Do you remember when you first started growing cannabis? Did you start with regular soil or jump straight to hydroponics?
Well, even the most adventurous growers typically start with good ‘ol soil as it's one of the cheapest and easiest ways to grow marijuana, but as you evolve into a better grower, your interests shift to looking for better ways to improve your yields.
If you're at that stage in your journey, this article is for you. Many people have had incredible success with using super soil, especially with the buds becoming denser, juicer, and tastier compared to other ways of growing.
If you've never come across super soil, this article will help you figure out everything you need to know about it and how you can make it at home.
You can purchase commercial super soil, of course, but since you can make it yourself if you put in some effort, there's no need to go looking for pre-made ones anymore. However, if you lack the time to do so, we will include tips on how you can purchase it to get mind-blowing results and grow some fantastic cannabis in the comfort of your home.
So, strap on your seatbelts, and let's take this ride into the world of super soil where you get to give your plants everything they need to grow and thrive.
Super Soil is a growing medium packed with everything your cannabis plants need, period. It uses regular soil as a base that's boosted with organic matter, microorganisms, minerals, and other helpful ingredients. If anything, it's much more efficient than regular soil and you don't have to worry about adding nutrients constantly as it provides a balanced environment for plant growth.
The idea of super soil stems from sustainable and organic farming methods. It aims to recreate the ecosystem found in soils where various organisms like bacteria, fungi, and earthworms work together to support plant health. By mimicking these conditions, super soil provides plants with all the nutrients they need without relying on chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
If you've ever grown cannabis in soil, you already know that the quality of the buds relies solely on the type of soil you use. Think of it as the foundation you place while building your dream home. If you somehow mess up with the foundation, you don't have much hope.
Similarly, the soil is the foundation for growing healthy plants in a sustainable manner. Healthy soil nourishes plants with nutrients, helps retain water, and aids in root development. It also supports biodiversity, manages water cycles, and combats climate change by storing carbon.
Here are some important factors that underscore the significance of soil health:
Nutrient Supply: Healthy soil harbors a mix of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and trace minerals. These nutrients become accessible to plants through interactions among soil organisms and organic material.
Moisture Balance and Drainage: Optimal soil structure allows water to drain well but still retains enough to maintain a delicate balance and prevent waterlogging that can harm the roots. Oversaturated soil can cause root rot so good soil is very important.
Root Growth: Healthy soil is a little crumbly, which enables roots to delve deep and spread out. This fosters robust root systems that can access nutrients and water easily, thereby improving overall plant health and resilience.
Biodiversity: Vibrant soil ecosystems teem with diverse life forms like bacteria, fungi, and earthworms among others. This biodiversity aids in decomposing organic matter, fixing nitrogen, and managing soil-borne diseases and pests to maintain a self-sustaining environment.
Disease Control: A diverse array of microorganisms in the soil can suppress diseases by overpowering harmful pathogens and fostering beneficial organisms that shield plant roots. This way, you don't have to worry too much about diseases attacking your plants.
Super soil isn't really new as farmers used natural techniques to enrich the soil and improve crop yields centuries ago. Civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans recognized the significance of organic matter for soil health laying the foundation for sustainable agriculture practices.
Later, modern agriculturists improved the technique by combining compost, manure, and other natural additives into their farming methods to keep the soil fertile. This picked up pace in the 20th century when there was a rising demand for sustainable organic practices and the need to reduce dependency on chemical solutions.
During the 70s and 80s, farmers and gardeners began experimenting with various composting methods and soil blends. These early innovators aimed to create a soil that could offer plants a range of nutrients without relying on fertilizers. They worked with several types of soil enhancers like compost teas, vermicompost, and biochar which enriched the soil with beneficial microbes and organic materials.
Eventually, the cannabis community picked up on this as well. Growers recognized the advantages of nutrient-rich soil for cultivating high-quality plants without heavy chemical use.
Many farmers and agriculturists have worked on improving super soil over time, but in the context of cannabis, one particular cultivator named Subcool has become very popular with his specific recipe for super soil. His super soil blend, featuring components like worm castings, bone meal, and rock phosphate gained popularity among growers aiming to enhance plant vitality and yield.
Growers realized that by combining specific proportions of organic matter with other natural materials, it was possible to create soil that could nurture cannabis plants throughout their lifecycle.
And, once super soil became extremely popular, several commercial establishments began releasing their own products. Various companies now provide premade super soil mixes customized for cannabis plants. These products have simplified the process for home gardeners and small-scale farmers to enjoy the benefits of super soil without the necessity to toil hard.
In essence, the evolution of super soil highlights the significance of soil quality in agriculture. By combining organic methods with scientific knowledge, super soil can be the answer you're looking for in your cannabis journey.
