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Shmalphy's Perpetual Organic Garden

shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
the calcium phosphate can be made from oyster, crab, or lobster shells too. It works UNBELIEVABLY. Just spray it when you go into flowering once (that is all I do anyway, maybe I could benefit form using it more?) and watch them explode.

Bionutrients are great, I use that as a way to use produce that I have that is starting to go bad. The lacto B really takes care of any odors, I have even done asparagus, and it was bearable. I also look for foods that need to be peeled, like nuts (salt free) fruits and veggies (organic), so I can use the scraps to make a brew with.

Of course, I got to a point where I had made way more than I could ever use, since it is so cheap, easy and free, but that is fine, my yard looks great now!
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
here is Gil's recipe
Calcium Phosphate

A lot of agriculture advisers have used calcium phosphate for better plant growth, health, pest and disease controls. Natural farmers use this very specific bionutrient. Under the theory of Nutrioperiodism developed by a Japanese horticulturist, Yasushi Inoue in the 1930’s, plants and animals need a very specific nutrient relative to the stage of their development. In the plant, there is the essential vegetative growth , changeover and the reproductive periods. In animals, like humans, there is the infantile, juvenile and adulthood. It is not only critical to provide the right nutrient at the right stage of the development, but also critical to use or apply specific nutrient of calcium phosphate in the juvenile or changeover period. For the plant, for example, we know that nitrogen is critical on the vegetative stage as potassium is critical in the flowering and fruiting stages. It is however, the changeover period that is most critical that will determine the quality of the final reproductive stage. At this stage, an additional nutrient is badly needed by the plant. And this is calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate is good for plants’ “morning sickness”. It is the stage that additional baby needs to be fed or the process where flower/fruit is about to come. Ash made from soybean stems are excellent for this purpose.

Here is a simple, natural method of generating calcium phosphate. Get eggshells and roast them enough to generate some good ashes. Afterwhich, dip these roasted eggshells on about equal visual volume of vinegar. Allow it to sit for a couple of weeks until eggshells are practically broken down by the vinegar acids. You may use this diluted 20 parts water and can be sprayed or watered to the plants during the changeover period.

When this is applied to that changeover period, it will improve plant health and productivity. The use of calcium phosphate is important to natural farmers. This however, does not mean that we shall forget the nutrient timing application of other critical nutrients for plant growth both macro and micro nutrients, given at the right stages and combinations.

We consider this very important bionutrient needed by the plants used by natural farmers
Click to expand...
 
S

SeaMaiden

Very cool, thanks. I'm actually doing an extraction right now, but I first did an acetic acid extraction by freezing and thawing, then collecting the concentrated acetic acid. I have a jar of eggshells sitting by the window right now! At what rate do you use your concoction? Mine's about 1oz/gal applied as a foliar.
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
I put about an ounce into 20oz water as per Gil's recipe. I get no ill effects at that strength.

I roasted my shells in the oven, and it started to STINK so I just soaked em even though they weren't very ashy yet, and it works great, but next time I am going to roast them on the grill outside, and get more ash from it, and I think it will be even stronger.
 
wildgrow

wildgrow

, The Ghost of
Veteran
Thanks Shmalphy. Changed your avatar, eh? Jerry throttling trey? Giving him the come-uppence. Thats funny. I liked the other one though. He looked thoughtful, introspective and would bust your as if you stepped foot on his land. cheers
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

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Veteran
My old avatar was a screenshot from the movie "End of the Road: The Final Tour '95" (Which used to be available on YouTube for free, but now they want to charge you $3.95 to see it, lame)

They were interviewing someone and this guy was in the background (way spun out) and they asked him if he had anything to say, and he just stared off into the distance. They did this close up of him, and I was like, I know that feeling" LOL so my friend said, "that would make a great avatar" and it stuck.
 
S

SeaMaiden

shmalphy said:
I put about an ounce into 20oz water as per Gil's recipe. I get no ill effects at that strength.

I roasted my shells in the oven, and it started to STINK so I just soaked em even though they weren't very ashy yet, and it works great, but next time I am going to roast them on the grill outside, and get more ash from it, and I think it will be even stronger.
Click to expand...

It's been a couple of years since I've read about roasting/burning the eggshells. I can't remember what occurs, chemically. What's the reason for roasting/burning the shells? I just crushed mine and put 'em into the acetic acid. No disasters, but after several days it's still very bubbly and pushing bits of crushed shell out from under the lid.
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
I think it has to do with the phosphate part of it, but I am no chemist. I just associate phosphorous with ashes.
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
I wanted to update the list of ammendments I have been using, mainly so I can keep track of it all.

