adding rice to soil mix

R

rckymtnthuglife

Member

• Sep 13, 2011

• #1

Does anyone else do this?? I threw a bag of rice into my soil mix approximately a yard or so of soil.

I've read that fungi like to attach themselves to the rice and call it home. Anyone have any experience doing this???

 

MIway

Registered User

Veteran

• Sep 13, 2011

• #2

high in starch... it would make sense, but that could feed both the good & the bad. interesting. u hitting the soil with bene's i take it? just a note... bene's take very well to soil as is.

 

G

Guest 150314

• Sep 13, 2011

• #3

try buckwheat hulls

 

jaykush

dirty black hands

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Sep 13, 2011

• #4

well first its going to absorb water

then its going to rot

while rotting its going to take up N to compensate for the use of carbon

then its going to be processed into nutrients

then its going to end up in your plants

then your going to smoke it.

i prefer to eat my rice, or make a BIM culture and use those microbes in my soil


that said there is a thread here about using rice flour as a top dressing. by jackthegrower im pretty sure.

 

heady blunts

prescription blunts

Veteran

• Sep 13, 2011

• #5

what kinda rice did you use?

 

big_daddy

Member

• Sep 14, 2011

• #6

rckymtnthuglife said:

Does anyone else do this?? I threw a bag of rice into my soil mix approximately a yard or so of soil.

I've read that fungi like to attach themselves to the rice and call it home. Anyone have any experience doing this???

Click to expand...

I think you might have missed the hulls in what you read. Microorganisms will attach to rice hulls that are in a soil mix. Rice hulls will work as a stand alone aeration amendment, add some silica as they break down and provide anchor points for fungi.

They breakdown slowly, and if you re-use your soil, will be good for 2-3 grows before needing replacement, but at the same time, it lets you know that your other inputs need replacement.

HTH

b_d

 

rrog

Active member

Veteran

• Sep 14, 2011

• #7

Would the function of rice hulls and charcoal (biochar) be the same, then?

 

heady blunts

prescription blunts

Veteran

• Sep 14, 2011

• #8

they're both aeration amendments that also retain water and harbor microbial life.

rice hulls last a little before they fully decompose.

char lasts for 1000s of years.

and then there's rice hull char

 

jaykush

dirty black hands

ICMag Donor

Veteran

• Sep 14, 2011

• #9

Would the function of rice hulls and charcoal (biochar) be the same, then?

Click to expand...

imo no, if it was charred rice hulls it would.

 

C21H30O2

I have ridden the mighty sandworm.

Veteran

• Sep 14, 2011

• #10

wouldn't rice hulls steal nitrogen from the mix? Ive used them before in a raised bed but I don't know if that was wise or note...

 

heady blunts

prescription blunts

Veteran

• Sep 14, 2011

• #11

give em a good old soak in fish hydrolysate and/or nettle/comfrey FPE first

you wanna do that with char too.

 

h.h.

Active member

Veteran

• Sep 14, 2011

• #12

Corn meal makes a cheap fungal food. Spread it like you'd feed the chickens.
Don't worry about it robbing nitrogen. Like miniature sponges, it will soak up some N, but it's really insignificant, especially if done over time..

 

nvthis

Member

• Sep 14, 2011

• #13

I have been using rice hulls for a year now and with the exception of pulling an occasional blade of grass from my pots, it's doing it's job I like the aspect of not sacrificing potential root space with gobs of perlite.

 

RipVanWeed

Member

• Sep 15, 2011

• #14

Yea, I added Rice Hulls to my soil mix last go, also added pumice. Finally dropped the Perlite, always hated that crap!

Tried to char some of the hulls with partial success. Got my eye out for the right kinda container to do it proper. 1st attempt stunk like a wet burning mattress overnight, I tried to extinguish the pile 3 times before I went to bed. Next morning I found plenty of charred hulls.

For charcoal I use the remains from the smokebox in the BBQ. Perfectly charred chips of Hickory, Mesquite, or Apple.

There's been a noticable change in the speed of saturation, yet it does not create "tunnels" to the bottom. I stir EWC and different composts into the water and I can tell the silty slurry doesn't get stranded on top like it does with slower absorbing substrates. Mmmm, quite liking this change. Removed perlite, added rice hulls and pumice 50/50.

This is the beginning of recycling soil for me, tried once before, but my green thumb was not mature enough to handle it. I had too many other changes in other growing factors and had to back up a step or two.

Respect,

 

R

rckymtnthuglife

Member

• Sep 15, 2011

• #15

No misread here on my part. Rice was included (not hulls) in a soil mix recipe from the Rev. His explanation for using it was that it provided a home for fungi.


As far as aerating amendments go I have substituted coco coir chunks for perlite with success. I've been running the same batch of soil for a couple of years now and honestly it seems to keep getting better.

Peace
Rocky

 

mad librettist

Active member

Veteran

• Sep 15, 2011

• #16

i would keep it in the upper layers of soil, the top 30% or so.

i take all the big stems, bury them in EWC, and plant clover on top. Nitrogen robbing is ok, as long as you have a source of N nearby. Keep it to the upper layers and you can address that with top dress.

this is kind of indoor container derivation of Hügelkultur