Advice on water only soil mix (super soil)

[JB]

Hello all.

For my next grow I've decided to try mixing up my own soil and experimenting a bit to try and further my knowledge of what grows great ganja.

I'd like to keep it organic with little micro heards battling away.

The strain will probably be Lemon diesel with 3 clones.

They'll be rooted in root riot cubes and then in to 6 inch pot with plant magic plus soil until big enough to go in to their final homes which will be 26L square fabric pots (30x30x28cm) in a .8 x.8 x 1.8m tent with 400w hps.

I'd like to try the following.

Plant number 1. The control plant. - Just normal soil, verve multipurpose and old timers grow and bloom and michorrhizal fungi. Possibly with some light soil amendments and compost teas. Open to options.

Plants 2 and 3 will be some sort of water only super soil mix. Either one at full strength and one at half or two different mixtures, one with a stripped back component list to see what's necessary.

Hopefully they will be drip feed airiated tap water.

I'm looking for comments and ideas for what to use in plants two and three.

Ideally I don't want to be using expensive soil mixes as a base and would rather again use something like b&q verve @ £3 for 50L with a number amendments.

So far I've picked up the followings bits

Empathy RHS 1Kg Rootgrow Mycorrhizal Fungi (tried to save some money with this one but now wondering if it will even form a relationship with cannabis)
Mirical grow bone meal root builder
Dr Earth Kelp Meal
Dr Earth Blood Meal 13-0-0
Dr Earth Alfalfa Meal 2-1-2
Vitax Garden lime (think it's the granules type) (CaO 51%)
10L worm castings (I'm sure I'll need more)
Vitalink Coir chips
10KG Volcanic rock dust (Na, P, K, Fe, Mn, Z, Mg, Ca, S, Cu, Mo, Se, Cl, Si, Cr, Co, B and 40 more elmentals.)
Mixed oyster shell grit some of which I may try and crush.
Sulphate of potash (Potassium Oxide K2o 49.0%, K Potassium soluble in water 40.7%)
Vermiculite
Perlite
Plant Magic Organic magnesium
Charge Insect Frass 3-2-3
Bat Guano (3-10-1)
TNC BactorrS13 bacterial inoculant for compost teas (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, B. brevis, B. cirulans, B. coagulans, B. firmus, B. halodenitrificans, B. laterosporus, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. mycoides, B. pasteuri, B. polymyxa, B. subtilis each at 1.3x10 power of 8 cfu/g)
Meridian blackstrap molasses.

I also picked up a bag of chicken feed as at first inspection the ingredients appeared to be interesting and a possible feed for the micro hurd with lots of vegtable mater (wheat, maize, wheatfeed, micronized peas, micronized maize, soya, rape, micronized soya, micronized wheat, dried grass, vitamins, calcium carbonate, oyster shells Molasses).

I'm not so sure anymore though after reading the following on the packet Analytical constituents, crude oil 3%..... what's that all about?

With all that I must be able to do something. Hopefully leaving some of it out to save a few pounds next time. :-)

I have no idea how to even start adding up the various npk values to get the mix right and was hoping that someone more knowledgeable that me might be able to comment on what the mix should contain and in what sort of proportions.

Really keen of the idea of real real organics and sitting back and watering once the work is done.

I'm also interested in what people think about layering and spikes as used in the TLO method?

Any help is much appreciated.

[Yekke]

First you need to choose - do you want to count on the fertilizers you start with or do you want to count on the biota to do the work for you?
You could add enough feed to last for a cycle or create a healthy substrate for the proper biota to feed the plant for you.
The latter requires a bit bigger pots.

I don't like supersoils (the first type, precharged feed) as the pest and stress resistance is much lower.
For a living medium you really don't want blood or bone meal, no sulphates, no guano and no fast reacting fertilizers. Good quality worm castings and compost are the key, rest is fairly simple - add lime and 1/4 strength balanced N-K feed with very low P for the mycorrhiza to work properly. Aged manure is good for that.

[ERBURT]

Mon the verve
Keep it simple : )

[Yekke]

Mon the verve
Keep it simple : )

Is it organic?

[JB]

Ok, so sounds like I've got the wrong end of the stick as usual.

My understanding was that these nutrients where feed for the microbes and not the plant. Certainly the stuff that doesn't have an npk value anyway although again I thought that was only the values of the nutrients immediately available and that the majority of it was locked up in a form that microbes needed to release before becoming available?

Nothing in here should kill the microbes should it?

Are you saying I could do a water only grow on a mix of say manure compost, perlite, lime and peat and that would have enough for the microbes to feed on without any additions like the alfalfa meal? What about trace minerals and elements without the rock dust?

I can't see any organic stuff soil at b&q but had heard people on here had success with verve.

I'll look around to see if there is any proper stuff available locally. What would I need mix of green and manure compost, peat, anything else?

Cheers

[ERBURT]

I'd rather use something ready made an that works
Straight up with no messing about.but that's just me : )
Verve is a great soil an seen me well,and a lot of others.
Good nutes an your away : )

If you make your own you could come across problems
Early or late on in the grow.

But good luck to you if you do go for it : )

[Yekke]

Ok, so sounds like I've got the wrong end of the stick as usual.

My understanding was that these nutrients where feed for the microbes and not the plant. Certainly the stuff that doesn't have an npk value anyway although again I thought that was only the values of the nutrients immediately available and that the majority of it was locked up in a form that microbes needed to release before becoming available?

Nothing in here should kill the microbes should it?

Are you saying I could do a water only grow on a mix of say manure compost, perlite, lime and peat and that would have enough for the microbes to feed on without any additions like the alfalfa meal? What about trace minerals and elements without the rock dust?

I can't see any organic stuff soil at b&q but had heard people on here had success with verve.

I'll look around to see if there is any proper stuff available locally. What would I need mix of green and manure compost, peat, anything else?

Cheers

In big enough (30L+) pots yes, thats whats I do, without the perlite and with manure pellets. The manure got all the feed the microbes need, and it is very ecological to use. I get horse manure pellets.
Stuff you want to add is mycorrhiza, compost teas and nettles / comfrey steep teas (1-2 months steep). The quality of the composts and manures you use will reflect heavily in the end product.
Always mulch, won't work without it.

[Yekke]

Ok, so sounds like I've got the wrong end of the stick as usual.

My understanding was that these nutrients where feed for the microbes and not the plant. Certainly the stuff that doesn't have an npk value anyway although again I thought that was only the values of the nutrients immediately available and that the majority of it was locked up in a form that microbes needed to release before becoming available?

Nothing in here should kill the microbes should it?

Are you saying I could do a water only grow on a mix of say manure compost, perlite, lime and peat and that would have enough for the microbes to feed on without any additions like the alfalfa meal? What about trace minerals and elements without the rock dust?

I can't see any organic stuff soil at b&q but had heard people on here had success with verve.

I'll look around to see if there is any proper stuff available locally. What would I need mix of green and manure compost, peat, anything else?

Cheers

Blood and bone meal are bad for the biota, sulphates as well. Plants love guano but if it has too much P it will limit the mycorrhiza.
There is a LOT to learn about how to manipulate the microbes, its a hard learning curve but well worth it.

[JB]

Bugger. Wonder what Yekke got banned for.

He's been giving me lots of advice.

[Dr-Chronic]

Bugger. Wonder what Yekke got banned for.

He's been giving me lots of advice.

More plants then allowed mukka