So who here is growing in true organic living soil?

Fattie- your results inspire others.

EDIT:

I'm now recommending NOT using Diatomaceous Earth (DE) in the soil. The potential benefits for insecticidal and increased water retention are outweighed by the reduction in aeration. .

I can get selective insecticidal protection from Crab Shell, BTI, Neem, and Nematodes.

I can get water retention with compost, sphagnum, etc.

You got me started on alll this thanks man! Only things i still gotta get together aere the worm bin and bokashi bucket

The worms are amazing. They are turning that Bokashi into black richness even in my cool 62F basement. The Geopot is working really well. They love the aeration. No smell. Everyone should do this.

I sprinkled a layer of the D.e. over the top of my soil to maybe work as a barrier against baddies but didn't mix it in.

Rrog

Been spending a lot of time on the other thread soaking in as much as I can. Thanks for turning us onto that big ol' chunk o knowledge over there. Thanks for spreading the good word on ROLS over here too. You got me started in the whole living soil thing to begin with, so thanks for that.

I posted this question over there this a.m., but it got kinda lost I think with all the activity on it, so I'll ask it here. Can I use just biochar for my aeration amendment if I'm making a mix similar to Cootz' and gascans mix? Since I started making it, i haven't stopped. Been soaking it in act to charge. I have a LOT. All sizes from pea stone to golf ball. Would be great if I could not use perlite. I could just go ahead and try a small batch and see, but would like others input on it as well. I would rather just mix up a big soil batch correctly once and be done with it.

Anyhow, thanks for the info and inspiration


Scuggy

Well 1 thing I do know is you are not supposed to go over 8% biochar because it will start to have a negative effect so keep that in mind.

Thanks NickNasty, well that's 1 good thing to know! I'll use 8%, see what it looks like and add perlite or what not until I think it looks good on the aeration. Thanks again.

Ya. A little goes a long way. 3-4 cups per cubic foot is what I'm using. Folks really like the pumice. Permanent aeration amendment.

Rrog said:

Ya. A little goes a long way. 3-4 cups per cubic foot is what I'm using. Folks really like the pumice. Permanent aeration amendment.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rrog. Any links for pumice?

You should be able to get it / order it in bags from a nursery. Freight would be a killer with UPS.

Pumice..sounds awesome. I will have to hop over to the other thread sometime. I try to minimize how many threads I look at/ read through nowadays because I end up with information overload.in my brain

Read entire thread, great stuff.

I guess I have been doing my organics wrong, going to give your recipe a try from page ten.
Couple questions ......

Is ordering online the only option? Did not see anyone post a local store to get the harder to find ingredients ...

I found a worm farm in grand rapids...if I started to grab everything in the next two weeks. N put it all together by early april...could the soil be ready for outdoor use by early may?


Is seaweed from local lakes the same as kelp?

Hey Corso-

Dried seaweed from Lakes I would think is good to go.

A month of soil cooking would do it, yes.

There just isn't a source that I'm aware of that will sell small quantities of things like rock and clay powders. Sucks.

Base Soil

1/3 Sphagnum Peat from Premier Peat or Alaska Peat
1/3 Aeration material (pumice)
1/3 EWC

Per Cubic Foot of the Base Soil:

3 cup Charcoal (activated)
4 cups Rock Powders (4X Glacial, 1X Bentonite, 1X Oyster Shell, 1X Basalt)

½ Cup Neem Meal (2 g / L)
1 Cup Crab Shell Meal
2 Cups Kelp Meal
2 Cups Fish Meal
2 Cups Fish Bone Meal
1 Cup Sul-Po-Mag
½ Cup Alfalfa

1.5 Cups Montmorillonite clay
1.5 Cups Pyrophyllite Clay

1/2 cup this 3 part lime mix

1 part powdered dolomite lime
1 part agricultural gypsum
2 parts powdered oyster shell


Moisten with Fresh Aloe (2 Tbs Juice with 1 gallon water) and Accelerant Tea (Comfrey, Yarrow, Horsetail or Nettle)

I pre-inoculate with BTI and Nematodes. Let rest for 4 weeks.

Corso312 said:

I found a worm farm in grand rapids...if I started to grab everything in the next two weeks. N put it all together by early april...could the soil be ready for outdoor use by early may?


Is seaweed from local lakes the same as kelp?

Click to expand...

I have been able to find Azomite and Glacial at my local grow shop they have to special order it but it saves me the cost of shipping and I usually get the 40-50 lb bags so I dont need order that often. And I can get Alfalfa meal and Oyster Shell at feed stores.

Sounds like everyone's on pretty much the same page. I started worm farm and bokashi 2 weeks back. Quality and almost free!

How cool Headtreep. The worms really finish off the bokashi fast. Beautiful fluffy goodness.

I've been doing the worms, but I haven't done the bokashi yet. I think I'm gonna try so I can speed things up a bit. I have a batch of lacto b ready, just gotta head over to the feed store to get some bran.

Maybe get some barley seeds while you're there. Sprout them. Use the sprout water and see what happens...