I see people talking about living soil all the time, so I thought I would share my own personal recipe. This is a pic of my garden using this live soil.
I like to focus on the healthy/clean side of growing, so this is an all-organic live soil.
You have a couple of options to use this live soil both indoors and outdoors. Indoors you simply fill your pots with the soil and transplant.
For outdoors you can do it one of two ways: You can remove the sod from your entire garden and then spread the soil and till it in, or you can dig holes that are 14-16" deep and 30" in diameter and fill the holes with the live soil.
For this grow, I dug the holes and filled them up, then made transplant holes and dusted them with myco.
This garden has 12 plants. 3 rows of 4. Each plant is spaced about 3ft apart to allow airflow.
My personal soil recipe and plan for garden
Base
· 4 bags Roots Organic
· 5 bales Promix
· 75 lb worm castings
· 3-5 cu ft of leaf mold
Aeration / structure
· 10–12 cu ft pumice
· 2 cu ft rice hulls
· 10 lb pre-charged biochar
Primary organic fertility
· 10 lb fish meal
· 18 lb fish bone meal
· 4 lb alfalfa meal
· 4 lb neem seed meal
· 3 lb soybean meal
· 6 lb kelp meal
· 4 lb crustacean meal
Minerals / pH buffering
· 8 lb oyster shell flour
· 6 lb gypsum
· 0.5 lb dolomite lime
· 2 cups Epsom salt
· 2 lb azomite
· 12 lb basalt rock dust
· 6 tbsp humic acid
Biology
· 1.5 cups mycorrhizae
· 2 lb ground malted barley
· 4 lb dried molasses
This is for larger scale. Cut it in half if you dont want this much.
Soil Preparation Method for Outdoors
- Remove sod/grass in a 12×12 area.
- Spread all ingredients evenly across the surface.
- Till into soil 12–16 inches deep.
- Water thoroughly.
- Let soil sit for 3–4 weeks to allow microbial activity to stabilize.
To use this indoors or in pots, just mix everything on a big tarp and water it well. Cover it up with another tarp after you are done. Keep it moist but not sopping wet. Keep it covered for about 3 weeks. Transfer it to pots.
Mulch Layer (Very Important)
After planting, add a couple inches of mulch:
Best options:
- barley straw
- leaf mold
- wood chips
Mulch protects microbial life and stabilizes soil moisture.
Expected Soil Characteristics
| Property | Expected Result |
|---|---|
| pH | 6.3–6.6 |
| Drainage | excellent |
| Microbial activity | very high |
| Nutrient release | slow and steady |
| Terpene potential | extremely high |
Expected Plant Performance
With good genetics, plenty of light and timed irrigation/watering, this soil can realistically produce:
- 2–4 lbs per plant
while still maintaining top-tier terpene and cannabinoid quality.