Brandon Rust 2021 Soil Recipe

[anova.330]

I have a tiny hydro setup but don’t have the energy to chase the many issues that arise. I don’t wanna buy a pH pen either. So organic/living soil is my choice. And right now, I’m battling some anaerobic patches in my soil brought on by Roots Organics Terp Tea and my arrogance/stubbornness/idiocrasy.

First time I used the terp tea, I followed the directions, bubbled it for 24 hours, and applied it to the plants in flower. The tea smelled of rotten shite and I knew better but I applied it anyways. One by one, the plants got sick; first the Jesus OG’s and then the JillyBeans.

Last thing I wanna do is mix new soil but it’s time. And yes I’m going the direction of the latest blend by Brandon Rust even though he hasn’t released all the details. Volcanite (pumice) is now discontinued. Spent nearly $250 so far and I have a bit more to get.

There’s a couple things I question about my current mix. Supplemented with coco, but never saw results as good as the first round. Basalt used but never re-amended with it. Lava rock and rice hulls used for aeration but I don’t know what kinda paint/stain the rocks were colored with. Historically, I’m not sure what the pots have been through either as they cycle for flowering.

Looking at the Horizons approach, I love the idea of Leighton Morrison’s “E” layer. However, I do not feel I can comfortably fit this into 10 gallon (35 L) fabric pots. Maybe totes but not fabric pots.

This new soil is meant to be water only. Aside from spraying soil when in veg, my Chopin sprayer isn’t to be used in flower. Just not efficient for time required. Instead, I’ll convert my BluMat carrots to the BluSoak hose material if I can. I’ve looked at it briefly; I’m not looking forward to making the modification.

This is what I was able to capture from Brandon’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI74CitOZic which makes about three cubic feet of soil.

Brandon’s Recipe
Peat 1 cubic foot 30%
Pumice 30%
Rice Hulls 10%/2.8 L
Compost 20%/5.6 L
Castings 7%/~2 L
Gypsum (calcium sulfate) 3%/~850 ml
Soft Rock Phosphate 145 ml
Potassium Sulfate 100 ml
Copper, Zinc, Boron, Micro-Nutrients – very small amount but has yet to be revealed

To complete the mix, and hopefully satisfy the micro-nutrient requirements, I will likely add

Added Micro-nutrients
Glacial Rock Dust 1 C
Neem meal ½ C
Kelp meal ½ C
Crab meal ½ C
Malted barley powder (MBP) 500 ml
Silica ¼ C
Gypsum (granulated) 1 C

Brandon utilizes all kinds of tricks, such as fermenting then foliar feeding some of the products above. He offers those same products at bokashiearthworks.com.

Inevitably, re-amendment will quickly become an issue after the first flowering and veg cycle. The scales change a bit, having to imagine top dressing, like the following, on a per pot basis.

Top Dressing for re-amendment
Compost 1L
Castings 500 ml
Neem, kelp, crab meals ¼ C each
Glacial rock dust ½ C
Gypsum (granulated) ½ C
Gypsum (calcium sulfate) ½ C
Soft Rock Phosphate 30 ml
Potassium Sulfate 30 ml
Silica 30 ml

In summary, I’m hopeful Brandon’s core recipe, the micro-nutrient amendment, and the top-dressing used for re-amendment does the job. It’s changed my SOP’s a bit and a few of my ingredients. BluMat Soaker hoses will also change the way I water, whenever I get to it. I’ve made some substitutions too due to economics and pending delivery of some of this stuff. Coast of Maine Lobster compost instead of Malibu, Hydroton corns (irregulars) or maybe volcanic landscape rock again instead of pumice to name a few things that I’m considering or have had to plan for.

In the future, there will come a time when I will have to test the soil. I’ve got those details sorted now...

[anova.330]

A couple few things I wanted to share as part of this small journey, some admissions, other factors in this recipe but many from the forum members.

Brandon Rust no longer cover crops but used clover, daikon, and rye before ceasing that practice. I don’t have much floor-space to maintain, so I will continue use of cover crops.

Brandon Rust no longer uses meals (e.g. crab, kelp, neem) in his soil mixes. Simply enough, the detriment of sodium outweighs the benefits the meals offer. As I stated previously, he continues to ferment these products and use as a foliar. Unfortunately, I will use in minimal amounts, initially, to cover micro. After re-thinking this, I will likely eliminate the meals in my re-amendment recipe.

In so many words or less, I’ve learned a lot from the chat room here at gr420; enough to say, my current coco based soil lacks the CEC (cation exchange capacity) to support plant life. Re-amending with glacial rock dusts, in my opinion, would have helped with fines (think clay) to support a higher CEC. This time around, coco will not be used but peat will (exponentially higher CEC than coco).

Worm Castings – “yeah I just sort of toss a handful in each pot when I need to”. My two living pots, with worms, are the only pots that do not appear to be anaerobic. Additionally, worm castings should be supplemented with Gypsum to further break down the “poop”.

Yes, the inputs are whole yet moving away from the organic and the natural. This was suggested by a forum member and I couldn’t agree more. Doubtful I will even add worms to the pots. Also, pretty doubtful I will use SST’s (seed sprouted teas).

Had to order most of the components online, whereby shipping ($26USD) sometimes cost more than the product; here, compost (2@$11=$22USD). Then, rice hulls won’t be delivered until end of the month. Of course, I think I finally found a nearby store carrying some of the things I’ve bought – Murphy’s law.

BluMats are a racket! I think I need to call them to get a better deal. So far, easiest route leaves me with four extra carrots at $100 if I buy kits. Otherwise, I’ll end up with 40 extra feet of hose.

