Building soil?

Lenin1917

Lenin1917

Well-Known Member
I know this is a long shot, but how feasible would cooking say 50-100 gallons of soil indoors be? I really like growing organically but I’m getting sick of paying Amazon prices $30-$40 1.5cuft roots original(no grow shop near me and I don’t drive because I have some medical problems that make passing out behind the wheel more likely than I’m comfortable with)

Can I just mix the peat(pro-mix hp), perlite and dry amendment blend(build-a-soil probably) in a big ass bin and then leave it for a month?
 
Lenin1917 said:
I know this is a long shot, but how feasible would cooking say 50-100 gallons of soil indoors be? I really like growing organically but I’m getting sick of paying Amazon prices $30-$40 1.5cuft roots original(no grow shop near me and I don’t drive because I have some medical problems that make passing out behind the wheel more likely than I’m comfortable with)

Can I just mix the peat(pro-mix hp), perlite and dry amendment blend(build-a-soil probably) in a big ass bin and then leave it for a month?
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Yes but your forgetting 1/3 of your mix as EWC. This is vital. Comes out to 2.5 g castings, 1.7 gallons perlite and roughly 3 gallons promix hp. Then mix in amendments and wait.
 
Lenin1917 said:
I know this is a long shot, but how feasible would cooking say 50-100 gallons of soil indoors be? I really like growing organically but I’m getting sick of paying Amazon prices $30-$40 1.5cuft roots original(no grow shop near me and I don’t drive because I have some medical problems that make passing out behind the wheel more likely than I’m comfortable with)

Can I just mix the peat(pro-mix hp), perlite and dry amendment blend(build-a-soil probably) in a big ass bin and then leave it for a month?
Click to expand...
I have probably 10 to 15, 27 Gallon totes full in my basement lol
 
I can figure out storage when not in use, mostly just worried about potential heat and off gassing.

I plan on moving in the next year, just need to pull a few harvests first. Between me the cats and 50sqft(and expanding) of grow space it’s pretty tight in hereo_O
 
Lenin1917 said:
I can figure out storage when not in use, mostly just worried about potential heat and off gassing.

I plan on moving in the next year, just need to pull a few harvests first. Between me the cats and 50sqft(and expanding) of grow space it’s pretty tight in hereo_O
I have never had any issues with off gassing or anything but i do have a very drafty old house lol
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I gotta use containers, have to be able to tear down if I hear the law coming. My other options coco and hempy, but fuck I love how my organic tastes
 
Dump it all in a big pile right in the living room and claim you are a professional mud wrestler, training for the championship.

But yeah, I knew a fellow that kept giant garbage cans of soil on hand ready to go, he was big into organics. They were at least 50 gallons each, I think closer to 100. They sucked to move.
 
green_machine_two9er said:
Yes but your forgetting 1/3 of your mix as EWC. This is vital. Comes out to 2.5 g castings, 1.7 gallons perlite and roughly 3 gallons promix hp. Then mix in amendments and wait.
Click to expand...

I'm switching to organic from Ocean Forest soil and Advanced Nutrients after two years and I really am not too sure where to start as far as building a good soil. Is there a way to do a living soil that does not have to be replaced, could I reuse it continually? I don't have a definite recipe of things I should get and I would hate to guess. I see promix, perlite, EWC but I'm not to sure what amendments I should get. I just know that I want something with a healthy biology that is sustainable. Do you have any recipes or lists you could share if so I would greatly appreciate it.
 
RickyLaFleur said:
I'm switching to organic from Ocean Forest soil and Advanced Nutrients after two years and I really am not too sure where to start as far as building a good soil. Is there a way to do a living soil that does not have to be replaced, could I reuse it continually? I don't have a definite recipe of things I should get and I would hate to guess. I see promix, perlite, EWC but I'm not to sure what amendments I should get. I just know that I want something with a healthy biology that is sustainable. Do you have any recipes or lists you could share if so I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Look into no till.
 