The foundation of super soil lies in its simplicity, which contains natural ingredients such as decomposed plant and animal substances providing nutrients and enhancing soil quality. Super soil also consists of a large portion of aged manure, aged being the keyword here.
On a side note, never use raw manure as they are full of pathogens that can harm your plants. Instead, the manure should be aged and ready to use.
Other than manure, super soil also contains compost and coco peat that increase the aeration. Although coco peat doesn't provide any nutrients, it improves the texture of the soil and increases water retention. Other components like worm castings, manure, and compost provide nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium essential for plant development.
Super soil also contains billions of microorganisms that help in recycling, disease prevention, and improving soil structure. These tiny organisms include bacteria, fungi, and mycorrhizae that work with the roots of the plant to help it absorb nutrients.
These organisms also help to break down all the organic material in such a way that the plants can use them easily. For example, nitrogen-fixing bacteria work diligently and convert the atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms, helping the plants absorb nitrogen easily.
Beneficial microbes also help control diseases by outcompeting pathogens, reducing soil-borne illnesses, and supporting plant well-being. As you can see, the plants will benefit a lot when you add these microbes into the soil.
Next up are minerals and nutrients as super soil contains a blend of these essential elements for plant growth. Plants, including cannabis, need a healthy dose of nutrients like nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and other micronutrients like iron, manganese, zinc, etc.
Each of these macro and micronutrients plays a big role in supporting plant health. For example, while nitrogen supports leaf and stem growth, phosphorus is essential for the roots and flowering. Potassium regulates water uptake, activates enzymes, and enhances disease resistance while calcium helps in strengthening the cell walls. Plants need quite a bit of all these nutrients to thrive and produce the buds you love so much.
Super soil also contains other amendments that you'll have to mix into the soil to improve its characteristics. Other than compost, it comprises worm castings and bone meal that contains phosphorus and calcium to support root growth as well.
Here's a quick list of other amendments:
Blood Meal: Rich in nitrogen and stimulates robust vegetative growth.
Rock Phosphate: Supplies phosphorus gradually to support flowering.
Kelp Meal: Enriched with micronutrients and growth regulators, kelp meal enhances plant vitality and resilience.
Perlite and Vermiculite: They help enhance soil aeration and moisture retention to ensure roots receive air and water.
Humic and Fulvic Acids: These natural acids boost nutrient accessibility for plants and enhance overall soil fertility.
In short, various elements in super soil collaborate harmoniously to establish a balanced environment for cannabis growth.
A perk of using super soil is its ability to greatly improve plant growth. This is accomplished through a mix of organic material, balanced nutrients, and a thriving community of microorganisms. It is rich in nutrients that plants can easily absorb, ensuring they don't need anything else throughout their lifecycle. Eventually, you'll enjoy a ton of buds.
Cannabis plants can grow well only if the roots are healthy. And, the best part of super soil is that it takes good care of the roots, thanks to its excellent soil structure. Since you'll be adding perlite, vermiculite, and other ingredients that increase aeration, the roots can delve into the soil and spread out effortlessly, promoting sturdy root systems that can access more water and nutrients. In addition, the soil structure is such that it prevents compaction, which is particularly useful if you have clay soil.
Supported by microorganisms that enhance their defenses, plants grown in super soil are better equipped to resist diseases and pests. This diminishes the need for chemical treatments and results in better plants.
The improved soil structure promotes water infiltration and retention leading to even water distribution in the soil. This helps prevent waterlogging or drought stress.
Super soil is formulated to maximize nutrient retention, ensuring plants have access to nutrients over an extended period. The advantages include:
Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC): The high organic matter content including humus enhances the soil’s CEC, thereby enabling it to retain nutrients and release them as needed, preventing loss through leaching.
In addition, ingredients like bone meal and rock phosphate provide slow-release nutrients for sustained plant nourishment. Plants will love this as there won't be any sudden nutrient spikes and deficiencies commonly seen with artificial fertilizers. And, as you already know, the microorganisms help the plants absorb nutrients as well by breaking down organic matter and maintaining soil fertility naturally over time.
Super Soil promotes eco-friendly gardening practices by reducing their environmental impact. You won't have to use fertilizers and other supplements to improve the quality of the buds if you're using super soil. Also, it supports a diverse soil ecosystem that sustains various microorganisms to enhance soil health and resilience.
But, most importantly, it helps you reduce waste by incorporating compost and other organic waste materials. You can easily make compost at home to recycle waste and help the environment in your own way.
All this while, you were probably thinking, “How to make super soil at home?”. Well, it's a fairly easy process, but it does require some elbow grease. And, you'll have to spend some time sourcing the ingredients at the best price possible.