I have had incredible success with alfalfa tea. I got a big 25lb bag of horse feed pellets, and I soak 1/2 cup in 1/2 gallon of water for a few days and apply foliar and as a soil drench. Each gallon cost me pennies, for $13 I have at least 3 years supply. It causes explosive growth that you have to see to beleive. I add this to vegging plants, and thru the stretch.

Aloe is great as a rooting liquid and general plant tonic and soil conditioner. I take a whole leaf and blend it in water. I mix it until it is a light color, like chinese restaurant tea, same as all my teas.

I started growing my own stinging nettle, and yes it really does sting. I got seeds online very cheap, and they took awhile but all germinated. I have made a fermented plant extract with it by brewing it in a glass jug with brewer's airlock and apply as a foliar and soil drench, and I plan to use it in my compost, and dry the leaves for use as a soil amendment.

I got a comfrey plant that is growing huge leaves, I use that the same as the nettle, but it is also a good mulch/ green manure.

I am growing lavender, thyme, basil, lemon basil, cilantro, and a few types of mint for use as pest control sprays. I blend them and soak 24-48 hours and apply as a foliar. I have been drying these as well as rose petals and rose leaves for teas through the winter.

In addition to using eggshells for my calcium phosphate, I have also been adding lobster shells to my bokashi bin for additional CaCo3 and chitin. I started a worm bin to feed the bokashi to, as it it is getting very rich an sludgy and needs to be broken up. It should make fantastic EWC with the biochar and granite stone dust I have added to it.

I have built a bin for leaf mold to mulch with, just waiting for the leaves to fall. I have been using straw, but since I ran out it has been just bokashi and leaf litter for mulch, which works in a pinch but not as well as the leaf mold.

Adjacent to the leaf bin is 3 other bins, one has finished potting soil with worms, which are migrating into the compost bin, which once that is full, I will start another compost bin in the 4th bay. The worms are can work their way through the whole thing as they please, and I just empty as needed. The whole thing is made of used shipping pallets, and cost me nothing to assemble, and should fill most of my soil needs for years to come while processing all my kitchen and yard waste.
 
T

Toes.

Heya Shmalphy! Great info on the Calcium Phosphate...

I have some roasted eggshells in some apple cider vinegar right now! I roasted the shells at 450* for about 4 hours... Luckily, the oven I used has an enormous hood exhaust system which took care of the stink pretty good. It didn't produce much ash though...

I can get plenty of shells. I've got many times to try to get it right. I'll try to take it up to 500* next.

The shells this time still had plenty of egg viscous left in them. I wonder if I should rinse that out next time?

Thanks for the info, you have a great looking set up.
SCRoG on brutha...
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
Even without much ash, I can say the results were impressive. I made a second batch and added the eggshells left from the first batch... double strength? We will see.

I save all my eggshells in the oven, it has a pilot light so it dries them really well. If not for that, I would rinse them so you don't have mini petri dishes.
 
J

JCChronic

Member
I just started some CP two nights ago, I got some blackened parts but, not ash and they smashed up real easy. When I applied the vinegar the center of the pool bubbled for about a minute or so.
So in a week or two I can add a teaspoon of the vinegar to a liter of water and spray the plants?
 
T

Toes.

500* for 4 hours didn't do as well as 600* for 2 hours... which generated some pretty good ash.
I don't need to cook anymore eggshells for a while now, Shmalphy... the gallon of ashes/char should last me a while.

have you fed this to plants in mid flower? I'm showing signs of a Ca def. on my outdoor plants.

Shift gears...

here is one of my favorite modern garden hybrid roses... it's called the Bebop and it's by Weeks (cv. WEKsacsoul 2004)
picture.php

picture.php


this one I've had for 4 years... when it's happy the flowers bloom in clusters similar to a hydrangea... a really big ball.
 
S

SeaMaiden

shmalphy said:
Even without much ash, I can say the results were impressive. I made a second batch and added the eggshells left from the first batch... double strength? We will see.

I save all my eggshells in the oven, it has a pilot light so it dries them really well. If not for that, I would rinse them so you don't have mini petri dishes.
Click to expand...
I queried a chemistry guy on another forum, and it looks like you don't have to go through the process of burning the eggshells to get at the Ca you're after (I'm after, at least).

My distilled vinegar gives me this:
CaCO3+ 2H+ -> Ca+2 + H2O +CO2

I crushed mine, next time I'll simply put them in the spice mill and grind them.
 
shmalphy

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
"The main ingredient in eggshells is calcium carbonate (the same brittle white stuff that chalk, limestone, cave stalactites, sea shells, coral, and pearls are made of). The shell itself is about 95% CaCO3 (which is also the main ingredient in sea shells). The remaining 5% includes calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate and soluble and insoluble proteins"

I think it is the calcium phosphate which requires the ashing process. My thinking is that wood chips are not a good source of phosphate, but wood ash is.
 
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