Breaking Away From The Grow Store (make your own amended soil)

I was inspired to make this post after visiting a friend while he was repotting. My man makes his own dirt choices and he chose to use roots organics 707 blend or whatever they call it. So he pops open the bag of this stuff that he paid a pretty penny for, and fungus gnats fly out. Not like a swarm, but more than a few. Not cool roots organics. Not cool.

Now unlike my dude in the paragraph above, I don't fuck with the grow store and their fungus gnat fuck factory they call amended soil. And you don't have to either.

First thing, hit up google. Search for your local landscape and gardening supplier. If you don't have one...Menards, Lowe's, or Home Depot's garden center's will have to do.

There you can buy a bale of peat moss, a bag of perlite (don't buy Miracle-Gro perlite tho), compost, and worm castings.

3 parts peat moss
3 parts perlite
3 parts compost
1 part Worm Castings

That's your main base mix. Now you need to mix in your amendments.

Now if you've got a poorly supplied garden supplier you might have to pick up some amendments from the grow store.

Oyster Shell Flour (1 tbsp per gallon)
Dolomite Lime (2 tbsp per 5 gallons)
Fish Bone Meal (1 tbsp per gallon)
Kelp Meal (1 tbsp per gallon)
Alfalfa Meal (1 tbsp per gallon)
Blood Meal (1/2 tbsp per gallon)

Mix it all up, don't get it soaking wet but get it good and wet. Cover it, or put it in a tub. Let it sit for 4 to 8 weeks. Mix it up and check on it every other week.

If you don't want to cook it up just go ahead and plant right into the mix. Just water with a quality Fish hydroslate like age old organics Fish and seaweed Fertilizer or the Neptune's Harvest brand for about three weeks until the mix kicks in. Then just hit em with plain water. From veg to flower. You can top dress with fish bone meal or high phosphorus Bat Guano during week three of flower if you want a boost but unless your plants are super feeders you shouldn't need it.

Boom. Now you have your own super soil that rivals anything roots organics or happy frog can put in a bag and charge you out the ass for.

I did it over my last few grows. Ended up having issues with gnats and other flying insects. Went back to my local grow shops stuff designed for what we do and pest free.

In the end I don't think you save much doing it yourself.

Good Post

above all

shop locally

I got my soil from the hippies down on the river

for the last 20 years

and still love it

shop locally

support your community ..lol

Just made a batch of Super soils / Top soil tonight, I agree it feels satisfying to make your own. I have found a tweaked dj subcools recipe with a consistent, clean store bought base soil that has worked well for me in all of my soil based grows.
SUPER SOIL



-5 bags Ocean forest
-50 Lbs red worm casting
-5lbs steamed bone meal
-5lbs bloom bat guano
-5lbs blood meal
-3lbs rock phosphate
-3/4 cup epson salts
-1/2 cup sweet lime
-1/2 cup azomite
-2tbsp powdered humic acid
-3 gallons of water per 50 gallons of soil
-Cook for 35-45 days


TOP SOIL

4 Cubic foot of Happyfrog


2 cubic foot of potters gold


1.5 cubic feet of ocean forest + 10 lb worm castings



Add 3 gallons of water to each large batch and 1 gallon to the smaller more concentrated super soil




Cook for 35-45 days inside tent next to seedlings as they develop roots capable of living inside this hot soil


After the soils have cooked add back in all of the micro biotics that were most likely were cooked to death.


T minus 45 days and counting untill the 7 gallon pots get filled and the fun begins filling the nets


Need to finish those next

7 gallon pot ratio

-Bottom layer 1 gallon concentrated super soil
-Middle 2.5 gallons super soil
-Top 3.5 gallon top soil


Have you had an issues making your own organic soil? Because you have tempted me to go all out next round and skip the store bought base soils.

