Another Subcool Super Soil Question

In Subcool's super soil recipe he states that the super soil needs a minimum of 6 weeks to inoculate. 6 weeks gives the soil enough time to form a web of mycorrhizae. I recently mixed a batch of super soil on tuesday and checked it today and I found the web starting to form.

I used the recipe as a guideline but had to use what was available in my area since I'm currently not at home (CO).

My Recipe :
2 large bags of Fox Farm Ocean Forest (1.5 cu ft)
1 medium bag of Fox Farm Light Warrior (1.0 cu ft)
1 small bag of Fox Farm Happy Frog (.5 cu ft)
1 large bad of Soil Mender Raised Bed Mix(1.5 cu ft) for moisture control
15 lb of Worm Warrior Worm Castings
2.5 lbs of Steamed Bone Meal
2.5 lbs of Blood Meal
2.5 lbs of Bat Guano
1.5 lbs of Rock Phosphate
1/3 cup of Epson Salt
1/2 cup of Dolomite Lime
1/4 cup Azomite
1 tbsp Humic Acid
*also added Great White to the mix (about 1.5 oz) and added AquaShield (about 1.5 tsp) to the water before I watered it

My question: Is this normal at this early stage of inoculation?

This picture is after 4 days of inoculation

anyone care to explain?

its normal with the right variable yes. if you want a mycology lesson grow mushrooms, if you want a micro biology lesson grow cultures. but it looks like the right amount of variables where there for you and your soil could be fully colonized in 2 weeks from the looks of things.... super soil is overrated "cooking" your soil is overrated. consistent inoculation is where its at, compost teas and any basic organic soil mix is all you need. no cooking required, no killing your precious microbe system when you plant you plant and over time from waterings and plant an their own byproducts, or domination of one specie, because your constantly refreshing it.

Just finished watching compost tea videos... I was planning on using compost tea along with this super soil. But I've seen first hand what Subcool's super soil produces with only water and the quality is definitely topshelf. I'm just switching from hydro to organic and the super soil seems the best way to go being that I'm a beginner again. What you're saying does make plenty of sense though.

well i do agree it simplifies things and stretches som expensive soil, but most soil like, roots, FF, ect come precooked, you can stretch with some perlite and bone meal and use just water and be good to go. ive seen and used all types of organic soils and produced many results. nothing beats a knowledgeable combination of inorganic and organic in concert with hydroponics IMO.

polyarcturus said:

well i do agree it simplifies things and stretches som expensive soil, but most soil like, roots, FF, ect come precooked

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FFOF now also comes with a heavy dose of thrips. Never again will I be purchasing this soil after losing the battle to thrips more than 7 times. Lost my whole crop each time because 75% of these bags of dirt contain huge amounts of thrip larvae.

Super soil is now my go-to soil mix and the best part is NO BUGS! I have seen many different soil recipes and do not follow Subcool's recipe exactly. He actually got his recipe idea from Vic's recipe originally. Vic's recipe is better IMO because it contains lower nitrogen and higher phosphorous and calcium. Also his revised recipe contains Kelp meal which I also add.

I do not "pre-cook" my soil because it has plenty of time to do that during the 60 days of flower and I still get top-shelf quality. Use Vic's recipe and you will not be disappointed. Subcool's recipe works great also, but he basically just copied Vic's from what I understand. Better to find the source I would say.

Heres the most recent revision... I dont see anything about kelp meal..

• 8 large bags of high quality organic potting soil with coco and Mycorrhizae
  25-50 lbs. of organic worm castings
  5 lbs. of Blood meal 12-0-0
  5 lbs. Bat guano 0-5-0
  5 lbs. Fish Bone Meal 3-16-0
  ¾ cup Epsom salt
  1 cup Sweet lime (Dolomite)
  ½ cup Azomite ( Trace element)
  2 Tbs. powdered Humic acid
  *** If using an RO system add in 1/2 cup powdered Cal/mag​
  
  

As far as soil containing thrips... Most soils carry some kind of bugs in it at this point... You really shouldnt be surprised about it... Get some nematodes and inoculate your soil when you get it with it and put some sticky traps up......


Also letting the soil "cook" isnt about forming a myco web... Its about letting the ingredients compost long enough so its usable to the plants and wont burn the roots to death.... A soil PH meter will tell you exactly when your SS is usable...

The reason why supersoil needs to be "cooked" is because after all amendements are added the soil is way to hot for most strains.. that is why it's recommended for at least 30 days..

The web or white fuzz is normal that quick. I have it with my recipe and on soil surface and on soil of plant the next day after feeding with a compost tea.

With my recipe I don't cook for very long.


Pro mix bh
Jobe's heirloom tomato
Grow more vegetarian blend
Dolomite lime
Epsom salt
Fossilized seabird guano
Soft rock phosphate
Glacial rock dust
Neem meal
crab meal
Kelp meal
Oyster shell flour
compost
Ewc

Water with compost n enzyme tea.

Cook for 2 weeks or longer.

Top dress with compost n ewc every 2 weeks. Molasses feed at each top dressing. Compost tea twice through 12/12 . Guano tea if fading in week 6. Water n enzyme teas the rest of the time.

