In ground planting: mixing native soil with no-till / super soil?

R

RenaissanceBrah

Active Member
I’ve been hearing that to fill the 60 gallon hole I made in my backyard, I shouldn’t fill it with [only] my regular super soil mix, but rather mix in the local soil, so that when the plant reaches the edge of the hole, the roots will keep growing into the native soil.

I’m in Southern California, the native soil is quite sandy / clay-like, so I assume there’s little nutrients in it. Not sure if having the roots grow into the native soil would make a difference.

What are your opinions on this?

Also, if I do mix in the native soil, how would it play into the regular no till soil ratios of 1/1/1 or 40/40/20 of pumice / peat moss / compost? I wasn’t sure what ingredient to adjust for that.
 
BrassNwood

BrassNwood

Well-Known Member
RenaissanceBrah said:
I’ve been hearing that to fill the 60 gallon hole I made in my backyard, I shouldn’t fill it with [only] my regular super soil mix, but rather mix in the local soil, so that when the plant reaches the edge of the hole, the roots will keep growing into the native soil.

I’m in Southern California, the native soil is quite sandy / clay-like, so I assume there’s little nutrients in it. Not sure if having the roots grow into the native soil would make a difference.

What are your opinions on this?

Also, if I do mix in the native soil, how would it play into the regular no till soil ratios of 1/1/1 or 40/40/20 of pumice / peat moss / compost? I wasn’t sure what ingredient to adjust for that.
Click to expand...
I dug 16x16x16 inch holes in the yard with a 6 foot digging bar to get past that deeper layer of clay and get a fair sized hole. Filled with pure super soil the sites are lower then the surrounding dirt level so there is always some washing intrusion of yard dirt and your original holes will get contaminated over time as mine has.

We are privileged to live where we can grow outside any time of year at all. I'm at the Beach and get 4 harvests a year.

August 1st = Take clones / plant seeds
Oct 15th = Harvest, set out veg plants into just harvested holes
Jan 1st = Same
March 15th = Same
June 1st = Harvest, Set out veg plants for summer
(June-July) summer veg time.

20221224_144155.jpg

Current run.

BNW
 
DavidfromMichigan

DavidfromMichigan

Member
I like to place rotten material in the bottom of the hole. As it decomposes, it amends the soil for you. So, by time those roots reach down, they're receiving all those goodies. Cheap and very efficient.
 
M

mandocat

Well-Known Member
RenaissanceBrah said:
I’ve been hearing that to fill the 60 gallon hole I made in my backyard, I shouldn’t fill it with [only] my regular super soil mix, but rather mix in the local soil, so that when the plant reaches the edge of the hole, the roots will keep growing into the native soil.

I’m in Southern California, the native soil is quite sandy / clay-like, so I assume there’s little nutrients in it. Not sure if having the roots grow into the native soil would make a difference.

What are your opinions on this?

Also, if I do mix in the native soil, how would it play into the regular no till soil ratios of 1/1/1 or 40/40/20 of pumice / peat moss / compost? I wasn’t sure what ingredient to adjust for that.
Click to expand...
I have alot of clay in my soil as well. I mix some the native soil with a super soil and 3 gallons of my homemade eartworm castings, when I plant. I also put rotting hay in the bottom of the hole. Clay soils can be quite fertile, the biggest problem is they retain so much water. Below is a volunteer plant that came up in unamended soil and was never fed. Late Sept. last year.PXL_20220912_192706061 (1).jpg
 
R

RenaissanceBrah

Active Member
mandocat said:
I have alot of clay in my soil as well. I mix some the native soil with a super soil and 3 gallons of my homemade eartworm castings, when I plant. I also put rotting hay in the bottom of the hole. Clay soils can be quite fertile, the biggest problem is they retain so much water. Below is a volunteer plant that came up in unamended soil and was never fed. Late Sept. last year.View attachment 5248864
Click to expand...
Looking good!

How big do you make your holes, in which you mix in your super soil / EWC?

How would you say is your ratio to your ground soil to super soil + EWC? (eg. 70% ground soil / 30% super soil, etc)
 
M

mandocat

Well-Known Member
RenaissanceBrah said:
Looking good!

How big do you make your holes, in which you mix in your super soil / EWC?

How would you say is your ratio to your ground soil to super soil + EWC? (eg. 70% ground soil / 30% super soil, etc)
Click to expand...
The holes were about 20 gallons, not more than about 18 inches deep. 60/40 ground soil to super soil, about 3 gallons of worm castings per hole. It is an incredibly hearty plant! Nature knows how to grow this stuff, I just try to stay out of the way. Minus some minor boosts.
 
S

SlumVill

Active Member
BrassNwood said:
I dug 16x16x16 inch holes in the yard with a 6 foot digging bar to get past that deeper layer of clay and get a fair sized hole. Filled with pure super soil the sites are lower then the surrounding dirt level so there is always some washing intrusion of yard dirt and your original holes will get contaminated over time as mine has.

We are privileged to live where we can grow outside any time of year at all. I'm at the Beach and get 4 harvests a year.

