geneva_sativa
Well-known member
Have used with good results,,, but just been wondering if anyone has any inputs on topdress amounts,,, haven't found any official answers yet
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Topdress Amounts Black Soldier Fly Larvae Frass
- Thread starter geneva_sativa
- Start date
I suppose it depends on how old and big the plants were.
Myself i think it's all about how much microbe life is in your medium and how hungry are they.
They can only eat so much.
I am a big believer in top dressing and use them 3-5 times during the course of a grow.
I have only used that black fly frass once with BAD results.
On babies just germinated I put a pinch of it on the bottom of the cups that i transplanted them into.
In but a day i saw little ones in distress like salt was introduced ,i could only conclude it was the frass.
I took the babies out of the cups of light warrior that had but a small pinch of insect frass on the bottoms and reintroduced them into cups of warrior without the frass and they responded quickly.
I have never tried to use the frass again.
RatZilla
Myself i think it's all about how much microbe life is in your medium and how hungry are they.
They can only eat so much.
I am a big believer in top dressing and use them 3-5 times during the course of a grow.
I have only used that black fly frass once with BAD results.
On babies just germinated I put a pinch of it on the bottom of the cups that i transplanted them into.
In but a day i saw little ones in distress like salt was introduced ,i could only conclude it was the frass.
I took the babies out of the cups of light warrior that had but a small pinch of insect frass on the bottoms and reintroduced them into cups of warrior without the frass and they responded quickly.
I have never tried to use the frass again.
RatZilla
Buckeyebandit
Active member
brendon420
Member
hi,
these things (black solider flies) just inhabited my empty worm bins after a heat wave wiped out the wrigs. i was kind of put off until i read up on their castings and how calcium rich is apparently is.
one difference ive noticed is how they interact with the material they are breaking down. the first time i lifted the lid and saw them and was low key nervous about what i had created. they churn in their own frass, creating way more of a liquid than worm castings come out to be.
they also process material way faster than worms.
mine are located in a tier tower with a spigot at the bottom so thats how i collect what they create. diluting it, i dont get too scientific with it, maybe a cup in a 3 gallon pail.
they are also beneficial to have around for a myriad of reasons. have fun!
these things (black solider flies) just inhabited my empty worm bins after a heat wave wiped out the wrigs. i was kind of put off until i read up on their castings and how calcium rich is apparently is.
one difference ive noticed is how they interact with the material they are breaking down. the first time i lifted the lid and saw them and was low key nervous about what i had created. they churn in their own frass, creating way more of a liquid than worm castings come out to be.
they also process material way faster than worms.
mine are located in a tier tower with a spigot at the bottom so thats how i collect what they create. diluting it, i dont get too scientific with it, maybe a cup in a 3 gallon pail.
they are also beneficial to have around for a myriad of reasons. have fun!
0.5 - 1 tablespoon in one gallon of ewc a couple inches thick. probably equals 1 tablespoon per gallon of soil. Doubt that you could burn the plants but why not make a tea instead?
geneva_sativa
Well-known member
Cheers, guys,,, really appreciate all the responses,,,
some good ideas, tea seems very popular, , ,
and like Ratzilla, I had a crazy experience with OnFrass product when it first came out,,, instructions on my bag said --- 1 cup per GALLON of soil ( should be per cubic foot ),,, oh my, roots were off the hook, crazy, but rest of plant looked suffering,,, contacted them and got straightened out and used later with great results
as far as topdress for BSFL frass,,, seems that sprinkling over the entire root zone seems the only clearish answer I could find from company sites
some good ideas, tea seems very popular, , ,
and like Ratzilla, I had a crazy experience with OnFrass product when it first came out,,, instructions on my bag said --- 1 cup per GALLON of soil ( should be per cubic foot ),,, oh my, roots were off the hook, crazy, but rest of plant looked suffering,,, contacted them and got straightened out and used later with great results
as far as topdress for BSFL frass,,, seems that sprinkling over the entire root zone seems the only clearish answer I could find from company sites
I recently got into this subject when I found them in my compost heap. They looked revolting all wriggling around in a big mass.
So I started reading up on it and it seems there is no need to be revolted at all. They are highly beneficial. The 'flies' actually look more like black wasps, both the flies and the larvae are very hygienic.
So far as well as composting they are providing an excellent chicken feed. I also found a site that advocates them as human food, but I'm going to pass on that for now.
So I started reading up on it and it seems there is no need to be revolted at all. They are highly beneficial. The 'flies' actually look more like black wasps, both the flies and the larvae are very hygienic.
So far as well as composting they are providing an excellent chicken feed. I also found a site that advocates them as human food, but I'm going to pass on that for now.
Interested to learn about their use in IPM?
Please tell us more about the use as ipm.
I heard somewhere that within a few days u can't detect pathogen microorganism in a soliderfly bin. Could this antibiotic effect have negative influence on the soil life?
St. Phatty
Active member
The one time I had millions of maggots to record the SOUND of, I missed the opportunity.
I understand the desire to clean up a revolting mess like that, but it's such a creepy sound - it's worth recording.
Afaik they work in concert with bacillus subtillus, so on the contrary BSF frass is as sought after as worm compost as a soil amendment.
Some sources say you should feed the BSF frass to your red wrigglers before using it in the garden.
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Teaspoon to tablespoon (depending on pot size) in a ring where the plant meets the soil. It was suggested to me that proximity stimulates SARS. I haven't done a side by side but I notice less problems / better expression when I maintain it as a practice.
Okay certainly makes sense if bacillus subtilis is involved.
I had really good result using this frass in a veggie garden, I have yet to try it on cannabis.
It really is incredible how they manage to reduce volume of food source in such a short time, usually couple days. I have a burlap sack covering my bin it started disintegrating and decomposing, beautiful white mushrooms sprung up all over it.
It really is incredible how they manage to reduce volume of food source in such a short time, usually couple days. I have a burlap sack covering my bin it started disintegrating and decomposing, beautiful white mushrooms sprung up all over it.
