Building my first soil

[jonnynobody]

I'm moving from hydroponics to organic soil. Slowly I would like to transition my entire garden to dirt. The flavor of hydroponic grown flower compared to dirt grown is worlds apart. It's not that the hydroponically grown flower isn't potent and flavorful. It's just not special like the dirt grown flower is. Years ago another dirt grower made a post that hit me like a ton of bricks. He said when you smoke his flower it will actually leave a pungent flavor on your pallet. It's been over 10 years since I've grown in dirt, but that's exactly what I remember. The flavor was just magical and it stayed on the back of your tongue for minutes after smoking. You could breathe on someone and it was like a fresh bud had just been broken up. Breathe on someone after smoking some hydro and you're gonna get a slap in the face. It's a stark contrast. The plant develops stronger more complex and more aromatic oils when grown in dirt. The same is true of vegetables. Hydroponic tomatoes look like something that came off a 3d printer. And they taste like nothing. There is no flavor. It's just like a lifeless copy of an actual tomato. Like a tomato mannequin. Looks great, but take a bite and instantly you notice something isn't right. Your eyes tell you nothing is wrong. It looks gorgeous. But your pallet knows the difference. I believe dirt is what makes the difference. Not necessarily organic. I've grown plants in dirt using synthetic nutrients. The pot was absolutely incredible and it left a flavor on the pallet. The bowl was enjoyable to the last puff and burned to a clean gray ash. It was a pleasure to smoke. However, the plants were fed very lightly on a water, water, feed, water, water, feed regimen. They received very little synthetic fertilizer, but that is what I used. So I don't believe you must go 100% organic to obtain incredible results. I believe 100% organic would most likely produce the best results, but it also comes with a large learning curve. I'm ready to learn at this point, but I will continue using synthetic fertilizer in my dirt containers while I learn how to build a proper soil. I really like the fox farm brand as a base soil. Particularly the ocean forest and happy frog. HF for seedlings. First transplant into 50% HF and 50% OF. Final transplant into 100% OF. What I would like to do is amend these soils on a tarp with additional goodies. I just don't know what to throw in yet

I hear good things about oyster shell flour and crab meal for calcium sources. Also, another large commercial outdoor gardener suggested epsoma tomato tone. He said he starts all his plants in it that eventually wind up in 200 gallon fabric pots. Then he feeds the soil with teas from his 250 gallon reservoirs. Alfalfa meal tea is a regular one on non fertilizer water in days. I'm nowhere near ready to do teas or anything like that, but eventually I would like to move to that.

Any recommendations on a good basic soil recipe? Should I be using something other than Fox Farm? I really don't know a great deal about soil gardening other than knowing my pot tasted a lot better and was more enjoyable to smoke than my hydroponic grown pot. Thanks for any advice!

 

[myke]

As a newbie in organic all ill say is just do a couple of plants to start.I just harvested my first organic grow.Lots of issues with gnats which was my own fault.Plants didnt produce,not much flavour ,although different then hydro.Im on my second round now and things look better.Ill still grow a few in hydro just for kicks.

As for soil its not that complicated to get a good base,its all the top dressings that keeps it going,Plenty of good folks here to help.

 

[jonnynobody]

As a newbie in organic all ill say is just do a couple of plants to start.I just harvested my first organic grow.Lots of issues with gnats which was my own fault.Plants didnt produce,not much flavour ,although different then hydro.Im on my second round now and things look better.Ill still grow a few in hydro just for kicks.

As for soil its not that complicated to get a good base,its all the top dressings that keeps it going,Plenty of good folks here to help.

Try running synthetic nutes in soil. I firmly believe the magic has nothing to do with the medium being all organic. It's the dirt that makes the difference. It acts as a buffer between the roots and the fertilizer so the roots aren't just bathing in synthetic fertilizer 100% of the time like hydro. Best pot I ever smoked in my life was grown in dirt 5g buckets running GH flora trio and floralicous plus. Feed, water, water, feed. I'm repeating that regimen on my current soil experimental plant. If I could live to taste and experience that quality again it would be the most monumental event that's happened in my life in over 10 years. Having medicine like that on hand is empowering. It makes you feel at ease with the world. A large stock of hydro grown pot? Meh...it is just pot. I smoke it. I get high. There is no magic though and definitely no flavor left on the pallet. I'll get there though come hell or high water

 

[myke]