Amino Acids. Long chain L-amino acids. This is the only hack, as Brandon calls it, for supplementing Nitrogen. Aside from purchasing this additive, I need to do some research into N supplements. FAA (fish amino acid) is also a candidate and was suggested by a forum member in chat. Compost, castings, cover crops, and the meals I’ve used all contain N.

Nematodes. I typically introduce these on new soil at least once. Fungus gnats become a distant memory. If they do reappear, something is wrong! At that point, get on your knees and take a whiff of the soil.

Light bleach. Ammonia toxicity. Carbon deficiency. All the C available is used up, bonded to other elements. Can’t convert Amino Acids to proteins. Excess N will make the entire system out of balance. Light burn (400W LED in a 2X4 tent) seems to be a big problem for me. Whatever the relationships here, I need to gain a better understanding.

RO water. This is the cleanest solution I have to filtering out well water. At the same time, RO is void of all contaminants such as mineral content useful for healthy plants. Will probably upgrade the RO system completely and add a post RO mineralizer @ $250 USD. This is my solution for micro-nutrients in general.

[anova.330]

Purchased more pumice and it should be here tomorrow. As luck would have it, my rice hulls arrived today instead of month’s end. Hopefully, this will be enough for aeration. At the same time, I am going to replace the RO system and upgrade the Blu Mats as soon as I have the soil mixed. All together, this is the most expensive series of upgrades I’ve ever done or needed to do. I’m just about $700 for everything ($350 for RO and Blu Mat hose upgrade included).

Hopefully, I can mix the soil in two separate sessions with the goal of filling three ten gallon bags per. And I have a lot more to do such as recycling the old soil to the outside garden beds. Before I do that, I need to fix the weed-eater to clear the beds.

[anova.330]

Weed-eater was almost fixed, replaced all three hoses, through the cap, last hose didn’t fit the barb so Tooche! To the garbage and I guess I’ll go get a new one.

Ordered new RO unit with mineralizer so will have to install that when it gets here. Only thing left to order is BluMat conversion kits. However, that can wait until I make some progress elsewhere.

I told Smiley of my intention to go Brandon Rusts soil mix. He expressed concern for the amount/frequency of daily Brandon’s irrigation practice. Told him I use BluMats in flower and he seemed ok with that. Smiley is right though: those greenhouses of Brandons have to be 100 degrees F with much higher rates of evaporation; regardless, my environment is 70 degrees F with little humidity. BluMats will have to be on point.

[anova.330]

Apparently, everything in this mix matters. I have listened to enough of the videos with Brandon and/or Smiley present whereby they assert sodium within inputs need be avoided. The base soil is enough to get through veg and flower, water only and my assumption. For micro-requirements, I’m going to eliminate my inputs with respect to meals, bump up the granulated gypsum. Problem is, I’ve un-balanced the system; regardless, these are slower release nutrients and I need a starting point.

Brandon’s Recipe (original and unchanged)
Peat 1 cubic foot 30%
Pumice 30%
Rice Hulls 10%/2.8 L
Compost 20%/5.6 L
Castings 7%/~2 L
Gypsum (calcium sulfate) 3%/~850 ml
Soft Rock Phosphate 145 ml
Potassium Sulfate 100 ml
Copper, Zinc, Boron, Micro-Nutrients – very small amount but has yet to be revealed
*Take notice of the ratios: Gypsum:Phosphate:Potasium. This is “balance” (8.5:1.45:1) according to the soil tests Brandon utilizes.

Added Micro-nutrients (modified)
Glacial Rock Dust 1 C
Silica 30 ml
Gypsum (granulated) 1 C
Malted barley powder (MBP) 500 ml

Top Dressing for re-amendment (modified)
Compost 1L
Castings 500 ml
Glacial rock dust ¼ C
Gypsum (granulated) ½ C
Gypsum (calcium sulfate) ½ C
Soft Rock Phosphate 30 ml
Potassium Sulfate 30 ml
Silica 30 ml

[Stickylemonz]

Wow a lot to learn here lol,, I’m glad I’m going to coco holy shit how you can remember all this is mad! Well done mate what will be ur first statin in this soil?? Also how many grows you hoping to get out of this mix as that’s a lot of money for just one grow lol

[anova.330]

Wow a lot to learn here lol,, I’m glad I’m going to coco holy shit how you can remember all this is mad! Well done mate what will be ur first statin in this soil?? Also how many grows you hoping to get out of this mix as that’s a lot of money for just one grow lol

Aside from my miscellaneous verbal meanderings, the recipe comes straight from his mix video. I'm a newb as this is probably the third time trying to create a soil.

First Strain - Not sure but one of my diaries will use it. Probably TK...but it's all dependent on timing and availability of females.

The "hope" is to never replace this soil, re-amend between runs, and maintain a high quality product.

[Stickylemonz]

Ahhhh I see mate that’s quite cool how do you get roots out? Do you have to empty pots out and pull them out after chopped then add new stuff(re amendment) after you’ve got roots out?

That’s quite cool that you can keep using it over and over mate

Oh shit so you have spent quite a lot trying to get it right?

[anova.330]

Ahhhh I see mate that’s quite cool how do you get roots out? Do you have to empty pots out and pull them out after chopped then add new stuff(re amendment) after you’ve got roots out?

That’s quite cool that you can keep using it over and over mate

Oh shit so you have spent quite a lot trying to get it right?

Roots stay in and decompose. No emptying pots. Re-amendment occurs at the top of the pots. Years for duration of soil...years.

[Guest]

Nice one @anova.330

I will have a read through this. I am re building a soil for my next run so this has been placed in my bookmarks