SoilBible · Episodes · Ep 004

Ep 004: Filling the 3x3 Living Soil Bed and Viewer Q&A

· Jeremy fills the 3x3 fabric bed in quadrant two with the living soil mixed by hand in Episode 3, demonstrating how farming has to stay on schedule even when you lack every tool. He walks through the current state of all four quadrants, noting healthy cannabis plants (number 2 and halitosis), a regenerated Earthbox where cover crop was chopped with Craft Blend and Kashi Blend and turned to soil in under two weeks, and vegetable seedlings thriving in BuildASoil Light. The second half is a rich viewer Q&A covering Pittmoss vs Canadian sphagnum peat moss, LED kelvin spectrum (3500K preference), timing of worm additions, fungus gnat management without sterilizing, saponin wetting agents, dry kelp meal usage, and whether Earthboxes can be run back-to-back without rebuilding soil.

Topics

3x3 fabric bed fill with hand-mixed living soil · Earthbox cover crop chop-and-drop regeneration with Craft Blend and Kashi Blend · PVC corner trellis system for 3x3 beds · Four-quadrant grow plan status update · Pittmoss versus Canadian sphagnum peat moss comparison · LED kelvin spectrum selection (3000K / 3500K / 4000K) · Timing worm additions to freshly made soil · Fungus gnat prevention in no-till without sterilizing · Saponin wetting agents as plant growth promotants · Dry kelp meal dosing and top-dressing · Back-to-back Earthbox cycles · EM-1 for reservoir cleaning

Sections

0:11 — 5:43

Quadrant Walkthrough and Vegetable Seedling Update

Jeremy welcomes viewers back and reports 100% germination on cucumber, tomato, and pepper seedlings started in BuildASoil Light on tray racks inside the 10x10 tent. The vegetables are there because the adjacent 30x144 vegetable greenhouse is expensive to heat with propane, so the tent environment is being used opportunistically. He explains his wife runs the vegetable farm and they use farm-planning software to schedule beds across the season. Quadrant one holds a reused Earthbox that previously grew Max Stomper, then a cover crop that was chopped with Craft Blend and Kashi Blend and turned into soil with worm castings in under two weeks. Quadrant two holds the five cannabis plants (including number 2 and the halitosis, a motor breath cross) with nine leaflets showing on leaves, healthy turgor, and roots coming out the bottom. Quadrant three is the lettuce Earthbox being continually harvested, and quadrant four is kale, tomatoes starting to flower, and a slow-growing pepper plant.

  1. 1. Seedlings are germinated in BuildASoil Light on tray racks inside the tent, misted with a Chapin sprayer
  2. 2. Seedlings are up-potted into little cups of soil to give them more legs before final transplant
  3. 3. Reused Earthbox is regenerated by chopping the cover crop at about six inches and mixing in Craft Blend and Kashi Blend
  4. 4. Worms from the existing Earthbox break down the material into fresh castings in under two weeks
  5. 5. Plants are monitored for leaflet count, turgor, and root emergence from container bottom as health indicators
5:43 — 9:07

Filling the 3x3 Fabric Bed with Hand-Mixed Living Soil

Jeremy tips the 3x3 fabric bed on its side to move it into quadrant two and begins scooping soil by hand from the 100 gallon mixing container into the bed. He admits he should have installed the PVC corner trellis kit before filling but didn't have the PVC cut, so he's holding the bed open manually. The BuildASoil 3x3 kit ships with custom PVC corners (not available at any store) that allow a trellis to be built off the bed, but the straight PVC has to be bought and cut locally for shipping sustainability. Jeremy acknowledges he's doing it out of order because 'farming has to stay on schedule' and he needs the soil out of the retail store. He plans to slide the PVC through the soil from the side afterward. The next episode will show the mulch layer, cover crop, moisture, and full ecosystem setup.

  1. 1. Transport the 3x3 fabric bed into position (tip on side, carry with teamwork)
  2. 2. Ideally install PVC corners and legs inside the bed BEFORE filling with soil
  3. 3. Scoop soil from 100 gallon mixing container with a scoop or bucket
  4. 4. Hand-fill the bed to full depth, distributing evenly
  5. 5. Mix the soil up well once it is in the bed
  6. 6. Slide PVC through soil from the side if corners are installed late
  7. 7. Add moisture, cover crop seed, and mulch layer as the next step (next episode)
9:07 — 12:07

Viewer Q&A: Pittmoss vs Canadian Peat and LED Spectrum

Jeremy opens YouTube on his phone and scrolls through viewer questions. Gorilla Grown gets a welcome back. An Earthbox build video is confirmed for quadrant one. Kryptonite asks about Pittmoss as a peat replacement — Jeremy saw it on Shark Tank, brought it in, and ran a side-by-side 4x4 Koots mix comparison; it did pretty well but went hot with the normal recipe because the recycled paper carbon stole nitrogen. He concluded Pittmoss is a good recycled product but not a premium grow product. He prefers Canadian sphagnum peat moss, acknowledging it is responsibly harvested but still earth-mined, while Pittmoss uses soy ink from GMO farms which he doesn't want in his cannabis grow. On LED kelvin spectrum he always goes with 3500K as a middle-ground between the old metal halide (bluer, more frost) and HPS (redder) blend, saying 4000K is common for veg, 3000K for flower, and adding UV/far red is splitting hairs if you nail the fundamentals.

