What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

List of different Soil Mixes---Soil Directory

BigBozat

Member
It is a good read! Half way through. Mixing a proper soil for Sativa in flower is my goal. Remembering that these clones will be going straight into flower after show of growth. Also taking into account sativas low nitrogen needs and there development into buds is not only brought on by shoter light times but the depleted nutriants in the soil.


So, if it's specifically for sativas in flower, and you're looking to induce bud development viadepleted nutrients in the soil, avoid the high-N (esp. slow release) meals in favor of high-P meals/amendments...

Blood & feather meals out...

Bone meal + fish bone meal + rock dust/powder in...

Alfalfa & kelp meals always in, regardless...

Then you control how much N the plants get during flowring by your periodic fertigation/application of teas and any supplemental foliar spraying...

Speaking of foliar sprays, while it's way off-topic here, you might want to look into / experiment with some PGRs for flowering & bud set phase, e.g., jasmonates (e.g., Jaz rose spray), auxins (IAA) + ethylene/ethephon (auxins & ethylene interact to regulate growth), cytokinins (e.g., kinetin, which is in Bonide Tomata & Blossom Set Spray)... Whole 'nother topic in & of themselves & I'm no expert ('tho I'm experimenting)... search around (shaggyballs, spurr, verdant green, only ornamental & others have had some excellent threads around here)
 

Ph-patrol

Well-known member
Veteran
IDK if it's been posted elsewhere prev, but FWIW, here's 420 Soil's mix (in parens, their indicated purpose)...

They're a comml soil mfr in Portsmouth, NH, who claims the mix is 'just add water' specifically for comml cannabis croppers, full cycle... I'm not advocating, and am skeptical of the JAW claim... just offering as an idea generator for your org soil mix while I try to get 4 more posts done:

- 30% Coco Pith (Water retention & drainage)
- 30% Perlite (Air porosity)
- 5% Peat moss (Bulking agent & carbon source)
- 3% Horticultural Sand (Drainage)
- 3% Worm Castings (Soil conditioner)
- 3% Bio Char/Hort Charcoal (Carbon source, & soil amendment
- 3% Vermiculite (Water retention & drainage)
- 1% Humic Acids fr. Leonardite (May increase micronutrient uptake?)
[Doesn't add to 100%, so what's the remaining 22%? The ferts (below) + ??? (local dirt?)]

Also: Its 1-2-2 NPK (plus Cal, Mag, Sul & Fe (Iron)) is derived from:
Blood meal, Dolomotic limestone, Fish meal, Gypsum, Rock Phosphate, Sodium Nitrate, & Sulfate of Potash.


*****
Personally, I use fairly similar amts of coco, but add more peat, sand, EWC+humus (composted conifer bark, mushroom & Anc Forest <- u can use KIS Alask Humus instead), vermiculite, biochar, and a variety of trace mins (AZOMITE, rock dusts, etc)...

KIS has most of this stuff (incl below)...

And I add:
- greensand,
- alfalfa meal,
- kelp meal

... for heavy veg, I add:
- composted dairy cow manure (not necess & perhaps not even advisable),
- Plant-tone (cuz it hits so many diff meals in one, but that's me being lazy),
- crab meal

... if heavy P is needed, maybe a hi-P bat guano or fish bone meal or more soft rock phosphates...

In all cases, I inoculate/charge heavily with mycos (Glomus intraradices, Glomus mosseae) & bacteria (Azospirillum brasilense, which fixes nitrogen from the air; bacillus subtilis)... depends on whose samples I happen to have on hand... and humics... and AACT tea starters...

Great share
 

BigBozat

Member
No prob

No prob

Great share

Thanks... and ta-da, this should be 50! lol

Yeah, I was surprised a bit by 420 Soil's mix... way less EWC & peat than I tend to use and/or would have expected... I'm going to give them a call & see if they can give me some insight as to why.

I get that peat has compaction & acidity issues, but I would have assumed more peat just as filler, if nothing else... and the relatively low level of EWC strikes me as astonishing given their JAW claim... there's a missing 22% that I'd really like to know about...
 

