as possible.
*15-20 Organic spirulina vitamins (finely ground)
*1 cup of white beans (finely ground)
*3 heaped tbs of the following (all finely ground)
-fine dry coconut
-Corn (non-gmo)
-Rice (non-gmo)
*1 heaped tbs of himalayan rock salt (finely ground)
*1/2 cup of Eco-Neem
*1 tbs eco-seaweed
*1 1/2 cups of crustacean meal
*1 tbs All natural greek yoghurt (diluted in 500ml of de-clorinated water)

I hope this all intrigues you in a good way

Now here is my version of the teas, haha i know i'm trying my own teas i'm a madman! I like to experience things a bit differently so hopefully it works out

Tea 1: 3L coconut water, 3ml of both organic grow/bloom (all sources of this food is derived from NATURAL SOURCES, its from holland and they know their shit lol)
Tea 2: 3L coconut water, 3ml eco-neem, 1/4 cup of aloe vera juice, 1/3 tsp eco-seaweed (or 1.5g if you have the scales )
Tea 3: Rain water or de-chlorinated water (if rain water is unavailable)

Enjoy everyone! I hope you enjoy my twist on this amazing ecosystemal growing style, have a great day/night Peace, love and Light

Yes it is intriguing. I'll look it over more closely tomorrow. May I ask? Why white beans? Just curious as to your thinking.

Looking it over I think you and TheNuttyProfessor should meet, if you haven't already.

I like the inclusion of weekly aloe. Coot once said that aloe was the indispensable one for good roots. Your teas/drenches look good. You've obviously put lots of thought into it. Please explain the yogurt. That excited some neurons and I'm not sure why. (My brain will do that.)

Thanks Night. I'm excited for you.

 

[Tomster420]

Yes it is intriguing. I'll look it over more closely tomorrow. May I ask? Why white beans? Just curious as to your thinking.

Looking it over I think you and TheNuttyProfessor should meet, if you haven't already.

I like the inclusion of weekly aloe. Coot once said that aloe was the indispensable one for good roots. Your teas/drenches look good. You've obviously put lots of thought into it. Please explain the yogurt. That excited some neurons and I'm not sure why. (My brain will do that.)

Thanks Night. I'm excited for you.

Ask away I'm trying my own version of agsil in a sense, white beans is the highest form of potassium so i thought why not try it? The eco-seaweed has a good amount of potassium as well so that's a bonus for the silicate part of the agsil i'm hoping the use of the pure quartz rock will account for that, as you would know quartz is made up from silica. Let's see how my trial goes shall we?

Hmmm i don't think i have but i'm sure i'll meet him in the near future haha.

Thats what i thought! hehe i love it when minds connect. Well i've learnt from all of you that the more you put into your soil the more you will get out of it In moderation of course.

To explain the yoghurt, I thought to myself "I'm trying to create a micro-ecosystem thriving with good bacteria", we had just finished off the tub and thought hmmm i wonder because there is so much good bacteria in this would/could it transfer that culture into a soil system? I asked my partner (she has a more scientific backround than i do) if it could and she said it may be able to but if it doesn't then the bacteria that naturally forms over the next month will have some nice yoghurt bacteria to munch on. In conclusion either way it seems like a win win to me

I'm excited sue! You have inspired me greatly so any victory of mine is yours and in turn the person who taught you, circle of love and positive energy

 

[SweetSue]

Ask away I'm trying my own version of agsil in a sense, white beans is the highest form of potassium so i thought why not try it? The eco-seaweed has a good amount of potassium as well so that's a bonus for the silicate part of the agsil i'm hoping the use of the pure quartz rock will account for that, as you would know quartz is made up from silica. Let's see how my trial goes shall we?

Hmmm i don't think i have but i'm sure i'll meet him in the near future haha.

Thats what i thought! hehe i love it when minds connect. Well i've learnt from all of you that the more you put into your soil the more you will get out of it In moderation of course.

