Can Living Soil Save You Time and Money? Here’s How

Living soil is a medium that contains healthy microorganisms, like fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and arthropods. They decompose organic matter and convert it into nutrients that plants can use.

These microorganisms also improve the soil’s water-holding capacity and aeration. This allows the soil to hold more water and nutrients for longer periods of time.

1. It’s a More Cost-Effective Product

Organic living soils are formulated to work together as a balanced ecosystem that supports the growth of your plant. They are filled with beneficial microorganisms that work to break down organic matter and release nutrients. The microorganisms also protect your plants from pathogens and promote healthy root growth. When your plants’ roots are thriving, they take up more nutrients and water which reduces the need for supplemental chemical fertilizers, as well as benefits of nutrient cycling in your garden.

A good quality organic living soil is a complex mixture of organic materials like peat, coco coir, compost, manure, and worm castings. The organic matter provides essential nutrients for microorganisms and helps the soil to bind water. The microorganisms then turn the nutrients into food for your plant’s roots. The microbial activity also improves the soil’s aeration and drainage, which reduces the need for frequent watering.

The organic material in a living soil also helps to retain and spread the added fertilizers that you add to your grow. This reduces the amount of chemicals that you need to apply to your plant, thereby saving you money.

In addition, the microorganisms in living soil eat the pathogens that would otherwise destroy your plants. This eliminates the need for harmful fungicides and other chemicals that pollute our environment. Living soil practices are a promising approach to sustainable agriculture that can improve soil health, support a wide range of crops, and reduce the negative environmental impacts of industrial farming.

Less experienced growers may want to use traditional, less expensive grow mediums until they develop their growing skills and can make the transition to a living soil. However, even for growers with years of experience, a switch to a high-quality living soil can lead to a dramatic reduction in the need for costly bottled nutrients.

Many growers also find that a move to a living soil results in a much more natural plant with higher yields and better terpenes. This can help to increase the profitability of your business and create a more sustainable future for our planet. With the right products and techniques, you can produce a high-quality living soil that will give your cannabis plants everything they need to thrive.

2. It’s a More Sustainable Product

The key to thriving plants is a balanced and healthy soil ecosystem teeming with microorganisms. Cheap synthetic fertilizers may invigorate your crops in the short term, but they strip the soil of vital nutrients in the long run and pollute our waterways. Organic living soils, such as our Roots Organics Lush growing medium, promote regenerative agriculture and help reduce dependence on chemical inputs.

A complex mix of organic matter, such as compost, coco coir, peat moss, aged tree bark, manure and worm castings provides the foundation for living soil. A blend of organic ingredients allows for maximum nutrient uptake by plant roots, and provides the perfect ratio of large and small pore spaces for water to flow. This helps to prevent overwatering and blockage of air circulation, ensuring the most efficient hydration and nutrient absorption.

In addition to organic material, living soils contain beneficial bacteria, fungi and protozoa that break down and recycle dead organic matter and minerals. These organisms create a natural soil food chain that supports and enhances plant growth, without the need for expensive chemical fertilizers.

While the benefits of organic living soil are numerous, the biggest advantage is its sustainability. In an era where retailers prioritize price over product origins, and scientific research is often disconnected from farmers’ needs, the practice of organic living soil provides an excellent alternative to industrialized farming practices.

The first step in creating a healthy living soil is to stop using chemical fertilizers. Instead, start a compost pile. This will provide the worms, earthworms and other creatures that are essential to the process of breaking down and recycling dead organic matter. This process also helps to improve the soil’s structure, promoting proper aeration and moisture retention.

Once the microorganisms have digested and recycled organic matter, they will produce a nutrient rich liquid that is naturally absorbed by plant roots. The combination of nutrients and organic matter that is released by these organisms provides your plants with the most nutrient-dense soil possible. In addition to reducing your need for chemical fertilizers, living soils also provide a more balanced environment and help your crops to be more resistant to pests.

3. It’s a More Versatile Product

Organic Living Soil is rich in soil microbes that break down organic matter into nutrient-rich fertilizer, eliminating the need for synthetic fertilizers. This provides a healthy growing medium that is self-sufficient for plant growth, resulting in reduced environmental impact and healthier plants.

In addition to delivering vital nutrients, living soil provides a more natural and stable environment for plants. The microbes in living soil help to prevent water erosion and improve aeration of the soil. As a result, the roots can grow deeper into the soil, creating a healthy and sustainable foundation for your plants.

The complex structure of organic living soil is also able to hold more water than traditional soils. This is because it allows the water to pass through the soil more quickly, making it less likely to get run off or evaporate. In fact, quality soil loaded with organic matter can hold up to 20 times its weight in water!

Another benefit of using living soil is that it prevents weed growth. Weeds thrive in poor, unfertilized soils, and they often compete with your plants for water and nutrients. However, if your soil is rich in nutrients and full of beneficial microbes, your plants will be able to absorb the nutrients they need and choke out the weeds.

If you are looking to start gardening with living soil, be sure to choose a high-quality product that is minimally processed and contains a mix of organic matter such as peat moss, manure, compost, and worm castings. It is also important to “cook” the soil before planting, which means letting it sit for a few weeks or even a month so that the microbes can get to work breaking down the organic material and transforming it into nutrients for your plants. It is also helpful to promote biodiversity by rotating crops seasonally and incorporating companion planting, as this helps to ensure that the right balance of microbes are present in your soil. Also consider adding a microbial inoculant such as Oregonism XL to help boost the microbe population in your living soil and provide an additional source of nutrients.

4. It’s a More Sustainable Product

As more growers turn to living soil practices, they are reducing their dependence on bottled nutrients and other synthetic products. As a result, they are saving themselves money, but they’re also helping to improve the environment. Many synthetic fertilizers are abrasive to soil and cause environmental problems in the long run. On the other hand, microorganisms in living soil work to break down organic compounds and make them nutrient-rich. This helps to keep the soil healthy and supports biodiversity.

Living soils are often more sustainable because they use a combination of ingredients like coco coir, peat moss, aged tree bark, manure and worm castings. These materials are combined to create a mix that is designed to be used for a single growing cycle. This mix can be used to grow a variety of plants with minimal additional nutrient supplementation. This makes living soils a better choice for growers looking to cut back on their overall spending without sacrificing quality and yield.

The microorganisms in living soil also help to reduce the need for water and other organic matter. This helps to keep the soil well-draining and promotes a healthy, more natural growth cycle. In addition, microorganisms can help to break down organic matter so that it can be more easily absorbed by plant roots. This is important because it reduces the need for excessive watering and helps to limit the amount of nutrients that are lost from evaporation.

Another way that living soil can be more sustainable is by reducing the need for chemical pesticides and fungicides. Many growers who use living soil find that their plants are more resistant to insects and disease than they would be in a traditional growing medium. Living soils also contain a variety of different microorganisms that can help to control pests and diseases naturally.

One of the best ways to increase the sustainability of living soil is to educate the public about its benefits. This can be done by encouraging people to learn how to prepare and use living soil in their gardens. It is also important to support the efforts of companies that are committed to the sustainability of living soils. For example, Lidl recently began sourcing potatoes grown with regenerative agriculture practices across all 1,570 of its supermarkets in northern France. This is a great example of how retailers can use their influence to drive change in the industry.