Kozmo

Active member
Veteran
;)

;)

Soil makeup:

Nutrient:, percentage:, lbs/acre@4tons/acre


Organic matter, 18.8%, 1504
Total nitrogen, .75%, 60
Phosphorous (P205), .27%, 21.6
Potassium (k20), .41%, 32.8
Calcium, 2.5%, 200
Sulfur, .015%, 1.19
Manesium, 1.05, 84
Zinc, .0046%, .37
Manganese, .0015%, 1.18
Boron, .0015%, .12

C/N ratio, 15.2

Ingredients: Leaves, woody material, vermicompost, rock and sea minerals.

That's all I could get out of them.
 
Last edited:

Kozmo

Active member
Veteran
Heres what we've come up with basically. Open to any constructive criticism or the like.

Local organic soil

Nutrient:, percentage:, lbs/acre@4tons/acre


Organic matter, 18.8%, 1504
Total nitrogen, .75%, 60
Phosphorous (P205), .27%, 21.6
Potassium (k20), .41%, 32.8
Calcium, 2.5%, 200
Sulfur, .015%, 1.19
Magnesium, 1.05, 84
Zinc, .0046%, .37
Manganese, .0015%, 1.18
Boron, .0015%, .12

C/N ratio, 15.2

Ingredients: Leaves, woody material, vermicompost rock and sea minerals.

Thats all the info i could get from that local soil company.

Peat moss 1 cubic foot expanded
Coco coir 1 cubic foot
Chunky perlite 1 cubic foot
Local soil 1 cubic foot
EWC .5 cubic foot

Next, we turn to other soil conditioners, texturizers & miscellaneous amendments both for mineral diversity and water retention/drainage balance:

Bio Char .5 cubic foot
Vermiculite .333 cubic foot
Pumice .5 cubic foot

6 cups Glacial rock dust
5 cups greensand
1.5 lbs.'s of Azomite
Gypsum(not sure how much to use)
6 cups Dolomitic limestone

Then we turn to the fertilizers that will provide the primary & secondary macro nutes, preferably in amounts that will deplete N well b4 the last couple weeks. I want this to signal flowering for sativa dominant genes.

36 oz. Alfalfa meal
36 oz. Kelp meal
18 oz. neem meal
36 oz. crab meal
18 oz. Fish bone meal
 

Former Guest

Active member
I am not sure this will work well for a bloom only soil.

maybe you can put it in a worm bin and use Bongaloids Mix instead which is supposedly for bloom only but on this sticky it doesn't say that. here's a copy paste of the mix which you don't have to cook so you can make it as you need it.

If you want to use guano in your soil mix...
Bongaloid's Guano Mix.
Use all these items combined with one gallon of soil mix.

1/3C hi N Guano Mexican Bat Guano or Peruvian Seabird Guano (PSG)
1/2C hi P Guano (Jamaican or Indonesian Bat Guano)
1TBS Kelp Meal
(OPTIONAL) 1TBS Jersey Greensand

when I made this recipe I used the Peruvian Seabird guano for extra P. then I added lime and left out greensand.

then use some compost teas of just EWC and molasses; maybe a little itty bit of fish hydrolysate only for microbes, not as a nutrient. by the next round your worm bin should almost be ready and you will have the most important thing in organics: quality homemade EWC that are fresh and FREE. this is what is going to help your soil recipe more than adding a ton of different stuff.

here is the exact recipe I used that I was telling you about:
2 bales of 3 cuft compressed peat moss (equilivant to 6 cuft expanded each bale)
2 bags of Happy Frog soil
enough perlite to your liking

8 cups of fish bone meal 3-16-0
8 cups of Azomite
4 cups of Peruvian seabird guano 12-10-2
6 cups kelp meal 1-0-2
1/2 cu ft EWC
Mycos per instructions on for application
4 cups Bokashi compost starter

One cup per 2 cuft
6-5-3 parts of:
6- CaCO3 calcium carbonate lime (not dolomite or garden lime)
5- Soft Rock Phosphate powder
3- gypsum
 

sticky367

Member
I am constructing a soil blend with materials available to me cheaply, here is my progress so far any feed back or opinions are welcome.

30% coco coir (its whats available to me, any reason this won't work?)
30% drainage material
half/half Red lava 5/16'' minus and 3/8'' pumice
10% greenwaste compost
5% chicken/rice chicken manure compost/rice hulls
5% glaum ranch organic chicken compost
10% sandy loam
5% castings organic
5% oak leaf mold compost

Once a final recipe is decided I will send a sample for testing and amend, will be adding micros and other amendments etc etc

Questions:
Should I simplify this mix more?

