Aus „True Living Organics“ von The Rev:
(Wirklich geiles Buch über organische Erde und wie man sie mischt und warum man was dazumischt 
, am besten finde ich die „Spikes“, das sind kleine Schächte in der Erde gegen Mitte der Blütephase, in die nochmal organisches Material reingefüllt wird, wo die Wurzeln aber ne Zeit brauchen, um es zu erreichen, und es dadurch quasi Zeit hat, Nährstoffe zur Verfügung zu stellen. In keinem anderen Buch gesehen sonst.)
Cooking Your Soil Mix
First I want to help you to understand that “cooking” your soil mix is simply another way of saying
“composting” or “fast composting” your soil mix. Another word for it would be decomposing. This is
a very important aspect of custom soil mixes, and without doing this, more times than not you will fry
your plants. If you are making your own custom mixes, adding things like kelp meal and guanos that
have not already been composted, and you are not “cooking” your soil mix, then this will be the cause
of your problems.
It’s worth saying that again: raw, all-natural additives like lime, meals, guanos and manures, all
need to be processed in the cooking procedure before roots will be super happy in the custom soil
mix. All you need to do is mix together your soil mix, get it all nice and moist but not wet and keep
turning it over every few days for 2 to 4 weeks, or longer if you like. Ambient temperatures during
this cooking process should be at least 60° F. and the cooler it is, the longer it will take to complete
the cooking process. In my cold garage it takes about 30 days for mine to cook. Don’t worry; even
over time the nutrients don’t evaporate from your soil mix, so if it ends up being a year before you use
it, that’s okay too.
All natural additives, and especially guanos, need to be cooked before adding them to your soil mix
ALLsoil mixes and soil elements, including mineral elements, need to be
cooked BEFORE living roots arrive on the scene. Even Dolomite lime
needs to be cooked first, so when you are getting your soil mix or your containers all put together,
don’t be tossing in extra bat guano, or Dolomite lime, or even kelp meal, because if it is not
cooked in yet it can cause problems. My motto for TLO growing is this: always cook everything
first.
Put simply, what cooking the soil does is allow massive amounts of microbial life to colonize the
soil mix and work its magic on it, just like they would do in a compost pile. What else do composting
and soil cooking have in common? High levels of nitrogen (N) are really effective when cooking your
soil mix, just like in composting. This is where things like alfalfa and blood meal really kick it up a
notch, and your soil mix should actually heat up a little while cooking. This is absolutely normal
when some elements that are higher in N, like blood meal and alfalfa, are added. Things like feather
meal are all good too, but the N release of feather meal is a lot slower than that of the alfalfa and the
blood meal. You could also use guanos and manures effectively here as a catalyst to cooking, as these
supply high amounts of available N.
The bottom line, folks, is that you MUST cook your custom soil mixes, period. Failure to do this
will almost always result in disappointment, so really make sure you take this seriously. Try to
understand what each element brings to the table in a custom soil mix, and right after I give you my
latest and greatest mix I will go over all additions, and why they are there, in order to help you to
fully understand the processes at work. Substituting things in the mix is usually a bad idea unless you
know what you are doing, so try hard to stick to the recipe for your first few grows, so you can use a
proven successful soil mix as your benchmark before you start modifying it.
SOIL MIX ADDITIONS: QUICK REFERENCE
It is very important that you cook (pre-process) any newly blended soil mix if there are
raw elements added; don’t add an extra cup of kelp meal or something just before
transplanting plants into it, because they will not dig it. Even things like dolomite lime
need to be cooked first into the soil-mix to keep it über friendly to the microbeasties and
the plants.
Below is a quick reference guide for TLO soil mix additions.
• Soft Rock Phosphate: Micronized (solution grade) soft rock phosphate will bring
phosphorus and sulfur and will also hold the nitrogen in the soil mix and keep it from
escaping into the air as a gas (ammonia).