To explain the yoghurt, I thought to myself "I'm trying to create a micro-ecosystem thriving with good bacteria", we had just finished off the tub and thought hmmm i wonder because there is so much good bacteria in this would/could it transfer that culture into a soil system? I asked my partner (she has a more scientific backround than i do) if it could and she said it may be able to but if it doesn't then the bacteria that naturally forms over the next month will have some nice yoghurt bacteria to munch on. In conclusion either way it seems like a win win to me

I'm excited sue! You have inspired me greatly so any victory of mine is yours and in turn the person who taught you, circle of love and positive energy

I like your thinking. Conradino grows outdoors in Italy and this year he worked to increase the high brix of his organic grows. One of the things he used was Lithothamnium, a deep sea red algae. It's a good source of calcium, which lends bulk and sweetness to the produce. I haven't tracked any down yet, but I will. It gets sold in pet stores, but there must be other sources. I recommend you at least research it.

Conradino knows his stuff. His journals are gold mines of info on organic gardening, and what he knows about strains will make your head spin.

The Professor has a love of the exotic ingredient, and harvests killer bud with his zany approach.

We're a diverse and creative community.

 

[Heirloom]

Monsanto bought General hydroponics and Vermicrop Organics in April under the company name Hawthorn Garden Group (or something like that). They tried to keep it really quiet -pretty successfully.

Yep, here they come, invading or meds. All the fertilizer and pest control we could possibly need. I wonder if they will bless us with GMO cannabis seeds, so we can spray round-up on our plants with out ANY ill effects.

Truly we are lucky to still be getting any harvest at all with out their help.

:icon_roll

I was looking for a local source of phosphate not long ago and came across a company that had a locally produced phosphate. I began to write down the address then stopped when I saw it was on 'Monsanto Rd'. Doing some research I discovered this company bought the rights from monsanto to use the wash from the super phos mining that happened early last century.

 

[Tomster420]

I like your thinking. Conradino grows outdoors in Italy and this year he worked to increase the high brix of his organic grows. One of the things he used was Lithothamnium, a deep sea red algae. It's a good source of calcium, which lends bulk and sweetness to the produce. I haven't tracked any down yet, but I will. It gets sold in pet stores, but there must be other sources. I recommend you at least research it.

Conradino knows his stuff. His journals are gold mines of info on organic gardening, and what he knows about strains will make your head spin.

The Professor has a love of the exotic ingredient, and harvests killer bud with his zany approach.

We're a diverse and creative community.

I'll definitely have to check both the threads out for sure! Thank you for guiding me. Ooohhh deep sea red algae sounds cool and nutritious OMG you just reminded me what i added to the soil mix to give it calcium and magnesium! I'll have to edit that I'll do that now.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Hello folks.
Here are a couple of re-post from my journal as requested by SweetSue.

Only one of a million ways to grow organic Mary Jane.

My Soil Mix

Ingredients:
Soil Base. Consist mostly of composted black soil containing lots of leaf matter.
Worm Castings
Bone Meal
Blood Meal
Bat Guano
Chicken Shit
Sheep Shit
Alfalfa Meal
Crushed Pumice Stone
Crushed Oyster Shells
Ground Egg Shells
Used Coffee Grounds
Neem Cake Meal
Rice Hulls
Coco Coir
Dolomite Lime
Epsom Salt
Humic Acid
BioChar
EM (Effective Microorganisms)

After mixing I put into clear plastic tubs with clear covers and let it set outside in the sun for at least 4 to 6 months before using. While simmering I turn and water a few times per week until it's ready to use.
Before using the mix for potting up plants I add a bit of perlite along with more coco coir, more worm castings, more bat guano, more bone meal, more dolomite lime (based on ph adjustment needs), more epsom salt, and more neem cake meal. I mix everything well then use.

Ingredient Quantities:
To be honest my gardening habits are similar to my cooking habits in that I don't really measure ingredients when making a batch of soil. I just know from experience about how much of which ingredients to add for different purposes. I was raised on a farm and I've had many years of organic growing experience with fruit and vegetable crops so it's not like I'm just throwing darts at a dart board hoping that I get close to bulls eye. There is a bit of knowledge and experience at play but it's probably an even mix of luck and skill that gets me by by the skin of my teeth sometimes. LOL!

IMHO due to variations and inconsistencies in regards to the ingredients that are contained in most organic based products that are the standard fare when making a custom soil mix it's really an imprecise science. Example...If two groups of bats are eating different diets, the bat dung from both groups of bats will not contain the same NPK ratios. Same goes for worm castings. All worm castings are not the same. Anyways, you all get the picture.

