So my holiday proved to be quite educational, visited tea plantations and spice farms in Limuru (Kenya) and Zanzibar respectively, both these places are pretty much bang on the equator so they can grow all year round. The soil in both these places was meant to be EXTREMELY fertile, you could grow pretty much anything in it, from Banana's to Ginger to Cinnamon to Jack fruits.
In Kenya most fields were tea/coffee fields, the soil was a dark red/orange, and i couldn't help but wonder how MJ plants would grow in the stuff, so i asked the driver to pull over so i could bag some up and attempt to bring it back with me.
Then i went to Zanzibar (little island off the east coast of Africa), where i went on a tour through a local spice farm. Here they grew EVERYTHING, except bud, and the farmers claimed stuff grown there was a lot more potent than the same tree/plant grown in other equatorial locations. He proved this by letting me taste fresh mango (super sweet, best i've had), fresh coconut and fresh ginger (unbelievably potent, you cannot buy ginger like that here), amongst other things. I figured there was only one thing to do, fill up a few bags of soil and try bringing them back with me!
I managed to fill 2 bags of Zanzibar soil, when i jumped into the field, the soil was extremely wet, almost like a paste. As i stood there heaping this wet black paste into a bag my feet were sinking into the mud like quick sand. The sun was so strong you could have a bath in the standing irrigation water. I brought this back to Nairobi where i got the soil dried and sived.
Out of 5 bags, 2 from Zanzibar and 3 from Kenya, 2 Kenyan bags got seized at customs, 1 of which was the red soil from Limuru's tea plantations. So i lost that, along with 1 bag of soil from Nairobi. However all the Zanzibar soil got through which is the most important thing as this is the stuff i'm most interested in.
For the next grow i plan to use this Zanzibar soil for 1-2 plants depending on how many air pots i can fill, and the Kenyan soil for 1 plant. For the 4th i'll use Bio-terra. I plan to make my own mix, using perlite to airate the soil, and soil amendments such as Volcanic Loam, Seaweed Powder, Palm Tree ash, cotton seed powder and fish powder. This together with the Zanzibar soil should make for 1 healthy medium!
All soil will be heat treated (sterilized) before use to kill off anything i don't want.
I've been told the best soil period is in the amazon jungle, and the best soil in mainland Africa is in South Sudan. If anyone here ever ends up going to either of these places, you know what to do
