New City Grower 2.0

[PeeJay]

Ideal 420 soil looks like a great mix, but the price tag.... Wow.

Here are the basics as I see them. You want to start with a very neutral medium. Reg is using straight peat. I use Sunshine #4 (yellow lablel) others use Pro-Mix HP. The next step is to improve the drainage. You can use perlite, or lava sand.

Note that KJC uses a very similar mix. He also adds vermiculite to his. Vermiculite holds water like a sponge. It does not improve drainage. Add some if you want, I suppose.

Next, I add organic material and mineral components to the neutral mix. When I do that it becomes a soil as opposed to a soilless mix. It has high CEC (cation exchange capacity) and is well buffered against pH fluctuations.

Those are the basics of building a good soil for your cannabis.

What is nice about the Yum Yum (alphalfa meal, cotton seed meal, kelp meal, green sand, rock dust, rock phosphate, humate, and dried molasses) is it is already mixed in a nice ratio and removes much of the guesswork about how much of what to put in the soil. It also means you don't have to store a bazillion containers of amendments.

The mix Reg is using is a dumbed-down version of the mix I use, but I think it will work very well.

 

[PeeJay]

Hey Broke Ass.... I obviously missed the mixing the medium up and let it cook class.... Would you please direct me to the instructions. I still have the Red Bud Farms compost, top soil and worm castings and would love to use them but honestly don't know where to begin and how to put it all together sooooo if I took a look at what you have been in to with PeeJay maybe I could figure this out cause I really would like to give it a try......

Denise, worm castings are great, the compost is good, and the topsoil bad is for making a container soil mix. What you want to do is add some worm castings and a little of the compost to a neutral mix like Pro-Mix HP to start. You would add some perlite to improve the drainage. Then, you would add something like the Yum-Yum and a mineralizing agent such as azomite and you would have a great soil

 

[Dennise]

Thanks PeeJay. I will order what I don't already have and get back with ya......
Congrats on the buddage Broke Ass.....

 

[Dennise]

Is it Soil Mender's Yum-yum?....

 

[PeeJay]

Soil Mender manufactures it, yes. The formula was developed by a very old-school organic gardener quite a while back. She started making the mix to give to friends and then stared selling it as a general purpose vegan organic soil amendment in my area. When it got to be too much for her, she sold the formula and trade name to Soil Mender who now mix and distribute the product regionally. There is a dealer locator on the soil mender site. If you can get it locally you will save a bundle. For example, on a popular online shopping site a five pound bag will set you back around $20. I recently picked up a 25# sack for $34.00 locally.

A five pounder is quite a bit, so $20 isn't too bad compared to bottles of processed nutrients with pretty labels.

Both you and Reg are doing very well with the Growology. I'm well impressed with that product. It is fun to try new things, though.

 

[Dennise]

Root Naturally Azomite Rock Dust - 2 Pounds
In Stock

Soil Mender Yum Yum Mix 5 lb

Espoma PR8 8-Quart Organic Perlite

This is what I ordered so if it is not right please correct me kinda quick so I can change the order but if it is correct I will have a bale of ProMix HP, 15 lbs of Red Bud Farms compost and 15 lbs of Red Bud Farms worm casting... also the 30 lbs of top soil that was said I would not need so if that is the case I will just throw it in my outside gardens..... Is this all I will need to mix up a good soil medium? I am really struggling with my footing right now and can't seem to get things back on the right track IMO. I want to try and get a medium back I like cause I really don't like just using the ProMix by itself but if it can be amended to be more like a soil I'm all over it so all your help is greatly appreciated..... I am also going to copy and paste this to my journal Broke Ass so either place you guys answer would be great...........

 

[Light Addict]

Great info being shared here as always!

 

[PeeJay]

Denise, good job. I sent you a PM.

 

[PeeJay]

I'm going to send you a second one, too. I know that you will document what you do well in your journal, so I'm not going to clog the pipes here answering questions.

 

[Dennise]

Soil Mender manufactures it, yes. The formula was developed by a very old-school organic gardener quite a while back. She started making the mix to give to friends and then stared selling it as a general purpose vegan organic soil amendment in my area. When it got to be too much for her, she sold the formula and trade name to Soil Mender who now mix and distribute the product regionally. There is a dealer locator on the soil mender site. If you can get it locally you will save a bundle. For example, on a popular online shopping site a five pound bag will set you back around $20. I recently picked up a 25# sack for $34.00 locally.

A five pounder is quite a bit, so $20 isn't too bad compared to bottles of processed nutrients with pretty labels.

Both you and Reg are doing very well with the Growology. I'm well impressed with that product. It is fun to try new things, though.

I got just 2lbs for $6.99 so I'm certainly OK with the price but will 2 Lbs be enough?.....

 

[Dennise]

I can't really get anything locally here as there is nothing local to here..... Well I guess I should check with GrayHawk as he may be able to get it for me. Think I will check with him first ..

 

[PeeJay]

Two pounds of Yum is going to be around 4 cups. It would be good to have two or three times that amount on hand.

 

[KingJohnC]

Thanks for the link Broke Ass but I think I am going to have to talk to PeeJay cause I can't figure out how to make that work with what I have and I want to use up the crap I have bought and hopefully through the experiment I will find what I am looking for. I have a full bale of ProMix HP, 15 lbs of Red Bud Farms compost and 15 lbs of Red Bud worm castings and 30 lbs of Red Bud Farms top soil..... Sooooo with all that stuff there should be something I can get out of it other than a headache.... Any who Peejay if ya don't mind lending me a part of your brain power I sure could use the help or anyone else that may know what I am talking about.... King if you could chime in on my journal I would appreciate it too but if you don't want to get locked back in with all my questions I understand that too......... Rant over.........