I sometimes compare building a healthy soil to what it takes to build a healthy body. If you want to build a healthy body you need to feed the machine with a WIDE ASSORTMENT of CLEAN and HIGH QUALITY foods. Eating too much of anything is usually a bad thing but eating too little of those same things are bad as well. Same goes for building a healthy and balanced soil. In most but not all cases the amounts of each ingredient are not as important as the variety of the ingredients that are used and getting the soil texture right. I won't get into soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) but those who may have a real interest in organic soil gardening monster should read up on this subject as this is they key as to how plant uptake and utilize nutrients.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that IMHO there is no PERFECT SOIL RECIPE folks!! There are however some recipes that are better than others and the key reason lies in the variety and quality of the ingredients used. There's more to gardening than just N-P-K and Cal/Mag.
I like to try to not over complicate things unless complicated is the ONLY route to success and growing good weed ain't as complicated or difficult as most folks make it out to be.

Anyways, now that I've probably ruffled up a few feathers with the organic soil growers as well as the hydro gardeners my work is done here. LOL!

One of these days I'll take notes of the quantities of ingredients that I use when mixing up a new batch of soil.

Have a Great Day Everyone!

Transplant Up

Some of the first clones that were taken were itching to get transplanted into larger pots so today was the big day.

After cleaning up from the bubble hash session it was time to mix up some transplant soil.

Begin by adding some of my pre-mixed and pre-simmered composted soil mix to a plastic container for mixing.

Add a few last minute amendments before mixing.

Mix well.

Place plastic screen into wicker baskets.

Clones waiting to be placed into their new homes.

One day sometime back when topping this LA Chocolat clone I stuck the part that I snipped off into the corner of the pot.
The cutting took root so I went ahead and removed it and potted it in it's own pot.

When transplanting I like to massage the root ball and break up the roots a bit before covering with soil.

After giving them a good B-1 infused watering the newly transplanted clones were then placed inside of my spare tent with a Mars-Hydro 144x5 providing artificial sun.

This tent has proven to be useful for so many things I've begun referring to it as my Swiss Army Tent. LOL!

They'll be left here recovering from transplant shock and left vegging under 18/6 lighting schedule for at least a week or 2.

Have a great day 420 friends.

Keep your plants green and your headlights shining red!

 

[SweetSue]

Thank you UncleCannabis. This is an invaluable addition to our data base. I want growers to be able to come here and be amazed by the many and varied ways we pull together the living soils that grow our plants for us.

 

[SweetSue]

LungButter, I never answered a question you asked about planting the next seed right behind. Yes indeed, I plant the next seed the day after harvest. I topdress with vermicompost, re-supply the mulch and drop the next seed into the pot. The sooner you replant the faster the myco community attached to the previous plant can align themselves to the new taproot. Works like a dream, if the seed germinates. I'm still refining the germination stage to gain more consistency.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Here's another share.
I'll be flowering out my Girl Scout Cookies mother in this mix using the soil from my last grow as the base.
I'll let you know how things turn out in about another 10 weeks or so.

UncleCannabis' KISS Used Soil Mix (Flowering/Bloom Mix)

Ingredients -
- Used Soil Mix from Previous Grow (Flushed after grow then allowed to dry out before reuse.) - Approximately 10.5 Gallons
- Earth Worm Castings (Vermicast) - Approximately 3 Gallons
- Pumice Stone - 6 Cups
- Rice Hulls - Approximately 1 cu/ft
- Course Cut Coco Coir - Approximately 1 cu/ft
- Medium/Fine Cut Coco Coir - Approximately 1 cu/ft
- Bone Meal - 3 Cups
- Indonesian Bat Guano - 3 Cups
- Cow Manure - 8 Cups
- Dolomite Lime - 2 Cups
- Epsom Salt - 1/2 Cup
- Used Coffee Grounds - 2 Cups
- Egg Shells - Approximately 6 egg shells

Wall of Goodies

Old Soil Mix From Last Grow

Ingredients

Time to mix it all up

Simmering / Cooking
Once finished mixing it would be best to place the container with the cover on outside in an area that gets lots of sun light.
Leave for minimum of 2 weeks before using.
Turn with shovel a couple of times per week.
Keep moist / slightly wet but not saturated.

