A little treat as we near the end of this journal.
SETTING UP A LOS NO-TILL GARDEN
I'm assuming you have already decided on the location and have determined the pots needed and the necessary lighting and climate requirements. Let's set to work with the other essentials - soil building and maintenance.
I see a series of very methodical steps that can be taken to set up and maintain an organic no till with minimal effort. It's really as easy as 1-2-3-4.
1. Build the soil.
2. Set up a SWICK watering system to spare yourself the frustration of under or over watering
3. Develop a regular plan for amendments and additives using teas, drenches and foliar sprays.
4. Prepare for the next grow
STEP ONE: BUILD THE SOIL
The Basic Clackamas Coots soil mix recipe for growing cannabis (in his own words):
"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."
My only addition to this would be to add mycorrhizal fungi innoculant to the soil mix in advance of planting, or dust the roots with it before transplanting.
STEP TWO: A WATERING PLAN - SETTING UP THE SWICK
A SWICK is a self watering technique that allows the plants to essentially water themselves. The perlite that fills the reservoir wicks the water up to the pots and the
extra 25% increase in aeration material in your soil mix wicks the water up into the soil where the roots can continuously access the ready water supply.
The depth of your reservoir is a personal matter. As long as you can keep the water level 1" to 2" below the bottom of the pot so you're not ever sitting in water you'll be fine. A shallow reservoir simply requires you to keep it topped off with greater diligence than the freedom afforded by a deeper one. Large kitty litter trays work well for this.
STEP THREE: CONTINUOUSLY AMENDING THE SOIL
This is my dream watering schedule. For my grow it wasn't necessary to water from the top once I installed the SWICK system, so this became my plan for drenches.
Water seedlings with coconut water or rainwater only.
The watering/amending schedule is done consistently, regardless of where the plant is in its life cycle.
Two to three waterings a week (basically every other day: I did twice a week)
- one enzyme tea watering (measurements for one gallon)
* 1 TBS sprouts, puréed
* 10 ml Fulpower fulvic acid
* 5 ml Agsil
- one rainwater watering
- one coconut/aloe watering
* 1/4 c fresh, young coconut water
* 1/4 tsp 200x aloe vera powder
* 5 ml Agsil
Repeat indefinitely.
Every three weeks add 1/4 tsp TM7 to 2-1/2 gallons water.
Beginning when there are four nodes, add bio accumulator teas.
With new soil do weekly application of two alternating teas
- 2-3 tsp neem meal + 1-2 tsp kelp bubbled in a half gal water for 24 hrs.
* dilute to make 2.5 gal water
* add 1/4 tsp aloe + 10 ml fulpower per gallon
- same measurements using alfalfa instead of neem
The estimated minimal cost of beginning this regime:
- $ 15 Malted barley (2.5 pounds; 4 oz/cup)
- $ 22 Coconut Water Powder (1/2 # = 75 gal @ 1/4 c. per gal.)
- $ 22 200x aloe powder
- $ 26 Fulpower (quart)
- $ 14.20 Agsil (pound)
- $ 13 TM7 (100 gm bag)
- $ 13 Neem/karanja (2.5 # = 5-6 cups)
- $ 14.06 Kelp meal (3# = 6 cups)
There are many plant-based amendments that can be used to fill the voids until you can afford to get these items picked up. For example, it's possible to substitute corn meal, molasses, kelp, equisetum, or camomile for plant immunity in place of neem/karanja, although you should eventually purchase them. Camomile in particular is legendary for its immunity properties. Sprouted corn can be substituted for coconut water to supply cytokinins.
Notes on this list of amendments:
- Priority should be given to coconut water, aloe vera juice and kelp meal
- Secondary priority to Fulpower (fulvic acid) and malted barley grain
- Third would be kelp, neem/karanja meal, TM7 and Agsil
STEP FOUR: SETTING UP FOR THE NEXT RUN
When you harvest, simply cut the main stalk above the soil surface and leave it. No need to remove the old root ball. Those old roots will eventually decompose into the soil matrix, leaving an internal network for additional aeration and pathways for nutrients to shuttle to the new roots.
The basic process is to gently move the old mulch to one side, add the top dressing, shift to the other side and repeat, then finish with additional mulch material. You want to dress with 2-4" of good quality vermicompost and any other thing you might want to add, as in some rock dust (granite or limestone are particularly beneficial) or some Yum Yum Mix, like I used.
If you have enough down time, maybe add an ACT or a SST, just for variety and why not? It never hurts to add something different every now and then, as long as it's organic in nature and used in moderation.
That's it. Top dress and water in. Plant and grow.
Easy peasy all the way.