You are always welcome to ask any questions you have Dennise!

 

[Dennise]

Two pounds of Yum is going to be around 4 cups. It would be good to have two or three times that amount on hand.

I got 5 lbs P......

 

[B A R]

Great news about your fire escape girl

Congrats on the buddage Broke Ass.....

Thanxx to the both of you's...

I'm going to send you a second one, too. I know that you will document what you do well in your journal, so I'm not going to clog the pipes here answering questions.

Please do clog the pipes Coach. The more info the better. Over & out, trying to get ready for church. First time in awhile.

 

[COorganics]

Morning reg and friends. I think a few of you are really smart to take the "PeeJay route" with your soil. If anyone is contemplating it, but on the fence, give it a go! Think of the bottles you already have and use them as a "safety net". If things aren't going the way you like in flower you can always revert back to using the bottles. But trust me, you won't want to or need to. PeeJays mix is simple, affordable, functional and effective.

If someone wanted to kick it up to the next level, one could do a couple other things:
1) gather forest floor litter and incorporate into mix
(To get diverse, indigenous microbes working in the container, and of course increase OM in container)
2): inoculate with act once in veg and once again in flower
(A microherd boost)
3): make your own vermicompost and top dress liberally
4): mulch your freakin containers people!
(I'm seeing more folks doing this lately, kudos)



Peat is great in the mix as folks have looked at it under a microscope and it does, in fact contain lots of Microlife. (The peat I know to have been tested is CANADIAN sphagnum peat moss.

Hope you stayed awake thru the whole service, BAR.

 

[slowgro]

Hi Reg - trichomes brought me along for the soil discussion. Great stuff from PeeJay!


Good to catch up a little. Love all the different things you're doing and trying, and obviously a lot of it works. I bet your humidifier/cloner would work with a cool air humidifier - good brainstorm!

One reason peat-based mixes need time to cook before use: "Limestone is added to neutralize the acidity of peat. Limestone is a rock and needs time to break down from the moisture in the growing media."

I'm curious - with your new soil mix, how will you approach using nutes?


Hi Dennise - looks like you're zeroing in on a mix. What about microbe/myco innoculation? Is it the Pro-Mix HP with mycorrhizae? Their website looks like it has detailed info on their soil theory and what all their different mixes are about. More reading to do.....


Play on!

 

[BeemerBill]

Good Day weed BAR, Great to hear that the girl outside is flowering. Great discussion going on out on the balcony about soils. Love it.

 

[PeeJay]

Hi Reg - trichomes brought me along for the soil discussion. Great stuff from PeeJay!


Good to catch up a little. Love all the different things you're doing and trying, and obviously a lot of it works. I bet your humidifier/cloner would work with a cool air humidifier - good brainstorm!

One reason peat-based mixes need time to cook before use: "Limestone is added to neutralize the acidity of peat. Limestone is a rock and needs time to break down from the moisture in the growing media."

I'm curious - with your new soil mix, how will you approach using nutes?


Hi Dennise - looks like you're zeroing in on a mix. What about microbe/myco innoculation? Is it the Pro-Mix HP with mycorrhizae? Their website looks like it has detailed info on their soil theory and what all their different mixes are about. More reading to do.....


Play on!

Both Denise and Reg are/will be using Growology step one for a myco innoculant. Step one is only mycos and humate and they both have plenty on hand.

Denise will be using a bagged compost and worm castings to microbe innoculate her soil. Reg used a little composted mulch offered up free from the city. Those bio-active materials don't need to be used in great quantities because the Yum-Yum feeds the little critters like crazy. They will be fruitful and multiply.

Denise will be using the full-blown mixes I use. It is a three soil system.

The first soil is myco inoculated, very light and well drained, and not very rich in nutrients. Seedlings grow in this mix for the first three weeks in 1 quart pots.

After three weeks the plant will be transplanted into 1 gallon pots of a richer soil with more organic matter and Yum-Yum until it's time to switch to flower lighting. I recently kept two plants in this mix for well over 100 days in my veg box in one gallon pots! I root pruned them once and topped them several times to keep them short. She will not need to do any additional feeding during veg.

A few days before switching to a flower light schedule she will transplant into 3 gallon pots of the flower soil. The flower soil is the same basic mix as the veg soil but with increased potassium via Indonesian bat guano and soft rock phosphate. It carries through flower very well. All she will need to do is give them clean water to drink.

Pot sizes can be larger, but I think those sizes are good for Denise's growing spaces and her desire to grow multiple strains.

All three of the soils will be mixed in large quantities and kept in rubbermade storage bins. As soil comes out, more can go in - just mix the ingredients in the correct ratio and stir it into the existing soil.

I have messed with acts and don't think they are necessary in this mix. The soil will support a population quite well without adding a bunch more microbes. The large plants I have going now in the flower soil have been in there for 13 weeks because I transplanted the first of June and they didn't start flowering until the last week of July. That's only because I have them out in the greenhouse, wanted to put then in large fabric pots (7 and 10 gallons), and just let them go.

Due to their large size and the time in the containers I topdress them with a mix of Yum-Yum, worm castings, a little of the high P guano (0.5-13-0.2) and some flower soil from the bin. I make a little container of that mix and moisten it. In a couple of days it smells really rich. It's like making a dry act. It gets scratched into the soil and watered in.

This is a really easy way to grow great cannabis. No fussing with bottles of this and that. No deficencies. I see brix readings of 15 plus at harvest in these soils.

A picture of my current grow:

A nice flower from a previous grow:

 

[trichomes]

I appreciate the PM PeeJay, & great soil discussion/posts from everybody jumping in. thank you all