@Mark0427 , agreed the consensus is to maybe scrape off the top and mix it in. @504gromie this is “super soil” I mixed up last year and it sat in a black barrel throughout 1/2 the summer and this winter. So maybe now it’s super-duper soil…idk! However I’m reluctant to use it in the grow tent now, so my plan is to try some free auto seeds later when the garden gets planted and let them grow out in the garden in those pots. So 3 inside in cocoa/ perlite and 3 outside gives me my 6 allowed by “ The man”.
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I’m all about the living soil and homemade supersoil mixes. It’s pretty much all I do these days. I think you’re golden. I agree with all the above said that’s just mycelium.
Even if you had dog vomit slime mold going on you would still be golden. Living soil brings all these to the table. Whenever I stack my living fallow pots up 2 deep during the off-season, the pot on the bottom is matted with a layer just like that. Like exactly like that. As it’s growing up through the bottom of the next pot.
I would not lose one second of sleep over that. It shows you’re ready to go, and you don’t need to add any mycoboost. I will go see if I can get a good pic…
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@noddykitty1 When your working with living soil do you ever add worms as well as Mycorrhizae Fungi? I’m a novice but feel strongly about this aspect (symbiotic relationship between plant and soil organisms) within a grow median. I was quick to jump onboard with the molasses supplement for feeding the soil also.
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@Fieldofdreams , I did put a few hand fulls of live earth worms in with the super soil, which produced a real good grow. (1+ gram / watt).
Also molasses is not just for carbohydrates that the microbes feed on. Good non sulphured molasses also has a good amount of P +K as well as some beneficial trace elements, as compared to “regular” molasses. It’s good to read the label.
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I love em those lil wigglers. Here is an old post with more of my thoughts I cut and pasted. It gets to the worms at the end…
I don’t think there is a clear cut definition but in my opinion it goes like this. Both should be living (depending on microbes to feed the plants instead of salts). Organic you would top dress to make up for deficiencies. In expecting some deficiencies, you would have a strict top dress schedule. In super soil the idea is you load it with everything the plant and microbes will need up front.
The grower that coined and made super soil famous (subcool RIP) did it by growing in huge pots. Like 100gal grow bags per plant or dedicated 10x10 raised bed per plant. The plants would all be 20 foot monsters. Then the idea was to do nothing but water till the end. If there was a deficiency it would be amended after it showed up. Not before.
Indoor in smaller pots that is hard to do without amending. I think uppotting like currdog does is a good way to pull it off. I also think flowering plants sooner w less veg is a good way too. What I mean is switch to flower before the soil tank is empty.
What I don’t get is bottle feeding salts on an organic grow to make up for a slight deficiency. If you plan to freely add salts why bother with even trying organic.? Just use chemicals fertilizers and save yourself the trouble. To me it is like someone in AA going sober for a year, only to have a red bull and vodka bender the night before their anniversary award.
My final thoughts, no matter what you put in, if your worms cannot live in your pot there is something off. Sygannic (hybrid synthetic and organic ferts), organic, bag of Walmart miracle grow, whatever. I measure with the worm test. I find that I have tons of worms living in my pots. Yes, even ones inside for winter months (my citrus and banana trees) are loaded with worms. There are regular surface mounds where the worms make a breach and deposit a lil pile of castings on the surface layer. Also at repotting I see a lot of worms amongst the roots. I guess what I am saying if your worms cannot live in there, maybe your soil is less living than you thought?
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@6stringT Gotcha. I’ve been using this outside and kept right on inside. I hunted up a handful of worms from my yard recently and added them to each pot. Hoping I’ll get a benefit from them tunneling around in there lol.
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If you are going down the rabbit hole you have to play w some char too.
I like great white and recharge. I really only add it if I am repotting. I mainly use it in the fall in the raised beds right after I add a massive amount of amendments. I don’t use it once the beds are going. I use it when I add almost done compost “chunkies” from my 3 tumblers. Or when I add 50 wheelbarrow of leaves from the bottom of the hill. I water it in with great white. It has lots of trichoderma as well as mycorrhizae. That immensely speeds it up on the compost when I have done separate bed control and experiments w microbes. When I add the leaves I find counts over 250 worms per shovel full. If you add the leaves the worms will come. Red wigglers and earth worms. They live side by side in the beds if it’s rich with carbon. Cardboard makes a good leaf substitute for carbon (worm approved) if you are in the urban jungle.
I like the recharge for repot because it is more complete, and I love it already has the molasses in it.
Check this site too. Under search. I have personally contributed to several great biochar threads in here.
Totally fine, especially with super soils n living soils. I reuse my soil for 6 years now just reamend with worm casting and DTE rose and flower organic dry nite and or Dr earths 4-6-3 from HD or Lowe’s The fuzz / mold is called hyphae and it great food for soil mix it into too 1” of soil it happens after a good water that Brent’s back the microbes to life. I’d water with molasses water 2x a month and more I. Flower