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The Living Soil

Kangativa

Member
Veteran
Hi everybody:tiphat:

Over the last few seasons I have been asked what I put in my soil and how do I go about preparing it for planting numerous times, soooo I have decided to do a thread on what I do, use and how I go about it.
First up I will start with a potting mix I have worked out that is giving fantastic results, with clones and seedlings.
I cant really make up my own potting mix so I found a company that makes it to my specifacations.


Mix Components:
Raw Material Components: % Vol Quantity (m3)
Composted Pine Bark 0 - 10mm 50% 7.50
Composted Hardwood Sawdust 25% 3.75
Coal Ash 20% 3.00
Bassalt Crusher Dust 5% 0.75
-
-
100% 15.00
Additives: Kgs/m3
. Total Kg
Ag.Lime - DML Superfine 1.000 15.00
Dolomite - MDL Mudgee 3.000 45.00
pH Adjust Ratio 1:3


Mix Characteristics:
pH (Projected target) 5.8 - 6.5
EC (Not tested until dispatch

To 1 part potting mix I add half My compost and half bought compost, I will talk about these composts later, and I put it in a cement mixer along with 1kg of organic pellets ( Organic Extra), you can find ones that are non burning and I fully recommend these.
The whole mix should make a nearly overflowing wheelbarrow full just to give you a bit of an idea of quantities.
Before transplanting I always soak my clones, seedlings and plants in Seasol for 24hrs, I use a comercial Seasol, but just use the directions on bottle and all is good.
Make sure your potting mix is moist and after you have put your plant in it just lightly tap the pot to make the soil settle and then lightly spray with water, do not overly soak the medium.
Thats about it for my potting mix as you can see from this shot even the Sativas have nice fat healthy leaves that look like Indicas.

MM Seedling
picture.php


I have been using composted and organic materials for as long as I can remember and I have a book that is my bible. its called how to grow fruit and vegitables the organic method, by JL RODALE. Its that old I dont even know if it is in print anymore. But it covers everything.
I also use just as much love with my soil as I do with my plants.

Ok my compost I use and make and sorry I dont have measurements as I use a big tractor and lots of shit......I first start with layers of straw, grass or tree bark, then on top of that I put cow, horse and chicken manure, I like to use the freshest cow manure I can find as this helps with a faster break down, then I add blood and bone and just spread a nice coating over the pile, I then put Soft Rock phosphate, wood ash and Dolomite lime then do a layer of sand and then do the proccces all over again until a have a mountain ready to be broken down. On this mountain I will put a sprinkler to wet it all well.
Then I leave it for 1 month before turning and then I turn every month until I see worms starting to live in it.....usually around the 8 month mark. Then I just let it sit and use it when I need.
When I first started doing my pots I also found a company that makes excellent organic compost from Mara Seeds, you can buy it in bags or bulk. I found that when I had it delivered in bulk and covered it up over winter, I found that when I went to use it it was full of thousands of tiny worms.....oh yeah instint worm castings and a compost to boot:dance013: This is the other half of compost that I add to the potting mix.

Mara Seed compost


picture.php


Ok now for hole or garden prep.
Last Year we had so much rain here that the soil was basicily mud and then on top of that my garden was flooded twice, completly washing away the top soil and mulch.....was not a good year.

Last Years soil
picture.php


Anyway this year I spent hours adding potting mix, cow manure and raising the garden for better drainage.
For me I like to prep the garden during winter then cover the soil up with mulch to keep it warm ( not to much of a problem here) and protect it from the dry sun. Then just before Spring I will turn it all in, best to do this before all the worms start coming to the surface so you dont disturb them.
Once the turning and adding more compost is done I then just do the layering method with all well broken down organic material, I do not like to disturb the soil at all at this point except to put the plant in, I like my soils alive and kicking:dance013:
I use boken down hay bails that have been left to rot for a full year
picture.php


Chicken manure that has broken down for 2 years
picture.php


Broken down cow and horse manure

picture.php


When it come to planting the plants I like to dig a hole 2-3 times the size of the pot and fill it with my Potting mix so I can plant straight into that.
Potting mix

picture.php


After the Seasol soaking the plants dont even slow down. Then I just give the soil a slight turn where I have trodden to loosen it back up again and thrown on the goodies.

