Cheap, bulk supersoil

Let me run this past you all.

As you may know from my previous posts, next year I can legally grow 5 plants. This means I can scale up compared to my gurilla grow out in the woods.

I was looking at "supersoil" recipies online and to get 500 gallons of end product, I would be spending more than I can afford and my wife would allow.

I see GangaGurl used only compost with two ammendment but I worry my compost is not of the same quality.

I can get a yard of compost composed of pumpkin waste, vegetable, garden, trees and bushes broken down. I can also get a yard of aged horse manure and straw. Each yard will only cost me $30. I am thinking that combining them will increase the micronutrient and fungal profile.

I am thinking about amending it with some oyster shells and dolomite for ph stability at around a half cup of each per square foot. I can get 22 cu ft of rice hulls for pretty cheap and it can replace peat moss or coco while adding aeration and silica.

I plan on adding 2 cups per square foot (66 sq ft) of bio-live. Biolive has most of the stuff people put in super soils with slow release and fast release nutrients.

I am setting up a contraption to make my own biochar and plan on charging it in some cow manure I have and then using about 5 percent per total volume. Lastly, I plan on adding gypsum and granite meal at 2 cups of each per cu ft. The granite meal has potassium, 19 trace minerals and is 67 percent silica. The gypsum will add sulphur and calcium while stabilizing the magnesium in the Epsom salt if I add too much.

Other than the biochar setup I can get everything for under $300.

In all I would have 44 cubic feet of compost and 22 cubic feet of rice hulls.



My goal is to have recycled organic living soil and keep adding to it over the years. I am thinking I will grow in 100 gallon smart pots this year and next year I can justify the expense of getting 30 cubic feet of pumice since it will be my only major expense. Top dressing and compost tea components will be a minor expense. I can then transfer all of the previous years soil into a 150 or 200 gallon smart pot with the added pumice, and create humus layers while I am at it like Mendo does.

Also, I see there are some fabric pots being designed for living soil. The sides have poly wrapped around inside but the low sides and bottom are only covered by fabric. I think I might try them out?

Do you all see any flaws or can you give me any tips?
 
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I might bite the bullet and take in the added expense of getting some kelp meal. The bio-live has some but I want to increase its proportion in the soil. Kelp increases potassium, has over 60 essential elements and minerals, increases microbial life and some people say it increases the cannabis flavor. I figure I will use 1 cup per cubic foot of compost. I will only need to get a 20 lbs bag.
 
Maybe I do not need the rice hulls. The gypsum will help the soil loose and I can add some greensand to help along with adding in more minerals?
 

ganga gurl420

Well-Known Member
My two amendments I add is actually mixes of several amendments. Between the 2 I get everything a grow needs.
However your idea doesnt look bad at all. I agree with luke on the kelp. You need minerals for healthy soil and good terp production. This is why I'm also adding azomite this yr.
If you are growing in 100% compost I would suggest some silica as well. Really makes a difference when there is no dirt in the mix and a foliar feed will help reduce the risk of PM and other fungus due to the high ph it has.
 
My two amendments I add is actually mixes of several amendments. Between the 2 I get everything a grow needs.
However your idea doesnt look bad at all. I agree with luke on the kelp. You need minerals for healthy soil and good terp production. This is why I'm also adding azomite this yr.
If you are growing in 100% compost I would suggest some silica as well. Really makes a difference when there is no dirt in the mix and a foliar feed will help reduce the risk of PM and other fungus due to the high ph it has.
Thanks for the feedback. Do you suggest powdered silica and at what ammount per sq ft?
 
If it is aged, then you should be good. My problem was that I could still see wood chunks and smell raw manure in the compost that I was buying. If you can find manure that is 2yrs old or older, then your good...
I thought wood chips were good for a raised bed and ROLS as long as the wood chips were 2 years old or older?
 

ganga gurl420

Well-Known Member
If it is aged, then you should be good. My problem was that I could still see wood chunks and smell raw manure in the compost that I was buying. If you can find manure that is 2yrs old or older, then your good...
Oh that isnt good. Well you could always buy some and keep it in a pile. Throw some red wigglers and some good bacteria in it and it should break down fast after a yr
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
I thought wood chips were good for a raised bed and ROLS as long as the wood chips were 2 years old or older?
In this instance, the wood chips were from animal bedding or whatever. Cows don't lay in it. I'm sure that I just got some stuff from holding pens or something. More of a by-product rather than compost. Anyways, that's what they had at the landscaping store. I could have went to the city recycle plant and got the same stuff for free. You know, the place that all of the city's yard waste goes to. The one in Okla has cow manure and wood chips mixed with the city's lawn waste at the municipal recycling center
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
Oh that isnt good. Well you could always buy some and keep it in a pile. Throw some red wigglers and some good bacteria in it and it should break down fast after a yr
I have this system going with my rabbit cage that would be perfect if I could get good compost out of it. I give them alfalfa hay and grain straw for their bedding. They like to eat it, so they break it up real fine and push it through the bottom of the cage when they are finished with it. It will sit under the cage and collect urine/maure for a while then I mix it with oak leaves and grass clippings. They also get the food that is too good to go in the worm bin and their favorite is banana and pears.
However, I think that my biggest problem was that I didn't let it compost long enough. I read that it takes 2yrs minimum for lignin(woody material) to turn into humic acid and I wasn't doing that. According to the founder of BioDynamic Malibu Compost, my problem was "just recycling organic matter, not composting". I probably didn't let it get hot enough for the thermal process and I didn't let it age long enough... I'm just over here banging away for the last 8yrs, nobody really taught me how to do this. Lots of trial and error on my part... My wife is going to college for horticulture now, but she just got started.
 

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
Gonzo, you must be from Illinois as well. Just thought I would say high! To another illinoisan. Just a few more days until we are legal...
 
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