I’m planning to do both hydroponics (check out [email protected] if you haven’t already!) AND living soil.

The hydro is mainly there for efficient use of space, to maximize the growth of what plants I plan to consume, mainly chilis and cannabis.
I really like that it’s “clean”, so I don’t have to worry about shipping dirt and worry that much about pests. What’s also great is that I can perfectly control the conditions, for example, if weed goes into flowering stage, it will take up much more P and K, and in general, will just flourish better in hydro in my experience.

Here’s my improved setup from last year, which I made a post about a few months ago. I’m already passively cleaning and soaking the LECA thanks to rain, and will plant my crops as soon as frost is over, probably mid of April.

The seedlings are also already growing

And now, my dirt :)

I also planted A LOT of beneficial co-plants, especially flowering ones that occour in nature, to help the wild insects.
Not only pollinators, but also predatory insects, that will hunt any lice and other pests, so I don’t have to use (as much) pesticide like neem oil.

Then, I also prepared new soil already a few months ago, because it was pretty much all organic waste products, which had to decompose over the winter, so the nutrients get broken up until I plant my first stuff.
It’s composed of mushroom waste (mycelium blocks made out of wood, soy hulls, gypsum and grain), chalk, some dirt from outside (mainly forest and marshland) to catalyze microbial life, kitchen scraps, and a few other things.

Some of the dirt is already used from last year, some of it is fresh.

It’s currently February, but my balcony is ALREADY blooming with life!
I’m SO hyped up how it will look like in a few months!

I also made a bog pot with carnivorous plants and succulents, because I had no other use for those concrete filled pots I have to use for my cat net.
I found a few very nice looking mosses and also planted them in there, let’s see how they will perform over time!

What are you doing?