Lets compost

[foescan]

quick question..lets say i start a compost pile or bin outside, which we know attracts lots of bugs, wouldnt that bring lots of pests into the growroom if mixed into your soil etc..?

This is exactly why I don't use homemade compost in my soil mixes, or indoors at all. Any more that is. It's taken me a long time to get rid of fungus gnats and spider mites, and I will never chance it again. So I suck it up and buy worm castings for indoor soil mixes. I'll get around to a worm bin eventually.

I do use my compost for teas, but I'm pretty careful about using well-aged, compost and make sure it's a healthy tea.

In my outdoor garden, everything gets a thick layer of compost.

 

[quadracer]

I don't know where you are from, but where I live oaks don't keep their leaves in the winter.

There are many types of Oak that are evergreen, especially along the coast. Coast Live Oak is a good example.

Even still, there are lots of dead leaves that form a duff and there should be no problem finding some for a compost pile. Just be careful not to hurt mushroom mycelium which may be hiding in the duff.

 

[apep]

What if you ferment the oak leaves first with lacto b. It took forever for mine to break down even when shredded.

Homemade compost activator 1 cup of ammonia and 1 can of beer.

 

[bakelite]

I don't know where you are from, but where I live oaks don't keep their leaves in the winter.

I wasn't aware that some Oaks dropped their leaves. In Massachusetts Oaks keep most of their leaves well into the winter.

 

[mad librettist]

in any case - whenever they fall, they take forever to break down and are the last choice for earthworms

 

[jaykush]

lol your all going about it wrong. worms for oak leaves lol.

oak leaves are FUNGAL FOOD! go into an oak forest with lots of forest duff you wont find many worms. youll find tons of mycelium and mushrooms though.

pile them up in a round mesh bin or a pit, innoculate with BIM culture, or broken up local mushrooms. keep wet. feel free to add chopped wood and small branches/twigs.

 

[mad librettist]

yup Jay, sounds perfect. The high lignin is why worms avoid those. I'm thinking of broken suburban forests that have lots of worms AND lots of oaks that lose their leaves. The worms are absolutely surgical about removing everything but the oak leaves.


I just picked up a bag of the fanciest compost ever. It came in two varieties: bacterial and fungal dominated. The bacterial stuff is the wormy stuff, and IMO the best thing for cannabis.

Jay likes to give fungal stuff and if it works for him it would probably work well for me too.

 

[jaykush]

I just picked up a bag of the fanciest compost ever. It came in two varieties: bacterial and fungal dominated. The bacterial stuff is the wormy stuff, and IMO the best thing for cannabis.

the fanciest compost ever was the stuff humboldtlocal used last year. it had all kinds of shit in it like ground up dinosaur fossils lol. expensive as shit too.

 

[mad librettist]

I think this stuff is officially the fanciest. It comes from a Rockefeller estate in Westchester, NY.

 

[The Revolution]

LOL ground up dinosaur fossils..

 

[The Revolution]

Getting my compost pile heaped up in the garden now for spring planting. Soils kinda hard and clay, so Im adding a lot of leaves n grass clippings for the base, brought some nice soil in from the forest to throw on top, with some bucket loads of rotten logs I found, Been adding food scraps and worms as I collect em. Gta get some alfalfa meal to throw over the whole thing.

 

[Mikell]

Seems rather pointless without any dinosaur fossil

 

[The Revolution]

haha, "can I get s'more Dinosaur fossils over here". Gna check ebay for T-rex turds, and petrified pterodactyl droppings.

 

[Mikell]

Wait, if oil is made from highly degraded dinosaurs, why not just put the chicken before the egg and use gasoline?

 

[Antrim]

Anybody have any ideas to keep a compost pile going year round? I live pretty far North and just bought a new place and I'm hoping to have some good compost ready for Spring. My only idea is to start one in a plastic kiddie pool in the garage with a few oil heaters around it. Any better ideas?

 

[thatonedude]

put it in a large woodframe. stack bales of straw around the perimeter, then add lots of green to it just before it gets cold and toss a tarp over the top. it will stay hot even in sub zero temps. when it starts cooling off add more green.

 

[thatonedude]

green can be hard to find in the winter. I would try and buy a big bale or two of alfalfa to add to it when needed

 

[710420]

Worms eating compost makes vermicompost?

 

[710420]

Anyone?

 

[thatonedude]

yes