Note - There's a list a mile long of other ingredients that can be added. This is a KISS recipe that is based on the ingredients that I had available on my wall of goodies.

**I do not suggest that others use this mix until my experimental grow with my Girl Scout Cookies mother is complete and results are known.**

 

[Canyon]

SweetSue,
Thanks for the reply over on another thread.

I have been itching to find a place for this. It is under Creative Commons.

"Plant biodiversity is often correlated with ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems.

However, we know little about the relative and combined effects of above- and belowground
biodiversity on multiple ecosystem functions (for example, ecosystem multifunctionality,
EMF) or how climate might mediate those relationships. Here we tease apart the effects of
biotic and abiotic factors, both above- and belowground, on EMF on the Tibetan Plateau,
China. We found that a suite of biotic and abiotic variables account for up to 86% of the
variation in EMF, with the combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity
accounting for 45% of the variation in EMF. Our results have two important implications: first,
including belowground biodiversity in models can improve the ability to explain and predict
EMF. Second, regional-scale variation in climate, and perhaps climate change, can determine,
or at least modify, the effects of biodiversity on EMF in natural ecosystems."


It is a huge study published 9/2/15 The links between ecosystem multifunctionality and above- and belowground biodiversity are mediated by climate


It is also too technical for me.


This is a link to a summery with some quotes in English. Soil Biodiversity Supports Ecosystem, report | Al Jazeera America


Best,
canyon

 

[SweetSue]

SweetSue,
Thanks for the reply over on another thread.

I have been itching to find a place for this. It is under Creative Commons.

“Plant biodiversity is often correlated with ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems.

However, we know little about the relative and combined effects of above- and belowground
biodiversity on multiple ecosystem functions (for example, ecosystem multifunctionality,
EMF) or how climate might mediate those relationships. Here we tease apart the effects of
biotic and abiotic factors, both above- and belowground, on EMF on the Tibetan Plateau,
China. We found that a suite of biotic and abiotic variables account for up to 86% of the
variation in EMF, with the combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity
accounting for 45% of the variation in EMF. Our results have two important implications: first,
including belowground biodiversity in models can improve the ability to explain and predict
EMF. Second, regional-scale variation in climate, and perhaps climate change, can determine,
or at least modify, the effects of biodiversity on EMF in natural ecosystems.”


It is a huge study published 9/2/15 The links between ecosystem multifunctionality and above- and belowground biodiversity are mediated by climate


It is also too technical for me.


This is a link to a summery with some quotes in English. Soil Biodiversity Supports Ecosystem, report | Al Jazeera America


Best,
canyon

Provocative canyon. Thanks for sharing that. Makes me even prouder to have maintained my own little plot of living soil. Biodiversity is a very good thing.

 

[SweetSue]

Great UncleCannabis! That's a nice mix. I need to get a shovel. What haven't I bought a shovel yet? Haha! It might have even been you who pointed out that lacking piece of equipment to me recently, and I ignored it.

I'll be watching for your update. Thanks for the share.

 

[UncleCannabis]

You need a shovel and I need a measuring cup. There always seems to be something missing..... LOL!

 

[bobrown14]

You need a shovel and I need a measuring cup. There always seems to be something missing..... LOL!

Hey there UC - I like your measurements - one shovel full... 1/2 shovel full... perfect!

The shovel has many uses as does a cup.

Nice little write up there on your soil mix, that's impressive. Very impressive actually. I see you re-mix your old soil with part new. Not no-til but also re-using the old which is best of both worlds. I've got no-til pots going and just mixed a new set of pots. Was on the fence on what to do next and I think you've helped me make up my mind. I'll re-mix like you did.

thank you for your post and your inspiration.

We just got back from another vacation tonight - this grow we were away for.... wait for it..... 25 (75-80 day flower) days of flowing this last round. A testament to organic growing - water and LITFA. I automated the watering and now all I have to do is chop chop chop... and then smoke smoke smoke.

It's GTBU. A little yellowing but pssst I'm not smoking the fan leaves anyways.


