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Dirty Business Soil Archives – Humboldt Green

Joe Knows – Soil Management

By Consulting, Media

Joe Moran of 1 Degree Consulting talks about the importance of a Soil Management Plan on this week’s episode of Joe Knows. Tune into the Humboldt Green YouTube channel each week for industry news and information.

Joe Knows Soil Management – 1 Degree Consulting

Joe knows soil! Managing your soil is a huge component of growing cannabis. It’s important to test your soil and water, not just for a healthy yield, but you want to be able to past testing and get your product into the hands of consumers. There are two soil models in cannabis farming, managing native soils and importing soil to your farm. There are some negatives and benefits for each model.

When you import soil there are a lot of costs you have to consider. The purchase costs, freight, delivery, soil storage and above ground irrigation. The positives are that you don’t need a huge nutrient regime because the soil comes loaded with food. Water storage, diversion and reporting of water usage are some of the bigger elements to importing soil. Above ground containers can also use a lot of water.

Benefits of using native soil and having plants in the ground is that you save on purchasing and labor costs, plus there’s already a water source in the ground. The water retention value for native soil is greater than farming in a container. The native soil already has minerals and nutrients, but the important thing is that you want to get it tested because you might have deficiencies or too much of one property.

Farmers can consider both models, but you need a soil management program for farm to be successful. If you’re going after your County permit, you need an Operating Plan, Soil Management Plan and a Site Management Plan for your waterboard enrollment. The team at 1 Degree Consulting can help you write the plans that are needed for compliancy.

Seasonal year-round planning is important when it comes to soil management, whether you’re doing it during the growing season or during the wintertime. The Soil Scientists at Dirty Business Soil inside of Northcoast Horticulture Supply, can test your soil, water and plant tissue and create a custom Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) based on analytical results. NHS can then create a custom soil and amendment blend based on your NMP and offer Farm-Direct pricing on all of your supply needs.

Winterization Workshops

By Education

Dirty Business Soil and Northcoast Horticulture Supply will be teaming up for two Winterization Workshops during October and November. We will be discussing why harvest time is considered to be the beginning of your next cycle. Winter is a time to increase organic matter and microbes in your soil, along with optimizing your pH and removing most, if not all of the salt build-up. You can bring a soil sample in to any NHS location to have it analyzed for salts and current nutrient levels – we can help with getting your soil optimized for spring! Winterization components such as compost, cover crops, straw mulching, and compost tea will also be discussed in detail. Preparing your garden and farm for Spring will help build a healthier soil and help reduce erosion, pests & disease! Register at nhs-hydroponics.com/events.

October Winterization Workshop

Location: Eureka NHS 852 W. Wabash Avenue

Date: Saturday, October 27th

Time: 1:00 to 3:00

Cost: $25.00

Purchase Tickets

November Winterization Workshop

Location: NHS – Fortuna Feed 126 Dinsmore Drive

Date: Saturday, November 10th

Time: 1:00 to 3:00

Cost: $25.00

Purchase Tickets

  • Preps production areas for the following cycle by resting and rejuvenating with OM, Microbes, and ground cover.
  • Optimize pH and removes salt build-up: liming and leaching.
  • Soil health builder – nutrient retention, biology, N-fixing, humus building.
  • Erosion reduction.
  • Pest and disease reduction.
  • Ecological and economic principles/benefits.

WINTERIZATION

Compost

Cover Crop

Cardboard – If sheet mulching.

Straw Mulch

Compost Tea Applications – as much as you want, even none if you are low tech or lazy or whatever the reason – you will still get benefits from simply sheet mulching and getting compost in there.

Liming Agents – need a pH measurement to know how much liming agent is needed.