Marijuana Grower’s Library: “True Living Organics” Review

In short, “True Living Organics” is a must have for any organic grower.

For those that do not grow organically, I recommend you give it a try; you’ll be amazed at the quality of organic buds, and you’ll be helping the earth. In “True Living Organics“, The Rev (Cultivation Editor at Skunk Magazine) takes us one level higher than the ‘organic’ gardens many of us (including myself) have become familiar with.

In a true living organic (TLO) garden, the soil is full of happy, healthy micro-life, much like the soil in a well-maintained outdoor garden. These microbes form what The Rev calls a food web, all living off organic matter in the soil and actually feeding the plants.

Here are a few quotes from the book – The Rev’s own words describing True Living Organics:

• “TLO is an organic style of growing in which the power is given BACK to the plant.” (p.11)
• “In fact, as a TLO grower, your primary objective is to take good care of the soil life so the soil life will take very good care of your plants.” (p. 15)
• “A TLO grow is a huge shift in a growing dynamic, and actually turns the clock back, way back, to the style plants have been growing under in the wild for millions of years. I often refer to TLO as a ‘Just Add Water’ growing style, and done correctly, it certainly is that.” (p. 55)

If setting up an ecosystem in your containers sounds hard, don’t worry. It really isn’t with this book around. The Rev has included everything a grower needs to know to become a TLO master, step-by-step. There are simplified versions of everything in the book for anyone that wants to try TLO, but is not quite convinced enough to change their setup completely.

TLO grows are all about preparing the soil for the plants and microbes before planting.

Rather than feeding your plants with dissolved (organic or not) nutrients, which The Rev calls ‘force-feeding’, the plants and soil microbes are fed with organic teas. These teas, Actively Aerated Compost Teas (AACT), are made by aerating (brewing) water with a small amount of compost, such as worm castings and guano. The main purpose of brewing a tea is not to derive nutrients for the plant, but to multiply the microbes in the compost.

“True Living Organics” has pages and pages of soil and tea recipes, making it a book you’ll be referring to for years of great organic harvests.

The price on the back cover is $20.00, but (at the time of writing) you can pick it up for about $14 on Amazon. The Rev Recommends also purchasing Greg Green’s “Cannabis Grow Bible“ if you’ve never grown before, to supplement the growing basics he covers in “True Living Organics.” Both of these titles are published by Green Candy Press, and they have several other growing guides and cannabis cookbooks available as well.