I can do the same thing I bale promix ,1 bottle bonicare grow' iam sorry but u people make things so differcult .kiss my friend

......Wayyyy too much like work`````

breakdancer0003 said:

Just made a batch of Super soils / Top soil tonight, I agree it feels satisfying to make your own. I have found a tweaked dj subcools recipe with a consistent, clean store bought base soil that has worked well for me in all of my soil based grows.
SUPER SOIL

-5 bags Ocean forest
-50 Lbs red worm casting
-5lbs steamed bone meal
-5lbs bloom bat guano
-5lbs blood meal
-3lbs rock phosphate
-3/4 cup epson salts
-1/2 cup sweet lime
-1/2 cup azomite
-2tbsp powdered humic acid
-3 gallons of water per 50 gallons of soil
-Cook for 35-45 days


TOP SOIL

4 Cubic foot of Happyfrog

2 cubic foot of potters gold

1.5 cubic feet of ocean forest + 10 lb worm castings

Add 3 gallons of water to each large batch and 1 gallon to the smaller more concentrated super soil

Cook for 35-45 days inside tent next to seedlings as they develop roots capable of living inside this hot soil

After the soils have cooked add back in all of the micro biotics that were most likely were cooked to death.

T minus 45 days and counting untill the 7 gallon pots get filled and the fun begins filling the nets

Need to finish those next

7 gallon pot ratio

-Bottom layer 1 gallon concentrated super soil
-Middle 2.5 gallons super soil
-Top 3.5 gallon top soil


Have you had an issues making your own organic soil? Becausr you have tempted me to go all out next round and skip the store bought base soils.

Click to expand...

Yeah my man if you're already going through the effort then you should drop the happy frog. All it is is peat moss and perlite that's been amended anyway. You're doing that cooking up your soil. Why spend the extra money on the happy frog?

thumper60 said:

I can do the same thing I bale promix ,1 bottle bonicare grow' iam sorry but u people make things so differcult .kiss my friend

Click to expand...

Some of us like to make pasta from scratch, some people like to go to Olive Garden. It's all spaghetti, but it's a labor of love at my house.

breakdancer0003 said:

Just made a batch of Super soils / Top soil tonight, I agree it feels satisfying to make your own. I have found a tweaked dj subcools recipe with a consistent, clean store bought base soil that has worked well for me in all of my soil based grows.
SUPER SOIL

-5 bags Ocean forest
-50 Lbs red worm casting
-5lbs steamed bone meal
-5lbs bloom bat guano
-5lbs blood meal
-3lbs rock phosphate
-3/4 cup epson salts
-1/2 cup sweet lime
-1/2 cup azomite
-2tbsp powdered humic acid
-3 gallons of water per 50 gallons of soil
-Cook for 35-45 days


TOP SOIL

4 Cubic foot of Happyfrog

2 cubic foot of potters gold

1.5 cubic feet of ocean forest + 10 lb worm castings

Add 3 gallons of water to each large batch and 1 gallon to the smaller more concentrated super soil

Cook for 35-45 days inside tent next to seedlings as they develop roots capable of living inside this hot soil

After the soils have cooked add back in all of the micro biotics that were most likely were cooked to death.

T minus 45 days and counting untill the 7 gallon pots get filled and the fun begins filling the nets

Need to finish those next

7 gallon pot ratio

-Bottom layer 1 gallon concentrated super soil
-Middle 2.5 gallons super soil
-Top 3.5 gallon top soil


Have you had an issues making your own organic soil? Becausr you have tempted me to go all out next round and skip the store bought base soils.

Click to expand...

Also I just noticed you layered your soils. Don't do that. I don't know why subcool does that but plants don't eat that way. No agriculture science book will tell you to do that. Your pot should be one consistent mix, not a layer of different soils.

kiwipaulie said:

I did it over my last few grows. Ended up having issues with gnats and other flying insects. Went back to my local grow shops stuff designed for what we do and pest free.

In the end I don't think you save much doing it yourself.

Click to expand...

I made this post after seeing a friend open up a bag from the grow store that was not pest free....

u are correct my friend,iam just old school hippy trying to keep it simple (hard to teach a old dog a new trick)

kiwipaulie said:

I did it over my last few grows. Ended up having issues with gnats and other flying insects. Went back to my local grow shops stuff designed for what we do and pest free.

In the end I don't think you save much doing it yourself.

Click to expand...

And what base dogs you use that's probably where the gnats came from..i loved roots works great feels nice in your hands, last bag gave me a gnat infestation as well, will never be using again!

