Ecothrive Living Soil

At last, a proper living soil blend that allows growers of all abilities to achieve top results by just feeding with water and some tactical top-dresses! Once you have finished your growth cycle the soil can be re-used so you only have to buy once! Ecothrive Living Soil has been designed through years of research, development and testing and uses coco coir as the base mix instead of peat for improved water-holding and aeration while reducing its environmental impact. What's more, Ecothrive has taken the time to design a feed schedule/grow guide to work in a variety of grow scenarios and help remove the guesswork that's commonly associated with using living soil.

Why Choose Ecothrive Living Soil

If you want to 'truly' grow plants organically then living soil is the way to go. Living soil seeks to replicate the way soil works in nature; there are obviously no liquid fertilisers added when plants grow in the wild. The nutrition is contained within the earth itself or is created from natural decomposition processes that occur at the soil surface. The idea of living soil is to transplant your rooted cuttings or established seedlings into their final pot from the very start, then the nutrition and microbiology in the soil will be readily available to sustain them for the entire growth cycle. All you need to do is top-up the soil nutrition with some top-dresses of Ecothirve Soil Food as the plant grows.   

Unlike other living soil blends, Ecothrive has taken a different approach using coco as the base for their mix, avoiding peat, the more commonly used material. This follows with Ecothrive's ethos of sustainability and ensures that this new Living Soil blend complies with the upcoming peat ban, meaning there will be no need to change the mix down the line. Coco does however have huge benefits over peat and helps to provide a truly superior soil structure with ample levels of aeration for root health, whilst still having great water retention properties. This also helps to create the perfect environment for the beneficial microbiology (the key to living soil working) present within the media.

Alongside the coco base, you will find a rich mix of organic soil amendments present. These are mealworm frass, bone meal, seaweed meal, alfalfa meal and insect meal. Together these form a complete nutrient profile with an excellent staggered nutrient release that your plants will love. Then comes the micronised minerals, these natural substances include super-fine rock phosphate, volcanic rock dust, gypsum and limestone. These work in harmony to improve nutrient uptake and the overall health of the soil. Biochar is enriched into the blend to boost soil fertility and acts as a stabiliser for the nutrients. Humic and Fulvic Acids enhance the soil to further boost nutrient uptake and encourage the all-important microbial lift. Finally, the trace elements have been optimised through an organic, chelated mix to provide complete and balanced nutrition from the outset. These are particularly important and a deficiency in one of these elements can go visually unnoticed yet still wreak havoc in terms of growth and yield!

How To Use Ecothrive Living Soil

Ecothrive has managed to take a lot of the confusion and misunderstanding out of growing with living soil. For many people moving over to a method of growing that requires mostly feeding with water can seem very alien and there is a lot of conflicting information out there on what works best. Follow the guidelines below and on their feed schedules and you will be growing top-tier plants from the start!

For optimal results, use 180-250L of Ecothrive Living Soil per 1.2m x 1.2m grow area. Traditionally with living soil, this has meant using the largest pots possible so that the volume of growing media is enough to sustain plants for the full cycle. Thanks to extensive testing from the guys at Ecothrive and their range of easy-to-use soil amendments, smaller pots can indeed be used if desired. Here are some examples of how plants can be arranged in a 1.2m x 1.2m space:

1. 4x plants using pots between 45-60L
2. 2x plants using pots between 90-120L
3. 9x plants using pots between 20-25L
4. 4-9x plants using a 3ft x 3ft bed

It is possible to use pots smaller than 20L however a greater amount of top dressing with Ecothrive Soil Food will be needed as well as much more careful monitoring of moisture levels. Our preferred choice is example 1 listed above as we feel this gives a good balance between the different options.

Once seedlings have become established or cuttings fully rooted they can be transplanted into your choice of container. Moisture levels within the soil must remain even and consistent for the soil biology to thrive. You don't want to let the growing media dry out like you may find you would with other brands. Likewise, do not let it become waterlogged. We recommend using Grassroots Fabric Pots or Beds as the best choice of container as they are purpose-designed for living soil and help to maintain consistent moisture levels. Plastic pots are also fine to use, but standard fabric pots are not the best as they can cause quicker drying meaning closer monitoring and more frequent watering will be needed.

Throughout the growing cycle, your pots or beds should be top-dressed with Ecothrive Soil Food Grow and Bloom amendments at a rate of 1-2g per litre of soil. These are the key to achieving the very best results and providing much-needed nutrition to the soil as the plants deplete it. Ecothrive has created a range of grow schedules that give you all the information on when to add these. Click here to take a look at them.

Re-using Ecothrive Living Soil

Living Soil has be designed to be re-used at the end of the cycle. This is a simple process that involves harvesting your plant and removing the root ball. Then just add Ecothrive Soil Food Re-Gen at a rate 2-4g per litre of soil to reinvigorate and prepare it for the next run. It's the ultimate in sustainable growing!

Ecothrive Living Soil is sold in 40L bags.