Organic Living Soil

Organic Living Soil

In a day and age when we have access to “Grow Shops” on every corner here in Michigan it is easy to get a bit lost in it all. Shelf after shelf of seemingly magical potions, to supply your babies with all the desired results of dankness.

While there are good products out there, which when used properly can have awesome results, the complexity is not necessary for someone who is willing to relinquish control a bit and hand it over to the natural biology of the soil.

A good starting medium is sphagnum peat moss. It is a great moisture retentive product and while you might have been told otherwise , there are microbes just waiting to come to life in it. There are some issues with it being a nonrenewable resource but if you recycle your soil it negates this problem.

The next 1/2 to 1/3 of the soil should be garden compost. I have my own homemade compost that I use but you can source this from garden stores or nurseries if needed.

The final essential base medium is worm castings. Can't say enough about EWC. Crawling with beneficial microorganisms or “benies,” and full of great nutritional benefit. Most people will have to buy this from a garden store. Though starting a worm bin is pretty easy it takes time and space.

Then you need about 35-50% of your soil to be aeration ingredients. Good candidates are perlite, rice hulls, or crushed lava stone.

After this base mix there are numerous soil amendments to add, and as long as it's organic it should be alright for the microbiology, but I'll give a few heads up tips on things not to use or to read up on first before using.

Things to avoid: Lime of any kind, bloodmeal, bonemeal (except fish), Epsom salts, any bottled liquid fertilizers, and anything synthetic/chemical as it will kill your microherd.

Things to add: Mycorrhizae, Crabshell meal, Neem meal, Kelp meal, Alfalfa meal, and Rock Dusts. Most of these can be added at about ¼ cup per 1 cubic foot (around 7-8 gallons of soil) unless otherwise noted on packaging. The rock dust can be up to or exceeding 4 cups/cf.

Other additions/options: Fish meal or Fish Bone Meal, Oystershell Meal, Biochar, and Karanja Meal (neem replacement.)

After everything is mixed very well water slightly and let sit for 30 days or more. If available water with a compost or microbe tea.

By no means do you need all of this to start with. Just make the base soil with EWC, Compost, Sphagnum, and Aeration material. Then get whatever you can of the other ingredients and run it as directed above. Add necessary amendments when you recycle.

Remember to treat this soil as a living thing not a dead medium. The soil should remain moist, the dry/wet cycle is a fallacy and will result in loss of microbiology. “Teas” are a big plus here as well, since they feed your “bennies” and bolster their numbers.

-BDBuds