Living organic soil from start through recycling

[rrog]

Like as in a top-dressing? A little is fine and won't cause a thermophilic reaction at all. But a lot of Alfalfa, etc might release a poopload of N and burn that way.

 

[VortexPower420]

Scrappy4- Just what I was thinking, thanks for the confirmation sometimes I second guess myself. I just gave them enough to cover the soil and keep it moist.

Cann- I am currently using soil I just mixed for my clones. !/3 peat 1/3 perlite 1/3 worm and 1 tsp dolo 1 tsp gypsum 1/2 cup kelp 1 tlbs planters 2 all per gal. I just mixed and used. I watered them with Kelp Aloe, fulvic and protekt and they are the healthiest plants i got going so far. thick white roots and started growing right away. Little transplant shock.

 

[VortexPower420]

rrog- Well i guess top dressing and mulch. I used about 1/2 inch all around the pot, I figure that what I put if you chopped it up and made meal I would take a uneducated guess and say 1/2 cup. now only a small percentage is actually touching the soil surface and with all the large stems and whole leafs it is fluffy, and nice fuzz takes over after watering.
Timbuktu

 

[shmalphy]

Trips are for kids...

Pretty raw unbridled organic symbolism right there in one photo eh...

1962 Marsh Chapel Experiment

http://www.radiolab.org/2012/dec/17/mind-altering-bliss/

 

[xmobotx]

vortex power 420 what i am asserting is just what has been said too much/too green and you risk robbing nitrogen; it sounds like you are aware of this and have applied small amounts and it's still 'strawy' enough that you have plenty of air and space in your mulch

green alfalfa is one of the main things i do use for composting ~here you want it more green

for mulch you want it drier ~ like straw

as long as you see no adverse reaction; carry on ~i would recommend alfalfa hay fro your compost pile and 'finished' amendments for your pots. but; there are as many ways as there are growers

you could always make alfalfa FPE ~essentially you make alfalfa tea and let it sit {w/ the alfalfa in it}for a couple days ~the FPE will be very strong and should be diluted w/ water before applying

my concern w/ the pet store product is that it may have been salted or otherwise treated ~like alfalfa pellets ~idk

for those who may not already know; 'hay' will typically be a grass product w/ {of course} some alfalfa {or clover} there will usually be about 30% alfalfa to grass. horses {for instance} are sensitive to alfalfa and cant eat too much {its been described to me as too 'hot' for them} many horse people get grass hay w/ 'no' alfalfa or clover

 

[EllieGrows]

I would love to read a MM guide to EM1 fermentation!

I make the odd one every now and again. But mostly after i have harvested some flowers to make a soak. I add the EM1 in the hope it works some magic! It sure ferments anyhoos...

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=26103&pictureid=814512View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=26103&pictureid=755573View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=26103&pictureid=572444View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=26103&pictureid=572443View Image

I can't stop ohhing and ahhing at these pictures, very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

 

[OrganicLearner]

Try landscape supply places for drainage/texture amendments. Likely find something, mine carries pumice, calcined de, leaf mold, pine bark fines....

Bulk amendments at usually reasonable prices.

Nice! I never thought about sourcing a landscape company for leaf mold. Thanks for the idea bigshrimp!!

Do you guys know of any lanscape company that has real legit leaf mold and not compost labeled as leaf mold that is able to ship?

Thanks!

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Thanks they are old pics but good ones. I am lucky here to have plenty of blooms all summer long.

Yeah be careful with green alfalfa (lucerne) indoors! I used it as a mulch and it grew a blue mould that started shooting its spores everywhere. NOT HEALTHY!

I like mulching with a bit of coco coir, wormcastings/compost and biochar all mixed together. Really holds moisture/soaks in well, doesnt crust. O yeah and its full of red wrigglers!

 

[think_fast]

do crab meal, neem meal, or kelp meal need to "cook" in the soil? I know there are varying opinions on this. just wondering if they could heat up and potentially cause root damage. anyone done this before?

Are you referring to a top dress or soil mix amendment? The general rule of thumb is anything that isn't composted already (i.e. all the ingredients you mentioned) needs to be composted for a period of time before it is made available to the plant. In low quantities as a top dress you will begin to see (positive) effects in about 1-2 weeks depending on things like moisture level and existing soil bioactivity.

 

[Gascanastan]

TO x DutchGrown's SC99

 

[Weyenot]

LITHOS

There's some 'wheat' among the 'chaff' like any thread so take away from it what you feel is helpful.

CC

Thank you for sharing CC, Im chewing it over right now; Ill be sure to spit out whatever doesnt sit right
I like the Majestic Earth so far but thats just based off of general observations(smelling, poking around and using my peepers etc). The next item on my list after I order some neem meal/oil is a microscope from KIS so I can check out the microcosm Im trying to work with. Ill definitely be looking at the peat in addition to my teas/extracts and anything else I feel like pointing that thing at!
LL(Love&Light)

 

[Weyenot]

I'm not quite understanding what you wrote, i.e. are you saying that the Bocking 14 root pieces were producing leaves before the seeds germinated?

