How Much Organic Matter for Organic Grow

I just made up some soil that I'm running with now that I made in 10 gallon batches. Each batch consists of 8 gallons Peat Moss, 1 gallon Compost, 1 gallon EWC, 1 cup Barley, and 1/2 cup Oyster Shell Flour, so each batch contains 20% organic matter.

I was curious if anyone knows the minimum amount of organic matter required to have an organic grow or what is the least amount you have used with success?

It's always a good idea to follow a tried and true recipe that works: https://www.icmag.com/forum/marijuana-growing/organic-soil/48694-organics-for-beginners?t=53792 I consider peat to be organic matter. I'd add some aeration to your mix. 1/3 peat, 1/3 compost, 1/3 perlite (or 50%, 25, 25) is what folks have used for decades.

The3rdMan said:

I just made up some soil that I'm running with now that I made in 10 gallon batches. Each batch consists of 8 gallons Peat Moss, 1 gallon Compost, 1 gallon EWC, 1 cup Barley, and 1/2 cup Oyster Shell Flour, so each batch contains 20% organic matter.

I was curious if anyone knows the minimum amount of organic matter required to have an organic grow or what is the least amount you have used with success?

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Stop using PEAT MOSS PH 4.
IT'S ALSO DESTROYS OUR WETLANDS. SPHAGNUM PEAT MOSS IS RENEWABLE AND A PH OF 7.0

Rurumo said:

It's always a good idea to follow a tried and true recipe that works: https://www.icmag.com/forum/marijuana-growing/organic-soil/48694-organics-for-beginners?t=53792 I consider peat to be organic matter. I'd add some aeration to your mix. 1/3 peat, 1/3 compost, 1/3 perlite (or 50%, 25, 25) is what folks have used for decades.

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I've been having problems with tried and true recipes not working. I decided to work exclusively with the Coot recipe and work through the problems I'm having instead of switching to something different every time I have issues.

Eventually, I got around to running soil tests on my peat moss, compost, and EWC inputs and discovered they were so high in nutrients, I was probably having lockout issues. In addition, the Coot recipe recommends additional nutrients even though they are not needed. Plus, he recommends rock dust even though compost and EWC are richer in micronutrients.

So, I cut the organics in half and see promising improvements to my soil profiles. I was just wondering if I had sufficient organic matter for my organic grow (I believe I do). Guess it doesn't matter now since I just started 12/12 and will just have to wait and see how it turns out.

The3rdMan said:

I've been having problems with tried and true recipes not working. I decided to work exclusively with the Coot recipe and work through the problems I'm having instead of switching to something different every time I have issues.

Eventually, I got around to running soil tests on my peat moss, compost, and EWC inputs and discovered they were so high in nutrients, I was probably having lockout issues. In addition, the Coot recipe recommends additional nutrients even though they are not needed. Plus, he recommends rock dust even though compost and EWC are richer in micronutrients.

So, I cut the organics in half and see promising improvements to my soil profiles. I was just wondering if I had sufficient organic matter for my organic grow (I believe I do). Guess it doesn't matter now since I just started 12/12 and will just have to wait and see how it turns out.

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That isn't always a bad thing. Sure, short term it can be "bad" because your results are never truly optimized. However, the constant trying new methods provides insight and information that can only be gained from personal experience. Took me over 5 years to streamline my process, I was constantly trying new things. New lights, new rooms, new strains, you get the idea. Short term, your results will be inconsistent because of this. But in the long term, your results will be better because of all the information one is hopefully absorbing from trying said new methods.

What are you putting in your soil as a top dress, and how much?

How do you water, and how much at a time?

I've yet to encounter excess nutrients in my soil to the point of creating an imbalance. Typically, this happens due to using organic matter high in NPK (Blood/Bone Meals and so forth), and/or excessive top dressing.

Nute lockout in living soil is going to be watering related 9/10 times. Occasionally, lockout will come from excessive over-fertilization, however it is typically an over-watering issue that causes lockouts. Unfortunately, when people notice this lockout, they rarely take a look at their watering practices but instead panic and dump more nutrients in hopes of fixing the issue.

kratos015 said:

What are you putting in your soil as a top dress, and how much?

How do you water, and how much at a time?

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I water every 4-5 days. I use 15-gallon pots and check the moisture levels near the bottom of the pot. I water with 4-6 quarts at a time depending upon how fast the plant is drinking. I only top dress once at beginning of 12/12 with some compost and barley. The soil itself has all the nutrients the plant needs.

See below the nutrient levels I had going into my last grow. I did not have deficiency issues but the end product was not potent. The flower on one of the Indicas was airy, not dense. I didn't want to run with this soil, but it was all I had.

Sulfur: 141 ppm -- upper range should be 22 ppm
Potassium: 198 ppm -- upper range should be 80 ppm
Phosphorus: 49 ppm -- upper range should be 20 ppm

I think the Sulfur and/or Potassium levels were the problem.