Try running synthetic nutes in soil. I firmly believe the magic has nothing to do with the medium being all organic. It's the dirt that makes the difference. It acts as a buffer between the roots and the fertilizer so the roots aren't just bathing in synthetic fertilizer 100% of the time like hydro. Best pot I ever smoked in my life was grown in dirt 5g buckets running GH flora trio and floralicous plus. Feed, water, water, feed. I'm repeating that regimen on my current soil experimental plant. If I could live to taste and experience that quality again it would be the most monumental event that's happened in my life in over 10 years. Having medicine like that on hand is empowering. It makes you feel at ease with the world. A large stock of hydro grown pot? Meh...it is just pot. I smoke it. I get high. There is no magic though and definitely no flavor left on the pallet. I'll get there though come hell or high water

You bring up a good point with dirt and bottles,my Cali O clone came from just that,dirt and bottles.I have yet to duplicate that after taste with hydro,coco and pure organic.I think ill try it this run,thanks for this.

 

[CrunchBerries]

I would honestly check this method: https://www.rollitup.org/t/greens-probiotic-method.985411/
Hydro growth with soil taste. 100% organic! It’s definitely changed my life! So easy!

 

[jonnynobody]

Just planted 3 feminized bruce banger's and 3 regular seeds of god bud in some potter's gold potting soil. Instead of germinating first I just tossed the beans in the dirt and capped them under a humidity dome. In the past I feel like I have caused more mistakes and killed more seedlings by trying to transplant a seedling with a tap root into the dirt than just dropping the seeds in the dirt and letting them do their thing.

Like I said I plan to replicate my previous soil successes with these dirt experimental plants. Gh flora 3 part with floralicous plus. I already have a quart of grow and bloom on hand from a previous project. Today I picked up a gallon of micro and a qt of cal mag due to my RO water. I have everything on hand now and I'm genuinely excited to garden like I haven't been in a very long time. It's very refreshing. I just can't believe it took me this long to find my way home. Playing in the dirt rocks

The new dirty girls:


And of course the corn, wild flowers, cabbage, and 'maters:

 

[myke]

A simple mix I use.
40/40/20. peat,perlite,compost/ewc.
To ea.cu/ft.
1 cup dolomite lime.
1.5 cups gaia 444.
1 cup kelp.
4 cups rock dust.
Mix, moisten let sit 45 days.Done.

 

[jonnynobody]

A simple mix I use.
40/40/20. peat,perlite,compost/ewc.
To ea.cu/ft.
1 cup dolomite lime.
1.5 cups gaia 444.
1 cup kelp.
4 cups rock dust.
Mix, moisten let sit 45 days.Done.

When the nurseries open up and good soil is available for a low price I'll use this recipe to cook up a batch in my 32 gallon trash can. I've always wanted to be one of those dudes that makes his own soil

 

[bodhipop]

Tried and true. Spiff it up if you'd like as well! I add some coconut sugar or FPJ and fruit juice at the end.

Making Coots Soil Mix
Let’s go over the recipe and then we can further discuss the best sourcing of the inputs.
Base:
* 1/3 Compost (or learn how to make your own compost)
* 1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss
* 1/3 Aeration (Such as pumice stone, rice hulls, lava rock)
This will make up your base. For example, if you are trying to make 15 gallons of soil (2 cubic feet) you would add 5 gallons of each and then mix thoroughly.
Additional Inputs:
With the additional inputs, you will want to use a 1/2 cup of each per cubic foot of soil you are making.
* Neem/Karanja Cake (learn more about neem/Karanja cake here)
* Kelp Meal
* Crustacean Meal (learn more about crustacean meal here)
Minerals:
For the minerals, you will want to use a total of four cups per cubic foot. Therefore, you will use one cup of each of the below ingredients in your soil mix.
* Basalt
* Glacial Rock Dust (learn more about glacial rock dust here)
* Gypsum (learn more about gypsum here)
* Oyster Shell Flour (learn more about oyster shell flour here)
As mentioned earlier, it is very important to ensure you source quality inputs. The best compost would be homemade. If you are not able to make your own or just don’t want to, Malibu Biodynamic compost is the next best option. Sphagnum peat moss does vary from peat moss and it is best to ensure you are sourcing sphagnum peat moss. The aeration portion of the base isn’t as important, but you do want smaller chunks of lava rock or pumice stone. Incorporating rice hulls is advisable because once they break down, they are a great source of silica. Because they do break down over time, you don’t want your aeration portion to be made up entirely of rice hulls.

