Feel ya bro
Need help with my first supersoil for Autoflowers.
- Thread starter Ganjedi
- Start date
WakeBake
Well-Known Member
Where you from? North, south, east or west?Feel ya bro
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Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
Right, a living soil mix can be made of lots of different inputs and achieve the same result. There’s no one right way to do it. Find what works for you; takes time and experience.Well I keep lurking around Mephisto's reddit to get a hold of their seeds and saw a post about Daz's supersoil recipe from his instagram , I personally dont even use instagram; and the only reason I thought/decided to use this recipe is because the breeder himself uses this recipe for his seeds so it was kinda silly not to try that out first.
Hmm I might try transplanting once I get more experience , just on my first grow right now so kinda doing things easy to avoid mistakes. Also the bin with worm castings and root balls , how long till they break down completely ? Or do I keep adding a bit of those castings into my soil and let the rest of the rootball break up over time ?
Another thing , this recipe involves good Roots Organic soil which has a lot of inputs added to it , different meals which I wont be having in my mix since I will be getting pure soil ... do I account for that or it wont make much difference ?
Quick google search gave the ingredients used in ROOTS ORGANICS ORIGINAL POTTING SOIL
INGREDIENTS
Perlite, Coco Fiber, Peat Moss, Composted Forest Material, Pumice, Worm Castings, Bat Guano, Soybean Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Fishbone Meal, Kelp Meal, and Greensand. Also contains beneficial mycorrhizal fungi: Funneliformis mosseae, Rhizophagus intraradices, Septoglomus desertícola to enhance uptake of plant nutrients, increase root biomass, and help container grown plants resist stress.
I know I'm over thinking things , but dont wanna end up doing things and finding out I didnt put enough time/effort trying to figure things out ... I know it takes time to get things right over a few grows but wanted to at least start off solid. Thanks as always !
If you simply add worm castings (and/or anything inert like perlite) to spent soil you can use it right away; good for seedlings and young clones. Adding lots of minerals and amendments requires 30 days to normalize ph.
Sounds like a decent mix. I would use any kind of bagged mix you aquire like roots organics as it is and then add your amendments after the first run. Keep some fresh soil on hand for transplants and add granular mycorrhizae in the hole each time if you can get it where you are.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
I always love your advice, but I don't think all dry amendments take 30 days for the pH to stabilize. I should test it. I know that when it's cooking the pH drops due to the microbial activity. And when it cools off the pH will raise back up, but I don't know by how much.
I mix batches of top dressing and it gets warm to hot for a few days, then cools off. I top dress with it after 3-5 days after it's cooled off. The temp on the second day was 107 degrees last time I checked one. Then it dropped about 10 degrees a day. I top dressed the plants when it was cooled down to the 70's.
It would be interesting to check the pH as it fluctuates. I was kinda shocked how hot the mix actually got, and it didn't really have super hot amendments in it. I would imagine for hotter amendments you would want a longer cook time to stabilize it.
You just got me thinking Drysift. I'm definitely not arguing with ya.
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
You are right it doesn’t; depends upon what and how much stuff you add in. 30 days is just a general rule of thumb; I don’t have a soil ph probe and I’m betting neither does the OP. You don’t even need to cook if you just add compost and aeration; I’ve re-used my soil that way many times but I’ve also had plants yellowing off early as a result of my laziness.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
Ya, I'm still trying to keep my plants from yellowing. I'm always a little behind still. I'm trying to be more proactive, but I'm lazy too.
I took these last night of a couple I just flipped a few days ago. It's my no-till that I've only been top dressing and trying to just give plain water to. I still have much more to learn.
myke
Well-Known Member
Interesting ,please explain.thx
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
I premix the top dressing usually anymore. I take EWC, pumice, and sometimes some compost, and mix it with my dry amendments. Get it moist, not wet. Then I let it cook for a few days or so. I mix it up each day just to keep it well aerated. It gets warm or hot as the microbes do their thing. When it cools off I throw it on top under the rice hull mulch layer.
My worms are happier, and there's less chance of me burning the plants. It's also more readily available then too.
It's just what I started doing since it made sense to mix it first after seeing my worms freak out when I added dry amendments straight on them. But I thinks there's other benefits doing it this way too.
myke
Well-Known Member
Well I guess similar to what I’m doing. I just pour the ewc and dry into my water bucket. Stir let sit a day and use that as my water.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you're making a tea. Do you bubble it?
