Mandala's Not So Secret Soil Recipe!

As with every blog post I make to this site. Take it with a grain of sand. Every environment every place in the world will be different. I am going to explain a couple different ways to achieve similar results in central Minnesota. Where you live may be different and adjustments may need to be made.

We will be going thru two different ways to get the very best soil for cannabis. One way will be the cheapest way possible, Everyone Starts somewhere. The second way will be the very best way I have found to grow cannabis. I have spent the last two decades trying everything under the sun I can possibly think of.

Firstly lets talk about the cheapest way to get into good organic soil. Swamp dirt! yes that stinky nasty pond / swamp dirt. If you live in Minnesota you probably know someone who would gladly let you get a pail of good swamp dirt. The smellier the better. Here is our reasons why: Microbial life, Rich with decomposing matter, and holds moisture Negatives: It can hold too much water and be a little too compact. Our next steps will be to aerate the soil. To do so I would suggest getting a peat moss / perlite mixture. Ideally mixing 50% swamp dirt 50% peat moss/ perlite mix. This mixture will create the best of both worlds holding moisture, having organic compounds readily available for your plant to eat, and it wont be too compact which will make rooting much easier.

Once we have our base ready we need to add 3 remaining ingredients. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium. Easy cheap nitrogen. Taking chicken poop and putting it in a pile and letting it sit and decompose for a summer to use next spring is a wonderful idea. (chicken poop is too hot to use right away) In Minnesota tons of people have chickens. A 5 gallon bucket of chicken poop will go very far! once it has decomposed and is ready to add to soil I recommend adding 1 cup of the aged chicken manure to your soil 1 week before planting.

A bag of chicken poop from your local nursery / greenhouse will be the fastest cheapest way to get nitrogen right now.

Phosphorus is a little harder but still manageable. Some other options we have that are local and available. You can take them fish guts. Toss them in a compost pile of there own. bury them 12+ inches so predators don't dig it up. The more you break them down before composting the better. After roughly 3-6 months of composting in the soil during the summer we can dig that back up and we have a incredibly strong phosphorus + option to carry our plants thru the finish line during flowering.

Bone meal is the easy solution. A small $10 bag goes a long ways. I like to add 1/2 cup of bone meal to 20 gallons of soil. once every 3 months if re using the soil.

The last Ingredient which is hyper necessary in cannabis is magnesium. The cheapest option we really have when it comes to magnesium upkeep is Epsom salt.

I add 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt per gallon of water to help green up my plants or if they are showing any magnesium deficiency. (usually looks like rust bands on the leaves) Foliar Feeding with a 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water well mixed. is a great mixture to spray on your cannabis leaves during the day. Do not spray on the plants indoors while the light is on. Spraying on the plant at the hottest part of the day outdoors will give the greatest results because the stomata of the plant is the most open during peak high temperatures / sun exposure.

Reminder: Never spray your plant with anything while they are in flower!

Adding a cup of sugar once a week to the water you are feeding the plants is a excellent way to boost the microbial food web and deliver complex sugar to the cannabis plant which will cause your plants to be extra frosty!

Lets chat about the best way to grow organic cannabis!

The easiest way is to grab a pre mixed bag of our 12+ signature ingredients over at Erickson's Greenhouse. Each bag can be mixed with a 20 gallon bag of soil and one 5 gallon bag of worm castings for the best organic soil money can buy!

The breakdown is simple:

Bag of soil is $25.99 Bag of organic ingredients $24.99

Bag of worm castings $11.99

5 gallon cloth bag $2.99 each

Sugar source. I use white table sugar and add 1 cup once a week to the water you are feeding your plant. $3 for the bag of sugar.

For $78 we have four 5 gallon pots filled to the brim with organic soil capable of feeding cannabis for the 90+ days of growth from start to finish.

With the tools we have available at Erickson's. You can mix the 4 ingredients together. Wet the soil and let it sit for 1-2 weeks. Plant your clones directly into the soil and watch them flourish.

Not every strain is the same. Some strains are super heavy feeders like GMO for instance.

The way we overcome this is with teas. We brew compost teas daily at Erickson's which are readily available. We use 1 bag of our organic ingredients bag + 2 cups of sugar to 50 gallons of water. We offer a discount for returning the containers and reusing them.

We are transparent and showcase what we do because if you aren't local or you would like to DIY this. We would like to support you in your endeavor.

Our bags of our 12+ signature ingredients is a mixture of every organic nutrient we have to offer on the shelves of Erickson's and a couple extras!

The reason our organic ingredients mixture works so well is because it is balanced and formulated specifically for cannabis. From humic acid to bring the ph down, azomite to feed it magnesium, and a lot of other ingredients to build a full buffet.

If you have any questions, comments or ideas you would like to ask about this article. Please comment below!