What percentages would you tweak?

I can provide analysis for some of these materials just let me know
 

BigBozat

Member
It's not a bloom only mix. It's a mix that should take it through veg and bloom.

Given the relatively/comparatively low amount of N in the soil mix u listed, u are going to need lots of atmospheric N-fixing going on in order to make it thru both veg & bloom (otherwise, if the only N available to the plants is via N in the soil, I suspect it'll likely be depleted long b4 mid bloom). [For comparison, see Lady's recipe/mix above; note, e.g., amts of hi-N guanos which are not in your mix]

i.e., lots of N-fixing microbes (rhizobia/azotobacteria, archaea, frankia) in the soil...

... and food (e.g., sugars) & molybdenum for 'em to eat/use (moly needed for bacteria to perform N-fixing)... so, regular teas w/ molasses (unsulfured, natch)... other forms of sugars - glucose & mannose - might help, too (azotobacteria can grow mixotrophically without N via mannose + hydrogen in soil/water)...

I think the Azomite & other trace min sources prolly have moly needs covered... but plants generally can tolerate hi levels of moly well while sucking wind when deficient... so, it prolly can't hurt to include add'l moly sources (esp. in foliar feedings).
 

FRANMACHINE

New member
Is it okay to transplant cannabis to a diff soil mix? I am now using biobizz light mix for sprouting and planning to transplant them to a diff soil mix!
 

exstr

Member
If I were going to use this mix exactly but replace the dolomite lime with something else so I could reuse/recycle the mix later, what would be used to replace the lime, and at what ratio? Any opinions on which *water only (maybe top dress some at certain parts of cycle) mix is best?

"
Colorado's mix

-7 bags of roots organics soil
-10 cups of dolomite lime
-8 cups of fishbone meal
-4 cups of kelp meal
-2 cups of green sand
-1.5 cups of soft rock phosphate
-30lb bag of worm castings
-4 cups of peruvian bird guano (10-10-2.5)
-2 cups of Azomite"
 

Iffy

Nil Illegitimus Carburundum
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Hi Folks,
I have recently switched to growing in soil and have noted with great interest the amendments/additions that are popular with most. However, I find it almost impossible to get some of the stuff mentioned Happy Frog etc.
Taking into consideration everything I have read here, I have put a mix together (much like sticky367) with whatever is available to me locally (UK).
I hope you folks who have grown in soil for years will point out any deficiencies/omissions;

My Soil Mix.
• 10 scoops New Horizon – peat-free, organic, multi-purpose compost.
• 1 scoop Hydroton Clay Balls (mixed sizes).
• 2 scoops Gro-Sure Perlite.
• 1 scoop Potting Grit.
• 1 scoop DE (Diotemaceous Earth/Azomite).
• 2 ½ scoops Earth Worm Casts.
• ½ scoop ‘Westland’ Garden Lime
• 1 scoop ‘Westland’ Fish, Blood & Bone Meal.
• ½ scoop ‘Westland’ Seaweed Enhanced.
• ½ scoop ‘Westland’ Sulphate of Potash.
• ¼ scoop Vitax Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts).

I also add molasses, humic/fulvic mix & Super Phosphate (when flowering) to the water - alternate waterings.
I don't use 'cups' as it would take all day, so I use a large scoop. Based on 10 scoops, so its an easy percentage.
Regards & happy growing - :tiphat:
 

Iffy

Nil Illegitimus Carburundum
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Super Soil

Super Soil

Hi Folks,
I've just been watching a Youtube clip on 'Super Soil'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f98guT1V2h0

So basically you mix your ingredients including mycorrhizal fungi, mixing it all up, watering and leaving under cover in a warm place. After 3-4 days you will see a huge bloom of mould over the soil. Mix this all in and you have 'Super Soil'!
Anyone tried this??
Iffy
 
If I were going to use this mix exactly but replace the dolomite lime with something else so I could reuse/recycle the mix later, what would be used to replace the lime, and at what ratio? Any opinions on which *water only (maybe top dress some at certain parts of cycle) mix is best?