A little update - So I went to the local nursery yesterday and got some soil , EWC and cocopeat ... the guy there was bashing on perlite and why he doesnt keep it and asked me to get some cocopeat to mix with that soil to make it more airy ... I got some cocopeat but not sure if I should be mixing it and how much with my soil ? Going to look around for perlite and amendments now. I can return the cocopeat if its not worth mixing with soil.
Also , to keep my grow perpetual I plant an autoflower every month and 1 auto is due to be planted since a week , can I go ahead and plant it with just soil and cocopeat ? What ratio of soil to cocopeat ?
Also , to keep my grow perpetual I plant an autoflower every month and 1 auto is due to be planted since a week , can I go ahead and plant it with just soil and cocopeat ? What ratio of soil to cocopeat ?
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Update 2 - Ordered all the inputs from the recipe (Chicken Manure instead of Bat Guano) , will have everything delivered in a week.
Do I also order Alfaalfa Meal , Kelp Meal , Soybean Meal etc. which are missing from my base soil (I got plain soil from nursery) ?
myke
Well-Known Member
No just stirring here and there.Just like a tea though I have to use it all up the next day or it goes funky lol.
Im gonna try your way seems its less wasteful as it can sit for awhile.
@Richard Drysift any advice on this ?
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
There’s more than one way to aerate soil, some people use rice hulls, pumice, etc. I’ve said before use whatever inputs you can easily source and find what works best for you. Ratios? Bro I’m winging it just like everyone else. Throw some in there. Don’t see how that can hurt. Lots of growers use peat and coco in their mix; I just mostly just amend pre-bagged ocean forest soil. The density of your base soil will determine how much aeration is needed. Start with a few handfuls at a time and see how it lightens the mix; if water runs through to the bottom that’s the level of drainage you want. You can always add more. Keep it simple.
Sorry for so many questions but I have never grown anything before and I have no one around to guide me either.
Got perlite today so went ahead and mixed soil-ewc-perlite (1-1-1) and filled a 3 gallon pot to plant an autoflower while I wait for my supersoil inputs. I was impressed by the soil consistency but when I drenched the pot with water , the soil was pretty sticky and clay-ey. Is this normal due to drenching the soil with water or is it because my soil type might be clay-ey ? If so then I might consider adding some coco to give the soil that flully texture. Also when I was drenching the soil the pot kept drinking water and I couldnt see any run off but then after a few minutes it suddenly started filling the saucer plate fast and within seconds the saucer was overflowing with run off. I know I shouldnt water till run off , I just wanted to test the soil.
I got 2 different brand EWC to try out and both are pretty similar when it comes to smell and look but when it comes to texture , Brand A EWC rolls off my hands easily and my hands stay clean but Brand B EWC leaves a tiny layer of sticky residue/sticks on my hands and if I rub my hands then I can see some clay type substance forming in my hands. Is this a sign of good or bad EWC ? Or is it just because there is more moisture and thus its a little sticky ?
Also planning to visit IKEA to buy plastic containers for cooking soil and breaking down root balls / plant material. I have my eyes on a 20 gallon plastic container to mix everything up and considering either 6 or 10 gallon containers to reamend/cook 5 gallon worth of medium. Is 6 gallon container good enough for 5 gallon media or should there be more empty space/air in the container for the microbes to be comfortable ?
I might be overthinking many things but I guess its better to ask and use others experience and wisdom to set me in the right direction
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
Ahh Maybe that’s why your nursery guy hates perlite; clay in the soil is not a bad thing but you should lighten it; coco/peat, maybe even some vermiculite could help reduce compaction.
I use fresh ewc from my own worm bin. I’ve only seen bagged ewc which has sort of a musty humus smell. Could just be very wet; when it’s fresh from the worms ass it can be sticky and usually contains all kinds of tiny creepy crawlers.
Go 20g or more if you can; bigger is better. I use two 60g totes for all the soil in my perpetual grow.
I use fresh ewc from my own worm bin. I’ve only seen bagged ewc which has sort of a musty humus smell. Could just be very wet; when it’s fresh from the worms ass it can be sticky and usually contains all kinds of tiny creepy crawlers.
Go 20g or more if you can; bigger is better. I use two 60g totes for all the soil in my perpetual grow.
So I guess the EWC are alright then ! Good thing I made my potting soil mix today and tried it , now for my main super soil I will add some coco and vermiculite ...
Do you add/mix new reammended/recycled batch of soil to an already cooking batch in those 60 gallon totes or does all you soil go into and out of it all at once ?
Richard Drysift
Well-Known Member
Usually try to have one tote full of amended soil that is cooking and leave the other with raw root balls awaiting recycle. They are not always full. For clones and seedlings I use raw spent soil w/ewc added, maybe some perlite & coco added to lighten it up.