• Bone Meal: Always use unsteamed bone meal in your TLO soil mix. Whitney Farms
brand has great slow release phosphorus, calcium, some nitrogen and plenty of trace
elements. Bone meal also will raise the pH due to the calcium present.
• Earthworm Castings: You want living earthworm castings here if possible; Gardner
& Bloome has bagged castings that are still very alive and healthy. Sterilized or dry
castings are a distant second choice here. Earthworm castings do NOT need to be
cooked before using.
• Greensand: A great source of slow and steady minerals and a lot of potassium (K),
just as the plant wants it. Greensand will take the pH up a bit due to the high potassium
levels. It also adds to soil structure in a good way.
• Blood Meal: Powerhouse of nitrogen (N) with a big shot of iron as well as plenty of
trace minerals. This really lowers the soil mix pH and will generate actual heat if
there is a lot of organic matter due to the high populations of microlife feeding and
reproducing. Careful, this stuff can be as dangerous as it is wonderful!
• Feather Meal: This brings long-term nitrogen and calcium as well, and endures much
longer than blood meal. Always nice to have some N laying around for the plant if she
wants some. Only nominally effects soil mix pH.
• Alfalfa Meal: Alfalfa meal packs high nitrogen and great potassium (N and K) as well
as an exotic growth hormone called triacontanol. Worms also love this, but you need to
be careful because the high nitrogen levels can generate actual heat like blood meal
can, and this heat can kill roots. Use this in moderate amounts.
• Kelp Meal: Full of exotic growth hormones and enzymes as well as massive trace and
micro nutrient diversity. Also high in potassium (K) and great organic matter with a
dash of nitrogen.
• Perlite: Perlite aerates a soil mix and keeps aerating it, as opposed to shredded bark
mulch, which processes too quickly. Use small nugget sized perlite if possible for the
greatest aeration.
• Coconut Fiber (coir): Most coconut fiber is way too fat with salts. Either fully rinse
your coir or get it pre-rinsed like the Botanicare product called Cocogro, which
awesome for worm farms and all TLO applications. Good amounts of potassium and
also takes pH up a bit; all good effects!
• Guanos: Never use raw bird or bat poop; this will kill your plants. It has to be
composted first. Tons of powerful N, P, and micro/trace nutrients galore; awesome
organic matter for microbeasty food! Chicken poop is extra kick ass if your chickens
are at least semi-free-range so insects and other diversity enter their diets.
• Rabbit Poop: Awesome stuff. Don’t confuse how this works outdoors and how it
works indoors in living containers; raw, it will very likely kill your plants, so cook it
first. Great levels of nitrogen so it will cook very warm too, like blood meal and
alfalfa meal. Feed your rabbits über-healthy stuff and their poop will be incredible all
natural fertilizer.
• Farm Animal Manures: Always hot compost these first. Full of great mineral salts,
with good nitrogen and potassium too along with vast trace and micronutrients. Usually
a little salty so use carefully. I like to keep any manure of this type low in my container
(Steer Manure Layer) to start with so any excess salts go out the bottom without
passing through the rest of the soil mix.
• Oyster Shell Products: Down to Earth makes a great powdered version of oyster
shells. I use this and the crushed version; awesome calcium and trace minerals, slow
and steady release, plus a great place for bacteria to anchor to and colonize. Also has
positive effects on soil structure.
• Bark Mulch: Always, always mulch your containers! I use shredded bark for this, any
bark will do, just avoid walnut or cedar.
• Cottonseed Meal: If for some reason your soil mix’s pH is too high, then you can
cook in some of this to drop the pH pretty effectively while also adding great nitrogen
and trace nutrients. Awesome microbeasty food, especially fungi.
• Rice: I like to add a little of this anytime I mix up a new batch of soil mix for cooking,
and I do it for a couple of reasons. First of all the fungi really seem to love it!
Secondly, it is full of calcium and iron, two very important nutrient elements for
healthy happy plants and microbeasties.