Latest Feed
picture.php





During the course of the season I will put up pics of my watering methods and what I use and other things I will add at a later date.
For now that is where I am up to and as you can see I like my soil and everything I use to be alive and well broken down, of course sometimes you have to use pellets and other things when out bush, but I will cover some of these things later.
Until next update.....stay well and good growing ..K
 

Armchair Travel

New member
:tiphat: I tips me Lid to you, thanks for posting your garden secrets up & sharing, you know when someone is serious about organics & composting when you use a tractor to turn your compost heap, that cracked me up.
I'll rep you when I figure out how, but I'm gunna subscribe this thread.
 
nice thread Kanga mate, i wish i got some shots of my mix the other day. Goin to a friends stable this week to grab some more horse shit and sawdust mix for my next batch.
 
L

luvaduck

Sh.t man, this is why you can grow the bigguns (and the locale helps of course).
NoCal, eat yo heart out!
 

monoclepop

Member
Gotta thank you guys for getting me onto the Seasol - it really seems to help plants get busy with the business of growing.
 

b00m

~No Guts~ ~No Glory~
Mentor
Veteran
Awesome work there Kanga :good:
Thanks for sharing mate, I've had great success over the years with horse manure, compost and SeaSol and/or Charlie Carp Fish Emulsion :dance013:
Your mix looks chocka bloc full of goodness and that rotted down hay is the ducks nuts mixed with manure ;)
:gday:
 

SilverSurfer_OG

Living Organic Soil...
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Beautiful work mate.

I am surprised to see 20% coal ash. Do you know the properties it brings? I guess to counteract the acidity of the pine. I used to have some humic acid granules that i think were made from coal... from Nutritech.

When you soak the plants in seasol do you have them fully submerged or just standing in a 'puddle' or something else?

I wish i had a tractor and soft rock phospate to work with :smoke:
 

coca

Member
I will definatly be watching this hopefully i can get trees half your size with the knowledge you share.
 

ahortator

Well-known member
Veteran
Hello everybody

Nice to see a so wonderful soil recipe. It is perfect for anything that you want to grow.

Kanga, have you tried to grow one of this?

2e759a.jpg

AG_history_banner.jpg


I am sure that with your methods you could beat the record.

I am wishing to read your watering methods.

Greetings
 

Kangativa

Member
Veteran
:tiphat: I tips me Lid to you, thanks for posting your garden secrets up & sharing, you know when someone is serious about organics & composting when you use a tractor to turn your compost heap, that cracked me up.
I'll rep you when I figure out how, but I'm gunna subscribe this thread.

No worries mate, I have been going to do it for awhile now.
Yeah I use the tractor for my work, but we also have this family thing where we go out when the little one comes home from school and collect a bucket and trailer load of shit, so in the first month we can have between 10-20 tons of the stuff.....you can be sure I am not going to turn that by hand.

nice thread Kanga mate, i wish i got some shots of my mix the other day. Goin to a friends stable this week to grab some more horse shit and sawdust mix for my next batch.

Yeah mate I wish you had as well, I always enjoy looking at other peoples shit...lol

Sh.t man, this is why you can grow the bigguns (and the locale helps of course).
NoCal, eat yo heart out!

Yeah mate the locale does help a bit, but I also think the strain plays a major part as well. The pic in my avatar was taken in the High country in Vic.
It was grown right on a creek and I used to pump water and at the same time add liquid compost teas....you could just about stand there and watch them grow:laughing:

Gotta thank you guys for getting me onto the Seasol - it really seems to help plants get busy with the business of growing.

Hey mate hang around as I will also be putting up info on 2 other Seasol products I use.....Definetly a good product:dance013:

Awesome work there Kanga :good:
Thanks for sharing mate, I've had great success over the years with horse manure, compost and SeaSol and/or Charlie Carp Fish Emulsion :dance013:
Your mix looks chocka bloc full of goodness and that rotted down hay is the ducks nuts mixed with manure ;)
:gday:

Cheers Boom:tiphat: yeah mate good live compost and healthy ground produces the best product. Cow manure is also good as it is one of the best soil conditioners you can get. I let the cows into my grassy paddocks and leave them till there is heaps of manure then run around with the harrow and spread it out before spring and then when we get our rains the ground comes alive.:jump:


Cheers again mate:tiphat:

Beautiful work mate.

I am surprised to see 20% coal ash. Do you know the properties it brings? I guess to counteract the acidity of the pine. I used to have some humic acid granules that i think were made from coal... from Nutritech.

When you soak the plants in seasol do you have them fully submerged or just standing in a 'puddle' or something else?

I wish i had a tractor and soft rock phospate to work with :smoke:

Hi mate....Yeah i know it is high, but it gets balanced out in the end and I find in the pots it helps with drainage and I dont get any problems when overwatering them.
Nutritech has some good products and it is one of the only companies that make a organic soluble Phosphate, you need to keep it agitated while using it though as it is very thick. It is also where I get my Soft rock Phos from.