Me has some more choppin to do tomorrow!! YAY me! pic of flower room when I quickly ran up to the room with a bucket of water...ahhh hey the girls are a little thirsty but its all good. You can only do this with organic growing 100%.

Hats off to CO where ever he is.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Thanks for the kind words bobrown14.
It appears that we're in similar situations. My job requires periodic travel so I also have to leave my girls unattended for long periods of time.

I like to water by hand when possible but I've been using the Blumats watering carrots to take over the watering chores while I'm away and have had good success so far as long as my reservoir doesn't run dry.
Unfortunately my first grow ended up dying of thirst (reservoir ran dry) due to me being away for longer than expected.
It was a very humbling experience to say the least. Vine dried cannabis is not something any gardener wants to see when he/she returns home and unzips the flowering tent.

Regarding the reuse of soil, I think it would be wasteful and foolish of me to toss out a potting soil mix that I spent lots of time and money building which is still good and in my opinion even better than when it was first used.

No synthetics were ever used so there is no build up of salts or other nasties from using urea based fertilizers and there were never any soil borne pest that were noticed.

Because all of the organic amendments that were previously added have been further broken down over time this results in improved soil structure and texture compared to when first used. There is also a healthy microbial environment already in place.
Why toss out black gold that only needs a bit of sweetening up??

By the way, it doesn't look like your girls missed you much while you were away. They've done very well with Papa being gone for so long.

Gotta' love the simplicity of organics.

 

[SBG]

Some great reading here folks.

My last few plants and future ones are growing in a mixture of my backyard/kitchen scraps all my leaf trimings and my left over Promix HP and some perlite and then just a small top up of Myk's and away I go, Although I have not gone as far as you folks, I still use Gen/org line of nutes.

 

[Robert Celt]

Good evening Sue

I am still only about 1/2 way through this thread and have even more to read on your High Brix thread, SO much info LOL

I love the idea of a place to compile different organic soil recipes and grow styles, there is always more than one path to a destination

I recently wrote an article and posted it at the urging of a friend who is wanting to go organic and had lots of questions. Its not a recipe but more of a tutorial/information session to give beginners a better understanding of the process of building an organic soil and composting.

If you would like to include the article here, the link is in my sig

 

[36Gr0w]

Should be shared here as well. Introduction & Basic Concepts | Modern Gardening

 

[SweetSue]

Thank you. You beat me here. I got distracted by sparkly. (Private joke).

 

[SweetSue]

How can we thank you enough for putting this together? I'm honored to include it in this data base of soil celebrations

Soil Science

The Basics
Soil science is often a mysterious and misunderstood subject to many growers, especially new growers. Many realize the basic requirements of our plants (NPK, calcium, Mg and trace minerals, pH) and there is much information and many recipes available to us for our plants. But without understanding how and when these nutrients are available to the plant, all we have is a hodge-podge of components that have the nutrients needed but no idea if and when they are available. If we are lucky ( I was on my 1st grow), our plants grow and we are rewarded for our efforts and all is good. On the other hand, if trouble arises, how do we determine where the problem lies?

A properly prepared Living Organic Soil is the most forgiving and least maintenance of grow mediums. Nutrient burn is highly unlikely and deficiencies are rare. Nutrients are available as the plant needs them and the plant will only take up what it needs when it needs.

THIS is where a better understanding of soil science helps us.

Many growers have heard of SubCool and his supersoil. On the surface, it seems well rounded and contains everything our plants need, but if we break it down, we find that a simpler and cheaper soil can be obtained that will perform as well and maybe even better.

When we are building a Super Soil, or more accurately a Living Soil which we will get into after the basics, the most important things we need to know are NOT NPK ratios and pH, but rather we need to understand "release rates" and CN ratios. These 2 things go hand in hand, and if we understand this, we can pick our components much more intelligently and also save ourselves money.

The CN ratio refers to carbon-nitrogen ratio in any given component of our soil, and this in turn determines our "release rate", or the time frame over which the nutrients of the component become available to our plants. For all organic amendments we want to keep the CN ratio to 20:1 or less. Higher ratios take longer to break down, but even more importantly to us as growers, the microbes that break the organic matter down making it usable to our plants, use nitrogen during the breakdown process. When the CN ratio is high, these microbes use all available nitrogen and rob its availability to our plants.

