There are always discussions and questions about this so I thought we could all share whatever experience or expertise we have. This is an important topic because:

1. I dont know of any brand of soil developed for OD Mj. Your soil will be made specifically for MJ and your conditional needs..

2. Store bought is too expensive. You can blend the ingredients, (in the right porportions), cheaper and better than you can pay another company to do that.

3. TASTE. Others can disagree, but i have a cannabis rule that is simple: Use chemical ferts and your pot will taste like chemical ferts. And no, outdoors you can't flush your way out of it. If you want your weed to taste good, you need to start mixing.

Most store bought soils are peat based. There are some organic soils out now, but take the vaseline with you when you go to buy them..
Peat is airy and loose and makes a good root medium if the acidity is adjusted. Peat is acidic in all of its forms and cannabis won't grow in it unless it has been neutralized. It also lacks nutrients. I use raw peat purchased in bales as my base material as well.

Starting with 3 cu ft bale of peat moss, I start building my od soil. At this point, even though there will be some basic commonalities between my soil and what you make , there may be big differences in ingredients and texture.
For example, you may be someone who swares that chiken shit adds a certain flavor and want to use CS instead of what I use, (cowpoo and compost). Your soil may be more clay like and need more sand or may be sandy and need more compost. One size fits all is the method used by commercial soil makers and isnt as effective as it could be. The soil you make should fit your natural soils personality and your taste requirements.

My recipe:

3 cu. ft. of agricultural peat moss.
10 bags composted cow manure
10 bags of organic compost
3 gallons of course construction sand
1 bag miracle grow perlite.

I also add 1lb of Copper sulfate, 1lb of Iron ferrite and 1 cup of sulpher to mine as I believe these greatly impact the taste. This year, I will experiment with plant sugar additives

I mix these ingredients together in late summer at the back of my property. I turn the mixture several times before winter and add enough lime to bring the ph up to around 7. It will decrease overwinter, but I can adjust again in the spring. The cost of my soil is about 2$ per cubic foot.

In the spring, I add 2-3 gallons of this soil to my outdoor plant site. I dont have to fertilize during the grow (unless needed), water retention is increased and my pot doesnt taste like an old penny. Deep , rich and spicy. The only way to grow.

Im not the only one making thier own outdoor soil. Lets hear your recipies.

[luciano28]

Ok I have no clue what it costs me to do this but this is what I did the last 2 years. Edit: it costs about $75 total not counting gasoline for the 10 mile drive to family farm to get free compost/cow shit, I also could save $10 or so by going to pick up soil myself and not having it delivered. My truck is small though


I get 2 cubic yards of top soil(approx $40 having it delivered) delivered to my house for my wife's flower beds, I will have a 1/2 yard left usually which is a good bit, then I go to a fruit&garden center by my house and buy 5 10lb bags of schfangum(sp?, lol) peat moss(approx $30), last year I used miracle grow brand, then I go to Wally World and buy 2 bags of Scotts' perlite($7). Then I go to my cousins farm and get some finished compost and manure, I really cant tell you how much, I just keep shoveling it in my truck until I think I got enough. Thats about it. I have over a cubic yard is my guesstimate when Im done mixing it.

This year Im gonna buy some extra mulch and try mulching my babies this year thanks to you Silverback.


I dont use any fertilizers either silverback. I tried it 3 years ago and Im not convinced it did any good to them, I was using some leftover hydro ferts though, lol. When I grew indoors I know the ferts helped, but I stopped the indoor growin a few years ago when my wife had our first child.


P.S. Where can I get Worm Castings?

[tokinjoe]

Good idea for a thread SB. I dig holes large enough for 3 cubic feet of potting soil and also I grow in a marshy area in containers that hold exactly 3 cubic feet of soil. I use Sta Green soil from Lowes. To this I add: 1 1/2 cups dolomite lime, 1/4 cup blood meal, 1 cup bone meal and 1/4 cup epsom salts for potassium. When the plants start to flower I use bloom booster once the plants start to flower and continue this halfway through flowering. My grow pots for outdoors, 20 gallon I buy at the local Dollar Store for 5-7 dollars depending on the store:





As for the worm castings, the only place I can find them is in the local grow store. Any place that specializes in selling products for the indoor grower (they usually cater to the MJ crowd) should have them. Closest thing I can find at Lowe's is Black Kow cow manure, and that ain't worm castings!

