I hope folks with knowledge on the subject will contribute to this thread and that others will use it to learn, grow, and develop skills as organic cannabis gardeners. I will draw from personal experience as well as the work of others to compile information here for everyone at 420magazine's benefit.
If you believe that organics uses bottled nutrients then you certainly have the right to that opinion. However, it is not an opinion shared in the living soil community. Feel free to follow along, but discussion of using bottled organic or organic "based" nutrients is not welcome on this thread. Start a new thread and invite me, I will gladly discuss it with you there. Thanks.
Whether you have never grown a plant before and are interested in doing so with organics or you are a seasoned veteran synthetic grower looking to make the switch to organics, this thread is for you. Feel free to ask questions, just make sure you are doing the required reading. Although potentially intimidating at first, growing the highest quality organic cannabis is fairly simple. In order for this to work for you, you must first completely shed the synthetic mindset, and go organic all the way, there isn't really any such thing as an organic based grow, or using some organic items and some synthetics. It just doesn't work that way, period. Organic growing is all about the soil food web (SFW). The soil food web is what we humans (as the organic gardeners) are cultivating. The SFW is in turn cultivating our cannabis plants that we plant into our containers. Understanding that last few sentences is understanding organic gardening in a nut shell. The soil food web is fascinating. Best to let Dr. Elaine Ingham explain it rather than paraphrasing her detailed explanation.
Soil Food Web | NRCS
Please read thoroughly.
How bottled nutrients work
Please note that I am not differentiating between bottled organic nutrients and bottled synthetic nutrients. Fact is, they operate the same way. Yes, even stuff with OMRI label, all bottled nutrients work the same way, bypassing the SFW and force feeding our plants. This leads to all sorts of complications. This is the reason absolutely no bottled nutrients are recommended for organics. Bottled nutrients work through chelation.
How Living Organic Soil works
We, the humans, mix together a proven master soil mix containing multifaceted amendments with the full array of nutrients. Everything is in the soil, we tend the soil, and the SFW makes nutrients readily available for plant uptake. Tending to the soil is a huge deal, in fact that's really all we do. At some point soon you will need to understand mulching, top dressing, watering without wet/dry cycles, organic IPM (integrated pest management), SST's (sprouted seed or enzyme teas), using dynamic accumulator plants, botanical nutrient teas, compost teas, vermicomposting, thermo composting, and the list goes on...
...but you don't have to understand all that stuff to get started. To get the ball rolling all you need to do is get some soil mixed up per the recipe ill post shortly and get it put into the containers you wish to use (larger is better and many folks like geo or smart style pots). Sourcing the various amendments is a pain in the ass, but worth it. Before planting any cannabis into the containers it is recommended that you give the soil a period of 2-4+ weeks to process or "cook". Longer is fine. It is a good idea as soon as you put the soil into containers to plant some cover crop seeds. This helps with preparing your soil and keeping it healthy. As the grower, you have a choice to make, whether to do a no till approach with your containers or a recycled, amended approach. Its up to you, and both will start out the same so it something you can research and ponder. I can promise you there is no throwing away Living Organic Soil, and that it gets better with time, in addition to starting out growing the fire! This is a big long term money saver. Also worth noting is that this style of organic growing relies very heavily on organic matter. Quality humic inputs are a must and can be very costly (imo) to purchase. It is best to start vermicomposting and composting right away. The sooner you get started with that the more money you will save on premium worm shit and compost. The "expensive" quality humus sources I'm speaking of can also be scavenged in nature in most areas of the country, just don't ruin the resource, be selective in what you take.
Try not to feel like you need to use things you already have laying around for your soil mix. Its best to resist that temptation, you are starting out so follow the leader at first at least. There is no reason to throw away things like guanos and bone meal and other things you may already have but no longer need. Compost them! I slowly run all my old TLO bullshit through my worm bin. I'm not into wasting, no one should be.
Clackamas Coot soil mix:
"Equal parts of Sphagnum peat moss, some aeration deal (pumice, rice hulls, lava rock - whatever is sitting in the garage) and finally some mix of humus - my compost, worm castings some black leaf mold I bought from the local 'worm guy'
To each 1 c.f. of this mix I add the following:
1/2 cup organic Neem meal
1/2 cup organic Kelp meal
1/2 cup Crab meal (or Crustacean meal when available - it has Shrimp meal with the Crab meal. It's a local product from the fisheries on the Oregon & Washington Coasts)
4 cups of some minerals - rock dust
After the plant is in the final container I top-dress with my worm castings at 2" or so and then I hit it with Aloe vera juice and Comfrey extract. Or Borage. Or Stinging Nettle. Or Horsetail ferns. Whatever is ready.
The Rock Dust Recipe
4x - Glacial Rock Dust - Canadian Glacial (Gaia Green label)
1x - Bentonite - from the pottery supply store
1x - Oyster Shell Powder - the standard product from San Francisco Bay
1x - Basalt - from Redmond, Oregon (new product at Concentrates - about $18.00) ."
I believe that this recipe allows for some substitutions and that the biggest thing is to stick to the 1/3 SPM, 1/3 aeration, 1/3 humus and the amendments at the specified ratios. I have seen people (including myself) vary the actually "rock dusts" but don't if you can help it, and certainly don't omit the oyster shell flour in place of something else.
