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What SuperSoil Amendment Do You Always Try to Include? Why?

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Happy Holidays! :D
I have a quick question to get the old grey cells moving today...

You're mixing a batch of supersoil and you're missing an amendment. Which one amendment do you think could be skipped every time, and yet you personally are not willing to skip it? What is the reason you feel your cannabis is inferior without it?

Is there anything similar you would substitute for it, if you had to?

Thank you for engaging, may the rest of this year be awesome for you. :tiphat:
 

Limeygreen

Well-known member
Veteran
I personally think you can skip guanos, you can get other materials like blood meal, feather meal, alfalfa meals etc for the nitrogen, bone meal, soft rock phosphate for P or you can just use the guanos for tea instead of mixing in the soil.

I would not skip on rock dust, depending on which rock dust you use (basalt, gypsum, calcitic lime or oyster shell, soft rock phosphate etc) This is for no till or recycled soil, they are more long term investment, if just a one use soil I would not skip on the earth worm castings, too much biology to lose out on.
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Awesome, I figured a few things might stand out and I hadn't considered rock dust. I've heard guano farming is very destructive to the animal populations. :( I'm glad to hear it can be skipped. :)

So rock dust for no till or recycling soil and earthworm castings for one use soils. Greatly appreciated. :)
 

bigbadbiddy

Active member
Earth worm castings.

Do not skip on those.

Aside from being a great and fast available source of N, it comes with a lot of beneficial microbial components, there are probably mycos and other fungi in there as well it's just all around great and probably one of the more crucial components I would say.
 

yahooman

Well-known member
Earth worm castings.

Do not skip on those.

Aside from being a great and fast available source of N, it comes with a lot of beneficial microbial components, there are probably mycos and other fungi in there as well it's just all around great and probably one of the more crucial components I would say.

i agree......you could plant clones in 70% ewc and 30% perlite and they love it.....you cannot over fert with ewc....
 

P-NUT

Active member
Veteran
I would say crab/shrimp meal. I did great without it for years but it seems to speed harvest, add frost and keep bugs away. It seems to knock about a week off flowering for me and makes some strains more frosty for me too. Worm castings are vital in my opinion and cannot be skipped. As soon as I started using castings almost 20 years ago my crops did so much better. Its the best amendment to your soil Ive found in my many years of growing and Ive tried them all. If I had to pick an alternative to crab/shrimp meal it would be insect frass but its way too expensive.
 

Easy7

Active member
Veteran
Depends on budget.

In outdoor native soil, just guano will sustain a plant just fine. Again, it all depends on budget. If they are guerilla plants with no real guarantee, why put a fortune in them?

Seed already costs so much.

With indoor plants and making soil, it's easy to get insecure about the soil. Outdoor soil around here has lot's of life and glacier minerals. The only thing lacking is all in the guano.

So my answer is guano. Highly concentrated and full of goodies!
 

Douglas.Curtis

Autistic Diplomat in Training
Great information everyone, I really appreciate you sharing. As always, it's amazing how information dense each description has been.

Awesome!
:tiphat:
 
Kelp and Compost/Worm castings

Kelp has all the micro nutrients and trace minerals but you could use rock dust for some of this. I don't usually skip out on Kelp but it can be expensive.

Compost or worm castings help add biology and help create an environment that is conducive to biology, as well as help with buffering the soil when it comes to pH, salts etc. Adding humus and organic matter are pretty much a fix all for most issues in your soil.

If it was just one I could use every time it would be good quality compost/castings.
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
Oatmeal, because I usually have it already, it's cheap and a good fungal food.
 