Hey Luciano28, it sounds like thats working for you. Old manure is good stuff, especially at the bottom of the pile where the worms are.

Hey Tokinjoe, Ive wanted to use that sta-green because it was a little cheaper but I worried about its ph. Are you getting good results? I was also worried about the burn of small seedlings. Miracle grow and stagreen and the others that have ferts in them sometimes burn my sensi starts and any thing with blueberry in it. You having good results.?

Plus Joe, ill tell you anytime I use bone meal or bloodmeal and organic products like that the deer tare me a new one. No troubles? Thats the reason Ive switched off to manure's because i still get organic nutes but not in a form that seems tasty to ground hogs and deers.

Plantones Organic fertilizer is without a doubt the best nutrient enhancement product I have ever found. If you put this stuff in soil and come back 2-3 weeks later, the entire soil area is filled with tiny roots and worms and is almost alive with activity.. Its unreal and the MJ plants seem to explode when its used but here, the deer love it as well and I can't use it out in the field.

[marto]

Hi Silverback, thanks for the great advice as usual. I'm also having trouble with the critters digging in my prepped wholes and need to consider an alternative to blood and bone meal. Where can i find this plantones organic fertilizer.....no luck with a google. thanks

[marto]

Nevermind, i found it at espoma.com ...a very informative website btw. Its called "plant tones" if were thinking of the same stuff. thanks again

[tokinjoe]

SB, down this way the deer will eat every plant I've got whether I use blood/bone meal or not. I'm not kidding it's like they look for it once they smell it and will eat every single one. If I don't cage it, it's gone.

I've never measured the PH of the Sta Green but I've had very good luck with it. No nute burn or stunting from the PH at all. This year I think I'm going to try the crystals that Julian posted up about. All those pots I plant in at the bottoms require a bunch of watering and it would be nice to get a reprieve. Another problem I have when I plant in containers is ants. I am guaranteed to get ants in some of my pots. I don't remember the name but one treatment around the base of the pot with a garden type ant killer kills them in a day or two. Between the deer, ants, caterpillars and mold I stay pretty busy. Cages for the deer, powder for the ants, Dipel for the caterpillars and the product you recommended for the mold and I'm hoping to do ok this year. Waiting on my Himalayan Gold and Cheese now. Mike at Mandala says they still have plenty #1's and those will be my second wave to go out. Peace.

Hey tokinjoe. I hear you on the deer. Just a tip man and i know it sounds funny, but those little plastic flower bed decorations and toys with a motion sensor that make sound work great and they're not really very loud at all. I have 12 croaking frogs and 2 pigs that oink and fart and 2 little dogs that bark. Placed at the base of the plant, the deer walks up, the little pigs start oinkin and fartin or the dog barking, the deer jumps 10' high and takes off like a bat out of hell. I find them at big lots and the dollar store, specialty stores. You can even get them that have volume controls. AAA deer control. works for groundhogs and skunks too and when the plants are big enough to not be eaten, pick um up for next year. I came across this while watching my stupid cat shit on himself everytime he cut through the flower bed and activated the little frogs. Deer arent any smarter than cats it turns out.

Cant you get those pots in the ground just a little so you could take advantage of the ground water? I have some of the #1's up and 1 week old today. They're outside in the sun as i write.

Hi marto. Yeah, thats the right stuff. Its the best organic fertilizer i have ever come across with relation to cannabis. That stuff makes sensi star taste good. Honestly, if anyone ever had any question as to what impact oranics have on the taste of cannabis, use of that product will answer it. It also rings the dinner bell for every animal around. I actually had them tare into bags of soil amendments I had prepared and delivered to the site over the winter to be mixed in during the spring. I would plant a plant and the deer would dig it up eating the soil!

[SirSmokeAlot.]

LOL that sounds like an excellent idea for those with deer problems or small animals,especially if it worked for you.I would always use cages though but having extra protection is good.They have those things in the garden section of stores.
This ofcourse wouldn't help with real desprate deer if they get no rain but thats where a cage would come in and other products to deter deers.
I like this idea if it works on small animals

[farmerlion]

Take your dog out for a run by your grow. Deer dont like anything kanine. You dont have to go around each plant just play catch in the area and keep moving just in case someone is watching. I piss all over around my outdoor stuff.