Cep's Outdoor Odyssey

[Pangea]

I don't need to know what else is in the mix , it doesn't matter.

I've already touched a bit on why.

If you want good compost you need to make it yourself and really manage it ...

It isn't feasible to do for the amount of soil you throw at a full term plant.

Some of mine are in five yards. So I turn to an outfit like worm soil factory for green waste compost blended with worm castings ...but the base is really peat moss , perlite, and lava rock...

Some compost outfits start with mill waste too and call it "forest humus" which is laughable ...

Compost can be a good way to deliver biology and other positive attributes , like increasing water retention...but it can kill you just as easily,

I was wondering when someone would say this, just make your own damn compost and soil, know your inputs and build it to spec. Buy a mighty mike turner and never look back.

We do 4 yard batches of compost per pile which makes 24 or 25 yards of soil depending on strength desired. Two people can shovel turn a pile in 15 minutes, once a day for 15 days before its cooled.

Even if you use a lot of soil you could make it yourself, I know its very doable for two skinny dudes to make and turn by shovel 100 -200 yards of soil in two months(15-20minutes per day).
A big help is some sort of mixer for the initial mix of ingredient.

 

[FatherEarth]

Even if you use a lot of soil you could make it yourself, I know its very doable for two skinny dudes to make and turn by shovel 100 -200 yards of soil in two months(15-20minutes per day).

With shovels? 2 guys 200 yards, 20 min per day? You're gonna have to show me that one..
Hard for me to fathom with shovels.. and only 20 min a day... certainly a health hazard without proper PPE..

 

[Pangea]

Not 200 yards per day, 100-200 in two months. Starting a new 4 yard batch at least once a week. It takes 20 minutes to mix 4 yards of compost, which when finished will be mixed into 24 or 25 yards of soil(that only has to be mixed once) So 4 batches of 4 yards will make 100 yards of soil.

Having to mix 8 or more yards a day by shovel does get tiring, especially when other work loads are heavy. So you could space it out and do a batch at a time, starting a new one every 2 weeks instead of 1. I imagine some folks with nicer climates could make it all winter long too. If you need more than you can process by hand then you should be able to afford a compost turner(15-20K) or a soil mixer(5-15K) which if you had you could be making soil for all your friends too!

 

[growbigeasy]

Diggin the rows. I almost went with em this year but 400 gal pots were easier where I was at. Your property looks really nice in general. I'll be putting up a few pics of mine tonight. Check em out. I'll probably be asking for some advice here and there. Im no novice but you seem well versed.

 

[xmobotx]

a little unfair to pigeonhole "compost" as if all compost is going to bring bowls of K to the table. Luebke & their process is an immediate example of hi-volume compost done proper @ commercial levels. Say for instance, you used waste from plants grown in your normal level K {balanced?} soils such as BYF {for instance} is utilizing. how high is the K going to be in that compost?

We need to recognize this generalization is based on commercial composts whose purpose is to reduce municipal waste & compost sales is a side gig.

We need large scale nursery to step up it's game w/ tested composts available @ truck quantities. That market may be emerging & maybe someone is in a position to cater to it?

It's the same w/ EWC; ~GIGO

 

[CaliGabe]

It's the same w/ EWC; ~GIGO

Totally agree.

 

[Hemphrey Bogart]

BYF, you got me nervous now. I used roughly 1/3 ewc and 2/3 vermifire in all my 20 gallon pots. My plants look very vigorous and healthy so far....

What kind of problems should I expect having used so much ewc in my dirt?

HB.

 

[FatherEarth]

I think it was Cootz who originally said that compost made commercially in the PNW is notoriously high in K..

Any place who sells compost in my area get their compost from one of three sources. All of them make inferior green waste compost and cootz was spot on with his high K labeling.

I cant make enough compost to suit my needs. I go thru about 100 yards annually with an additional 30+ yards of EWC. Im about to reduce that to a third and replace it with an alternative medium we'll see how it goes. ..

 

[FatherEarth]

BYF, you got me nervous now. I used roughly 1/3 ewc and 2/3 vermifire in all my 20 gallon pots. My plants look very vigorous and healthy so far....

What kind of problems should I expect having used so much ewc in my dirt?

HB.

Not to worry unless your K is very high youll be fine. Ive seen a few harvests with high K and they were fine. You just arent going to see the full potential of what could be yield wise. My 2

 

[greentreefarmer]

Sub'd...

thanks for sharing all this great info everyone. I love your style, Cep! The ladies look like they love it, too! GL with the rest of the season.

