This is a body of work I am currently working on for publishing later.
Much of the research is still on going but this is how I grow
Lights Atmosphere Water
Soil Of Cannabis By Subcool
In my first book I detailed some of the best strains I have run across in 2 decades of growing but there was very little information on how all these plants were grown. In that 20 years I developed an easy to follow method that anyone that can make Mac and cheese can follow. I also know from experience that people using reference books hate to read so this book will be laid out in sections with a redundant amount of pictures to help the reader get the full measure of what is taking place in each tutorial. We will start with basic grow room design and soil making and move through each phase of producing your own 100% Organic medical grade cannabis.
This is not really a how to book on all the ways there are to grow weed but a very simple straightforward way to produce the maximum amount of medicine your state laws may allow. While Cannabis is still illegal in many places the tide has shifted and the need for accurate easy to apply information is needed. I am known for a no nonsense way of explaining things without most of the mysticism or science speak in most guides although I will elaborate on the chemistry behind some aspects. Cannabis is very easy to grow indoors if conditions are right so room set up is a huge part of doing things properly and not creating conditions where pest, Mildew or poor control of environment can cause set backs or worse death of a plant.
I have noticed that people are mostly visual and when I teach online many times questions will be asked that are answered in the text. Because of this fact this book is different in one way. It will contain an enormous amount of pictures that will explain exactly how it is done.
Soil
To me there is nothing like the flavor of properly grown organic cannabis. The subtle flavors and aromas created when using mother earth is over whelming to the senses when done properly. As with many vegetables a rich Organic soil can bring out the best in a plant. Over the past 20 years I have tried almost every possible way to cultivate our favorite plant and while hydro is certainly faster and the yields blow soil away, I have developed a soil that performs extremely well and there’s very little guess work. I don’t worry about ph or ppm I simply have spent a few years developing a sound recipe and in combination with 7 gallon nursery pots I can run from start to finish using only water. Other than a bit of sweat equity every 90 days or so it takes a huge amount of science out of the garden and puts nature back in charge. This recipe is slightly different from my last and from the one so many use as gospel that I have passed around for years from grower to grower
I always start with at least 6-8 large bags of high quality organic soil. The selection of your base soil is very important so don’t cut corners here. I cannot begin to discuss all the different products but I will discuss a few in this article. A good Organic soil should cost between 8-10$ per 30# bag. I want you to get a real good idea what I consider a balanced soil to be so take a look at the ingredients of a product called
Roots Organic:
Lignite*, coca fiber, perlite, pumice, compost, peat moss, bone meal, bat guano, kelp meal, Green sand, soy bean meal, leonardite, k-mag, glacial rock dust, alfalfa meal, oyster shell flour, earth worm castings and Mycorrhizae.
I have always believed in giving my plants a wide range of soils and additives I figure it's like a buffet they get all they need
“
Lignite, also known as leonardite, mined lignin, brown coal, and slack, is an important constituent to the oil well, drilling industry. Lignite, or leonardite as it will be referred as hereafter, is technically known as a low rank coal between peat and sub-bituminous. Leonardite was named for Dr. A.G. Leonard, North Dakota's first state geologist, who was a pioneer in the study of lignite deposits. Leonardite is applied to products having a high content of humic acid. Humic acid has been found to be very useful as a drilling mud thinner.”
Another local product we are trying now is called
Harvest Moon
Washed coco fibers, Alaskan peat moss, perlite, yucca, pumice, diatoms, worm castings, feather meal, fishmeal, kelp meal, limestone, gypsum, soybean meal, alfalfa meal, rock dust, yucca meal, and Mycorrhizae fungi.
The Roots produced a more floral smell in the finished flowers while the Harvest Moon generated larger yields.
If you have access to a good local mix like these then I highly recommend starting with these type products. We have also had decent results using commercial brands as well but not as is. The best results we have seen from well known soil that is available nationwide is Fox Farms “Ocean Forrest” soil combined in a 2-1 ratio with Light Warrior. On it’s own the Ocean Forrest is known for burning plants and having the wrong ratio’s of nutrients but when cut down with Light Warrior it makes a pretty good mix for a base soil.
You can also just use 2 bales of Sunshine mix #4 but this is my last choice and plants growing in this may not complete properly with this “Just add water” method of soil growing. The concept to this concentrated soil is to not have to worry with mixing up nutrients after the soil is made. The concentrate is placed in the bottom ¼ to ½ of the container and blended with base soil. This allows the plants to grow into the strong concentrated soil and in the right size container need nothing else but water throughout the full harvest cycle. With strains requiring high levels of nutrients we go as strong as ¾ of the container with Super Soil but this is only with a small percentage of strains.
Here are the amounts we have found that produce the best tasting buds and strongest medicines.
8- Large bags of High quality Organic potting soil with a coco and Mycorrhizae
1-25-50 pounds of Organic Worm castings
5# Steamed Bone meal
5# Bloom bat Guano
5# Blood meal
3# Rock Phoshate
¾ cup Epson salts
½ cup Sweet Lime ( Dolimite)
½ Cup Azomite ( Trace Elements)
2- TBS Powdered Humic Acid
This is the same basic recipe I have used for 15 years the hardest ingredient to acquire is the worm castings most people don't even know what it is. Be resourceful and find it worms make up ¾ of the living organisms underground btw and hold our planet together.
Be careful not to waste money on Soil Conditioner with worm casting but local Pure Worm poop with no added mulch.
There are several methods of mixing this up well.
You can sweep off a patio or garage and work there on a tarp.
You can use a kids plastic wading pool these cost about 10$ and work really well for a few seasons.
Some growers have been known to rent a cement mixer and cut down on the physical labor. As long as you get the ingredients mixed up properly that is all that matters.
This can be a lot of work so don’t pull a muscle if your not used to strenuous activity. This method is good for mind and body. Working with soil keeps me in pretty good shape, but if you have limitations you can simply have someone mix it up for you while you supervise. One of the things I like about this method is I can drop of plants to a patient and all they have to do is water the plants when the soil dries out.
All pre mix soils are different and you'd think they were all similar but you would be wrong. Cannabis can grow in almost any thing even poor soil or soil thats to hot. The key is developing a mix that works for you.
My ph runs about 5.5 with this mix but when I buffer the plants with base soil I get a reading of 6.0 in my contaner which is perfect.
People all over the world use this mix with great results just make sure to test your ph as all mixes come in lower or higher your shooting for a ph of 5.9-6.8