No till bed question

i have been recently growing in 25gal totes no till organic. I am looking into making raised beds in my grow room. 2 of them, one to grow and the other to grow cover crops and rest. Switching each grow. Now I keep reading about no till soil becoming spent over a couple of years which would suck to have to remove and re amend. If I have to overhaul the beds then using totes may be a better option. Anyone grow notill indoors indefinitely without a major over haul? I live on a farm and have lots of inputs to topdress with, sheep chicken and rabbit manure, wood chips, compost, vermacompost as well as teas. Any input is appreciated.

I'm gonna hop on later to share my experiences but I can tell you outright that you 100% don't have to worry. Reamend is super simple, and I would even skip the cover crop cycle and just have another cannabis bed.

This is my room, I grow in three 100 gallon no til pots (basically beds) check am out and I fill in the spaces between with tubs and a few pots.

TL4 said:

i have been recently growing in 25gal totes no till organic. I am looking into making raised beds in my grow room. 2 of them, one to grow and the other to grow cover crops and rest. Switching each grow. Now I keep reading about no till soil becoming spent over a couple of years which would suck to have to remove and re amend. If I have to overhaul the beds then using totes may be a better option. Anyone grow notill indoors indefinitely without a major over haul? I live on a farm and have lots of inputs to topdress with, sheep chicken and rabbit manure, wood chips, compost, vermacompost as well as teas. Any input is appreciated.

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Soil never gets spent. Topdress worm castings every round. Add red wiggler worms to the bed. Top dress amendments with compost or castings every other round You're good. Read up on korean natural farming and jadam natural farming if you want to take it further with ferments and imo's.

My reason for the 2 beds switched is I only have 2 lights that I could move to be over top of my cannabis bed while the cover crop would grow from the indirect light. In the future I will definitely add more lights but running the ventilation for the hoods is the hard part for me.
Do you do no till or Reammend and turn the soil periodically?

So I keep reading that eventually I will end up with perlite and worm castings (like 2 years) and will need to redo my bed. Has anyone been growing no till for longer than 5 years without reworking their soil? Without issue?

TL4 said:

So I keep reading that eventually I will end up with perlite and worm castings (like 2 years) and will need to redo my bed. Has anyone been growing no till for longer than 5 years without reworking their soil? Without issue?

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You can get longer than 2 years, but 5 years or more is very doubtful. The most *I've* ever managed is 4 years. No till is basically a outdoor soil concept where organic material is added. Container mixes, aside from the perlite, are pretty much ALL organic material (even the peat moss), and will eventually be broken down/consumed.

What helped me make it last longer was, I stopped adding adult worms to the containers. They still get worms from the fresh VC I use from those missed in harvesting and certainly the cocoons in the VC. But, with just the baby worms missed and those hatching from the eggs I'll usually get another year of use from the mix.

In the "4x8 geo planter No till or ROLS?" thread, @kratos015 gives a very detailed explanation of all this. Kinda long, but very informative. It's still on this page if you want to give a look.

You keep adding cover crop and roots, fungi,protozoa, bacteria and plant excretions it balances out . especially if you have supplemental inputs like sprout teas.

TL4 said:

So I keep reading that eventually I will end up with perlite and worm castings (like 2 years) and will need to redo my bed.

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Don't use inferior inputs like perlite and you wont have that issue...use more robust aeration options, instead, and opt for a blend of both mineral lending and humus forming types as well as different sizes.

With all your space, see if you can grow borage and comfrey, and use their compost as top dresses, those alone can grow dope dang near.. even fresh is possible, comfrey has been described as a "melter" in that regard

also, you won't need any ventilation or hoods if you use DIY COB lighting, plus you will produce more terpene biomass as well as trichomes..maybe you can consider that. You could also veg one side with 4 to 8 t5's and if wheeled, just run a perpetual, and park a bed under the main lights every 2 months.

No till favors a better balance of micro life and you can get into the 25+ cycle range before having to till, or longer if you choose your inputs wisely. Biochar. etc. In nature, there is no tilling every two years.. the worms and fungi and bacteria and other creatures, plus continual debris being composted, does enough to keep everything thriving

You dont even ever have to do ferments or teas, you can just make beautifully amended compost and top dress that.

Im having great success with my bed so far.... fish compost popcorn teas and some comfrey top dress....no PH and no mixing.... I have a lot more time to chill out with the ladies.... and my organics grow faster or just as fast as salt grown girls.

Does anyone go out into the woods and turn the soil or re-amend it? Keep good things in your soil and it will always give back.

Bowtieguy77 said:

Does anyone go out into the woods and turn the soil or re-amend it? Keep good things in your soil and it will always give back.

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Technically the falling leaves and other forest material reamends it and the worms and other microlife til it. But I agree with the point you're going for.