Yeah mate I soak them with the mixture covering the pots for 24hrs


I will definatly be watching this hopefully i can get trees half your size with the knowledge you share.

Get that soil right and you will have no problems. Pure Sats need good soil all through their life and the rest is easy.

i think i might have to trademark your IC tag kanga be worth money soon enough me thinks ;)

Lol....cheers mate:tiphat:

Awesome soil mix!
I would only add some charcoal dust!

Cheers mate.....I have plenty of it in the potting mix and I also put plenty in the soil this year to help with drainage.
I also have some huge bonfires and I make it then, from there it goes into the compost :tiphat:
 

Kangativa

Member
Veteran
Hello everybody

Nice to see a so wonderful soil recipe. It is perfect for anything that you want to grow.

Kanga, have you tried to grow one of this?

2e759a.jpg

AG_history_banner.jpg


I am sure that with your methods you could beat the record.

I am wishing to read your watering methods.

Greetings


Lol.....No mate I dont and wont even try, cant eat them anyway.

I was just about to set up the first of my watering methods, but we just got about 50mm of rain so I can do other things now.
But I will do it soon as it is part of my foilar feeding and the girls are just approaching their time for it.
 

Kangativa

Member
Veteran
Hi guys I thought you might be interested in this product.
As you know it is now prohibited to import Bat Guano into OZ so I believe this is the next best thing, you can get it through STANCE Global and Inviromental and can be used as a hydro product and it is also certified organic.
It is also instant and slow release and an excellent source of calcium.
Anyway I am testing it my grow this season.

Here is an analysis of the product...

Sample Description Method Unit Guano Fertilizer STA-050
Test Code
Calcium (Ca) ESI02 %w/w 29.6
Magnesium (Mg) ESI02 %w/w 1.10
Sodium (Na) ESI02 %w/w 0.460
Potassium (K) ESI02 %w/w 0.057
Sulphur (S) ESI02 %w/w 0.165
Copper (Cu) ESI02 mg/kg 155
Zinc (Zn) ESI02 mg/kg 671
Iron (Fe) ESI02 mg/kg 9,650
Manganese (Mn) ESI02 mg/kg 1,590
Cobalt (Co) ESI02 mg/kg 3.1
Molybdenum (Mo) ESI02 mg/kg 2.6
Boron (B) ESI02 mg/kg 54
Aluminium (Al) ESI02 mg/kg 17,400
Selenium (Se) ESI02 mg/kg <5
Cadmium (Cd) ESI02 mg/kg 3.1
Lead (Pb) ESI02 mg/kg 5.5
Arsenic (As) ESI02 mg/kg 7
Chromium (Cr) ESI02 mg/kg 27.4
Nickel (Ni) ESI02 mg/kg 8.9
Mercury (Hg) ESI02 mg/kg <2
Silver (Ag) ESI02 mg/kg 6.40
Nitrogen (LECO) CF003.2 %w/w <0.01
pH (1:5) CF024.2 - 8.32 @ 21°C
Electrical Conductivity (1:5) PLA007 mS/cm 0.14
Moisture (air) CF005.1 %w/w 3.3
Silica(Acid insoluble residue) IND013 %w/w 5.0
Phosphorus (P) ESI02 %w/w 8.91
Phosphorus (Water soluble) IND080.1 %w/w 0.02
Citrate Insoluble Phosphorus IND080.2 %w/w 7.44
Citrate Soluble Phosphorus # IND080.3 %w/w 1.45
 
Yeah mate I wish you had as well, I always enjoy looking at other peoples shit...lol

:laughing: Hey mate, got a couple of shots of my mulch for the bush later on in the season, thought i would throw them in here. I pulled my mulch box out from behind the shed and put it together.


In the bottom of the box is dirt and lawn clippings, leaves, sticks and 1 barrow of a mix that was in my compost bin mainly soil and broken down leaves with a splash of perlite then a couple of handfulls of lime. My pup was trying to help but ended up in the bin several times so i let him supervise me for a hour or so till he got bored and went into the shade for a nap. :)



I will move the box each week and shovel everything back into it and add my shit as well, sheep shit, horse shit and sawdust, cow shit, and a little splash of organic dynamic lifter. Planted too many lettuce again so the bad ones went in today as well, all food scraps from inside go in and shredded newspapers as well.

Wish i had a tractor/loader :ying:
 

SilverSurfer_OG

Living Organic Soil...
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Cheers the reply.

I didnt know about the bat guano and im betting not many folk have heard that news. Explains why it is being marketed as seabird guano lol. Anyway thats a whole can of worms right there...