 

[Southernontariogrower]

As a newbie in organic all ill say is just do a couple of plants to start.I just harvested my first organic grow.Lots of issues with gnats which was my own fault.Plants didnt produce,not much flavour ,although different then hydro.Im on my second round now and things look better.Ill still grow a few in hydro just for kicks.

As for soil its not that complicated to get a good base,its all the top dressings that keeps it going,Plenty of good folks here to help.

D E will get rid of gnats, or topdress with sand or hydracorn, i use 2 inches min, de can be mixed with water and dawn dishsoap, the blue one, and sprayed on soilmor plant, if plant will leave residue, sandy, rince w water when infsstation is gone.

 

[Rurumo]

I'd research Cootz mix, you've already got a couple of variations here, but there are many more out there. I wouldn't go dumping dry ferts into cootz mix though, most of your minerals are coming from the rock dust-look up the composition of basalt for example-and you'll throw it out of balance. You can also buy all those dusts premixed for you at build a soil at a surprisingly reasonable cost. They even have a cootz mix mineral kit for Coco, which I just discovered the other day after messing around with adding basalt and other rock dusts to coco for the past few months for my mother plants. I'd go with the basic 1/3 sphagnum, 1/3 aeration, 1/3 compost (ewc) to start-try to get 3/8 pumice if you can instead of perlite, but it's not a big deal if you can't. Be sure you let this soil cook long enough, otherwise don't be surprised if you get all sorts of weird deficiencies right away. This thread has a very interesting discussion that will help you understand this mix: https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/coots-mix-no-till-soil-help.88981/

 

[PadawanWarrior]

I'd research Cootz mix, you've already got a couple of variations here, but there are many more out there. I wouldn't go dumping dry ferts into cootz mix though, most of your minerals are coming from the rock dust-look up the composition of basalt for example-and you'll throw it out of balance. You can also buy all those dusts premixed for you at build a soil at a surprisingly reasonable cost. They even have a cootz mix mineral kit for Coco, which I just discovered the other day after messing around with adding basalt and other rock dusts to coco for the past few months for my mother plants. I'd go with the basic 1/3 sphagnum, 1/3 aeration, 1/3 compost (ewc) to start-try to get 3/8 pumice if you can instead of perlite, but it's not a big deal if you can't. Be sure you let this soil cook long enough, otherwise don't be surprised if you get all sorts of weird deficiencies right away. This thread has a very interesting discussion that will help you understand this mix: https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/coots-mix-no-till-soil-help.88981/

Ya, I love BAS. I have a link for $5 off.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

I'm moving from hydroponics to organic soil. Slowly I would like to transition my entire garden to dirt. The flavor of hydroponic grown flower compared to dirt grown is worlds apart. It's not that the hydroponically grown flower isn't potent and flavorful. It's just not special like the dirt grown flower is. Years ago another dirt grower made a post that hit me like a ton of bricks. He said when you smoke his flower it will actually leave a pungent flavor on your pallet. It's been over 10 years since I've grown in dirt, but that's exactly what I remember. The flavor was just magical and it stayed on the back of your tongue for minutes after smoking. You could breathe on someone and it was like a fresh bud had just been broken up. Breathe on someone after smoking some hydro and you're gonna get a slap in the face. It's a stark contrast. The plant develops stronger more complex and more aromatic oils when grown in dirt. The same is true of vegetables. Hydroponic tomatoes look like something that came off a 3d printer. And they taste like nothing. There is no flavor. It's just like a lifeless copy of an actual tomato. Like a tomato mannequin. Looks great, but take a bite and instantly you notice something isn't right. Your eyes tell you nothing is wrong. It looks gorgeous. But your pallet knows the difference. I believe dirt is what makes the difference. Not necessarily organic. I've grown plants in dirt using synthetic nutrients. The pot was absolutely incredible and it left a flavor on the pallet. The bowl was enjoyable to the last puff and burned to a clean gray ash. It was a pleasure to smoke. However, the plants were fed very lightly on a water, water, feed, water, water, feed regimen. They received very little synthetic fertilizer, but that is what I used. So I don't believe you must go 100% organic to obtain incredible results. I believe 100% organic would most likely produce the best results, but it also comes with a large learning curve. I'm ready to learn at this point, but I will continue using synthetic fertilizer in my dirt containers while I learn how to build a proper soil. I really like the fox farm brand as a base soil. Particularly the ocean forest and happy frog. HF for seedlings. First transplant into 50% HF and 50% OF. Final transplant into 100% OF. What I would like to do is amend these soils on a tarp with additional goodies. I just don't know what to throw in yet

I hear good things about oyster shell flour and crab meal for calcium sources. Also, another large commercial outdoor gardener suted epsoma tomato tone. He said he starts all his plants in it that eventually wind up in 200 gallon fabric pots. Then he feeds the soil with teas from his 250 gallon reservoirs. Alfalfa meal tea is a regular one on non fertilizer water in days. I'm nowhere near ready to do teas or anything like that, but eventually I would like to move to that.

