coco and peat free organic living compost

[MindSoup]

All depends how strong you've made it but looking at your suggested mix I'd say it should be fine for seedlings without needing to be "cooked" providing you following the dry feet manufacturers guidelines. You'll know if it's too "hot" because it literally heats up. 

[CDF20]

@MindSoup thanks, mate.

 

Now need time to buy all the stuff and explore the fields and forests around for top soil.

Will start diary as I am a bit scared of organics  

[MindSoup]

Ahhh don't worry mate I think I've said it before but while organic growing is complicated in its machnisms it's incredibly simple and intuitive in method, keep the soil fed (less is more) and keep the soil at the correct temperature and moisture level (it's a pretty big ball park), that's basically it. 

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the bigger the container the easier it becomes and the less work is involved. 

[CDF20]

1 hour ago, MindSoup said:

One thing to keep in mind is that the bigger the container the easier it becomes and the less work is involved. 

 

That's exactly why Canuck`s grows draw my attention to try ORGANIC as he is doing in 20l pots living soil (0.5l starters then 11l veg and 20L flower till harvest) with just dry amendments. His last grow from start to finish (3 episodes in total) convinced me to try ORGANIC. Read a lot about peat coco and decided not to use them. Gladly, found SCOPEX test diary by Blackpoolbouncer then found few more his topics and came out with his recipe and commercial ingredients. It might be a disaster or it might will work out I don`t know BUT I know for sure that I will go for it    and will get more help when start diary. 

 

By the way I have a blumats and autopots and happy to try them both and IN CASE of total FUCK UP I have Intense Nutrients ORGANIX to finish them in autopots (YES ORGANIX range not blocking my lines and aquavavlve5). 

Edited January 23, 2023 by CDF20

[CDF20]

Found recipe on Build A Soil web site 

 

This base mix will perform very well and is also cheap to make.

 

30% Sphagnum Peat Moss or Home Made Leaf mold.

 

30% Homemade or Premium Worm Castings (Compost will suffice, but better be good compost)

 

25% Buckwheat hulls or Small Lava rock. Some form of aeration amendment. Perlite if you have to.

 

15% Topsoil – This will make it a real soil, and add clays that will increase Cation Exchange and also add a diverse amount of materials to the mix. I take a shovel and get some soil from a nice spot on my property, worst case you could find some good soil around town.

 

Or just straight 33/33/33 Peat/Compost/Aeration without the topsoil. 

 

I'm thinking to make second mix using this recipe BUT change perlite for pumice.

 

Leaf mold is quite pricey so need wait for ataumn when neighbours out bags outside for collection.

[blackpoolbouncer]

9 hours ago, CDF20 said:

 

Leaf mold is quite pricey so need wait for ataumn when neighbours out bags outside for collection.

It's expensive because proper leaf mold takes 2-3 years to make. 

 

That buildasoil recipe will be bang on. 

It's very similar to one of my mixes which I'll be making up for half barrel planters today. 

 

I did try to reply to you mate in pm about soil but for some reason uk420 is being a div and won't let me send a message to just you it seems.

 

 

Although to be honest, given the style in which your planning with pot size it's all a bit of a waste of time and expensive. That's really a no till mix that's intended as a permanent living ecosystem. 

 

If your feeding dry ferts in small pots you'd be just as well buying a bit of decent organic compost and just chuck some dry ammendments in there tbh. All you really need is a basic potting mix imo as I don't think you wil get far keeping cycling a 19l pot.......good for a grow, probably not so good for several flower cycles. 

Fine for say mums. You can do those no till in pots that's size.

 

Just my 2p 

Edited January 24, 2023 by blackpoolbouncer

[CDF20]

1 minute ago, blackpoolbouncer said:

It's expensive because proper leaf mold takes 2-3 years to make. 