I will have to look into the soft rock phospate from Nutritech. Their range is incredible.

I really like their dry kelp and fulvic acid powder. Smells just like freeze dried coffee.

I will have to try the soak method with my next batch of seedlings.

:smoweed:
 

vandelay

Member
firtilisers

firtilisers

Hi Kanga
I am trying to decide what to use as a firtiliser during flowering. Their outside in huge holes I dug filled with good poting mix (yates premium, osmocote premium and two other 80l bags), store bought compost,home made compost, mushroom compost, lime and mulch on top.

During summer im alternating between fish emulshen and power feed every two weeks, seasol as a foliar spray every two weeks and a benni tea every three weeks. I think that sounds good, but when autumn comes along and they start flowering I dont know what to go with.

I was thinking of using bass liquid potash every 10 days or dutch master potash+. What do you think? What do you add during flowering?
 
Last edited:

Kangativa

Member
Veteran
Yeah mate I wish you had as well, I always enjoy looking at other peoples shit...lol

:laughing: Hey mate, got a couple of shots of my mulch for the bush later on in the season, thought i would throw them in here. I pulled my mulch box out from behind the shed and put it together.


In the bottom of the box is dirt and lawn clippings, leaves, sticks and 1 barrow of a mix that was in my compost bin mainly soil and broken down leaves with a splash of perlite then a couple of handfulls of lime. My pup was trying to help but ended up in the bin several times so i let him supervise me for a hour or so till he got bored and went into the shade for a nap. :)



I will move the box each week and shovel everything back into it and add my shit as well, sheep shit, horse shit and sawdust, cow shit, and a little splash of organic dynamic lifter. Planted too many lettuce again so the bad ones went in today as well, all food scraps from inside go in and shredded newspapers as well.

Wish i had a tractor/loader :ying:

Looking good there mate.....You have the family going all googoo with the pup shot...lol
I dont add paper or the food scaps to my compost, they just go into a hole where we are going to plant a fruit tree and let it break down in that and add compost later.
We eat a lot of seafood so that also goes into the holes.....wish i was eating a lot of West Oz crayfish though.
Good growing Mate:tiphat:

Cheers the reply.

I didnt know about the bat guano and im betting not many folk have heard that news. Explains why it is being marketed as seabird guano lol. Anyway thats a whole can of worms right there...

I will have to look into the soft rock phospate from Nutritech. Their range is incredible.

I really like their dry kelp and fulvic acid powder. Smells just like freeze dried coffee.

I will have to try the soak method with my next batch of seedlings.

:smoweed:

Hi mate...Yeah I didnt know that either, until I went on the search for it. I used to use Bat G lots on the coast, because I could get it all the time.
Anyway Ill see how the so called bird G goes.
Freeze dried coffee hey.....I bet if you drank it, it would give u a bigger hit though:)

Hi Kanga
I am trying to decide what to use as a firtiliser during flowering. Their outside in huge holes I dug filled with good poting mix (yates premium, osmocote premium and two other 80l bags), store bought compost,home made compost, mushroom compost, lime and mulch on top.

During summer im alternating between fish emulshen and power feed every 10 days, seasol as a foliar spray every two weeks and a benni tea every three weeks. I think that sounds good, but when autumn comes along and they stert flowering I dont know what to go with.

I was thinking of using bass liquid potash every 10 days or dutch master potash+. What do you think? What do you add during flowering?

Hi Vandelay......All the stuff you are using all sounds pretty good, but to ask me for advice on things apart from what I grow with is not a good idea.....lol.
I think the person who has all the info on everything is the man I just quoted above.....he has a excellent thread on organics and responds a lot quicker to questions than what I do.

I do , do my foilar feeds every 2 weeks though, but at half the recomendation. But I am also using commercial seasol products, which I believe to be at a stronger concentration.
oh yeah dont forget to add lots of love, always a good fert:tiphat:
 

Kangativa

Member
Veteran
Hi Guys and Gals.....Just a little update on the garden.

I manage to get these broken down hay bails for $20 each delivered, which basicly just covers his cost of making them.
I am sure if you live near farms you will find them.
picture.php


So I have now finished all the feeding of composted materials, Bird Guano and a very light sprinkle of Blood & Bone around the plants and have mulched them with the hay. I then give them all a good water, so everything starts doing its thing and that is the last time I try and walk on any soil in the patch.
In the next couple of weeks I will start the liquid feeds, Foilar and Soil applications by overhead spraying.
I will cover what I use in the next update
.
Here is a pic of the soil all mulched.
picture.php


Good growing everyone...K:gday:
 

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