Any recommendations on a good basic soil recipe? Should I be using something other than Fox Farm? I really don't know a great deal about soil gardening other than knowing my pot tasted a lot better and was more enjoyable to smoke than my hydroponic grown pot. Thanks for any advice!

Bro how many plants you got? Lol... I'm doing this at the same time. I'm getting a lil better, and I do mean lil, and there's still a lot to learn. Check out build a soil. Also check out the no till threads. It's pretty interesting.

 

[jonnynobody]

Bro how many plants you got? Lol... I'm doing this at the same time. I'm getting a lil better, and I do mean lil, and there's still a lot to learn. Check out build a soil. Also check out the no till threads. It's pretty interesting.

I run 13-14 in veg and 13-14 in flower continuously to create a perpetual harvest every 3 months. That includes trimming and room preparation time. Basically 4 harvests per year. It's a lot of fucking work. Fortunately the pandemic has kept me home for almost a year now which has served my garden well. The no till guys and girls are doing some very cool things with their gardens. It's a bit too much for me and the space I have available though. I'd like to try the no till thing with some veggies outside this year. If I get it down in the veggie garden I'd feel more comfortable taking the plunge with my high value indoor garden. There's just too much at stake financially each cycle to risk a substantial loss. The $650 electric bill comes in every month, and it doesn't ever stop. Failure is not an option

I stand by my previous statement regarding the best pot I've ever smoked or grown in my life for that matter. General hydroponics flora series with floralicous plus in a mix of fox farm ocean forest and happy frog dirt. It was a very light fertilizer regimen. 800ppm on a water, water, feed, water, water feed cycle. Basically they only got fertilizer water once per week. The rest of the water cycles were just plain old water. I'm dam near 40 years old and I've been smoking daily since I was 15. The 4 cycles I grew back to back using this exact same medium, fertilizer, and feed regimen produced the best tasting and most potent pot I've ever smoked in my life. There was nothing to improve upon. I'm hoping to repeat that success with my current godfather OG. It was very simple and easy to replicate. As a matter of fact back then I didn't know shit about growing anything. I just copied what the other guys were doing at the time on RIU. That is the system that was recommended to me, and it worked unbelievably well. I consistently harvested 13-14 ounces of funk-a-licous each of those 4 cycles from 4-5 plants under a single 600w lamp in a 3'x3'x6.5' secret jardin DR120. I didn't do anything special. I just followed the advice of growers that knew how to grow great fucking dope. And they were right

 

[Hollatchaboy]

I run 13-14 in veg and 13-14 in flower continuously to create a perpetual harvest every 3 months. That includes trimming and room preparation time. Basically 4 harvests per year. It's a lot of fucking work. Fortunately the pandemic has kept me home for almost a year now which has served my garden well. The no till guys and girls are doing some very cool things with their gardens. It's a bit too much for me and the space I have available though. I'd love to eventually do guano teas and such, but it takes more space than I have available at the moment. I'd like to try the no till thing with some veggies outside this year. If I get it down in the veggie garden I'd feel more comfortable taking the plunge with my high value indoor garden. There's just too much at stake financially each cycle to risk a substantial loss. The $650 electric bill comes in every month, and it doesn't ever stop. Failure is not an option

I stand by my previous statement regarding the best pot I've ever smoked or grown in my life for that matter. General hydroponics flora series with floralicous plus in a mix of fox farm ocean forest and happy frog dirt. It was a very light fertilizer regimen. 800ppm on a water, water, feed, water, water feed cycle. Basically they only got fertilizer water once per week. The rest of the water cycles were just plain old water. I'm dam near 40 years old and I've been smoking daily since I was 15. The 4 cycles I grew back to back using this exact same medium, fertilizer, and feed regimen produced the best tasting and most potent pot I've ever smoked in my life. There was nothing to improve upon. I'm hoping to repeat that success with my current godfather OG. It was very simple and easy to replicate. As a matter of fact back then I didn't know shit about growing anything. I just copied what the other guys were doing at the time on RIU. That is the system that was recommended to me, and it worked unbelievably well. I consistently harvested 13-14 ounces of funk-a-licous each of those 4 cycles from 4-5 plants under a single 600w lamp in a 3'x3'x6.5' secret jardin DR120. I didn't do anything special. I just followed the advice of growers that knew how to grow great fucking dope. And they were right

