My first super soil named "TKO's SS"

[tkowitha123]

So I just made about 4.5cf ( 3 Large Bags) of Self Branded "TKO's Super Soil" ( T.K.O. are my Initials). In this mix I'll be using 1 new bag of(1.5cf) Roots Greenlight Soil and 2 bags (3 cf) approx. used, mixed, 50/50 FFOF and Pro-mix Bx the mixed used soil is about 6 months old and has been stirred monthly.
Besides the soil I'm ammending:​

1.25 lbs Bat Guano (0-7-0)
1.25 lbs Bone Meal (3-16-0)
1.25 lbs Blood Meal (12-0-0)
15 lbs Organic Worm Castings
4 tbsp Epsom Salt
4 tsp Powdered Humic Acid
3/4 cup kelp powder
1.5 cups Alfalfa Meal
1.5 cups Oyster Shell Flour
1.5 cups kelp meal
1.5 cups Azomite
1/2 cup Great White Mycorrhizal Fungi
1 cup Glacial rock dust
2 cups Granulated Dolomite Lime


Mixed and re-mixed, 7.0 ph'd water like 1/4 gal misted and mixed as it was slightly moist already. Plan to incubate indoor's around 67-70 degrees stirring once weekly for approximately 8 - 10 weeks adding water about half way through if needed.
Anything else I should have added???
What do you guys think of the mix?

 

[Chronikool]

1/2 cup Great White Mycorrhizal Fungi

Pretty good recipe....any reason you are mixing the great white into your soil...? i would recommend at transplant time only...

And i dont see any Zeolite, perlite, pumice or aeration materials in there either...

 

[tkowitha123]

The roots greenlight has almost double the amount of perlite of a normal bag of soil so when mixed it evens out very nice like, and I grow using root pouches or fabric bags so I don't necessarily feel like I need to add any more than the mix currently has in it. and the great white while some may call a waste wasn't actually the brand (plant success/great white) but was supposed to be comparable. I got it as a sample pack and honestly I have some great white in a sample pack too but didn't use it. I figured I would give it a boost to start building a decent myco population, I understand most say its a waste... but I got it for free so, not really a waste at all!

 

[Chronikool]

I figured I would give it a boost to start building a decent myco population, I understand most say its a waste...

How do you understand mycorrhizal fungi to work... given there is no host...?

 

[Chronikool]

Mixed and re-mixed, 7.0 ph'd water

Is your water naturally a pH of 7?

 

[Chronikool]

If you can get some live worms...they keep the soil (whilst cooking and in pots) mixed, aerated and constantly add more nutrients...maybe something to consider..?

 

[SpicySativa]

Looks like a pretty good mix. Have you already mixes this up? (i.e. is it too late to make suggestions?)

Personally, I would have done this:

-No epsom salt. While it's "OK'd" for organic production, it really doesn't improve the health of your soil
(it is, after all, a salt). The best use for epsom salt is as a foliar feed quick-fix for a Mg deficiency.

-Swap out the blood meal for equal parts neem seed meal and crab meal. These are nitrogen sources, AND a form of pest prevention.

-Don't add the mycorrhizal fungi to your soil when you mix it. This is just wasteful. Myco fungi need a host (living plant roots) to germinate and thrive.

These are minor points. I think you'll be happy with your mix as-is, or even happier with a few tweaks.

 

[tkowitha123]

My water comes from the tap at around 9 ph with 350 ppm yes its already mixed but I only mixed it up yesterday so I could still ad things to it. Partially the reason i added the myco's to it is I'm re-using old soil with some left over roots from older plans in it figured they might have a chance to survive. I did put worms in the re-used soil about 3 months ago maybe 2 dozen into my 32gal. trash can, prolly only about a 2 dozen worms I pulled from the backyard, so not sure if their still alive or not but they were in there.
SO the Myco's might have been a waste but it's not like I can take em back out now! I was thinking about adding some lava rock to it when I mix it the last time but not quite sure how much to add any suggestions maybe rice hulls would be a better option???

