Vermicompost kicks serious ass......sorry for the accidental neg rep from my phone mr weird.
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Living organic soil from start through recycling
- Thread starter Gascanastan
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Vermicompost kicks serious ass......sorry for the accidental neg rep from my phone mr weird.
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lostenspace
Member
First, thanks and respect to the wise elders of this thread. I follow everyday with my notepad.
Quick question on composting, when do you stop adding to your composter or pile and how long until your ready to use? I have a diy barrel spinner 55g black, spin every week.
Thanks
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Quick question on composting, when do you stop adding to your composter or pile and how long until your ready to use? I have a diy barrel spinner 55g black, spin every week.
Thanks
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lostenspace
Member
Also, a portlandian, where can I find/source the best aloe?
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Sent from my vivow using Tapatalk 2
IncredibowlBoss
Member
I rock a tumbler as well! 2 things;
1. Try not to think of tumbling on a schedule so much as when the heap needs it - monitor temperature with your hand - your goal with a tumbler is to run it hot & fast - so if it seems to be a bit cooler than the day before, tumble 3x (of course always tumble after you add anything). Mine gets turned 3-6 times/week when I'm really paying attention.
2. When to harvest is tricky with a tumbler - folks who know more than me suggest I start a 2nd one, let the first one finish for a few weeks without adding anything, then harvest the 1st.
Of course, my wife has less than no interest in having a 2nd tumbler on our small porch, so I've gone with plan b: I've made a compost harvester out of a 5 gallon bucket and the smallest wire mesh I could find at Home dePot - cut the bottom off the bucket, used screws around the bottom to hold the mesh in place - I hold that over a pillowcase/10 gal smart pot and shake shake shake - the finished stuff falls thru, raw stuff gets dumped back in the tumbler.
Then, just to make sure, that finished compost gets fed to my worms, who take care of depositing their microbially active castings in the soil. (whether in containers or my soil recycling tub)
In my case I have a very large pile that is worked as one mass. Layers of horse shit and straw,pine shavings and kitchen scraps...plus yard debris. Once it reaches a state where most of that material is broke down,I will take about 3/4 of it away from the main pile to rest a while and allow,insect,worm,fungal growth and bacterial colonies to establish a foothold. That finishes it nicely.. while using the remaining 1/4 to continue building more.
Finished compost shouldn't stink...it should smell sweet.
Finished compost shouldn't stink...it should smell sweet.
lostenspace
Member
thanks for the help guys, i am going to try the harvester idea. I have a worm bin also, several comfrey blck#14 on my yard and have been pulling yarrow from the wild here around the area. I am now running a bin for recycling my soil -peat, coco, amends, and vermi. I keep a bale or two of moldy hay for fungal and run a couple of logs for edible mushrooms 
. NW concentrates has always been my friend even before i found IC mag.
what are thoughts on blackberry bushes? those things run rampant and you have to think they have some nutritional value with the ability to propagate so fast and wild.
hopefully, we cross paths so i may shake your hands for all your help and knowledge. My cannabis, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, carrots, garlic all thank you as well.
. NW concentrates has always been my friend even before i found IC mag. what are thoughts on blackberry bushes? those things run rampant and you have to think they have some nutritional value with the ability to propagate so fast and wild.
hopefully, we cross paths so i may shake your hands for all your help and knowledge. My cannabis, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, carrots, garlic all thank you as well.
B
BlueJayWay
finally have some comfrey roots in the mail - horizon herbs.
Im assuming a month or two is long enough for them to get established before regular cold and the threat of snow settles in...
Im assuming a month or two is long enough for them to get established before regular cold and the threat of snow settles in...
