EcoThrive Life-Cycle

Fully organic, nutritionally balanced soil amendment

Working with Nature

Plants have evolved in a close relationship with the soil they grow in. Decaying organic matter, soil microbes and clean water are the building blocks of life & it’s been this way for millions of years. In healthy natural soils, plants are in control.

Plants feeds the soil with carbohydrates and proteins released into the rhizosphere. These root exudates support microbes in the food web. Beneficial Macrofauna including bacteria and fungi are usually found in the highest population of a healthy soil. They have a range of different benefits but all work together to promote plant health, resulting in higher yielding, better quality harvests. Mycorrhizae is one example which partners with your roots to extend the reach for water and nutrients. At the second level of the food web, ‘mesofauna’ such as arthropods & nematodes like springtails and worms help to break down organic matter into smaller compounds which can be up up-taken by plant roots.

The soil traditionally available to horticulturalists is not the same as that found in nature; sterilized substrates and mineral fertilizers make it hard for organisms to thrive. While the industry has a spotlight on certain beneficial micro-organisms, important functions are missing which can greatly improve the health of the soil.

Ecothrive have developed (or gone back to) the original, natural and organic method of soil growing using high quality raw natural ingredients and partnering plants and beneficial microbes as nature intended. Your crop will perform to its full genetic potential in terms of quality, taste, aroma and yield.

A Different Soil

Ecothrive Life Cycle is different to traditional bagged potting mixes that indoor horticulturalists are used to working with, as you do not need to mix additional nutrition into your water supply to feed plants; the nutrition is already pre-loaded in the soil amendment & it’s the growers job to grow a healthy microbe population to break down the ingredients to make them plant available as and when needed.

We’ve found that with life cycle, you can use organic methods with automatic irrigation systems without as much worry or hassle – liquid organics tend to clog thin lines that are usually found on autopots and dripper systems. As you only need to add water with life cycle, there’s no chance of particulates clogging lines, leading to a lot less maintenance required in your garden.

Ecothrive life cycle composition:

How to use Ecothrive Life-Cycle

Add life-cycle to your soil and thoroughly mix before planting – Organic techniques may require a larger volume of media than your used to; ecothrive recommend using around 160-200 litres per 1.2m2 or 4 x 40l pots under each 600w light.

We recommend mixing around 300g life cycle per bag of Biobizz all mix or Grow Dog Soil perlite mix. alternatively we can source a premixed, amended soil - Ecothrive Eco-Life, just contact us.

When using a fully organic technique such as this, there’s no need to add more nutrition if you’ve used a large enough pot size. Feeding alongside a liquid regime may cause over-feeding and stunt plant growth. If you’ve undersized your pots, you may need to amend with more life-cycle at the start of the flowering cycle or feed with liquid nutrients – be careful though as it’s much easier to treat an underfed plant than trying to fix an overfed plant.

Aim for no run-off when watering as it will leech nutrition from the pot.

Try to maintain some moisture content in the soil for best results – it’s better to water little and often at regular times during the ‘lights on’ period rather than to completely saturate the pot each time.

Use alongside your choice of beneficial organisms and condition tap water with Ecothrive - Neutralise before use.

Mixing in eco life:

Used Eco-Life Soil - mix 250g per 40L

New Soil or Coco - mix 300 - 350g per 50L

Let the soil warm-up after mixing to let the beneficial organisms condition the soil

To push plants to their maximum, top dress with life cycle at the onset of flower and avoid adding more after week 5.

Top Dressing with eco life:

Lightly dust the surface of each 40-50l pot with 1-2 tablespoons (15-30ml)

Water as usual – keeping medium moist

Repeat application every 2-3 weeks - avoid adding more after week 5 of flower