For us as organic growers, whether it be vegetables or cannabis (same rules apply), we are looking at a grow season of 6-8 months. Therefore, we want amendments that will be available to our plants over that range.
Now that we have set down the basic requirements, lets look at some of SubCool's ingredients and whether they are good/bad or even needed.

Bat Guano: NPK varies and release rates from weeks to months, depends on the source. This can make it a good choice but is expensive and there are better, environmentally friendly, cheaper alternatives.

Worm Castings: NPK varies according to what they have been giving to eat. Release rates are essentially immediate. If fed a varied diet, worm castings are essentially Mother Nature's perfect fertilizer.
Worm casting are neither cheap nor easily available to many, and in the quantities listed in SubCool's recipe gets quite costly.

Rock Phosphate (granite dust): source of P but extremely slow release, 5 yrs and more. For an annual plant, this is a waste of effort, the plant is long harvested before the P is available.

Azomite and Humic Acid: source of micro nutrients, can easily be replaced by many plant based amendments: Kelp meal, Alfalfa meal etc.

Overall, this recipe is not bad but can get expensive and has some un-needed components.

Now let us look at some components of a cheaper Living soil:

We need a base, typically our base will be peat based. ProMix BX is a good choice, it is peat, perlite and lime inoculated with mycorrhizae (a beneficial fungus). If you want to save even more money you can make your own base with the same ingredients as the ProMix, you will just have to test your pH and adjust the lime accordingly.
Now you need amendments to supply nutrients for your plants. I am going to list amendments with their NPK ratios and release rates. Afterwards I will explain how to choose your amendments. I have not bothered with CN ratios for these as they are all in the range we are looking for.

Alfalfa meal: NPK of 2.5-0.5-2.0, this will vary depending on the source, and it is also a good source of many micro-nutrients. Release rates from 2-6 months.

Blood meal: NPK of 12.5-.25-0.6, again varies, fast release of 6-8 weeks.

Bone meal: typically high in P (14+) may also have N. Release rate of 2-4 months.

Crab shell meal: NPK of 10-0.25-0.05 plus Ca and micros with a release rate of 4-6 months.
Crab shell is high in chitin, which promotes the growth of chitin eating bacteria. The exoskeletons of fungus and harmful varieties of nematodes eggs are high in chitin. When added to the soil, crab shell helps to create a hostile environment for the fungus and root destroying nematodes by feeding the biological life that eats chitin and chitin based organisms. The chitin in the crabshell stimulates soil organisms to secrete enzymes called chitinases. These enzymes degrade chitin, which is a component of flea egg shells. The presence of chitin in the fertilizer makes it a natural biopesticide that is non-toxic to birds, animals, fish, and plants.

Feather meal: 15-0-0 with a release rate of 4-6 months

Fish meal: 10-(4-6)-0 with a release rate of 4-6 months

Kelp meal: 1-0.5-(4-13) and a release rate of 4-6 months, also an excellent source of micro-nutrients

Wood ashes: 0-5-(3-7) and releases 1-4 months. Be careful, wood ash is alkaline and may raise pH

Finely ground egg shells are an excellent source of calcium

Epsom salt for Mg and sulphur

Gypsum for calcium and sulphur

Stone/crusher dust, it goes by many names but is essentially the left overs from quarries after they have crushed and screened stone for gravel. It is a mix of stone chips (usually ¼" and under) and stone dust. You want the dust of granite (as opposed to limestone). It is a LONG term amendment containing phosphorous and trace minerals that will slowly release over years. I prefer to use it as a top dressing, about ½" thick to prevent nasties, like fungus gnats, from having a place to lay eggs.

Lastly the often overlooked silicates: Silicates are used by plants to strengthen cell walls giving us sturdier, disease resistant plants. Potassium Silicate is commonly sold for this purpose but there is a cheaper alternative that is more readily available for uptake by our plants. Diatomaceous earth.