 

[CaliGabe]

BYF, you got me nervous now. I used roughly 1/3 ewc and 2/3 vermifire in all my 20 gallon pots. My plants look very vigorous and healthy so far....

What kind of problems should I expect having used so much ewc in my dirt?

HB.

Why don't you simply test your soil, post the results and have some peeps review your situation? From that you might get some feedback regarding what your problems may be or maybe it's all good? Test and don't guess. It's like $40...jeez.

 

[Backyard Farmer]

It's been my experience that when you load up too high on castings things people don't even talk about become issues ...one of them being bulk density

 

[Cep]

There is research out there that shows tremendous yield gains in plants grown in pure castings versus conventional soils and controls, but thats probably in nursery pots. I can't remember, but a huge mound or trench of the stuff would be pretty thick.

Anyway, my brix and sap pH are still high. Row one still shows a fuzzy line, with 2&3 showing a sharper line. I'd like to see other pictures of brix readings if people take them. It's not easy but I can take a decent enough photo to see whats going on.

Milky's theory about K levels being too high is worth testing. Given that my soils increase in K ppm from row 1-3 it's fitting that 1 is showing the lowest sap pH (7.0 @ 17 brix) and 3 is showing the highest (7.8 @ 18.5 brix). Row 1 also shows the blurry line while row 3 shows a sharper line.

I've submitted petioles from each row today for analysis. I'll get the results before the week is over. Hopefully they let Milky out of timeout so he can participate in the discussion!

I caught a min pin in the hortinova today. She was digging around for moles or gophers.

Hey LutherBurbank, I've got the infamous sun berry in the garden this year…

 

[milkyjoe]

If I implied all compost was bad...well I was blind but now I see. Check out keystone bio ag greenhouse media. Midwest bio ag systems high compost with really nice albrecht ratios. From PA so shipping sucks but that is what all my starts are gonna get...no higher cost than fox farm/black gold for me. No comparison in quality.

 

[MostWantedGens]

what a funny dawg!

 

[MostWantedGens]

he is chemdawg!

 

[theJointedOne]

one of the reasons i dont like the hortinet,

my neighbor found a antler with horti all tied up in it... prob was driving the dam buck crazy till he shed the horns.

Ive seen deer get fucked up in some hortinet,

that being said , if a grower uses it and disposes of it in a proper manner, it is a great tool

 

[greentreefarmer]

I'm liking the hortinet, too. Mainly bc it's cheap. But I would rather be using remesh for my structural support now that I've had some play time in the field. It's stronger, easier to roll out and place, and best of all is reusable. I see you're using a pretty wide remesh cage with hortinet on top of that, Cep. Is that in preparation for the stretch beyond the cage? I haven't seen the monsters stack yet with my own eyes. I take it that they do need some major support on their outer limbs once the buds start to weigh them down...

Anyways, I'm highly enjoying the show! Thanks for sharing

 

[Cep]

my neighbor found a antler with horti all tied up in it... prob was driving the dam buck crazy till he shed the horns.

I just had a micro daydream about spinning a web of hortinova across a game trail…

People really need to just clean up their stuff when they're done. I don't want to see hortinova becoming the six pack plastic of the woods either.

I'm liking the hortinet, too. Mainly bc it's cheap. But I would rather be using remesh for my structural support now that I've had some play time in the field. It's stronger, easier to roll out and place, and best of all is reusable. I see you're using a pretty wide remesh cage with hortinet on top of that, Cep. Is that in preparation for the stretch beyond the cage? I haven't seen the monsters stack yet with my own eyes. I take it that they do need some major support on their outer limbs once the buds start to weigh them down...

Anyways, I'm highly enjoying the show! Thanks for sharing

Yeah I guess I could be explaining somethings better. I have the 72" wide rolls of netting to work with. The cages I cut are 5' tall X 5' wide with a 12' long piece of hortinova draped evenly over the top. The extra 3-4' on each side will support the sides of the plants as they fill out. I plan to pull out the side drapes as they grow in the next week. I'll take pictures of that when I'm back in town at the end of the month.

 

[FatherEarth]

as requested

as requested

I got a dull line when I didnt have much liquid on the viewfinder, or if it dried up while viewing it starts to get fuzzy. When I have plenty of liquid its dark and sharp. Sometimes I have to tip the refractometer so that the liquid pools in one place on the glass.

A sample was taken from an indoor plant, grown in balanced and amended soil, fed once weekly for 3 weeks an AEA foliar recipe that was gifted to me.
Sap PH 6.2