Organic Super Soil?

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Pakanohida, Jul 23, 2015.

  1. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I found this interesting soil recipe that composts. Seems like a lot of work, but at the same time, it seems to be wonderful for container growers inside of cities.

    You will need:
    • Huge mixing container (enough to hold ~110 pounds of soil)
    • Rake
    • Tarp or large trash cans to hold soil while it's "cooking"
    Composted Super Soil Ingredients



    Mixing & Amending Soil 1. ) Add 4 bags of Roots Organic Soil to your mixing spot (there should be 2 bags of Roots Organic Soil left)
    2.) Add Fish Bone Meal (since it’s smelly and you want to cover it up first)
    3.) Add 1 bag of Biobizz Light-Mix (there should be 1 bag left)
    4.) Rake it out so that the Fish Bone Meal is lightly mixed in
    5.) Sprinkle Dolomite Lime over entire pile
    6.) Sprinkle Granular Azomite over entire pile
    7.) Add the last bag of Biobizz Light-Mix
    8.) Add 1st bag of worm castings
    9.) Add 1 bag of Roots Organic soil (you should have 1 bag left)
    10.) Rake it in lightly

    11.) If you’re using perlite, add it now. (Note, I removed this from recipe)

    12.) Add 2nd bag of worm castings
    13.) Add last bag of Roots Organic Soil
    14.) Rake entire pile gently so it’s all mixed up
    15.) Add Blood Meal
    16.) Add Bat Guano
    17.) Add Epsom Salt
    18.) Final stir - mix thoroughly
    Start Composting


    1. Over next week, continue to mix pile regularly (for example moving pile to one side then the other) until you don’t see any spots of color anymore.
    2. After mix has been thoroughly mixed over a week, wrap up super soil in a tarp, or store in a large container such as a garbage can (this mix takes about 4 large garbage cans)
    3. Add water to mix and stir it in to initiate the microbial process. Super soil should be moist but not soggy while composting. The idea is to keep the mix both moist and relatively contained. If your super soil mix is not put in a container or wrapped up, it will dry out, which stops the whole process. Make sure you wrap up your soil if in a tarp, or put a top on your garbage cans. You need to keep the mix in a relatively enclosed environment.
    4. Keep your composting mix in a sunny place and allow the super soil mix to "cook" for 30-60 days. During this process, your job is to keep the soil moist but not soggy, and otherwise keep the pile covered/enclosed to trap heat and air. The microbial processes in the soil will actually cause the composting pile to become hot to the touch - this is normal! That's part of why it's called "cooking" :) As the soil cooks, it will break down the ingredients you added into a form that your plants can easily use.
    Note: Be on the look out for bugs, especially if mix is not completely enclosed! You just created a perfect environment for bugs to live.

    Bonus points: if you add live worms to this mix it will help aerate and loosen up your mix. Worms can even be used in potted containers - they do no harm to your plants, and will help maintain healthy soil.

    5. Mix one last time before you start growing!

    Fill the bottom 1/3 of your pot with your composted Super Soil mix, use normal soil for upper 2/3rds of pot. Water normally.




    This is an expensive amount of soil made, but it does seem to have everything for plants to grow. What are your thoughts after reading this whole post?
     
  2. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Hmmm, I guarantee that's off a cannabis forum. Only those citizen scientists would balance a mix so effectively. I once was shouted off a bonsai forum to dare to suggest that cannabis soil scientists may be better placed than people not making money off it or yields.

    Amazon isn't working for me at the moment, so what is Biobizz?

    And if it were me, I'd add the castings (and hopefully with some worms), after the composting stage. Just to be safe though I'm sure it could be tested with the temps. I'm assuming they are clean castings while I am thinking about adding castings from my worm farm which have eggs and live worms. I do see that they are bonus points but I can't imagine they would like the warm, sunny place.
     
  3. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Biobizz from the website it says.

    Not saying where I got it from, but it wasn't cannabis forums.... but if it did, so what? It's quasi-legal enough for many Americans now with medical issues.
     