Living organic soil is very rewarding to grow in, give it a try, no one has ever looked back after going this route.
If you believe that organics uses bottled nutrients then you certainly have the right to that opinion. However, it is not an opinion shared in the living soil community. Feel free to follow along, but discussion of using bottled organic or organic "based" nutrients is not welcome on this thread. Start a new thread and invite me, I will gladly discuss it with you there. Thanks.
Whether you have never grown a plant before and are interested in doing so with organics or you are a seasoned veteran synthetic grower looking to make the switch to organics, this thread is for you. Feel free to ask questions, just make sure you are doing the required reading. Although potentially intimidating at first, growing the highest quality organic cannabis is fairly simple. In order for this to work for you, you must first completely shed the synthetic mindset, and go organic all the way, there isn't really any such thing as an organic based grow, or using some organic items and some synthetics. It just doesn't work that way, period. Organic growing is all about the soil food web (SFW). The soil food web is what we humans (as the organic gardeners) are cultivating. The SFW is in turn cultivating our cannabis plants that we plant into our containers. Understanding that last few sentences is understanding organic gardening in a nut shell. The soil food web is fascinating. Best to let Dr. Elaine Ingham explain it rather than paraphrasing her detailed explanation.
Soil Food Web | NRCS
Please read thoroughly.
How bottled nutrients work
Please note that I am not differentiating between bottled organic nutrients and bottled synthetic nutrients. Fact is, they operate the same way. Yes, even stuff with OMRI label, all bottled nutrients work the same way, bypassing the SFW and force feeding our plants. This leads to all sorts of complications. This is the reason absolutely no bottled nutrients are recommended for organics. Bottled nutrients work through chelation.
How Living Organic Soil works
We, the humans, mix together a proven master soil mix containing multifaceted amendments with the full array of nutrients. Everything is in the soil, we tend the soil, and the SFW makes nutrients readily available for plant uptake. Tending to the soil is a huge deal, in fact that's really all we do. At some point soon you will need to understand mulching, top dressing, watering without wet/dry cycles, organic IPM (integrated pest management), SST's (sprouted seed or enzyme teas), using dynamic accumulator plants, botanical nutrient teas, compost teas, vermicomposting, thermo composting, and the list goes on...
...but you don't have to understand all that stuff to get started. To get the ball rolling all you need to do is get some soil mixed up per the recipe ill post shortly and get it put into the containers you wish to use (larger is better and many folks like geo or smart style pots). Sourcing the various amendments is a pain in the ass, but worth it. Before planting any cannabis into the containers it is recommended that you give the soil a period of 2-4+ weeks to process or "cook". Longer is fine. It is a good idea as soon as you put the soil into containers to plant some cover crop seeds. This helps with preparing your soil and keeping it healthy. As the grower, you have a choice to make, whether to do a no till approach with your containers or a recycled, amended approach. Its up to you, and both will start out the same so it something you can research and ponder. I can promise you there is no throwing away Living Organic Soil, and that it gets better with time, in addition to starting out growing the fire! This is a big long term money saver. Also worth noting is that this style of organic growing relies very heavily on organic matter. Quality humic inputs are a must and can be very costly (imo) to purchase. It is best to start vermicomposting and composting right away. The sooner you get started with that the more money you will save on premium worm shit and compost. The "expensive" quality humus sources I'm speaking of can also be scavenged in nature in most areas of the country, just don't ruin the resource, be selective in what you take.
Try not to feel like you need to use things you already have laying around for your soil mix. Its best to resist that temptation, you are starting out so follow the leader at first at least. There is no reason to throw away things like guanos and bone meal and other things you may already have but no longer need. Compost them! I slowly run all my old TLO bullshit through my worm bin. I'm not into wasting, no one should be.
Clackamas Coot soil mix:
"Equal parts of Sphagnum peat moss, some aeration deal (pumice, rice hulls, lava rock - whatever is sitting in the garage) and finally some mix of humus - my compost, worm castings some black leaf mold I bought from the local 'worm guy'
To each 1 c.f. of this mix I add the following:
1/2 cup organic Neem meal
1/2 cup organic Kelp meal
1/2 cup Crab meal (or Crustacean meal when available - it has Shrimp meal with the Crab meal. It's a local product from the fisheries on the Oregon & Washington Coasts)
4 cups of some minerals - rock dust
After the plant is in the final container I top-dress with my worm castings at 2" or so and then I hit it with Aloe vera juice and Comfrey extract. Or Borage. Or Stinging Nettle. Or Horsetail ferns. Whatever is ready.
The Rock Dust Recipe
4x - Glacial Rock Dust - Canadian Glacial (Gaia Green label)
1x - Bentonite - from the pottery supply store
1x - Oyster Shell Powder - the standard product from San Francisco Bay
1x - Basalt - from Redmond, Oregon (new product at Concentrates - about $18.00) ."
I believe that this recipe allows for some substitutions and that the biggest thing is to stick to the 1/3 SPM, 1/3 aeration, 1/3 humus and the amendments at the specified ratios. I have seen people (including myself) vary the actually "rock dusts" but don't if you can help it, and certainly don't omit the oyster shell flour in place of something else.
Living organic soil is very rewarding to grow in, give it a try, no one has ever looked back after going this route.
and fire up.
.
