Need og Help Watering with microbes and living soil

Hey there ! So ive had 2 grows do good and on third now. Decided to try a new experiment (been doing 1 or 2 each grow to try new things ) and purchased some elite living soil. Kelp manures and mollassus for teas .

Reading up in it mentions not to watee to run off. To water in a 7 gallon pot just 2 quarts … or to water from bottom by submerging in a bucket for an hour. Not to top water etc. B
But in this rabbit hole i read never to let your soil dry out completely with microbes …
But i thought we shld have dry spells.

So in my current 4 gallon pots. 48 hours after watering basically they are bone dry. Like. Weigh nothing when u lift them. Feels like a pice of paper. And i always water the. At thisbstage. I also slow water so it absorbs into the dry spoil slow. ( takes 30 mins for 4 plants lol ) to not run off down sides of fabric pot but into soil slowly. Question are

Shld i only water half the pot by the bottom method ?? Shld i top water ? ?

And in my current 4 plants i have no living soil. But alot of microbes and bacteria… which i feed with mollasses regulalry also ( every 2nd watering ) shld i water them say every 36 hours so not to go bone dry ? Or stay with the 48 hra. @Docnraq

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With organic living soil i tend to follow whats called the 5% rule this article by Build A Soil will teach you everything ya need for good watering practices How To Water Plants in Living Soil - Over Water Vs. Under Water Super Soils - BuildASoil

Note. I will how ever ben the 5% rule by a little give or take all depends on how thirsty the girls atm of watering i never water to run off although a little run off wont hurt and if i do het run off i pour it back in afterwards

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Woah. Def diff eatering than normal soil. So i wTer 2 gallons per 5 gallon now. This seems like id use a quarter gallon water daily etc. Cross your fingers for me lol

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I use living soil. NEVER dry it out. It stays moist. I do a clump test. If the soil clumps when squeezed you are good. If its muddy too much…if dry killed the life. I water daily unless huge pots…20gallon. A little runnoff is ok. Just what works for me. Just pulled half of 1 in a 20 gallon. She is going to net me 3+ pounds.

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Just a small suggestion. Too much molasses is not great. Takes very little to feed the microbes. If you dried them mix up some microbes in water and water them in immediatly if a dry or wet microbe. The life will die fast if not given soil right away.

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Feeding synthetic nutes? How often are you re applying microbes and such?

Either or would work, i dont think you are supposed to flip flop between the two though. @LiesGrows prolly knows more about bottom feeding then I do.

For synthetic fed plants, let em dry. Living soil should never dry all the way. You wanna hang out inbetween moist and dry. I had trouble with this in my last run… about a quart a day till they slowed down at the end and it was a quart every other day. Others prolly have more experienced opinions to give.

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Ill add to this as your 100% correct id personally use a kelp product rather it be meal or liquid kelp as its the perfect food for the microbes and will also feed the good bacteria as well

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Yes synthetic nutes in the non living soil but i added myco supreme and myco maxx refulary. Along with bacteria to waterings. I also used piranha. And voodoo etc every time like perscribed. So i constatnly recharged them. Just i watered these plants 1100 ppm 3 times in one week. Like lit down to 500 2 days later. Idk. Last grow took a while to lower ppms. Not sure why. I wondered if because of microbes they ate more ?

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I have kelp i just bought foe the living soil. Is that good to use with synthetic nutes for my current grow also ?

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If a living soil…dry ammendment or liquid…stress not ppm. Once you build that soil all you need is a top dress here and there. A good living soil cook will last month or so…top dress photo again with the base. 2 weeks before flip top dress the bloom stuff. 1 more top dress during flower…about a month in. Bigger the pot…better living soil performs. Auto I havent had to do a second base dress. They flower fast. Just been bloom dress once…sometimes twice depending on how big the flowers get.

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Kelp can definitely be used with synthetics as kelp is very rich just about everything lol also makes for a yood foliar application

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Sweet! Im learning too!

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I’m looking foreword to responding to this after work today. I sure do love me some organics :slight_smile:
In the mean time @Big123 might be around to shed some light on this topic.

Happy farming…

One must find the right balance in the rhizosphere of organic decaying matter/compost, fertilizer, beneficial worms and microorganisms that help with the breakdown and availability of nutrients. I love introducing more worm castings at the beginning of the season and before flower as a top dress.

I like to plant cover crops over the winter, fava beans or red clover :four_leaf_clover:, both nitrogen fixing plants that help keep the soil alive.

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So should order worms ?? I asked the chat guys at elite living soil and he said he doesnt and had great results. If i should. What shld i get ols ?? I have bat guano for nitrogen in veg. I have bird guano for p and k in bloom. I have molaassus and kelp for teas with the guanos. And i have elite living soil

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Yes, worm castings will lead to more worms after the cocoons hatch.

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I would think about adding some worms. Heck it definitely ain’t going to hurt anything. Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm online is always a great place to get worms of good quality. I think a 1,000 red wigglers is about $60.
The guys at Elite Living Soil sell soil. A top notch product in their eyes. To them one doesn’t need to add anything. I’m sure it’s probably a great base soil mix but…. You can also do something to increase the overall quality.

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