First, combine all the ingredients according to the specified ratios. Make sure the quality of the ingredients is top-notch, especially the amendments and compost.
Most growers create a large amount of super soil mix so they don't have to do it all over again frequently. Using a large tarp makes sense for mixing the ingredients together. But, if you're making a small amount of super soil, a container will work as well. Start by mixing the ingredients listed under the base soil mix. Mix thoroughly to achieve a uniform blend.
Slowly mix the ingredients listed under organic matter into the base soil mix. Use a rake or shovel to break down the ingredients. Sometimes, they may form clumps, and you'll have to break them apart to make sure everything is mixed evenly. If you're adding mycorrhizal fungi, humic acid or fulvic acid mix them in now. Blend all the ingredients together again.
Slowly add water to the mixture, making sure it's uniformly damp but not soaked. The mix should stick together when pressed but should not release water.
Transfer the soil into a container, compost bin, or pile. Let it sit and "cook”, for at least 4-6 weeks. Do not skip this step as it's very important for the microbes to break down the amendments, making nutrients more accessible to plants. Turn over the soil mixture every 1-2 weeks to aerate and ensure decomposition.
Once matured, your super soil is ready for use. Before planting, check the moisture and adjust if needed.
Using incorrect ingredient ratios can cause imbalances or affect soil structure negatively. So, adhere to the recommended proportions for a balanced mix.
There's no point in going through so much trouble if you're using subpar compost or other ingredients. Only use top-quality stuff. Yes, it can get a little expensive at first, but considering that you won't have to add anything else, super soil will actually work out cheaper in the long run. You can also use it for other plants if you have a nice garden.
Make sure you add sufficient water to moisten the mix as it is important for the recipe to work. Remember that you shouldn't add too little or too much water — the balance should be perfect. While overwatering can cause anaerobic conditions, underwatering can slow down the activity of microorganisms.
We get it — you're impatient to start growing, but if you don't let the soil cook for at least 6 weeks, the microbes won't have enough time to do their job and you'll end up with soil that won't work as intended. There won't be anything “super” about it. Therefore, have some patience and let the soil cook.
Once your super soil is ready, it’s very easy to grow cannabis with it. After all, you put in that much work just to make it easy, right?
The reason one makes super soil is so that there’s no need to add anything else other than water! But, what type of water should you use? Well, just keep it simple and use clean water. There’s no need to do anything fancy and use distilled water or anything like that. In fact, distilled water won’t work as it has no minerals and can harm the plants by messing up the delicate balance of nutrients.
Here’s a quick overview of how to grow cannabis using super soil
There isn’t much to do with super soil apart from watering your plants. So, your water source must be clean.
Next, we get to the pH. When using super soil, there’s no need to monitor the pH. Still, if you’re worried that it can go haywire, check the pH using a digital pH meter (do not use strips as they can be inaccurate) and make sure it’s between 6.0 to 7.0. If the pH is not within the range, it might indicate that there’s some problem with the water you’re using. Just use clean filtered water and you should be good to go.
Super soil has the ability to help the plants grow very large. The results speak for themselves. Just check a few good grow diaries using super soil, and you’ll know. But, for that, you need containers that allow the roots of the plants to spread out and produce healthy buds.
Although you can go with plastic containers, they restrict the roots. To prevent this, use fabric pots. These pots allow the roots to breathe and you won't find them root-bound, unlike plastic containers. But, one con is that they dry a tad quickly compared to other types of pots, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the top soil and water the plants when it gets completely dry.
Whether you purchase super soil or make your own, you should know that you can’t grow your plants with it alone. This is because it can burn the plants, especially if you're growing cannabis plants from start to finish with it.
To protect the plants, you need to fill only 1/3th of the container with super soil and use regular garden soil or your base soil to fill up the remaining. This way, the super soil is at the bottom and the roots won't get hurt. Once the roots touch the super soil, you will notice a good spurt of growth but the roots won’t be harmed as they would have acclimatized to the pot and grown stronger by then.
If you’re confused, just remember to use only 1 pound of super soil for every gallon. So, if you’re using a 10-gallon pot, you will need 10 pounds of super soil. The rest of the container at the top should be filled with regular soil.
Here’s how you do this:
Once the plants are ready with mature buds, you can harvest them.
As you can see, there’s no difference in growing plants with super soil, except that you don’t have to worry too much about the pH.
Super soil has many advantages, but there are some downsides. Let's take a look at them:
The initial investment you need to acquire all the ingredients can be a tad more than you expected. Naturally, if you're making gallons and gallons of soil with high-quality ingredients, the costs will mount up even if you're making it yourself. This can be a huge disadvantage for some growers who are just looking to grow a few plants and don't have long-term plans. But, having said that, you'll spend a lot even if you're going to purchase a high-quality soil mix containing these ingredients. For growers who want to grow quite a few plants, super soil is a no-brainer.