  4. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    No issue at all, it's very similar to one I got off a cannabis site some time ago, everything but the biobizz. They used another organic American media so I could almost assume the biobizz is the next iteration from that recipe I saw.

    What I'm saying is that the cannabis growers, where yield is everything using fast-growing annuals, are far better placed than the average person for experimentation, coupling that with huge forums of passionate growers, legal or not.

    Don't be so 'paranoid'.

    Fairly wishy-washy statement from the makers of biobizz, is the media commercial-in-confidence?
     
  5. permasculptor

    permasculptor Junior Member

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    It is probably coco peat with microbes to supply the perfect drainage whilst retaining enough nutrient.I have happy growers using BB with coco peat.
     
  6. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Apparently it is soil, and an industry standard in Amsterdam for clones after they take root in coir, peat, or rockwool. This soil allows people to use liquid fertilizers earlier than normal in order to increase vegetative growth over flowering growth.



    Soooo, was thinking between this, lasagna beds, and biodynamic beds for tomatoes that what it really REALLY comes down to is increased & healthy microbial life leads to increased & healthy plants which then leads to healthier humans & planet.

    It seems to me that if one dug a random hole in the food forest for this kind of medicinal plant, or really any plant you really want to succeed, that this would increase spots of increased healthy life in the soil which is incredibly important everywhere.
     
  7. permasculptor

    permasculptor Junior Member

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    Yes as long as said random holes have adequate drainage.
     
  8. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    I was thinking along the lines of The Global Gardener movie with Bill M.; one of his mates increased his wealth by fixing the cattle lands with worms planted all over the paddock. I was thinking / hoping that this organic super soil mix with worms would work the same way.

    I may try this out for next spring, too late in the season now.
     
  9. permasculptor

    permasculptor Junior Member

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    Think of it as a micro climate/guild including plants which have symbiotic relationships and keep the mulch up to feed the microbes.
     
  10. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    Occupation:
    gardening, reading, etc
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    near St. Charles, MI, USoA
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    Climate:
    -15C-35C, 10cm rain/mo, clay, full sun, K-G Dfa=x=Dfb
    nothing wrong with working at the local or micro scales to increase pockets of diversity, but for my own interests i like to read actual case studies like:

    https://www.soilsforlife.org.au/cs-clover-estate

    which document changes and show results over much larger areas acting through the years.

    so, yes, keep up the good work locally, increase pockets of diversity but also work towards the larger system goals of sucking more carbon out of the air than what is released and try to be happy living a more simple and less environmentally destructive life.

    i sincerely doubt that any system will be greatly improved if the agriculture has to import large amounts of materials or nutrients by means other than those that nature can provide. how clever you can be at attracting natural processes to interact with your chosen location is some part of what permaculture teaches you to observe and implement.
     
  11. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    Was neat to read, but well beyond the scope of what I am able to do, especially with me losing light daily at the moment.
    While I don't have access to any case studies from Bill M. and his worm / cattle buddy, I understand how it worked so well.

    I personally currently opted for purchased soil heavily inoculated with microorganisms & bat guano ((arrives Friday)) that is also inoculated with microorganisms.
     
  12. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

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    In the soil is the following:

    Mycorrhizae:

    Glomus intradices
    G. aggregatum
    G. mossae
    G. atunicatum

    Larcania Bicolor
    L. Laceata

    Pisolithus tinctorius

    Rhizopagan amylopogun
    R. fulvigleba
    R. lutelolus
    R. vissosullus

    Scleroderma cepa
    S. citvinum

    Suillus granulatus


    Bacteria


    Bacillus amyloliquefaciens
    B. licheniformis
    B. subtilis
    B. pumilus
    B. megaterium

    Learning about soil my Mycorrhizae & Bacteria has just been neat. :)


    For example, In numerous scientific studies G. intraradices has been shown to increase phosphorus uptake in multiple plants as well as improve soil aggregation due to hyphae
     

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