homemade super soil or ready to go super soil help

hey people hope you are all keeping well i need some help with a basic but good homemade supersoil with products you can find in europe/uk i h ave heard about gaia green and dr earth just looking for a good guide or help to decide for my soil going to be my first photo run and im thinking a soild super soil is the way to go for a smooth run thanks for anyhelp

Before you do anything, I'd invest some serious time into reading up on this. It sounds easy to have an all in one mix that you just need to water, but keep in mind, it can be a nightmare to fix any issues that pop up in supersoil. Once you get it dialed in, it's pretty neat though. Here are a couple of good threads to get you started...I wouldn't buy a premixed super soil, that sort of defeats the entire purpose of it. Super soil was meant to be a more cost effective way to grow, though it won't seem that way in the beginning because most of the stuff you are buying should be bought in bulk. This thread isn't only about supersoil, but it's a good place to start: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=53792 And this one has some good recipes https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241964&highlight=Mycorrhizal. I also highly suggest looking up Clackamascootz's post history on ICmag forums, the guy was an inspiration to me when I got serious with growing organics outside. I'd look up his posts on SST's (sprouting seeds for enzymes) at least, and he has a ton of good advice beyond that. One piece of advice is, blend the soil really well, I think a lot of newbies don't mix it well enough-and give it enough time to "cook." Even if you start with a perfect soil, watering properly could be your downfall, so be very very careful not to "love your plants to death." A lot of people might disagree with me, but I think other mediums are easier for newbies than super soil-Coco, for example, is much more forgiving to people who overwater. Good luck, and I'm always glad to see people venturing into organics! Organics truly produce the best tasting buds!!

I am on run 3 of SS and love it, but the comments above are correct. It would worry me that you are asking for a recipe and not maybe up for diving in. It does take some knowledge and understanding of the components. It is easy to prep. My suggestion is plan to topdress a few times in flower and transplant from veg to flower also. That is imo necessary.

As for the recipe, it is 1/3 peat, 1/3 aeration and 1/3 compost and amendments.

The first 2 items are standard. The 3rd item, is where it all happens. That is where the reading comes in. You can go simple with Kelp, Dr. Earth, compost, lime, rock dust wtc, or get very elaborate.

Each run gets better but it is a big job to learn because deficiencies must be identified just like in hydro, but fixing them is a bit harder. Thus w SS we win by setting up the right mix from the start. It will take a few runs to perfect your mix but its a great experience. Havent had a single friend say yuck that organic stuff sucks!

As above read read then read some more listen to podcasts YouTube kis organics,coots
go luck on organic adventure

thank you guys iam just going to keep on studying i have a little while till my next run im really looking at a simple subcool ss maybe 1 day a red wood forrest replica living soil hehe like you guys say research is the key and simply diving in after that and doing it is key thanks again have a good crimbo

swangang69 said:

thank you guys iam just going to keep on studying i have a little while till my next run im really looking at a simple subcool ss maybe 1 day a red wood forrest replica living soil hehe like you guys say research is the key and simply diving in after that and doing it is key thanks again have a good crimbo

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A lot of comfort for people comes from a prebagged soil because the stress of wondering if you can really build your own soil really is a big stress. A lot rides on that soil, and I fully remember feeling a bit worried that it may not work at all.

But the mixes are real, tested and pretty awesome. You will still screw up the grow 20x ways and the mix will still be fine. And it does get better each run.

You will not believe how much nutes they really use...you can see it when you build the soil and watch the plant eat the majority of it in 3 or 4 weeks. As i finish run i can see them still using a ton of N, P, K, Ca, Mg. Lots of N and im finishing Flower week 6. Most of us have yellowed plants somewhere in mid flower the first few runs because the lectures about OMG no N in flower is so completely off base it leads us to the wrong place.

The TRUTH is that many deficiencies do show in flower...and in reality much of it is simply a need to feed them more. Its not necessarily a single deficiency, which we all search for. It is an overall need for more nutrition. Learning this single def vs it needs to be fed more overall...appears to me to be a big key to success.

All I can say is research a good, proven recipe. And then stick to it. From the percentages and mix values of perlite, compost, ewc and your amendments, to the time they suggest to let it all "cook".
I enjoyed my time with organics but I created many headaches thinking I could do it better than guys that have it mastered.

ye i do really went to build my own soil but i have recently discoverd a company called kindsoil and theer stuff looks exactly like subcools super soil i really want to mix my own but i also dont want to be taking up alot of time as would like to get my next run going just after Christmas really the scary thing is for me i only need about 5-10 gallons of soil for my little space thats it and i see videos on soils being made up for big outside grows etc i litrally only need a tiny ammount of soil compared do the mixes i have seen and iam just worried i cant scale it down to what i need if anyone has a small mix i could follow or study i would still be instrested in mixing my own ofcourse thanks guys

Don’t worry about layering hotter mix, keep going through Organic Forum here and absorb all you can, the Reliables become obvious pretty quick.

swangang69 said:

ye i do really went to build my own soil but i have recently discoverd a company called kindsoil and theer stuff looks exactly like subcools super soil i really want to mix my own but i also dont want to be taking up alot of time as would like to get my next run going just after Christmas really the scary thing is for me i only need about 5-10 gallons of soil for my little space thats it and i see videos on soils being made up for big outside grows etc i litrally only need a tiny ammount of soil compared do the mixes i have seen and iam just worried i cant scale it down to what i need if anyone has a small mix i could follow or study i would still be instrested in mixing my own ofcourse thanks guys

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Well...you maybe need only 1cft but then if you want to have another run right after, having 2cft will allow you to start without having to wait for a reamend and cook.

About 7.5gal is a cft. A good size garbage can with a lid and wheels can hold 30gal, about 4x what you can think you need.

You see...buying a bale of Canadian peat is cheap, and light. A few bags of compost. Some perlite. Then some rock dust, lime, mycos...some kelp and neem would be nice. Then mix it for 30min and cook it in the can by pouring some myco water over it all. Cover and uncover once a week for a minute or so until ready.

It really comes down to if you trust yourself and want to really do this or not. BAS can sell you the amendments, or your local store + Amazon.

Do you want the satisfaction that comes from DIY? The cost savings and ability to really learn how the nutes work? Build your own.

If you really only need 7 to 10gal and just want to dip your toes, there is nothing wrong with buying soil. There is also nothing wrong with a soil or coco grow that uses organic nutrients. Or salt based nutes.

Just saying...organic is not important to me for the usual reasons. I have a simple, repeatable process that takes me under 3 hours to prepare 10cft (about 75gal) of soil. When I reamend its hard to spend $150 on the amendments. Thats for 10cft. Cheap!

There is no cheaper, easier way for me to grow. I dont want to flush, or buy a lot of nutrients.

I do want a very high quality result and nobody disputes organic is that. Certainly hydro can grow more and faster, but not easier or better imo.