Then ROLS


Imo good compost speeds up cooking since all the good bennies, humics, and enzymes are in compost. Make sure compost is moist and damp. Not dry. Soil mix too.


Sub doesn't put kelp in his recipe because there is kelp in the roots organic soil and when the coco breaks down it creates potassium. But personally I would add kelp meal for more k and trace minerals and amino acids.

hyroot said:

The web or white fuzz is normal that quick. I have it with my recipe and on soil surface and on soil of plant the next day after feeding with a compost tea.

With my recipe I don't cook for very long.


Pro mix bh
Jobe's heirloom tomato
Grow more vegetarian blend
Dolomite lime
Epsom salt
Fossilized seabird guano
Soft rock phosphate
Glacial rock dust
Neem meal
crab meal
Kelp meal
Oyster shell flour
compost
Ewc

Water with compost n enzyme tea.

Cook for 2 weeks or longer.

Top dress with compost n ewc every 2 weeks. Molasses feed at each top dressing. Compost tea twice through 12/12 . Guano tea if fading in week 6. Water n enzyme teas the rest of the time.

Then ROLS


Imo good compost speeds up cooking since all the good bennies, humics, and enzymes are in compost. Make sure compost is moist and damp. Not dry. Soil mix too.


Sub doesn't put kelp in his recipe because there is kelp in the roots organic soil and when the coco breaks down it creates potassium. But personally I would add kelp meal for more k and trace minerals and amino acids.

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I just made a 1/2 batch of supersoil with recycled supersoil/base today.. I just added the same recipe as I posted above to the used SS/base from a past grow, I worked it out to 6 CF using 1 new bag of roots, I tossed in some extra lime, blood meal, ancient forest, and worm castings on top of the normal recipe... but now I may throw some kelp in there now that you said that....

^^^^^ I use recycled soil too. I would break it down and amend it. Then add 1.5 cu ft of new soil per 4.5 cu ft of recycled soil. My most recent batch in flower day 10 and veg I started doing recycled organic living soil no till method. Everything seems to be growing much faster than usual. More perky and lush too. Just top dressing with all same. But much less. Nutes will be lasting more than 2 batches now. I have a surplus of soil now

hyroot said:

Sub doesn't put kelp in his recipe because there is kelp in the roots organic soil and when the coco breaks down it creates potassium. But personally I would add kelp meal for more k and trace minerals and amino acids.

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I don't use Roots either, because like the other guy just said, mostly all soils have bugs these days. Using SS#4 as base or ProM because they are free of bugs and adding the needed micro's and macro's back into it. That's why I add kelp. I also just started adding green sand to the mix for some slow release K along with the kelp. Green sand also helps break up the soil nicely and gives it a better feel. I've been reusing my Super Soil and adding it back into the SS#4 base to recycle. It's not an exact science as long as you keep track of what you've been adding. Really good stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

whitey78 said:

Heres the most recent revision... I dont see anything about kelp meal..

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Hmmm?

Vic's revised soil mix:

1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft)
8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source
4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups dolomite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
4 cups kelp meal.
9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings




I like this mixture because the nitrogen proportions are lower. I still add the Azomite, Bat Guano and Humic Acid like Sub does and I also add Green Sand because I don't use pre-mixed based soil. Also, I still innoculate with extra myco.

I also adjust the dolomite lime a bit less like Sub does as well. So far everything has been good. They are all really good recipes, but Kelp is a nice booster for sure. Alfalfa meal is another good booster that would be good to experiment with. Pretty sure Roots already has some in it however, but I like to "know" the proportions of everything going into the mix start to finish.

When you purchase a pre-mixed soil, you never know the proportions. For all I know, a bag of Roots could be 99% peat and trace amounts of the goodies, that's why I like to mix it all from scratch. That and also never had a single bug since using only SS or ProMix.

Is there a reason why the super soil doesn't come pre mixed by someone like root organics or another company? Would it kill the microbes or cause some problems if they already had this mixture?

marawana said:

Is there a reason why the super soil doesn't come pre mixed by someone like root organics or another company? Would it kill the microbes or cause some problems if they already had this mixture?

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They do have pre mixed super soil. Bunch of capitalist bull shit n my opinion.

foreverflyhi said:

They do have pre mixed super soil. Bunch of capitalist bull shit n my opinion.

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Oh they do? but it isn't as good as if you mix it yourself or more expensive?

from vic's own recipe for thrips and gnats...
On a couple of occasions, I've ended up with fungus gnats with this soil mix. They are more of an irritation than anything but may harm weak or young plants. Some have said that putting a layer of sand on top of the soil in the pots stops the gnats from reproducing. Others can get rid of them by doing a soil drench with gnatrol or vectobac (BTI). Personally, I prefer to simply introduce fungus gnat predators (Hypoaspis miles). Once established, they not only control fungus gnats, but also thrips and mites. When there is no insect food available, they survive on dead plant material, so remain even after pests are gone to prevent future infestations. Actually, since they have been introduced, I've had no pest problems in over a year and I don't filter my intake.