  1. 1. Pittmoss can be substituted for peat but requires recipe adjustment to avoid nitrogen lockup from excess carbon
  2. 2. For LED kelvin selection: 4000K for dedicated veg, 3000K for dedicated flower, 3500K as a full-cycle middle ground
  3. 3. Focus on fundamental basics rather than chasing UV or far red supplementation
12:07 — 15:21

Viewer Q&A: Mushrooms, Worms, Fungus Gnats, Wetting Agents

Nicholas Gate asks about a mushroom and CO2 ducting tent — Jeremy confirms a mushroom tent is coming within a couple months as part of this series. On earthworms: he does NOT add worms when mixing fresh soil because the soil can go hot and because he will be disturbing it; he waits until the final planting container and grabs worms from the compost bin during the mulch layer setup (covered next episode). On fungus gnats in no-till: thrips are easy (spinosad wipes them out), but gnats are a bigger challenge — a dedicated episode is planned. Home-made or purchased compost and worm castings will always carry some gnat larvae; you can't sterilize because you want the fungus. One or two gnats is normal. The ecosystem of predator mites, rove beetles, and earthworms prevents any species from overpopulating. Problems arise from overwatering, bare soil, and chasing gnats despite healthy plants. On wetting agents: they are game changers, usable every water. Jeremy recommends searching Google Scholar for saponin as a plant growth promotant — benefits go beyond wetting.

  1. 1. Do NOT add worms to freshly mixed hot soil or soil that will be heavily disturbed
  2. 2. Add worms in the final planting container after the mulch layer is set
  3. 3. Treat thrips with spinosad
  4. 4. For fungus gnats: do not sterilize, build predator ecosystem (predator mites, rove beetles, earthworms), avoid overwatering, avoid bare soil
  5. 5. Accept one or two fungus gnats as normal in a healthy living soil
  6. 6. Use saponin-based wetting agents as often as every watering
15:21 — 17:19

Viewer Q&A: Dry Kelp Meal and Back-to-Back Earthbox Cycles

Jeremy confirms he uses dry kelp meal but ONLY as part of the Coots nutrient kit in the original soil recipe — he used to rehydrate kelp meal for tea and foliar sprays but finds kelp is a 'little goes a long way' input. Dry kelp releases a gelatin that creates nice soil texture and delivers the whole periodic table of trace minerals, so less is more. If reusing kelp, top dressing as part of a re-amend is his suggested method. Nicholas Cole asks if Earthbox soil has to be rebuilt between rounds or can go back-to-back — Jeremy previously stayed away from the Earthbox because it was plastic, had a plastic mulch cover, and seemed too small, but learned it lets you pack nutrients, have clean water underneath, and 'hack' the living soil approach. He has gone up to three cycles back-to-back; after that the root mass, top dressing buildup, and dead roots in the living reservoir make it advantageous to dump, clean, and reuse the soil elsewhere. He suggests EM-1 on the reservoir for cleaning if going many rounds.

  1. 1. Use dry kelp meal only at original soil build as part of Coots kit — less is more
  2. 2. For re-amend cycles, top dress kelp rather than adding heavily
  3. 3. Run Earthbox up to three cycles back-to-back with top-dressed re-amends
  4. 4. After three to five cycles, dump the Earthbox, clean the reservoir (EM-1), and reuse soil elsewhere
  5. 5. Between cycles, scrape old top-dressing and replant into fresh amendments and compost

Notable quotes

"Farming has to stay on schedule whether you have every tool that day or not."

Jeremy admits he should have installed the PVC corner trellis before filling the 3x3 bed but had to push forward because the soil needed to get out of the retail store.

"That's how you make soil. It's all here — here's some worms right here, and they're literally on the Craft Blend."

Showing the regenerated Earthbox where chopped cover crop plus Craft/Kashi Blend has been turned back into soil by worms in under two weeks.

"I believe in it, but I also believe in, for our hobby, going with the absolute best we can find."

Jeremy's verdict on Pittmoss versus Canadian sphagnum peat moss — fine as a recycled product, but not his premium choice for cannabis.

"We like fungus, we don't want to sterilize. So you need to learn how to deal with that right away."

Explaining why you cannot simply sterilise fungus gnats out of a no-till living soil — the fungi are what you want.

"Wetting agents are game changers — you can almost use them every time you water."

Responding to a viewer tip about wetting agents, endorsing saponin-based products as an every-water additive.

"With kelp, less is more. I don't recommend adding it often."

Jeremy's guidance on dry kelp meal usage — only at initial build as part of the Coots kit, or as a top-dress at re-amend.

"I just go back to back to back. You totally can do it — here's my caveat, I've not done back to back like 10 cycles, I've done up to three cycles back to back."

Answering Nicholas Cole's question about whether Earthbox soil has to be rebuilt between rounds.

Glossary terms from this episode

100 gallon mixing container · Back-to-back cycles · BuildASoil Light · Canadian sphagnum peat moss · Chapin sprayer · Coots nutrient kit · Cover crop chop-and-drop regeneration · Craft blend · EarthBox · EM-1 · Food web (soil) · Frost (trichome frost) · Fungus gnat · Going hot (soil) · Halitosis (cultivar) · High pressure sodium (HPS) · Kashi blend · Kelp meal (dry) · Kelvin / color temperature · Leaflet count · Living reservoir · Max Stomper · Metal halide (MH) · Number 2 (cultivar) · PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) · Pittmoss · Predator mite · PVC corner trellis kit · Quadrant · Re-amend

Products mentioned

Craft Blend · Earthbox · Chapin sprayer · Kashi Blend · BuildASoil Light · Canadian sphagnum peat moss · EM-1 · 3x3 Fabric Bed · PVC Corner Trellis Kit · Pittmoss · Koots mix · LED grow light 3500K · Metal halide (MH) lamp · High pressure sodium (HPS) lamp · Spinosad · Predator mites · Rove beetles · Earthworms · Saponin wetting agent · Dry kelp meal