Indoor Autotron's organic super soil perpetual grow

[tripaholic88]

Use like composted shredded bark.Cooking the soil is a lot more then making nutes available.It is more about the soil stabilizing and becoming a better buffer.Living roots are not always happy with decomposing media in the soil.You should be fine but definitely mulch it really does make for happy plants.I usually wait until they are about 10-14 days old then I top dress with all purpose 4-4-4 add about an inch or two of ewc’s on top of that then a tspn or two of ground malted barley and then the mulch on top of that.Then when you top dress later for flower you can add it on top of the mulch and water in.Also I would highly recommend reading TLO 2.0 by the Rev if you plan on staying with organics.REMEMBER TO KISS and you will be fine and fall in love with the quality of true organics.

Another great thing about smart pots is bottom dressing.This is where you sprinkle a tspn or two of amendments directly into the catch tray and then sub irrigate.I will mix nutes with ewc’s and ground malted barley and add that to the catch tray and sub irrigate.Its like an instant tea every time I water.Also when I water I add half on top and half to the bottom.Living soil prefers constant moisture levels (not soggy) but moist.This is another benefit of mulching get it!

very nice info man heres a for ya

 

[Autotron]

Use like composted shredded bark.Cooking the soil is a lot more then making nutes available.It is more about the soil stabilizing and becoming a better buffer.Living roots are not always happy with decomposing media in the soil.You should be fine but definitely mulch it really does make for happy plants.I usually wait until they are about 10-14 days old then I top dress with all purpose 4-4-4 add about an inch or two of ewc’s on top of that then a tspn or two of ground malted barley and then the mulch on top of that.Then when you top dress later for flower you can add it on top of the mulch and water in.Also I would highly recommend reading TLO 2.0 by the Rev if you plan on staying with organics.REMEMBER TO KISS and you will be fine and fall in love with the quality of true organics.

@Autotron ..... Mulch, I use sweet barley straw - worms like it and feeds the soil, albeit not much but a lot for container mulching .... and it looks good and cover crop can get thru ....

https://buildasoil.com/products/barley-straw-mulch

feed store, they carry straw just not sure of their sources or type of straw ... I’m not an expert so I spent the $12 and got online .... more than enough for 25 or more containers and nice straw and packing, stores nice and is convenient.
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Thanks for the tips guys, I definitely plan to mulch now and add some malted barley. For the sake of ease and money(and because I don't want bales or bags of mulch getting shipped to me), I looked at my local home depot to see what kinds of mulch they have. It looks like the varieties are broken down by color, black, brown, red or cedar mulch. They're probably geared towards outdoor application like shrubs and landscaping vs. productive organic farming. Any thoughts on these ones or should I not be a cheapskate and just order the good mulch and straw from buildasoil.com?

In other news, three of the four beans have sprouted and shown their leaves already, one of which I'm a little worried about because I saw what looks like mold around the base of stem. We'll see if it damps off or continues to grow. The last one in a one gallon pot hasn't sprouted yet. I hope it's not a dud. I drop the seeds directly into the soil and put a clear plastic cup over the top like a dome to give it enough humidity to sprout.

I also mixed up five gallons of super soil for the next couple seeds. I'm not gonna plant them for another week or two, but I figured the longer I let the amended soil cook beforehand, the better. I'm gonna mix up even more when I get the chance in the next day or two.

 

[MrOldBoy]

Thanks for the tips guys, I definitely plan to mulch now and add some malted barley. For the sake of ease and money(and because I don't want bales or bags of mulch getting shipped to me), I looked at my local home depot to see what kinds of mulch they have. It looks like the varieties are broken down by color, black, brown, red or cedar mulch. They're probably geared towards outdoor application like shrubs and landscaping vs. productive organic farming. Any thoughts on these ones or should I not be a cheapskate and just order the good mulch and straw from buildasoil.com?

In other news, three of the four beans have sprouted and shown their leaves already, one of which I'm a little worried about because I saw what looks like mold around the base of stem. We'll see if it damps off or continues to grow. The last one in a one gallon pot hasn't sprouted yet. I hope it's not a dud. I drop the seeds directly into the soil and put a clear plastic cup over the top like a dome to give it enough humidity to sprout.

I also mixed up five gallons of super soil for the next couple seeds. I'm not gonna plant them for another week or two, but I figured the longer I let the amended soil cook beforehand, the better. I'm gonna mix up even more when I get the chance in the next day or two.

Mulch from BuildASoil comes via us mail - $10 https://buildasoil.com/products/barley-straw-mulch having said that it is peace of mind and my worms like and I think I have some micro-fungi brewing, so I like that and it looks good too .... You’ll get 7 or better pots out of the bag ... so maybe $1.50 a plant, maybe even $1.25 if you get 8 pots!

@BISCUITS has excellent advise that works ........