Thank you for taking the time CC; let me explain......
All 12 were root stocks and all of them were producing new roots off of the main part; all of the B14s had a shoot starting out of the top in addition to the new roots. Simply based off of that observation I thought that surely the B14s would break ground first but since the first ones out have been three of the true comfrey that is not the case. I hope that makes more sensegl

I forgot I have some comfrey ( from Horizon ) seeds too!! I should get those going under lights. With all this comfrey I will have plenty to share

 

[Weyenot]

just called a landscape supply company in the area

me: "do you guys carry pumice?"

lady: "ummm......what?"

me: "pumice - its a volcanic rock"

lady: "I have no idea what that is..."


I'm living in a sea of ignorance...


also: do crab meal, neem meal, or kelp meal need to "cook" in the soil? I know there are varying opinions on this. just wondering if they could heat up and potentially cause root damage. anyone done this before?

I have found the lava rock/pumice to be rather scarce around here as well, apart from the little 1/2cuft bags($5 apiece??!!) nobody has any, although a friend has been able to get a nursery to order some for us. Have you checked out any sources for rice hulls or something similar?

 

[VortexPower420]

I thought I might share with the class my recent soil mix because it is preforming wonderfully. I transplanted 8- 9 days ago and they went from sick to beautiful in a short time. I have been giving them kelp/alfalfa teas, alfalfa enzymes, fish emulsion and aloe/ protekt. After last nights foliar of that concoction and a feeding of about the same a few days before few healthiest plants i have ever been lucky enough to be the keeper of.
Anyway back to the mix. I was pressed for time a while ago and got 13 bags of Just Right xtra (http://www.ncwgs.com/product_info.php?&products_id=30- I did not pay that price mind you, no way no how). I thought Ingrahm "helped" make it it must be ok and i was previously using The GO line (with great results but I also amended my soil and used lots of BD stirred compost teas and a heavy foliar regiment) Well it should be called Just WRONG Xtra, It kinda sucks. My buddy bought into it to and he is having major problems. So i put on my thinking cap and came up with a peat/Justright Xtra soil mix. JRX is some of what i would put in a mix so in the end its just more castings (and from what CC says good ones at that from Worm Power in NY) sillica stones,more clay, more humus and more Sul-po-mag. The only thing I would not add is Coco and bone char and those dumb microbe cultures.
I was looking to make a mix that was micro and trace nutrient rich but not alot of N sources to heat up my mix and eat up my Humus supply. I plan on supplying most of my nutrition through alfalfa top-dress/mulch and various teas and fish emulsion. Here goes...
I mixed in a 30 gal tote filled to my best guess 20 gals or so to account for had mixing.
About 1/3 Justright Xtra
1/3 Sphangum Peat moss Greenworld that I got for like 15 bucks for 5.5 Cu ft compressed
1/6 perlite Still have to source cheap hulls of some sort
1/6 worm
That left me with about 20 gals to with I added...(all measurements in per gal of mix)
Crab shell 1 Tlbs
Gypsum 1 Tsp
Dolo 1 Tsp
Cal-Phos 1 Tsp
Sul-po-mag 1 Tsp
Greensand 1 Tlbs
Kelp 1 Tlbs or more kinda just scooped
Alfalfa 1 tsp
Planters 2 1Tlbs
Azomite 1 Tsp

So there is still a lot I would love to source but I am poor and this is what I got. I would love to add some forest duff but it is frozen solid and get rid of my Azomite and get some better clay. I would also in retrospect add more planters 2 (glacial rock dust) or even better I plan on getting some "brix Mix" (local granite rock dusts) and top dressing.
I hope this helps some and if any of my fellow dirt nerds who are wiser then I has any input I would love to here it.
Thanks
Timbuktu

 

[think_fast]

VortexPower420,

Looks like you got some uber nice diversity of ingredients there.

Can't fail with that!

 

[YosemiteSam]

TO x DutchGrown's SC99

View Image

Damn you are harvesting some nice looking buds.

Can I ask what run of no till you are on? At some point do you think you will have to replace what the plants take out?

 

[Gascanastan]

Damn you are harvesting some nice looking buds.

Can I ask what run of no till you are on? At some point do you think you will have to replace what the plants take out?

..are you paying attention here Mr!!!...j/k
90% of this garden was second round no-till. This particular pot that housed that TO x SC99 was not. It was just a ROLS pot that was too small resulting in a touch of premature yellowing from becoming root bound. I used the same unfinished compost on the ROLS pots as the no-till...however the no-tills took it better,and that's no shocker.

Despite the obvious problems associated with polyhybrids of this nature,TO x SC99 will no doubt have some nice plants...I'm pretty jazzed to sample this one~

 

[ORGANICSPUNK]

wow some good info in this thread thanks for everyone who posts great info for us to read

 

[MrSterling]

Jesus fuck there have been a slew of bannings lately. Who the fuck was that guy even.

Could we figure out what exactly cannabis uses out of the soil. What do all the nutrients like P and K go to biologically speaking. Really, when you think about it you're really not getting that much physical mass off a plant.

 

[JoeDudeGuy]

Ten posts and banned... record ?