RickyLaFleur said:
I'm switching to organic from Ocean Forest soil and Advanced Nutrients after two years and I really am not too sure where to start as far as building a good soil. Is there a way to do a living soil that does not have to be replaced, could I reuse it continually? I don't have a definite recipe of things I should get and I would hate to guess. I see promix, perlite, EWC but I'm not to sure what amendments I should get. I just know that I want something with a healthy biology that is sustainable. Do you have any recipes or lists you could share if so I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Hey check out my stickied thread Mars hydro fc6500. I have a recipe on the second page.

good luck let me know if you have specific questions
 
Lenin1917 said:
I know this is a long shot, but how feasible would cooking say 50-100 gallons of soil indoors be? I really like growing organically but I’m getting sick of paying Amazon prices $30-$40 1.5cuft roots original(no grow shop near me and I don’t drive because I have some medical problems that make passing out behind the wheel more likely than I’m comfortable with)

Can I just mix the peat(pro-mix hp), perlite and dry amendment blend(build-a-soil probably) in a big ass bin and then leave it for a month?
Click to expand...
Very feasible. You may be a bit over $100 but you will easily be way ahead and can make some amazing soil... I ended up mixing 30 gals in a 50 gallon tote. And have enough to make way more I just only needed enough for my current grow. Screw buying 40$ bags of FFOF ever again. I'm sure they're great and convenient if your using salt based nutes but if your set on organic you can make a way better mix for much cheaper.

You can take this with a grain of salt as this is my first time using this mix. So far I have been very impressed, hope I found what works for me.

I read a lot of the "super soil" mixes on here all good stuff and suggest reading up on it. What most of the mixes break down to is a base mix- some close variation of 1/3 each of peat moss, aeration, and worm castings or compost. Then the amendments. This is when recipies get wild, there are many ways to cover your bases. After looking into the Gaia green and some dr earth fertz I decided to go that route since the are a pretty complete mix. I went with Dr earth home grown 4-6-3 and flower girl 3-9-4.

My base mix is 10 gal sphagnum peat moss, 10 gallons worm castings and big rootz, 10 gallons volcanic rock and clay pebbles.

My amendments are dr earth Homegrown at 1cup per 10gal. And I sprinkled about a half cup of flower girl in the mix. I also added a gallon of biochar.

Sprouted in happy frog(this bag of happy frog should last year's as I'm only using it for seedlings now) then transplanted to their final 4 gallon home with my mix. Plants just turned a month old, so far all I've done is water with tap water that's been left out for a day. I'm planning on having to top dress with flower girl at some point during flower. 20220218_095428.jpg20220218_094457.jpg20220218_103126.jpg
 
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Lenin1917 said:
I know this is a long shot, but how feasible would cooking say 50-100 gallons of soil indoors be? I really like growing organically but I’m getting sick of paying Amazon prices $30-$40 1.5cuft roots original(no grow shop near me and I don’t drive because I have some medical problems that make passing out behind the wheel more likely than I’m comfortable with)

Can I just mix the peat(pro-mix hp), perlite and dry amendment blend(build-a-soil probably) in a big ass bin and then leave it for a month?
Click to expand...
I've mixed 2 yards of soil in my basement before, it's more of a question of how much space you have imo. You can use like 35-50 gallon garbage cans or buy a couple of like 50-100 gallon fabric pots and mix in those as well instead of a tarp then just keep watering the pot to keep it moist, wrap some shipping plastic/Saran wrap around the outside and leave about 3-4 inches on the bottom and it'll stay moist much longer as well. Personally I think the large pots are easier but whatever works best for your situation should be fine.

Edit:just noticed you don't have a basement, you should still be fine, 100gallons of soil will heat up for probably about a week (I made ~200 gallons a couple months ago and it got to 120-130ish for like 4 days.) but I've never had it raise the temps in my area significantly, it will make a lot of humidity and offgas a little as it's cooking though. Probably nothing a cracked window and a small fan couldn't take care of though.
 
green_machine_two9er said:
Hey check out my stickied thread Mars hydro fc6500. I have a recipe on the second page.

good luck let me know if you have specific questions
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply I searched for it but I dont seem to be finding it. I was reading through some of the conversations and I saw alot of people recommend using 15 gallon or more but I am afraid I dont have the space for that size. If I cannot use it in larger pots is there a better option for smaller pot sizes? I have told myself I am going to make this switch but there just seems to be so many different methods, amendments and variables it just isn't clicking especially with limited space. I run in a '7 x 4' x 8' tent. Usually run 8 at a time in 5 gallon pots. What would you recommend and do you have a link to that post? Also I plan on starting my next one in a couple weeks will I have time to cook soil or should I just shoot for the run after next? I really want to get rid of AN as fast as possible. Sorry so many questions and thanks again I know once it starts to make sense it will be alot easier to implement but for now I have to soak up as much knowledge as I can.
 
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