Personal preference myselfthe straw, it’s nice and clean and the worms seem to love it, couple with living soil, it’s happening for me!

Strawberry Nugget by Mephisto

 

[BISCUITS]

I am very lucky when it comes to mulch because my landlord got a big load from the local municipal community supply.They have huge piles of shredded trees that have been sitting for years along with all the community yard waste which is essentially a huge compost pile.Beautiful black gold at the bottom of these piles ,black leaf mold is great for worms and adding to soil for lots of good fungi.

 

[MrOldBoy]

I am very lucky when it comes to mulch because my landlord got a big load from the local municipal community supply.They have huge piles of shredded trees that have been sitting for years along with all the community yard waste which is essentially a huge compost pile.Beautiful black gold at the bottom of these piles ,black leaf mold is great for worms and adding to soil for lots of good fungi.

You are so lucky, black leaf mold is killer .....

I was using triple cut oak and hickory leaves that sat in water for month for mulch and had no issues and I get bails of straw from Feed Store but I got lazy, it’s winter feed store is cold this time of year so I just ponied up the $10 but the straw, gotta admit it is super clean and looks good.

 

[BISCUITS]

Does the straw break down very fast? My wood chips break down in about 30 days or so.Lots of options for sure but do not omit.This really helps the micro life go crazy up in the top 3-4 inches with a little added kelp and alfalfa.

 

[Autotron]

Unfortunately one of the Sour Crack seeds in a 1-gallon never popped and one in the 2-gallon died shortly after sprouting. The other two are looking great so far and exactly where they should be. I planted a Toof Decay seed in the empty 1-gallon smart pot tonight and a Sour Bubbly in the other empty 2-gallon one and put clear Solo cups over them. Currently have them under 300W of MH light without the exhaust fan running to keep the heat up. My infrared thermometer gun is showing me temps in the high 70s under the light, so that should be ideal for this stage to keep them comfy, encourage vegetative and root growth and keep the soil warm to kickstart the soil life.

I decided to buy some barley straw, malted barley grain and wood/bark mulch based on your guy's recommendation, so will be adding some to the pots once I get it. I also have kelp powder and EWC to help build a nice top layer. I'm really excited to pump up this organic grow above and beyond my previous ones! The Kindsoil alone sucked, and the Roots Uprising was the saving grace last time and I got great results with it. I can't wait to see how much better these ones turn out!

I'll get some pics up once I have some results more interesting than seedlings to show.

 

[BISCUITS]

That’s a bummer when seeds don’t sprout.I don’t care what anyone says I still germinate in paper towels as I have for 20+ years just so I know a seed pops.To me it puts you a lil ahead of the game but to each their own.Do you have kelp meal or an extract powder? Very big difference between the two.You should top dress with the roots bloom too at about a teaspoon under the EWC then place your mulch on the very top and you can add your spikes at this time also if using them before putting the mulch down.

 

[BISCUITS]

Timing is VERY important with a living soil.Things move a little slower then hydro of course and is a different kind of balancing act.Think ahead and try to get some soil cooking for future use.Trust me you will NOT be sorry and recycle your soil of course as it just keeps getting more powerful and super natural.

 

[Autotron]

That’s a bummer when seeds don’t sprout.I don’t care what anyone says I still germinate in paper towels as I have for 20+ years just so I know a seed pops.To me it puts you a lil ahead of the game but to each their own.Do you have kelp meal or an extract powder? Very big difference between the two.You should top dress with the roots bloom too at about a teaspoon under the EWC then place your mulch on the very top and you can add your spikes at this time also if using them before putting the mulch down.

Timing is VERY important with a living soil.Things move a little slower then hydro of course and is a different kind of balancing act.Think ahead and try to get some soil cooking for future use.Trust me you will NOT be sorry and recycle your soil of course as it just keeps getting more powerful and super natural.

I've got a box of Down to Earth Kelp Meal. I've got bunch of different boxes of organic ingredients like bat guano, humic acid,azomite, blood meal, fish meal, etc. Just not familiar enough to use them yet. I'd originally bought them to mix up a batch of Subcool super soil. I also did get some of those Jobe's organic 2-7-4 spikes you mentioned earlier as well. Super cheap, so figured what the hell, why not?

I hear you on the timing part. Definitely gotta be ahead of the game with organic soil since it takes so long for stuff to break down, grow, etc. I mixed up a 5-gallon buckets worth of super soil with the same ingredients as I did originally about a week ago to allow it time to cook before drop my next seeds.

I've got some Mephisto seeds coming in the mail any day now, so will be popping some of those when the time is right. I ordered some White Crack, AvT, Strawberry Nuggets, and Samsquanch OG, so I'm super excited to get them planted some time soon as well when the time is right, along with the ones I previously mentioned in my original post.