Wolfshadoe

Member
Good read..
There is some factors for me..
Indoors,as All have said no way can I NOT use worm castings!!.. However,worm C's when I move plants outside attract ARMADILLOS for me and they destroy them looking for that worm!
Blood meal,fish, shrimp ect,,, same thing!!!
But it's coons,cyotes ect digging that up..
Lucky I have magic dirt naturally..
The gauno?Very good!!As others the harvest and killing of bats by encroaching ppl don't sit well with me..
So for indoor I could go with out the guano every time., But WC's is A must!!
Peace!! Happy growing New year's!!
<WS>
 
Oatmeal, because I usually have it already, it's cheap and a good fungal food.


How u use it ?

I use Oatmeal just for compost a couple of days before to brew it in aerated compost tea, but i never used in the soil mix...how u do it exactly ?

Thx
 

KIS

Active member
Kelp and Compost/Worm castings

Kelp has all the micro nutrients and trace minerals but you could use rock dust for some of this. I don't usually skip out on Kelp but it can be expensive.

Compost or worm castings help add biology and help create an environment that is conducive to biology, as well as help with buffering the soil when it comes to pH, salts etc. Adding humus and organic matter are pretty much a fix all for most issues in your soil.

If it was just one I could use every time it would be good quality compost/castings.

I agree...these would be my first two choices as well. Be sure to have a good ratio for your media of porosity/aeration, compost, etc....that will give you good biological activity and diversity as well as the physical properties you want.
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
How u use it ?

I use Oatmeal just for compost a couple of days before to brew it in aerated compost tea, but i never used in the soil mix...how u do it exactly ?

Thx
Maybe a quarter cup per cubic foot. I don't really measure. I just mix it in. Give it at least a couple weeks to break down.

I like to prepare my pots ahead of time, including the planting hole. If I'm transplanting from 4" pots, I use a 4" pot for a form. That way, I don't disturb any fungal growth.
You can even do a little cover crop, then smother it out. Chia works. You could probably use clover.

I'm generally close to max on worm castings. I'd probably add a wee bit, but that's more than one thing, cause then, I'd probably add a bit of aeration amendment.

I'll stick with oatmeal then hit it with some ACT.
 
Maybe a quarter cup per cubic foot. I don't really measure. I just mix it in. Give it at least a couple weeks to break down.

I like to prepare my pots ahead of time, including the planting hole. If I'm transplanting from 4" pots, I use a 4" pot for a form.
That way, I don't disturb any fungal growth.
You can even do a little cover crop, then smother it out *.
Chia works. You could probably use clover.
* U MEAN CUT THE CROP AND LET IT THERE TO DECAY inside the hole ?
I'm generally close to max on worm castings. I'd probably add a wee bit, but that's more than one thing, cause then, I'd probably add a bit of aeration amendment.
I'll stick with oatmeal then hit it with some ACT.

REALLY GOOD INFO H.H.
THX SO MUCH TO SHARE IT

my soil-mix is already buried in the ground,
add on top some powdered OATMEAL is it enough?

:tiphat:
 

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
REALLY GOOD INFO H.H.
THX SO MUCH TO SHARE IT

my soil-mix is already buried in the ground,
add on top some powdered OATMEAL is it enough?

:tiphat:
I sprinkle it on my gardens sometimes. Let's say a handful or two won't be too much and it'll only cost you a nickle to try it.

Now think. You're eating you're morning porridge. You reach for the sugar and grab the compost by mistake...Makes good mulch.
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h.h.

Active member
Veteran
REALLY GOOD INFO H.H.
THX SO MUCH TO SHARE IT

my soil-mix is already buried in the ground,
add on top some powdered OATMEAL is it enough?

:tiphat:

Reading into this a bit...
Generally, if you dig a hole and fill it with amendments, you basically have a potted plant. The roots have little incentive to move out of the hole. Some amendments get too hot when buried or they will decompose at a different rate. Depending on the compaction of the surrounding soil, you're hole may also hold excess moisture.
It's the top couple of inches that has the most oxygen. That's where you want most of your amendments.
If the soil has been freshly dug, work them in a couple of inches. If it hasn't been dug up or tilled, topdress with a little mulch as not to disturb what's there.
 
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