High all! I know this is technically a indoor organic forum, but I wanted to catch the eyes of growers who are really into Organics.
During my Guerrilla career, I have mostly been organic, only using Miracle grow occasionally a couple years, and at home my food garden is always organic, using mostly manure compost.
But now I want to get more serious about tapping the full potential Organic growing can provide.
I am trying to find the best solution for my special needs as a Guerrilla outdoor grower.
I am trying to develop irrigation systems that will allow me 3-5 weeks between visits, this will mean no more weekly feedings with fresh aerated manure/guano teas as I did when growing 100% organic.
I am also trying to create a super planting soil that can be made in advance at home, and mixed in my planting holes with the native soil(1 part planting soil/2 parts native soil), the native soils I use have PH in the 6.3-6.7 range, and are very well draining(sandy loam).
My idea with the super planting soil is to make a single very potent mix that contains all the amendments(and friendly bacteria) needed to improve the soil of my holes.
Pre-digging holes through my winter is hard because its so wet, and its not good for the soil texture to handle it when saturated with water, and often it can be less than a week to planting time before the soil drains enough to work, unless I manage to hit a odd 2 week dry spell mid-winter.
Pre-digging holes before winter is hard because my woods are full of hunters. All this means I don't usually have the luxury of holes dug and amended months ahead of time, which is how I'd rather do it so that the soil can cook and mellow for awhile before plants are applied.
What I'd like to do with this super planting soil is mix it months ahead of time and let it cook and mellow, and then take it to the holes and mix it in, possibly on the same day I plant, hopefully with no bad side affects.
I can't use Bone, blood, or fish meals due to scavenging animals digging up the soil, by the way.
Here is my current idea of a mix-
The base will be Peat moss, to each gallon of peat I'll add:
Dolomite lime- 3 TBS, this is to balance the PH of the Peat and to add Magnesium and Calcium, I'm adding 1 more TBS than normal for the soil I'll be adding this to
Chicken manure Compost(3-3-1) -2 cups, high Nitrogen and Phosphorus source
llama manure Compost(1-1-1?) -1 quart, partly for soil conditioning and to act as a slower release Nitrogen source
Kelp meal- 2 TBS, Potassium and Micro nutrients
Green sand- 2 TBS Slower acting source of Potassium
Soft rock Phosphate-1 cup??? Slower acting source of Phosphorus
I'll mix this all ahead of time(February) and let it sit until I can get out and dig holes this winter, or else until planting time in May.
I'll dig my holes, saving the best draining parts of the soil and the top soil aside for mixing back in. Then I'll mix 1 part Super planting soil to 2 parts native soil in the hole. At planting time I'll apply Mycorrhizae powder to the roots.
After planting, visits will be every 3-5 weeks, so I won't be able to apply regular feedings of Guano or manure teas to supplement. I am thinking either I'll side dress with Guanos when I do visit, or else apply a super strong tea.
At any rate, this is just a rough plan, I'm looking for pitfalls in my idea, and ways around them, I'm especially concerned that making this super planting so potent may actually be bad for the Micro-heard I'm trying to foster, any input??
During my Guerrilla career, I have mostly been organic, only using Miracle grow occasionally a couple years, and at home my food garden is always organic, using mostly manure compost.
But now I want to get more serious about tapping the full potential Organic growing can provide.
I am trying to find the best solution for my special needs as a Guerrilla outdoor grower.
I am trying to develop irrigation systems that will allow me 3-5 weeks between visits, this will mean no more weekly feedings with fresh aerated manure/guano teas as I did when growing 100% organic.
I am also trying to create a super planting soil that can be made in advance at home, and mixed in my planting holes with the native soil(1 part planting soil/2 parts native soil), the native soils I use have PH in the 6.3-6.7 range, and are very well draining(sandy loam).
My idea with the super planting soil is to make a single very potent mix that contains all the amendments(and friendly bacteria) needed to improve the soil of my holes.
Pre-digging holes through my winter is hard because its so wet, and its not good for the soil texture to handle it when saturated with water, and often it can be less than a week to planting time before the soil drains enough to work, unless I manage to hit a odd 2 week dry spell mid-winter.
Pre-digging holes before winter is hard because my woods are full of hunters. All this means I don't usually have the luxury of holes dug and amended months ahead of time, which is how I'd rather do it so that the soil can cook and mellow for awhile before plants are applied.
What I'd like to do with this super planting soil is mix it months ahead of time and let it cook and mellow, and then take it to the holes and mix it in, possibly on the same day I plant, hopefully with no bad side affects.
I can't use Bone, blood, or fish meals due to scavenging animals digging up the soil, by the way.
Here is my current idea of a mix-
The base will be Peat moss, to each gallon of peat I'll add:
Dolomite lime- 3 TBS, this is to balance the PH of the Peat and to add Magnesium and Calcium, I'm adding 1 more TBS than normal for the soil I'll be adding this to
Chicken manure Compost(3-3-1) -2 cups, high Nitrogen and Phosphorus source
llama manure Compost(1-1-1?) -1 quart, partly for soil conditioning and to act as a slower release Nitrogen source
Kelp meal- 2 TBS, Potassium and Micro nutrients
Green sand- 2 TBS Slower acting source of Potassium
Soft rock Phosphate-1 cup??? Slower acting source of Phosphorus
I'll mix this all ahead of time(February) and let it sit until I can get out and dig holes this winter, or else until planting time in May.
I'll dig my holes, saving the best draining parts of the soil and the top soil aside for mixing back in. Then I'll mix 1 part Super planting soil to 2 parts native soil in the hole. At planting time I'll apply Mycorrhizae powder to the roots.
After planting, visits will be every 3-5 weeks, so I won't be able to apply regular feedings of Guano or manure teas to supplement. I am thinking either I'll side dress with Guanos when I do visit, or else apply a super strong tea.
At any rate, this is just a rough plan, I'm looking for pitfalls in my idea, and ways around them, I'm especially concerned that making this super planting so potent may actually be bad for the Micro-heard I'm trying to foster, any input??
than the recomended dose of those polymer crystals that absorb water and then slowly release it back out. 2 years ago, i would only be watering every 2 weeks with a nice, rich organic tea and they did quite fine. 
