Super Soil Shelf Life

[golfnrl]

I've been reading at this link and considering trying to compost my own super soil. Maybe a dumb question but after the soil has cooked does it have to be used right away? Does it have a shelf life?

https://www.growweedeasy.com/compost-soil-organic-cannabis

[Cali]

The soil is good forever. That’s the point of a living soil. I mean if you let it dry out completely the soil microbiology will die or go dormant but as soon as you water it and keep it moist not wet or dry you will be fine. You can give it a compost tea or compost extract which is essentially doing the same thing which is adding microbiology into your already mixed soil. I have mixed up batches and don’t use it for weeks but I do mix it water it lightly so it doesn’t completely dry out and use it weeks later and i have no issues. So don’t worry mix it up and use it when you are ready.

[Cali]

Also have to add, that recipe calls for way more work than it’s needed to mix a soil, also has some amendments that probably shouldn’t be used. Example bone meal or blood meal. What I’m saying is now there is so much more info on living soils and recipes that are a lot simpler less amendments and cheaper to make. I only mix 20 gallons at a time that recipe I believe calls for like 200 gallons which is why it scared me off when I read the article. Also the mix I use doesn’t need any cooking time because it doesn’t have all those amendments that make your soil hot and prone to kill your seedlings if used right away.

[golfnrl]

Hi Cali I guess it makes sense that soil would not go bad unless it were to dry out. I am really just beginning to explore making my own soil. I read others posts about 'water only' soil and it's intriguing. It looks like a challenge and I may want to see if I can do it. If I used the GWE recipe I'd have to reduce it down to about a 1/3rd of what's called for. Can you share how you make yours?

[HobbitGDF]

Yeah I just got some earth dust. I'm excited to try it. I would love to learn to make my own.
the earth dust was good price.

Am I able to plant seed directly into the soil after its cooked couple weeks, or does it have to be a transplant?
sry stupid question

[MeEasy]

Hi golfnrl I subscribed last night when I saw your question, because I've been wondering about the same thing. Anyways I just wanted to share with you something I found and I'm now using. I've found two places to buy a premixed bag of amendments that you just add to your soil. It's convenient, cheaper, and much easier than buying 10 or 15 bags of different amendments to mix your own, then store all that shit for months until you start another round. Here's the link so you can check em out and I'm sure there's plenty of other places to buy similar products. Also there's alot of places out there that sells pre made super soils but it's expensive and even more expensive to ship it.

Thegreensunshineco.com
kisorganics.com

[golfnrl]

MeEasy thx for the info. I have been on the Green Sunshine web site looking at their lights. I had not heard of Earth Dust. It looks just like what I'm wanting to do. And it makes sense when you factor in buying all of the stuff to mix and then storing it.

[MeEasy]

golfnrl I just finished my first grow using earth dust and I am very happy with it. I have literally not checked the ph of anything in months and that alone is worth it to me. I just put an adapter on my tub faucet so I could hook up a standard water hose and a RV inline filter and I'm able to water straight from that. Here's a couple pics of what I just cut down.

[Cali]

golfnrl The mix I use is called the Clackamas Coot Mix. You can get the nutrients and minerals mix already mixed for you at Buildasoil.com. There you will find a lot of info on living soils. They have a lot of videos and pdf on IPM and how and why living soil works. Also on YouTube if you type in Clackamas Coot you will have access to a lot of podcast On the man himself that created this mix and he explains why it works. When I first started looking for info on this all I found was a 3 part series on KISorganics podcast on YouTube there he explains his mix. Now to answer your question directly the way I make my mix is I bought that package at buildasoil.com for 65 dollars, then I went to Lowe’s and bought a 3.5 cubic foot bale of Sphagnum Peat Moss then I went to my local nursery and I bought pumice for aeration and Malibu’s compost. You mix those at a 1:1 ratio. So for me I made 20 gallons so I mixed 1 cubic foot of each and that makes your soil base then to that I added a few cups of the pre made mix from buildasoil.com. At the website you will get the info on how many cups of miners and nutrients you need per cubic foot of soil or per gallon which ever you prefer. With that batch of 65 bucks you have enough to make 65 gallons worth of soil. According to Coot once you make a batch you are good for about 5 years. Once you get your mix going you will be able to tell if you need to top dress anything as always the plants will let you know but honestly I have barely added anything besides malted barley and I’m in the same pots for almost 2 years now and once you listen to the podcasts you will understand why. Hope that helps and let me know if you have any more questions and sorry for all the rambling.

[MeEasy]

I found KIS organics after I had already started using earth dust but I've read allot about their stuff. I was going to switch to their pac stuff I believe it is very similar but I got such good result from this I just can't bring myself to switch. I literally just dumped out my used happy frog and mixed dust with it and put it back in the pots. I do buy potassium silicate and aloe flakes from KIS and use it with dust. Since I started buying from KIS is another reason I was gonna switch but again I just can't after using dust, maybe someday. Oh shit now I'm rambling lol have a good one guys/gals and good luck on your adventures

[golfnrl]

Thx Cali and @MeEasy for the good information. I will def check it out. Oughta keep me busy for a bit.

[Xena]

How about some info overload? lol
I checked out both of those and also Nature’s Living Soil. The nls seemed like it was the simplest to use only thing that turned me off to it was right on their site it talks about how bad it smells. If I was in a garage or basement I would have tried it but I’m in my bedroom and didn’t want to have a problem with the smell.

[MeEasy]

If by bit you mean a damn week lol Xena is correct about the overload. One thing about most of these organic sites their info align with each other, most of the products have the same ingredients just a difference in amounts unlike the man made nutrients contradict each other and then you have all the ph problems. I'm liking this way of growing, because of the negativity towards organics and how it won't produce it was hard to switch. Now that I have all that negative talk is pure bullshit and just knowing what my ol lady and kids are smoking (I don't smoke) gives me peace of mind

[HobbitGDF]

So I got earth dust and hVent tried it yet.
will I need to add anything else to keep it from having deficiency? I think I'm going to get the splitter and filter.

My tap water is city water. That's hard water? The PH is usually high7-8-9one day

[MeEasy]

I don't think anything additional is NECESSARY but I add some potassium silicate and aloe flakes to my water from birth to harvest about once every two or three weeks, I get both of these from kisorganics.com at $20 US each the bags will last many grows unless you have hundreds of plants lol. I also made a tea out of some of the boost one time about three weeks after I top dressed them not because they showed deficiency but because I wanted to push em a little. One more thing I think it's the molasses in the boost that creates a crust on top of your soil that the water will sit on for a minute until it penetrates the crust, if you simply use your fingers or rake to rake the top half inch to break it up before watering it completely fixes the issue if you don't water tends to run out the sides of your fabric pots

[MeEasy]

Here's a pic of my tub I just fill my jugs and mix my tea, potassium silicate, aloe, Etc or I have a second hose with a wand the ones made for watering flower pots

[HobbitGDF]

That's perfect. I have to get a splitter for behind my washer. This is my next to get list now.

[MeEasy]

My washer is on the other side of my house and we don't use the tub anyway suprised it's not half full of pots and soil lol, the ol lady got tired of yelling at me and cleaned it up the other day