"Fortunately, many growers are now discovering the benefits of flowable silicon as an alternative to potassium silicate. Flowable silicon is pH neutral and it is derived from natural sources of silicon dioxide. The best source of flowable silicon comes from clean, finely-powdered diatomaceous earth."

and:

"DE is approximately 3% magnesium, 33% silicon, 19% calcium, 5% sodium, 2% iron and many other trace minerals such as titanium, boron, manganese, copper and zirconium."


Worm castings as mentioned above are an excellent all round amendment

Lastly the skins of fruits and vegetables (cucumber, bananas, potatoes, etc) in their ash form (burnt) are high in both P and K. Rather than burn them to get the ashes, compost them separately from your other food wastes and use the compost or if you have your own worm bins, feed them to the worms.

Now as can be seen from the list above, many of these amendments have release rates between 2 and 6 months. What those numbers actually refer to is the time over which micro organisms in the soil break down the organic matter making the nutrients available to our plants. Once broken down, the nutrients remain in the soil and available until the plant uses them up.

For our purposes, building a soil, the NPK refers to how MUCH of a given nutrient is available (% weight) and the 1st number in the rate determines WHEN those nutrients become widely available. The ratios of amendments we add really doesn't matter so long as we err on the side of too much. We really can't over fertilize with organic amendments, plants will only take what they want (need), but we can under fertilize in which case our plants will use up all available nutrients before they are done growing.

After choosing your base and amendments, mix thoroughly, water well and let "cook" for a few weeks. The length of time will depend on a number of things:

First being the amount of organic matter to used, large quantities of organic matter, like alfalfa, will generate heat as it breaks down. In the first few weeks it can generate enough heat to literally cook your plants (over 100 degrees F) so make sure you have left it long enough to cool before using.

Secondly, depending on the size and nutrient requirements of your plants, you want it to cook long enough to have nutrients available to your plants. 2 to 4 weeks is usually long enough for smaller plants with lower requirements, as they grow, more and more nutrients become available.

If you are transplanting larger plants, you will want to let it cook longer, 2 months or more, to ensure that there are enough available nutrients to keep your plants from starving.

Composting and Worm Castings
Firstly, what you DON'T want in your compost: meats, bones and fatty substances, pet feces, these things break down slowly, attract all kinds of unwanted pests, generally smell foul and are not needed by your plants.
Now that we know what not to put in, what DO we add? Composting is fairly simple if you understand what is taking place in your bin. You want to aim for a certain ratio of greens and browns, which is a simple way to describe C-N ratios  Greens are high nitrogen/low carbon and browns are low nitrogen/high carbon. We want to aim for a C-N ratio of around 30:1 for best results. Lower ratios generate a lot of heat and higher ratios take longer to break down.

So how do we distinguish between greens and browns? As a general rule: any fresh vegetable/fruit waste (skins etc) are greens and if it's dry and brown (dark) like dead leaves in your yard or straw it's a brown. Mix 30 parts brown to 1 part green and you are good to go . For those who would like to be more scientific about it, do a google search for C-N Ratios, there is lots of information on the web concerning these ratios with lists of C-N ratios for various things.

If you want to kick start your compost into high gear, add a shovel full of soil from your garden to give it a microbe boost. Well rotted horse or cow manure is also a good addition. Avoid fresh manure and wood shavings/sawdust in you composter.

For those of you wanting to do worm composting as well, feed them your compost or the same things that you would put in your compost bin including any of the soil amendments listed early on. Just avoid things like onions and citrus unless it has been composted first As a rule of thumb, if it is something that would sting your eyes, don't feed it to your worms.

True Living Organic Soil
Now after building your soil, you have 2 options. First, after you have harvested your plants, you can recycle the soil, add new amendments and reuse OR you can maintain it for "no till" use with ACTs (aerated compost teas) and have a True Organic Living Soil. I am not going to delve into "no till" and ACTs as there are many on here (Doc Bud, SweetSue, SoilGirl just to name a few) who have much more experience than I in this area and are great sources of information on this subject.

So in conclusion, organic soil is not a mystical subject and is really quite easy once you know what to do. There is no muss and fussing with fertilizers, no hard fast rules, and nutrient burn, deficiencies and lockout are virtually non-existent. You will have healthier, better tasting bud (and vegetables) with no need to flush the soil prior to harvest.

Once you've build your soil, added the things your plants require, just add water and grow 