Yes, it is mate. Found home made leaf mold £8 for 5l. My mix will be quite a pricey 

 

12 minutes ago, blackpoolbouncer said:

I did try to reply to you mate in pm about soil but for some reason uk420 is being a div and won't let me send a message to just you it seems.

That's a shame ... 

 

14 minutes ago, blackpoolbouncer said:

Although to be honest, given the style in which your planning with pot size it's all a bit of a waste of time and expensive. That's really a no till mix that's intended as a permanent living ecosystem. 

That's the conclusion I came to too after reading all night long. Needs space. Try to work out my growing space to have enough room for no till bed.

 

19 minutes ago, blackpoolbouncer said:

Fine for say mums. You can do those no till in pots that's size.

Sounds good to me as I am planning to keep 2-3 mums after three different pheno hunts. 

 

Thanks for taking time and replying to me mate.

[MindSoup]

Yeah I think BPB just said what I've been trying to put across but much better . Mr Canucks style and no till are not real the same thing so copying my or BPBs or build a soils recipes won't necessarily be the right idea, BAS even demonstrates on a couple of his series why he doesn't advise using smaller containers, in a root bound pot it there isn't usually enough biological activity to break down nutrients fast enough and or keep a proper balance so additional inputs become necessary, but because you may not have depleted the soil (like you would with normal soil growing) before you start to add to it, things can get weird and it's hard to know what's happening if things go wrong. I would suggest that if you really want to copy Mr Cannuck that you'd be best to do exactly what he does, or if you want to follow us/BAS then do what we're doing i.e. use bigger pots,  taking different elements from different grow styles doesn't usually go too well, I have a feeling there's something about the Coco that makes his style work the way it does. If it makes any difference my bed is about 45-50L (bigger would be better of course) and has managed about a year so far and still going pretty well, so it's not like you need a giant bed, 50L pots are still pretty easy to move if they're not too wet, it would be a lot less work than removing and remixing the soil after each run that's for sure. Plus if we're talking about sustainability then it's 100% the way forward 

 

My first indoor diary (should be linked in my signature on desktop site) was similar to what you where suggesting, I just used some old/spent Allmix I reclaimed from a busted grow and Life Cycle in a 12L pot,  the results where pretty good but I did end up having to supplement with Comfrey tea (other liquid feeds would work) as I went through flower for the reason's mentioned above. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by MindSoup

[MindSoup]

3 minutes ago, CDF20 said:

That's the conclusion I came to too after reading all night long. Needs space. Try to work out my growing space to have enough room for no till bed.

 

Yeeeeeeeeeeeessssss if I can do it in a 60x60x120 you can do it as well. 

[catweazle1]

I've been looking into organics and the advantage of biochar and coco is that they are structurally durable and resistant to decomposition in the timeframes relevant to us as growers. Relying on compost means you are building them a house with rotten bricks. Eventually, the fibres will break down, creating an increasingly dense and anoxic environment over time. I would have thought a durable structural integrity was a priority in no-till. If one is doing away with coco as a structural component, what are we going to replace it with?

Edited January 24, 2023 by catweazle1

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Catweazle1 are you talking in the context of aeration mainly? I was under the impression that worms will sort that out by tunneling around and doing worm things

 

I dunno where I read that though could be bullshit!

[ratdog]

for organic growing, not living soil i use coco and compost, i do have to add cal mag due to my soft water but i have great results, and now i have exhausted all premixed nutes to combat cal def i'm going back to organic nutes.

[ratdog]

Just now, Ronnie Hotdogs said:

Catweazle1 are you talking in the context of aeration mainly? I was under the impression that worms will sort that out by tunneling around and doing worm things

 

I dunno where I read that though could be bullshit!

 

 

Quote

Another thing that earthworms do is loosen, mix and oxygenate the soil as they burrow channels through. They improve its structure, leaving space for water to be drained away from the surface and stored in the soil. Research has shown that soils without earthworms can be 90% less effective at soaking up water.

 

 

they are awesome

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

Little beauties!

[catweazle1]

Fair enuff