Go big and buy a truck and trailer load of soil...buy local of course

Just sent roots an unpleasant email. You should all do the same.

thumper60 said:

I can do the same thing I bale promix ,1 bottle bonicare grow' iam sorry but u people make things so differcult .kiss my friend

Click to expand...

You could buy a bale of peat moss and a 4 Cubic feet bag of perlite and make twice as much as one bale of promix and you can stick to your simple Fertilizer recipe!

kermit2692 said:

And what base dogs you use that's probably where the gnats came from..i loved roots works great feels nice in your hands, last bag gave me a gnat infestation as well, will never be using again!

Click to expand...

Roots is notorious for infesting grows! They unleashed a plague of root aphids on unsuspecting growers in the past.

Rasta Roy said:

You could buy a bale of peat moss and a 4 Cubic feet bag of perlite and make twice as much as one bale of promix and you can stick to your simple Fertilizer recipe!

Click to expand...

a 4 cubic bag of perlite cost more than big bale of pro mix let alone the peat an lime u need to buy,thats how I roll why throw money away. peace

I recycle all my soil. Have not set foot in a grow store in over a year. It's actually gets better after a few runs because dry soil amendments take forever to break down. It's is a bit of work but totally worth the results. In my exp insects are just a part of organic grows; they occur in healthy soil but are easily controlled by diatomaceous earth, neem seed products, and spinosad. A few gnats do almost zero damage other than just being nasty but even thrips are no big deal to get rid of without chemical pesticide. If you are squeamish stick with nutes but honestly having a worm bin to make your own castings is the best investment an organic grower can make. Start a worm bin & get free castings for life; way better than bagged!!!

thumper60 said:

a 4 cubic bag of perlite cost more than big bale of pro mix let alone the peat an lime u need to buy,thats how I roll why throw money away. peace

Click to expand...

Not where I live but I use a local landscape and gardening supplier.

Rasta Roy said:

I was inspired to make this post after visiting a friend while he was repotting. My man makes his own dirt choices and he chose to use roots organics 707 blend or whatever they call it. So he pops open the bag of this stuff that he paid a pretty penny for, and fungus gnats fly out. Not like a swarm, but more than a few. Not cool roots organics. Not cool.

Now unlike my dude in the paragraph above, I don't fuck with the grow store and their fungus gnat fuck factory they call amended soil. And you don't have to either.

First thing, hit up google. Search for your local landscape and gardening supplier. If you don't have one...Menards, Lowe's, or Home Depot's garden center's will have to do.

There you can buy a bale of peat moss, a bag of perlite (don't buy Miracle-Gro perlite tho), compost, and worm castings.

3 parts peat moss
3 parts perlite
3 parts compost
1 part Worm Castings

That's your main base mix. Now you need to mix in your amendments.

Now if you've got a poorly supplied garden supplier you might have to pick up some amendments from the grow store.

Oyster Shell Flour (1 tbsp per gallon)
Dolomite Lime (2 tbsp per 5 gallons)
Fish Bone Meal (1 tbsp per gallon)
Kelp Meal (1 tbsp per gallon)
Alfalfa Meal (1 tbsp per gallon)
Blood Meal (1/2 tbsp per gallon)

Mix it all up, don't get it soaking wet but get it good and wet. Cover it, or put it in a tub. Let it sit for 4 to 8 weeks. Mix it up and check on it every other week.

If you don't want to cook it up just go ahead and plant right into the mix. Just water with a quality Fish hydroslate like age old organics Fish and seaweed Fertilizer or the Neptune's Harvest brand for about three weeks until the mix kicks in. Then just hit em with plain water. From veg to flower. You can top dress with fish bone meal or high phosphorus Bat Guano during week three of flower if you want a boost but unless your plants are super feeders you shouldn't need it.

Boom. Now you have your own super soil that rivals anything roots organics or happy frog can put in a bag and charge you out the ass for.

Click to expand...

Um, I would do this instead.

3 parts Peat
3 parts EWC
3 parts Perlite
1 part composted cow/steer manure

You inverted the EWD and the compost!