compost only

[BigWillyDee]

i have been experimenting on using a simple soil mix with nothing but compost for an entire outdoor grow.... everyone spends thousands of dollars every year on this or that and (in my opinion) isn't needed at all....

my soil mix is

1 part good rich jungle soil
1 part river sand
1 part good compost

i use this mix to grow from seed to harvest.. the only thing i do is topdress with a thick layer of compost once a month... the end

im curious if there are others who only use compost to grow.....

the proof

 

[heady blunts]

damn those are some trees!

i'd say that's a pretty good mix!

do you make your own compost?

 

[BigWillyDee]

yes, just a mix of dead palm fronds, papaya, mango, seaweed.. thats the bulk of it but ive been known to add buckets of goat, horse, and cow manures or whatever else comes along

 

[heady blunts]

that sounds awesome.

 

[mad librettist]

you have this to the point where you won't need compost, just mulch.

preferably living mulch.

 

[xmobotx]

the key word is "good" - since you're adding plenty of fruit, it returns much of what is typically taken as harvest keeping the soil health high

the seaweed can't hurt either NTM varied manure sources

 

[BigWillyDee]

yeah i agree, it is a rich compost,,,,,

i think i would use a living manure if i ever planted in rows,,..truth is don't know much about it..i always heard that it was disced or tilled into the ground before being mature around the same time as alfalfa hay was cut....

 

[mad librettist]

yeah i agree, it is a rich compost,,,,,

i think i would use a living manure if i ever planted in rows,,..truth is don't know much about it..i always heard that it was disced or tilled into the ground before being mature around the same time as alfalfa hay was cut....

not necessarily. check out the sticky.


just having clover, chamomile, and yarrow all around your plants would be very helpful. Clover does not need to be turned under, you get a drip feed if the nodules are active and excreting. Also remember roots constantly die back and regrow because old roots don't do shit.

once in a while mow that down and leave it on top. Mowing causes massive root death though, and the plant needs time to start fixing N again.

 

[mostnonymouse]

Mad, I know you love your living mulches, but are you now saying that they are all you need and future applications of compost aren't even necessary?...or am I reading it wrong?

 

[TACOE]

This season.. My first outdoor. I'm learning how much mj loves to be in the ground. They take care of themselves. *They grow like weeds and just take advantage of any of the extras you hook them up with. Pure compost would work just fine. Heck. My boss in the market garden grew his mj In Gravelly fill with a little compost. Never needed anything. (I wouldn't do it that way.. Just saying). My mix was way heavier than my container mixes. Loaded with native soil (could have used more) and alot of compost. * The soil biology from all around creeps into the holes when they are in the ground. Very low maintenance. *Drainage isn't such a big factor. *And roots will just keep on growing into the soil around ur mix. *Dig hole (doesn't need to be big), drop plant in, back fill with compost and the plant would do great. *Wish I could do that all year round.

Awesome lookin trees there sir. Keep up the healthy gardening

 

[heady blunts]

Mad, I know you love your living mulches, but are you now saying that they are all you need and future applications of compost aren't even necessary?...or am I reading it wrong?

well once you establish a certain level of life and richness in your soil, if you mulch well (ie thick and diverse), it will provide all the nutrients and organic material needed.

ACT and compost are tools to get to that point.

think of it like this: a good mulch is basically a perpetual compost pile, where the bottom few inches are "finished" and the top layer is being continuously renewed with "fresh" material.

 

[Scrappy4]

Lifted from wiki,

[edit]Benefits of soil organic matter and humus

The mineralization process that converts raw organic matter to the relatively stable substance that is humus feeds the soil population of microorganisms and other creatures, thus maintaining high and healthy levels of soil life.[26][27]
The rate at which raw organic matter is converted into humus promotes (when fast) or limits (when slow) the coexistence of plants, animals, and microbes in terrestrial ecosystems.[28]
Effective and stable humus (see below) are further sources of nutrients to microbes, the former providing a readily available supply, and the latter acting as a longer-term storage reservoir.
Decomposition of dead plant material causes complex organic compounds to be slowly oxidized (lignin-like humus) or to break down into simpler forms (sugars and amino sugars, aliphatic, and phenolic organic acids), which are further transformed into microbial biomass (microbial humus) or are reorganized (and still oxidized) in humic assemblages (fulvic and humic acids, humins), which bind to clay minerals and metal hydroxides. There has been a long debate about the ability of plants to uptake humic substances from their root systems and to metabolize them. There is now a consensus about humus as playing a hormonal role rather than a nutritional role in plant physiology.[29]
Humus is a colloidal substance, and increases the soil's cation exchange capacity, hence its ability to store nutrients by chelation, as can clay particles; thus, while these nutrient cations are accessible to plants, they are held in the soil safe from leaching away by rain or irrigation.[30]
Humus can hold the equivalent of 80–90% of its weight in moisture, and therefore increases the soil's capacity to withstand drought conditions.[31][32]
The biochemical structure of humus enables it to moderate – or buffer – excessive acid or alkaline soil conditions.[33]
During the humification process, microbes (bacteria and fungi) secrete sticky gum-like mucilages; these contribute to the crumb structure of the soil by holding particles together, allowing greater aeration of the soil.[34] Toxic substances such as heavy metals, as well as excess nutrients, can be chelated (that is, bound to the complex organic molecules of humus) and prevented from entering the wider ecosystem, thereby detoxifying it.[35]
The dark color of humus (usually black or dark brown) helps to warm up cold soils in the spring.

 

[mostnonymouse]

well once you establish a certain level of life and richness in your soil, if you mulch well (ie thick and diverse), it will provide all the nutrients and organic material needed.

ACT and compost are tools to get to that point.

think of it like this: a good mulch is basically a perpetual compost pile, where the bottom few inches are "finished" and the top layer is being continuously renewed with "fresh" material.

this is 99% how I grow, with an occasional top dressing of a mixed organic fert if things get out of line on me, but i'm referring to living mulches, ie clover.

 

[mad librettist]

this is 99% how I grow, with an occasional top dressing of a mixed organic fert if things get out of line on me, but i'm referring to living mulches, ie clover.

if you are outside it's entirely possible to build your soil and manage it so you eventually stop fertilizing. this of course assumes permaculture or biodynamic practices that involve returning most of your crop plant material to the soil, keeping only the parts you use.

inside, you will need to feed the soil a bit more from outside sources. Not a lot though, if you are managing to return everything but the buds to your soil.

clover gets credit for fixing N, but the real idea is fixing C. all the rest can be replaced by dissolving rock itself (fungi do this)

 

[BigWillyDee]

living mulches are very interesting.. i started to read the sticky but have not got too far....

 

[mostnonymouse]

ah the rocks....the oh so often overlooked rocks. Thank you Mad. Love u dawg. No homo.

 

[xmobotx]

~dissolving rock itself (fungi do this)

a walk in the mountains will frequently reveal this happening oh so slowly and oh so constantly

 

[BigWillyDee]

so any other compost only grows out there??

 

[jaykush]

my mix is pretty much the same as yours.

native soil
compost
rocks/sand

i just do the perpetual mulching thing like mad explains.

 

[BigWillyDee]

my mix is pretty much the same as yours.

native soil
compost
rocks/sand

i just do the perpetual mulching thing like mad explains.

i always thought about adding rocks...maybe ill try a side by side and see how much different the extra air makes...

next planting i am going to experiment with parota leaves... and reduce the amount of sand....

i like the idea of living mulch and for sure will use this in the future, however i think (for me) the benefits are more suited to my established outdoor plot i ve been using the same spot for a couple of years now