August 1st = Take clones / plant seeds
Oct 15th = Harvest, set out veg plants into just harvested holes
Jan 1st = Same
March 15th = Same
June 1st = Harvest, Set out veg plants for summer
(June-July) summer veg time.

View attachment 5244560

Current run.

BNW
Click to expand...
Wow thats a good idea of bringing veg plants out to flower multiple times throughout the year! Never thought of that.
 
BrassNwood

BrassNwood

Well-Known Member
SlumVill said:
Wow thats a good idea of bringing veg plants out to flower multiple times throughout the year! Never thought of that.
Click to expand...
It popped in my head one day after yet another failure at time matching for spring setout and here it was mid June and all the stupid plant are in flower. Somebody had commented i should just leave light on 24-0 over the outside veg stage plant. Bite Me. I stopped fighting things and figured out how to take advantage of that 10 months of flower lighting I have outside.
20230113_041811.jpg
Veg is just 30 feet away from the Flowering plants. I have a shed full of T5 high output lights I use for veg when I'm in town but we travel a lot and more and more I'm doing Veg outside under sun and lights.
The plants are a bit elongated as they seem to stretch at night in the low light but never drop to flower so it is like a plant growing in the shade.
Most of these will get gifted to my friends that still can't get a good clone to survive.
Anyplace with mild winters and no freezing temps can pull this off.
 
S

SlumVill

Active Member
BrassNwood said:
It popped in my head one day after yet another failure at time matching for spring setout and here it was mid June and all the stupid plant are in flower. Somebody had commented i should just leave light on 24-0 over the outside veg stage plant. Bite Me. I stopped fighting things and figured out how to take advantage of that 10 months of flower lighting I have outside.
View attachment 5250284
Veg is just 30 feet away from the Flowering plants. I have a shed full of T5 high output lights I use for veg when I'm in town but we travel a lot and more and more I'm doing Veg outside under sun and lights.
The plants are a bit elongated as they seem to stretch at night in the low light but never drop to flower so it is like a plant growing in the shade.
Most of these will get gifted to my friends that still can't get a good clone to survive.
Anyplace with mild winters and no freezing temps can pull this off.
Click to expand...
Thats awesome man!! I was starting to do something similar. I think we are both in the same climate. Hint: westcoast.

I currently have a greenhouse that I put one light in (this one: https://www.amazon.com/Amico-LED-Garage-Light-Deformable/dp/B08KXSNFK4/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=led+garage+lights&qid=1674304994&sr=8-11&th=1).
The light comes on at night around 11:30pm for 3-4 hours.
It was doing good at keeping things veg until but about 3-4 weeks ago, things started to flower while the other 40% are still vegging strong.
Do you have any idea whats going on? Do I really need to put them at 24 hours like you do? It was doing fine with an extra 3-4 hours until recently.
 
BrassNwood

BrassNwood

Well-Known Member
SlumVill said:
Thats awesome man!! I was starting to do something similar. I think we are both in the same climate. Hint: westcoast.

I currently have a greenhouse that I put one light in (this one: https://www.amazon.com/Amico-LED-Garage-Light-Deformable/dp/B08KXSNFK4/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=led+garage+lights&qid=1674304994&sr=8-11&th=1).
The light comes on at night around 11:30pm for 3-4 hours.
It was doing good at keeping things veg until but about 3-4 weeks ago, things started to flower while the other 40% are still vegging strong.
Do you have any idea whats going on? Do I really need to put them at 24 hours like you do? It was doing fine with an extra 3-4 hours until recently.
Click to expand...
I got sick and tired of having them do what they wanted and not what I wanted. 24-0 fixed it all. Lights over veg plants and all they do is stretch a tiny bit at night in the lower light. They stay tricked into veg. Just leave the damn lights on. Being LED they don't draw that much. My veg line is only pulling 21 watts. As long as the lights shine they are happy veg plants.
Los Angeles basin.
I was inspecting the plants and we have buds forming. On track for a March 15th Harvest.
Turn off the lights and let the ones in flower finish if you have buds forming. You still have plenty of time to start either seed or clone plants for June1st setout. Move the strong veg plants away from the flower zone and light them 24-0 until March 15th then flower that set. I take my summer clones off that March 15th group.
 
S

SlumVill

Active Member
BrassNwood said:
I got sick and tired of having them do what they wanted and not what I wanted. 24-0 fixed it all. Lights over veg plants and all they do is stretch a tiny bit at night in the lower light. They stay tricked into veg. Just leave the damn lights on. Being LED they don't draw that much. My veg line is only pulling 21 watts. As long as the lights shine they are happy veg plants.
Los Angeles basin.
I was inspecting the plants and we have buds forming. On track for a March 15th Harvest.
Turn off the lights and let the ones in flower finish if you have buds forming. You still have plenty of time to start either seed or clone plants for June1st setout. Move the strong veg plants away from the flower zone and light them 24-0 until March 15th then flower that set. I take my summer clones off that March 15th group.
Click to expand...
Good point about the LEDs being cheap. I am more worried about the lit up greenhouse attracting attention from thief's or others who might want to steal my flowering plants which will cause me to have to go out with my shotgun or pepper spray.
I guess best thing for me to do is increase the hours of light. Im going to try 5-6 hours on at night now instead of 4
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top