Living organic soil from start through recycling

[MissGreenDreamz]

Doesn't matter

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yeah just make sure your rice wash is nice and stinky and it will be all good

 

[shmalphy]

I don't think it matters, the bacteria grow in the rice water, the milk provides lactose as a food source so the lactic acid bacteria take off and other bacteria die.

 

[Gascanastan]

Word just in from a local dispenz saying that the Nigerian x BMR (Nigerian Sunshine) is their #1 herb in demand for relieving P.T.S.D. as reported by military veterans.

Here's the lady's test results.. I'm positive the overall %'s are higher than tests shown...I'd like to see 3 tests on the same type.

http://analytical360.com/m/expired/7824

 

[E.C. Organics]

Gascanastan I am using your mix recipe this go around and so far the bins have been 'cooking' for 11 days. My plants however are ready to transplant from 1 to 3 gallon containers to continue to veg until ready for 5 gallon containers. I went to mix in the perlite because I really need to transplant but when I was mixing the most god awful smell came from this stuff. It smells like a sewer and soil lol. Still kind of smells like the awful fish meal smell but it is not as bad.

Will this burn the hell out of my plants? Should I just let them get root bound and wait another week?

 

[E.C. Organics]

Just wanted to come back and say it officially smells like the landfill where I got my compost. A little less worried now and makes sense. The soil looks absolutely fantastic just smells very bad.

 

[Gascanastan]

Gascanastan I am using your mix recipe this go around and so far the bins have been 'cooking' for 11 days. My plants however are ready to transplant from 1 to 3 gallon containers to continue to veg until ready for 5 gallon containers. I went to mix in the perlite because I really need to transplant but when I was mixing the most god awful smell came from this stuff. It smells like a sewer and soil lol. Still kind of smells like the awful fish meal smell but it is not as bad.

Will this burn the hell out of my plants? Should I just let them get root bound and wait another week?

Let it cook man~

You can transplant into it early...but I would not advise it. There are uncomposted dried amendments that still need some time decomposing with soil organisms and fungi. It has the capability to burn still,but also maybe not...drop a clone into a test pot and see if she flies...if she doesn't show any tip burn after a few days your proly good to go with the rest.

In the case of your plants being rootbound.....set up some standard issue rectangular black drainage trays and fill them with a layer 1 inch thick of high quality EWC. Set the pots onto this bed of EWC and that should make the roots happy until transplant. Water the bed of EWC lightly...enough to moisten the EWC and encourage the roots to seek out the material.

Make sure you adjust for proper drainage,adding enough aeration components to make up for the often muddy texture of topsoil,EWC,and/or compost...that's up to you depending on how the mix looks and feels after mixing.


Remember that with this initial mix some types may be somewhat finicky to this fresh new soil mix that hasn't been put through the recycling paradigm of living soil yet,especially sativa's. After the first couple runs it just gets easier and the soil keeps getting much much better.

 

[BlueJayWay]

^^^^ I notice the neem meal seems to definitely add an unpleasant odor as it starts to "cook." Sometimes I think i should let it sit quite a while longer, but the plants haven't complained...

 

[Gascanastan]

After a while I've come to appreciate the smell of neem seed meal...It doesn't stick around long....sort of smells like coffee.

 

[Neo 420]

I love the smell of néem, crab and fish meals......

Thank goodness the smells do leave after a few days.

 

[Gascanastan]

Wholesome goodness....like grandpa's huntin' cabin in the U.P.

 

[BlueJayWay]

Neem seed meal tea = whole house odor control

 

[Seandawg]

I love the smell of néem, crab and fish meals......

Thats a sign of a true organic gardener lol.

 

[Durdy]

So i called a brewery near by today about rice hulls. They do use them in their process but there mixed with the barley and oats and what not. I figure this would be fine to mix into the soil all together but just wanted to double check, thanks in advance!

 

[Seandawg]

So i called a brewery near by today about rice hulls. They do use them in their process but there mixed with the barley and oats and what not. I figure this would be fine to mix into the soil all together but just wanted to double check, thanks in advance!

Why not compost it?

 

[BlueJayWay]

The rice hulls, as an aeration amendment, would be preferably uncomposted to start with in the soil mix. Depending on how much "other stuff" is mixed with the rice hulls, I might compost it and find something else or a different source for aeration, if its mostly rice hulls I might just use it.

I've only used "fresh" rice hulls, a huge compressed bail for $30 lasts me awhile, so I'm not sure what the texture of "spent" rice hulls are anyways...

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The organic straws that I used for the first compost piles for this year have finished the 'heat ramp' deal and are going to be loaded into large SmartPots and moved into the garage to cure until next spring. I'm really happy with the whole process this time around. The borage, comfrey, yarrow and alfalfa definitely did their job on getting thing moving with the carbon sources. I have enough garden material to do another 2 c.y. pile and I just need to pick-up a couple more straw bales. I checked today and they still have oat, wheat and rye straw - certified organic.

Then last week CT Guy (Keep It Simple Farm and KIS Organics) called and told me about a fish compost (certified organic) that they are offering and at a really good price!! He is using it in some of the worm bins as feedstock. This is black compost. Not brown. Black. There is absolutely no fish smell at all - just the smell of well made compost.

Then on Saturday I went to my regular organic farm store to pick-up a fairly large order and they had several pallets of the biodynamic compost from California - Malibu Biodynamic Compost. They just started carrying it and their price was $16.50 which is less money than the price charged buying it direct out of California and you still have to factor the shipping charges. Moving single pallets out of California into Oregon isn't cheap because it's just too much trouble for most carriers. The local price (before any discounts) is very fair given the quality of this compost, IMHO

I think that I'm set on humus materials for the next several months even without the worm castings I've accumulated that will be applied to the raised beds after the rain season is over - whatever that means in the PNW.

Just a reminder that CT Guy carries the neem & karanja oils & meals from Neem Resource (The Ahimsa Foundation) and he's able to be more flexible on pack sizes on the meals which is a nice benefit. I like using a mix of neem & karanja meals/cakes. "Just because"

CC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

^^^^ I notice the neem meal seems to definitely add an unpleasant odor as it starts to "cook." Sometimes I think i should let it sit quite a while longer, but the plants haven't complained...

The first neem meal that I used was from Down-To-Earth and I used the suggested application rate printed on the box which was something like 3 or 4 CUPS per 1 c.f. of potting soil. Where they pulled that number from is anyone's guess.

All that you could smell in the rooms was this wet neem meal - it was overwhelming. No ill effects on the plants during the veg or flower cycles and the final product was not impacted at all but the smell was a bit much.

Eventually I found better information and now I use 1/2 CUP to each 1 c.f. of potting soil though I do add small amounts on a regular basis to the worm bins but nothing approaching the original information I was working with.

CC

 

[Seandawg]

The first neem meal that I used was from Down-To-Earth and I used the suggested application rate printed on the box which was something like 3 or 4 CUPS per 1 c.f. of potting soil. Where they pulled that number from is anyone's guess.

Lmao, im sorry but i couldnt help but laugh. Really, where did they come up with that kind of number? Lol

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The dudes in marketing I would imagine since they don't have an actual scientist on staff.

Or anything remotely close......