Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[ClackamasCootz]

"However, by their capacity to carry spores of mycorrhizal fungi and mycorrhiza-helper bacteria on their tegument, soil springtails play a positive role in the establishment of plant-fungal symbioses and thus are beneficial to agriculture. They also contribute to controlling plant fungal diseases through their active consumption of mycelia and spores of damping-off and pathogenic fungi. It has been suggested that they could be reared to be used for the control of pathogenic fungi in greenhouses and other indoor cultures"

The horror!!

 

[dreadlock]

lol that makes allot more sense.. way past my bed time, thanks once again! good times & good night gents.. talk soon

 

[vonforne]

Also something that they don´t mention is that the springtails aerate the substrate by their burrowing.

Has anyone looked at their containers at the end of a cycle? For me it is a practice. It helped me see root development and many other things.

 

[dreadlock]

Also something that they don´t mention is that the springtails aerate the substrate by their burrowing.

Has anyone looked at their containers at the end of a cycle? For me it is a practice. It helped me see root development and many other things.

interesting thought. I normally just take a quick look at the end.. taking note of how roots fill up, a part from root development what else would be noticeable?

would it be safe to assume that springtails also use up oxygen if in big numbers?

 

[MedicalGrower]

Just a random tought that passed thru my head:

A - Does the discard material from my vaporizer (Vaped up to 215-230 deg. C) have any of the qualities of biochar? I remember that biochar is burned at low temps without oxigen.
B - How can I use the discards from the vape best in my soil?

Thanks!

I cook with mine...
Makes for some great night time sleep aid.
Probably works well in the soil also.
mg

 

[xmobotx]

would it be safe to assume that springtails also use up oxygen if in big numbers?

while it seems a worthy consideration; sometimes these kinds of 'wont this thing use the stuff my plant needs' considerations lead back to a monocrop/herbicide ~even NPK 'thinking' which leads away from 'living soil'

*edit; o i forgot this was organics 4 beginners/i guess i m a little out of context here

 

[dreadlock]

thanks for clearing it up. their starting to grow on me as each day goes by now.. won't pay too much attention to it.

 

[vonforne]

interesting thought. I normally just take a quick look at the end.. taking note of how roots fill up, a part from root development what else would be noticeable?

would it be safe to assume that springtails also use up oxygen if in big numbers?

Insects......as you now know. How the roots develope, how the soil mix you used looks at the end of the cycle......telling you if you need more organic matter and less aeration or visa versa.

The springtails will increase the amount of oxygen to the plant not take it away.

V

 

[dreadlock]

valid point..mind is still stuck in coco/hydro! can see it being very useful for organics i'm sure many practice the same method, would only seem wise too..

 

[Tamjee]

leftover guano tea material

leftover guano tea material

What do you guys do with the leftover material after making your guano teas?

 

[greenmatter]

^^^ worm bin/outdoor beds

 

[Mr Jay]

I don't understand, leftover material?

I use all of mine. If it doesn't get used as a top dressing then I compost it.

 

[Fluxcap]

Any one care to critique my mix before I star planting?

I have a 3 cubic feet consisting of
5 parts coco
2.5 parts per lite
2.5 parts worm casing.

I've mixed in GH subculture M, and two cups of Happy frog fruit and flower fertilizer.

My goal is to plant rooted clones directly into the medium then flower. I predict I will be lacking ca/mg. Any thoughts?

 

[Tamjee]

The leftover material after making guano tea. I use a tea bag to hold the dry guano and castings, let it bubble for a time and afterward I am left with this gunky poop like blob of well, poop. I don't want to top dress my ladies but was wondering if there was a better use for this stuff other than the toilet.

So you say compost it, put it back in the worm bin, maybe top dress outside plants? Thanks for you help.

 

[Tamjee]

Any one care to critique my mix before I star planting?

I have a 3 cubic feet consisting of
5 parts coco
2.5 parts per lite
2.5 parts worm casing.

I've mixed in GH subculture M, and two cups of Happy frog fruit and flower fertilizer.

My goal is to plant rooted clones directly into the medium then flower. I predict I will be lacking ca/mg. Any thoughts?

You can add dolomite lime. It provides both Ca and Mg as well as keep the pH around 7. The coco is pH neutral but the lime can still be used as a CalMag source. There are other sources of these nutrients, I have just been using dolomite lime with good results (i also use peat moss as my substrate, it is easier to get where I am than coir but if I had my choice I would switch to coir).

 

[Tamjee]

So I need a clarification on the guano tea/casting tea recipes. On page 1 of this post, Recipe #3 the guano tea recipe, it says that to make EWC tea as well as the veg and flowering guano tea you use a concentration of 1 teaspoon/gallon of Black Strap Molasses. No problems here. However, later in the article these same recipes are changed to 1 tablespoon of Black Strap Molasses.

The quantities are rarely written out completely (i.e. tablespoon versus teaspoon) and you will most likely find them written as

5 tsp. (teaspoon) or 5 tbs. (tablespoon).

So which is it, 5 tsp. or 5 Tbsp of black strap per gallon? I have used both and they seem both to work but would still like some clarification.

 

[nachoconqueso]

Wow to the OP and contributors. This thread is a gold mine of organic growing information. I'm switching from hydro to the soil less mix #1 with recipe #1. I feel like this with blumats can really get me going more hands free and give a more quality product. Is there any difference in yield or quality between all these different nutrient recipes that have been presented?

 

[greekgardner]

ive always used 1 tablespoon per gallon of blackstrap..................

 

[jaded1]

Any one care to critique my mix before I star planting?

I have a 3 cubic feet consisting of
5 parts coco
2.5 parts per lite
2.5 parts worm casing.

I've mixed in GH subculture M, and two cups of Happy frog fruit and flower fertilizer.

My goal is to plant rooted clones directly into the medium then flower. I predict I will be lacking ca/mg. Any thoughts?

Flux,that mix will def need some cal/mag.

I would also drop some of the perlite and coco and add more castings and some top-soil.Your mix will work but found that mix dries too quickly and end up having to water 2x a day in flower.

 

[MrSterling]

Nacho dig further from here to some of the newer threads. There is nothing wrong with the old recipe but I believe we've simplified and improved on things in the past couple years