 

[tkowitha123]

Just added about 60 eisenia hortensis worms for compsting to this mix in my 32 gallon trash can, figured they will add their poo and aerate the soil some. WIN WIN

 

[flamingo24]

I understand that adding mycos early wouldn't let them germinate right away, but my question is, would they expire before a root was presented into the ecosystem? Or would they rest in the soil waiting for roots to grow to them? If there was a chance the mycos would last a few months dormant, I could see a benefit to having them present while the soil is cooking.

 

[rdo420]

Thank you for posting as I like reading what other folks are using. Have you tried this soil out yet? Do you think so much lime will pose any problems?

 

[tkowitha123]

I understand that adding mycos early wouldn't let them germinate right away, but my question is, would they expire before a root was presented into the ecosystem? Or would they rest in the soil waiting for roots to grow to them? If there was a chance the mycos would last a few months dormant, I could see a benefit to having them present while the soil is cooking.

I agree with you flamingo like I stated before I had gotten some myco's as a free sample and figured they couldn't hurt. Especially since I have other myco's that I use when transplanting( so essentially I have 2 different brands working in there, although I'm not positive on how myco's work i would like to think they stay dormant for a lil while or they become alive for a small time and find nothing to eat so they lay there waiting to be eaten by other myco's that come along later. I also am useing some old soil that has some leftover roots from plants in it so i figured while maybe not optimal live root food for mycos, endo, ecto, ehwhatever sill root matter is there and i would think mycos could live for short amounts of time trying to eat whatever they can to stay alive.

 

[tkowitha123]

Have you tried this soil out yet? Do you think so much lime will pose any problems?

No problem rdo420 thanks for reading what I have to say,
Well some of the soil I used in the super soil is actually used soil so, I wanted more lime to help balance it out. It seems as though the uncooked unammended version of the used soil had a harder time balancing ph than brand new roots organic soil does. The used soil I have is from a neighboring caretaker who uses synthetic nutes, since I use a mostly organic growing method I wanted to help tie up and balance the used soil, especialy since some of it went into the S.S. mix. Prolly about 1/2 of my super soil is a used mix of fox farm and promix then I thru a bag of roots greenlight into it as, well since it has more perlite. Unfortunately, I haven't used the S.S. since is still cooking. It is about 1 month into its cook and I've stirred it twice now, added 60 or so live worms just this last weekend.

 

[rdo420]

Huh, interesting. Thanks again for sharing and the reply.

 

[tkowitha123]

So i was thinking about adding some insect frass into my super soil mix, but was unsure as to what amount I should put into it? any suggestions, or should i just let things cook out the rest of the way?

 

[greengoblin2014]

I've read in other posts that the mycorrizhae do not survive the cooking process of making super soil. If you add mycorrizhae after the cooking process they can lay dormant in the soil until roots are introduced to them. I think it's to do with the high temperature of cooking that kills them. I would cook the soil 1st then when you do a final mix before putting into pots add mycorrizhae and sprinkle over roots when transplanting which will also lower stress.. I have recently made some super soil for the 1st time and want to add a few worms to it.. I was thinking tiger worms or red wigglers.. Which worms are best and how many should i use in a 70 litre bin of super soil?

 

[greengoblin2014]

(15 gallon)

 

[Scharfschutzen]

What are you using to adjust your pH?

Just a open discussion: it's my understanding that pHing with a chemical (such as General Hydroponic's pH up or down) will kill the microbial life in organic soil.

My thought would be to use (small amounts of) vinegar to naturally lower pH but I'm unsure what undesired effects it may have on the soil.

 

[tkowitha123]

I was using phosphoric acid to help bring my water's ph down, also checking the ph before watering to assure that it was close to 7 before (misting into the mix)

 

[tkowitha123]

Also I'm mixing more of my love and coveted Tko's SS today. I will post some pictures(probabily) and a list of ingrediants used, also this time I will be watering in my mix with some compost tea mix that I started last night in my homemade Vortex Brewer. Stay tuned to find out more.