Re-amendment Recipes for Organic Soil/Living Soil

[anova.330]

I run a basic coots mix of things (everything i.e. basalt, bio-char, volcanic rock, etc), 10 gallon pots, started as living soil with cover crops at times, but after 3-4 runs the plants are just blah. Stopped doing cover crops, started top dressing with worm castings, plants still not happy. Still watering in top dressings, compost teas to keep plants green, but they don’t have that Brandon Rust look (nor did they ever). That’s my new goal, so after flowering GBK (Gooseberry Kush) I will till each pot and add the following during the till.

1 Tsp silica
¼ cup each neem, kelp, crab meals, langbeinite
½ cup gypsum
1 L compost
½ L rice hulls
½ L MBP (malted barley powder)

Then top dress, after transplant, the following castings mix for veg.

1-1.5L castings
¼ cup each neem, kelp, crab meals, langbeinite, gypsum
1 Tsp cover crop mix
30 red wigglers

At flower, I will chop and drop the cover crop, if possible, and top dress with the following mix.

1 L compost
¼ cup each neem, kelp, crab meals, langbeinite, gypsum
Timothy grass as a mulch/cover layer

Essentially, this is turning into water only; minus a few compost tea treatments, I may try that. Aside from the barley, I have all these ingredients. Ten gal pots are my max size. Does anyone have any feedback to this plan to re-amend? Has anyone experienced the same quality decline in their no-till? What did you do to correct? Have I missed something or maybe I’ve gone mental?

In summary, this is an SOP for plants finishing flower and recharging pots ready for transplant. I am pretty sure it is a sound plan for success, but will heed the advice of any soil experts out there.

[GMO]

can i just ask what kinda maintenance topdresses you had been adding?

[anova.330]

can i just ask what kinda maintenance topdresses you had been adding?

Watering in neem, kelp, crab meals. Sometimes a worm castings or compost tea. Never top dressed really except the castings mix.

[GMO]

can i just ask what kinda maintenance topdresses you had been adding?

Watering in neem, kelp, crab meals. Sometimes a worm castings or compost tea. Never top dressed really except the castings mix.

yeah man, i am trying to go about it by constantly adding a little. my worms get fed my amendments then i mix some dry minerals with the castings and now im just throwing on a handful of that once a week. theres alot of texture to it as its got oystershell and clayballs in the mix with vermiculite and some other bits and bob. will be interesting to see if it goes the same way as im only 3 cycles in so far

[anova.330]

can i just ask what kinda maintenance topdresses you had been adding?

Watering in neem, kelp, crab meals. Sometimes a worm castings or compost tea. Never top dressed really except the castings mix.

yeah man, i am trying to go about it by constantly adding a little. my worms get fed my amendments then i mix some dry minerals with the castings and now im just throwing on a handful of that once a week. theres alot of texture to it as its got oystershell and clayballs in the mix with vermiculite and some other bits and bob. will be interesting to see if it goes the same way as im only 3 cycles in so far

I think your practice is solid as you constantly add organic material. The compost and MBP are key to me...along with the worms and cover crops...need to get back to a live soil.

[Guest]

I run a basic coots mix of things (everything i.e. basalt, bio-char, volcanic rock, etc), 10 gallon pots, started as living soil with cover crops at times, but after 3-4 runs the plants are just blah. Stopped doing cover crops, started top dressing with worm castings, plants still not happy. Still watering in top dressings, compost teas to keep plants green, but they don’t have that Brandon Rust look (nor did they ever). That’s my new goal, so after flowering GBK (Gooseberry Kush) I will till each pot and add the following during the till.

1 Tsp silica
¼ cup each neem, kelp, crab meals, langbeinite
½ cup gypsum
1 L compost
½ L rice hulls
½ L MBP (malted barley powder)

Then top dress, after transplant, the following castings mix for veg.

1-1.5L castings
¼ cup each neem, kelp, crab meals, langbeinite, gypsum
1 Tsp cover crop mix
30 red wigglers

At flower, I will chop and drop the cover crop, if possible, and top dress with the following mix.

1 L compost
¼ cup each neem, kelp, crab meals, langbeinite, gypsum
Timothy grass as a mulch/cover layer

Essentially, this is turning into water only; minus a few compost tea treatments, I may try that. Aside from the barley, I have all these ingredients. Ten gal pots are my max size. Does anyone have any feedback to this plan to re-amend? Has anyone experienced the same quality decline in their no-till? What did you do to correct? Have I missed something or maybe I’ve gone mental?

In summary, this is an SOP for plants finishing flower and recharging pots ready for transplant. I am pretty sure it is a sound plan for success, but will heed the advice of any soil experts out there.

I went all full board, full steam ahead with my last, with something in my waterings or a top dress of something most days.

I am starting to go more with the:

Little but often

or

Less is More

I just use GHO's starter mix to top dress.

KIS Keep It Simple :-)

Mainly water only for me these days. Aloe every 2-3 weeks or whenever I see fit.

Thing is, when we are re using for living soil, without a soil test we don't know what the soild needs for input.

[ILlegalyGrowing]

Following along. I run organic amendments in Coco/perlite. 1/4 cup 5-4-4
1/4 cup 3-9-4
1cup worm castings

Re-amend when tds drops below 500ppm-ish

I’ve always been intrigued by living soil . Good info here thanks for the thread!

[anova.330]

I think adding more compost and more rice hulls is paramount. They break down and disappear under use. Either in top dressing or in the till will work.

Soil Test...
Grow shop isn't interested so I may try myself.

All of the amendments I specified are something I would add if I were making a new soil.

[Guest]

I think adding more compost and more rice hulls is paramount. They break down and disappear under use. Either in top dressing or in the till will work.

Soil Test...
Grow shop isn't interested so I may try myself.

All of the amendments I specified are something I would add if I were making a new soil.

Yeah I like a good top dress with worm castings myself if you need a quick kick as the goodies in there are generally more readily available to the plant. I never tried just compost, I think it's because I always had enough castings to use up. I need to start my own compost piles.

[anova.330]

I think adding more compost and more rice hulls is paramount. They break down and disappear under use. Either in top dressing or in the till will work.

Soil Test...
Grow shop isn't interested so I may try myself.

All of the amendments I specified are something I would add if I were making a new soil.

Yeah I like a good top dress with worm castings myself if you need a quick kick as the goodies in there are generally more readily available to the plant. I never tried just compost, I think it's because I always had enough castings to use up. I need to start my own compost piles.

\

Worm castings contain beneficial nematodes. I buy worm castings but they are commercial so I'm sure it is nowhere near as good as what you guys produce in your bins if you have them. The compost I use is also commercial, Malibu, and it is nice, potent, and alive with micro-life or so it seems. BTW, Malibu compost is way overpriced on Amazon.