Ok so you already looked into no till... lol. You got a lot going on. I wish I had the time and space(and energy) for all that. I agree with flavor lacking in hydro, it's one of the reasons I started looking into organics.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

Ok so you already looked into no till... lol. You got a lot going on. I wish I had the time and space(and energy) for all that. I agree with flavor lacking in hydro, it's one of the reasons I started looking into organics.

Good luck btw!

 

[jonnynobody]

Ok so you already looked into no till... lol. You got a lot going on. I wish I had the time and space(and energy) for all that. I agree with flavor lacking in hydro, it's one of the reasons I started looking into organics.

You're correct. Hydro is a step down in flavor but the organic growers get the idea all wrong. The plant can't tell a synthetic element from an organically produced element. So what makes the difference in flavor from hydro to soil? It's the dirt acting as a buffer between the roots and the fertilizer slowing the rate of absorption. I've heard plenty of anecdotal stories over the years of terrible pot coming out of lot's of organic gardens so going organic is no gaurantee of success. Synthetic fertilizers work great when paired with soil as a medium. You will supply the plant reliably and consistently with all the elements required. They will want for nothing. The no till industry has conned a vast number of people into believing the best pot must be grown without synthetic fertilizer. Why the con job? Follow the money. The chicken hawks in the synthetic industry are exponentially worse. Advanced Nutrients anyone? 'Nuff said there. There's a happy median in between the organic nuts and the full on hydro growers. It's less profitable for new gardeners (or any gardener for that matter) to understand that though. If I wanted to convert my garden to no till I'd spend a grand just rounding up all the bullshit. The one's preaching it the most have financial ties to their statements. Is organic gardening awesome? You bet your tits. Is it required to grow top shelf out of this world dope? Instead of giving you the answer I'll ask another question. How easily are you conned?

 

[Hollatchaboy]

You're correct. Hydro is a step down in flavor but the organic growers get the idea all wrong. The plant can't tell a synthetic element from an organically produced element. So what makes the difference in flavor from hydro to soil? It's the dirt acting as a buffer between the roots and the fertilizer slowing the rate of absorption. I've heard plenty of anecdotal stories over the years of terrible pot coming out of lot's of organic gardens so going organic is no gaurantee of success. Synthetic fertilizers work great when paired with soil as a medium. You will supply the plant reliably and consistently with all the elements required. They will want for nothing. The no nill industry has conned a vast number of people into believing the best pot must be grown without synthetic fertilizer. Why the con job? Follow the money. If I wanted to convert my garden to no till I'd spend a grand just rounding up all the bullshit. The one's preaching it the most have financial ties to their statements. Is organic gardening awesome? You bet your tits. Is it required to grow top shelf out of this world dope? Instead of giving you the answer I'll ask another question. How easily are you conned?

I don't believe no till grows the best dope... it just looks very efficient and economical once you have everything, and it's dialed in. I believe then, all you need is water, cover crop, trim, and mulch. Imo, it seems easier because the soil is doing most of the work. I'm all about taking work load off... lol... im always gonna have a hydro bucket growing. The speed and yield are better.

 

[jonnynobody]

I don't believe no till grows the best dope... it just looks very efficient and economical once you have everything, and it's dialed in. I believe then, all you need is water, cover crop, trim, and mulch. Imo, it seems easier because the soil is doing most of the work. I'm all about taking work load off... lol... im always gonna have a hydro bucket growing. The speed and yield are better.

It's cool and efficient. Who can't get on board with that? What's cool and efficient isn't always the most effective though

Riding a bike is fun, efficient, and healthy for you. But your F-150 is always gonna get you where you need to go faster and safer. I'll admit. I am a little jealous sometimes of those crunchy granola hippie motherfuckers riding their bike on a beautiful sunny day while I'm stuck in my dam prison of a vehicle. Then when it's pouring down rain the next day I snap outta that stupid bullshit. It is what it is

 

[myke]

Im just harvesting my first organic grow,easy as all the leaves were gone long ago lol.Buds dont shrink nearly as much as hydro ones.Organic ones barley shrink at all.