TLO: For dummies, from a dummy.

[StickMan]

Hey IheartMJ, I'm on my first Cannabis grow, and using L's recipe.

I couldn't be any happier with the results.:thumbs:

Good growing to you bro!

 

[Power.P]

X, quick question for you mate.
Back in time I remember how we were dealing with soil in grandpa's garden. We were just purchaising a truck of compost, mix it into soil and that's it.
Nowdays there's a thing called vermicompost, it's cheap and from description I can tell that it's pretty much it. So can't I just mix the soil with vermicompost instead of adding that bunch of ingredients mentioned in this thread?
Hope you can enlighten me on this, thanks :smokebuds:

 

[Mr Piggy]

The soil in the ground already has a wealth of microbes, macro and micro nutrients and many other things potting soil doesn't. You have to try to recreate this rich soil environment in potting soil and that's what all the extras are for. You could probably finish a plant in a mix with just vermicompost, but it wouldn't be a thing of glory.

 

[X]

I agree with Piggy.

I would add... most probably, the compost your granpa used was some form of manure compost... not the same as vermicompost. Vermicompost could provide an excellent base, but would not likely contain as many mineral/nutritional exudes as a manure compost would. It is also very likely, your granpa took soil samples to the County Agent (which was/is common practice by older farmers in rural America) and was given a specific recipe to replenish any nutrition that was depleted from the soil. At least, that's what the old timers I know did. You have to be pretty friggin' old to be considered an "old timer" by me... actually, pretty much already dead. I'm probably as old as your granpa :

 

[Power.P]

Thanks for your comments, however I'm not from US =) Not even from that part of the world lol
Anyway, from what I have managed to come up with is the following. Pease correct me if I'm wrong.
Here's your recipe, X:

So, I started out simple. I started out with LEVER 3K's recipe which include the following ingredients:

Compost - (I used flushed, used OF)
Peat moss (or promix bx works fine) - (I used flushed, used OF)
Mexican bat guano - (grow shop or web)
Indoesian bat guano - (grow shop or web)
Jamacian bat quano (optional) - (grow shop or web)
Peruvian seabird quano - - (grow shop or web)
Kelp meal - (grow shop or web)
epsom salts - (drug store)
Earthworm castings - (almost any garden center)
Greensand (optional) - (sometimes sold in Garden Centers... always in grow shops, or the web)
Rock posphate (optional) - (grow shop or web)
Crushed oyster shells - (feed store - it's sold to mix with chicken feed)
dolomite lime (optional) - (almost any Garden Center... sold as garden lime to make hydrangeas purple)

Basically, to make it very simple, we have 2 types of ingredients: the ones nature has taken care of, like vermicompost, and the ones that need to be worked on - guano, pig shit etc., correct?
So like if I add just vermicompost to soil I will have soil not worth eating for microbes? Or do I have it all messed up in my head?

 

[Torched]

vermicompost is essentially worm manure. Worms have an entirely different type of digestion so it adds more to and leaves behind more available nutrients and lots of beneficial bacteria. You could get by with out it. Your grampa's compost already has a bunch I'm sure. You're going to do a lot better with it, that's why people call it black gold! If you just add vermicompost you may end up with not having enough nutrients to grow a big happy plant.

 

[DABaracuss]

The more you have in the soil the more the plants microbes has to poop..really we are missing prolly millions of different things plants use for growing in its natural habitats so just add as much stuffs as you can let it cook and POOF health ladies nice and green .TLO is good and helps keep the ph balanced when you water.

 

[X]

Basically, to make it very simple, we have 2 types of ingredients: the ones nature has taken care of, like vermicompost, and the ones that need to be worked on - guano, pig shit etc., correct?

Actually, you seem to have gotten the true basic principle of TLO.

You have microbe sources (EWC and guanos) and...

food for microbes (all the other amendments in the recipe).

So like if I add just vermicompost to soil I will have soil not worth eating for microbes? Or do I have it all messed up in my head?

I may have an incorrect definition of vermicompost. When I say vermicompost, I am talking about compost that is usually made by individuals who are composting relatively fresh vegetable based food scraps. But, if what you are referring to as vermicompost, is just EWC (earthworm castings), that would be a microbe source and you would need to feed them. Microbes don't arbitrarily produce exudes that will nourish a plant. They produce exudes of the food they are fed. The more well rounded their diet, the more benefit to the plant.

So, if you just add microbes to dirt/soil, it would be totally dependent on the mineral content of the soil, as to whether there would be enough food in there to create a welcome environment for a plant to thrive in.

To be honest (and I'll probably get killed for saying this) cannabis will grow in nothing but your vermicompost and probably make it through to harvest. You would almost definitely have issues related to nutritional deficiencies, but it would probably make it through... especially outdoors. You get out of it what you put into it.

 

[Power.P]

So basically if I mix the following I will have a good start? Or will I?
- http://www.biocanna-organics.ca/bio-terra-plus
- vermicompost
- bat guano
- granulated animal shit (can't really remember how they name it in the store), there's even a mix of pig/chicken/bull shit lol :smokebuds:

 

[swampman]

That method would be a water ran through a Vermi compost container ..worm habitat ..
and using this as a base to a tea mm
The fresh doo do wil make a foammmy brew brew ...not to mention its EARTHWORM POOO .

the bacteria's grow on the grassy cow manure as it rots ..
Worms devour that bacteria. ..thus shitting out more bacteria. ..
Then the Vermicompost is controlled for the fresh poop tea ..ir to breed more and tons of millions of form for sale and to add in ur communities garden ..

Just my 2 cents ...
When using tho don't be alarmed with microscopic wigglers as they are micro babies worms ..


I just moved a whole batch of super reds ..
I would suggest vermiculture to any gardener ...very cheap awesome Nutes!!!!