Crafting super soil entails gathering the necessary components, blending them in precise proportions, and allowing the soil to mature. This process requires effort and a considerable amount of time. It won't work if you want to grow plants immediately. Therefore, if you want to enjoy the rewards everyone raves about, you'll have to plan ahead.
Although organic soil won't hurt your plants too much, adding too much of one ingredient can harm the plants. For example, bat guano doesn't release nutrients slowly like other ingredients. It's fast and can even provide too much nitrogen if you're not careful. We will talk about some substitutions later.
You probably want to make your own super soil since you heard other growers praising it. They love the results and you want them too. However, if you can't source high-quality ingredients, you won't be able to replicate the results. In other words, your super soil may differ in quality based on the sources and quality of ingredients used.
You may face a few challenges when making your own super soil. Consider these tips to overcome them:
Buy ingredients in bulk to save money. This is one of the best ways to save as much as possible. You'll have a nice surplus to grow lots of plants without having to sell your kidney to cover up the costs.
Also, keep an eye out for discounts or promotions at gardening stores or suppliers. You'll need to check out a few suppliers, read reviews, and conduct some research before you purchase from them as you'll probably be purchasing large quantities of ingredients. And, instead of purchasing the ingredients from different suppliers, try to get as many as you can from one seller. Why? Well, discounts obviously. The more you buy, the more you save.
You can also make your base soil, compost, and worm castings to reduce costs. All you'll need are some worms for worm castings and kitchen scraps to produce compost.
Make super soil in large quantities instead of making it every two months to save time and energy. Use a cement mixer or other large mixing tools to make sure everything is mixed well. If you don't have that, your only option is to mix everything by hand, but since you'll be mixing a lot in one go, you won't have to do it frequently.
Allocate a separate area for curing where the soil can decompose undisturbed. Cover the soil heap with a tarp to trap the heat inside and let the microbes go to work. Once it's finished cooking, store it in sealed bags or containers to ensure it's viable for a long time.
As you can see, there's no set amount of percentages for super soil. It can get a little confusing. How much compost should you add when it says 10-20%? 10 or 20? To prevent this confusion, you should calculate a certain percentage of the base soil and then start adding ingredients. When there's a large gap in percentages, go with half of it. For example, use 15% compost when the recipe mentions 10-20.
Some ingredients may not be clean. For instance, bone meal often contains way too many impurities and is often unclean. The same goes for blood meal as well. If you do not want to use bone meal for this or any reason, use fish meal. Or, you can even check cow manure and chicken manure since they both contain ample amounts of nitrogen and are widely used. Although cow manure doesn't contain as much nitrogen as blood meal, it is actually the safest as long as you're sure about the supplier’s manufacturing practices.
Some people may find it challenging to find bat guano at affordable prices. It's not widely used so the prices will reflect the same as well. Bat guano adds some essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. If you can't find it, you can go for other ingredients like fish meal thats widely available and also contains lots of nitrogen. You can also make fish meal at home, dramatically reducing the costs. Add seaweed to it and you have a powerful combination.
If you can't find kelp meal for some reason, go with seaweed as it works in a similar fashion.
Similarly, some may find it a little tough to find azomite. Azomite is nothing but rock dust and since you're adding rock phosphate, you're taking care of phosphorus already. But, for trace minerals, you can add some egg shells or calcium carbonate and a little more Epsom salt for sulfur.
We spoke about making your own base soil by mixing coco peat with compost. You can also add perlite and some worm castings to improve the soil structure; however, not everyone can make their own base soil. If you’re one of them, you can simply purchase super soil.
Thanks to its rising popularity, quite a few companies are now selling super soil and they deliver good results as well.
Here are some good brands you can use:
When shopping for commercial super soil, you need to consider a few factors including the strain you’re growing and the conditions they require. That said, most commercial brands will work for your cannabis plants from start to finish. If you’re confused, here’s how you can make your decision:
Super soil serves as a great choice if you’re growing cannabis plants as you don’t need to do anything except add water. Of course, this is after you put in some effort and make your own super soil. If you don’t want that, you can also purchase it to make your life easier.
Super soil contains a rich blend of nutrients and other additives that take care of your plants from start to finish. You don’t need to fret too much about the pH but it’s a good idea to check it occasionally.
Observe your plants carefully to check how they react to super soil if you’re growing for the first time. If you see signs of nutrient burns, replace some of the soil with regular soil and your plants will thank you for it.