IncredibowlBoss
Member
thanks for the help guys, i am going to try the harvester idea. I have a worm bin also, several comfrey blck#14 on my yard and have been pulling yarrow from the wild here around the area. I am now running a bin for recycling my soil -peat, coco, amends, and vermi. I keep a bale or two of moldy hay for fungal and run a couple of logs for edible mushrooms
what are thoughts on blackberry bushes? those things run rampant and you have to think they have some nutritional value with the ability to propagate so fast and wild.
hopefully, we cross paths so i may shake your hands for all your help and knowledge. My cannabis, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, carrots, garlic all thank you as well.
Here's a few shots of my harvester - shouldn't take you more than 10 min to make.
BJW
If you're concerned then use straw as a mulch - cover about 6" or so. No big deal!
CC
Lol.... Was waiting for that....
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YosemiteSam
another somewhat weird question. If you are doing no till how do you marry the soil from the pot you vegged in to the soil in the no till pot?
I have been reusing soil without moving the pot from its flowering position but I chop up the used soil, dig the hole and put the new plant in place then do the donut water deal to marry them. I was thinking about no till and it occurred to me I really don't have a clue how to accomplish it.
I have been reusing soil without moving the pot from its flowering position but I chop up the used soil, dig the hole and put the new plant in place then do the donut water deal to marry them. I was thinking about no till and it occurred to me I really don't have a clue how to accomplish it.
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BlueJayWay
I veg to 1 gal in recycled soil, then transplant into the no-till
containers that never leave the flower room, just like you would make a hole outside to plant in - that's how i do no-till, it's only the flowering stage, otherwise it wouldnt work in a perpetual flower room.
I guess this is where we find out each persons definition of no-till.
Y
YosemiteSam
So basically rip out the main stalk deal, dig a hole and stick the next plant in? Do you put some loose soil between the old and new soils and then water that to marry them...or are you way better at digging holes than me 
The pots we run are either re-amends or no-till...depending on how well the plants did after a cycle.
If they looked like they had zero issues then we consider the next round a no-till cycle,especially if the visible life forms appear to be functioning on a normal level....then we just topdress with a mix of compost/EWC,fish and kelp....or course leaving about 4 to 5 cups worth of space on the top of the 5 gallon pot for the topdress material.
If they looked like the soil ran short on food and the life forms are few and far between,we will dump the pots and re-amend....with whatever amendments my heart desires that has acceptable realistic use in recycled organic living soil on an indoor large scale medical crop where failure is not an option...
If they looked like they had zero issues then we consider the next round a no-till cycle,especially if the visible life forms appear to be functioning on a normal level....then we just topdress with a mix of compost/EWC,fish and kelp....or course leaving about 4 to 5 cups worth of space on the top of the 5 gallon pot for the topdress material.
If they looked like the soil ran short on food and the life forms are few and far between,we will dump the pots and re-amend....with whatever amendments my heart desires that has acceptable realistic use in recycled organic living soil on an indoor large scale medical crop where failure is not an option...
B
BlueJayWay
Well, the old stalk's have never had to be dug out, a couple weeks down time and the stump just pulls right up within a 1/2" from under the soil, so i just dig a little hole with my hands to the size of the 1gal (or whatever) going in and the excess soil from the hole is pushed back in around it, like i'd be doing outside
I am pretty good @ diggin' hoes, I mean holes hehe
I am pretty good @ diggin' hoes, I mean holes hehe
We don't take out the old stalks...they get consumed along with everything else by the soil.
B
BlueJayWay
Shit, there's a few times I wish I knew that FAILURE WAS NOT AN OPTION
but then again, I wasn't runnin' recycled organic living soil @ the time.
B
BlueJayWay
Stalks, stems, leaves, everything that's not finished medicinal product I've been using as mulch for a few runs now, stems work surprisingly well and with such a high tensile strength as the cannabis fiber has, i'm surprised it breaks down as quick as it does.
We dry them and they snap easily into pieces that can be mixed in which compost,topdress material,or just as they are as a 'sort of' mulch.
A pair of heavy duty shears works well also...
You'd think the fibers would stick around longer,but they do get consumed at a faster rate than most would expect.
The soil eats....it's a beast.
GC
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