Use the 3 part lime mix, it is the best if you recycle.
1 part powdered dolomite lime
1 part agricultural gypsum
2 parts powdered oyster shell

Ive gone a couple years without even using the lime but have recently went back to using it with these rates just because I want to use up what I already have. Maybe it works without because my soil is 7 years old or maybe I never needed the lime to start with but I usually err on the side of diversity in my amendment decisions.
 

GET MO

Registered Med User
Veteran
Killer thread!!!
Here is the Revs master soil recipe, i was going to try this but don't have time to do much cooking, so will most likely use my own recipe (which is throw a bunch of worm casting/ worms from the worm farm, some happy frog, compost, steer manure, chicken manure, perlite, coco, and local bagged soil amendments over last years soil and rottatill the the shit out of it.)

anyways heres the rev's recipe:
REV'S TRUE LIVING ORGANICS SUPER SOIL MIX


BASE MIX
2 gal Quality Organic Soil-mix (or good organic recycled soil mix)
2 gal Thoroughly Rinsed Coir (coconut fiber)
2 gal Perlite (small nugget size)
2 gal Earthworm Castings (fresh earthworm castings, and/or fresh compost works too)
AMENDMENTS
1½ cup Grow or Bloom ‘Pure’ by Organicare (or 1 cup 5-5-5)
½ cup Greensand
¾ cup Ground Oyster Shells (1 cup if no crushed oyster shells)
1½ cup Crushed Oyster Shells (optional)
½ cup Dolomite Lime (powdered)
1 cup Prilled (pelletized) Fast Acting Dolomite Lime
¼ cup Blood Meal (and/or High N Bird/Bat Guano 12-8-2 N-P-K if flowering 1/8 cup of each)
¼ cup (heaping) Feather Meal
1 cup un-steamed (granular) Bone Meal (like Whitney Farms brand)
½ cup Bulb Food (3-8-8 as one good N-P-K example)
¼ cup Soft Rock Phosphate (powdered)
½ cup (heaping) Gypsum (powdered)
½ cup Kelp Meal
4 cups (heaping) Composted Steer Manure (this inoculates your mix with specialized bacteria and primo organic matter)
½ cup Azomite granular (add an additional ¼ cup greensand if no Azomite)
1 cup Humic Acid Ore granular (like from Down to Earth brand)
1 cup Alfalfa Meal (or 2 cups pellets – make sure pellets are all organic no additives)
½ cup Rock Phosphate Granular (optional)
1 cup (heaping) organic rice (important for the good fungi in this soil-mix)

This mix should be moistened (Do not get it soaking wet!) with chlorine free water, and turned over every few days, for about 15 days before use. This is what I call “cooking” your soil, and letting it get pretty dry before use, is fine. The nutrients don’t evaporate or anything, so no worries there, per storage over time. If this soil-mix turns out to be too hot (powerful) for some reason, just cut it with good bagged organic soil until you get the strength your environment and genetics demands.
I find cooking mine for about 30 days works the best for me, but I have often used it sooner, like at 2 weeks, and just remember the warmer it is outside wherever the soil-mix is at, the faster the cooking processes will happen. You can use a pH meter (soil pH meter) to tell when it is done cooking too. I wait until it is in the 6.2 – 6.8 range, which normally takes about 2 weeks, because as it kicks off cooking the pH will often be very low, like around 4.9 isn’t uncommon when it first starts to cook.
ONLY FOR USE WITH PURE WATER SOURCES, LIKE REVERSE OSMOSIS, RAIN, OR DISTILLED WATER. DO NOT USE WELL, TAP, OR SPRING WATER WITH THIS RECIPE.
This soil-mix is meant to be used along with the spike and layer TLO dynamic, and while it is quite capable of standing alone, it works supernaturally when you add the spike and layering dynamics.
 

Monyo

Member
Hi, very nice guide but unfortunately some things are really hard for me to get... I am starting really soon with 3 imported strains (Nearing delivery). (It's hard in here, Asia, law sucks)

I have this
photos_zpsinoeei8a.jpg

I have already a month old local weed plant. This seems effective but I don't know about seedlings. (after germinating)
(Coco Dust, Carbonized Rice Hull, Perlite Soil Conditioner, Soil)
I also have here Vermicast (EWC).
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top