What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Did I fuck up by using too much insect frass for my organic soil mix?

Hello to everyone,

For this round I had plenty of Ecothrive Charge https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ecothrive-Biostimulant-Additive-nutrient-Hydroponics/dp/B079MF9BX9/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ecothrive+charge&qid=1605031481&sr=8-1 and because of its balanced ratio (3-2-3 N-P-K) I decided to use it as the amendement with the highest quantity among the rest. Due to its low NPK content I used 3 cups per/7.5 gallons of soil. I also used guano, a little bit of kelp meal and an organic fert for vegetables.

Now I'm wondering if this was the wise thing to do due to the potential breakdown of chitin to chitosan? Worrying about excessive concentrations of chitosan and subsequent herming/reduction of yield. Any opinions guys? Thank you.
 

robotwithdreams

Active member
Veteran
Nothing to worry about. I love using insect frass. As long as your soil is well balanced the frass should not cause issues. It helps with explosive root growth and if your media is conducive to it , amazing fungal growth. In flower i have only used it gently.
 

thailer

Active member
i wouldn't worry about herms from chitosan. i've never heard of that. however, i personally think that is a little heavy handed of application at 3 cups per cuft, but i suppose it could be just fine.
 

redlaser

Active member
Veteran
Have to say it is a lot according to what’s recommended, which is 1/4-1/2 cup per cubic ft of soil, which is same as 7.5 gal soil. The added organic fert, guano and kelp would add to that. Sounds like it’s 6 times as high as it should be on the frass alone.
Could try a plant and see how it goes, or dilute it with more peat and drainage material
 
Thank you for the replies guys.

@robotwithdreams: Your text is reassuring! I have definitely made sure that my soil is well balanced. Proper amounts of worm castings, inoculating regularly with Trichoderma and liquid humus etc. What is the biggest amount of frass you have used?

@thailer: I think herming is mentioned in the Chitosan thread in Icmag.I added that much because of its low NPK value. In the top 1 gallon of the pot I haven't used the mix I made. Used Biobizz All Mix soil in order to give plenty of time to the mix to "cook". By the time roots of the plants cover that 1 gallon, 3-4 weeks will have passed.

@redlaser: I used minimum amounts of the rest of the fertilizers. Like 1/5 cup of guano, 1/4 of veggie fertilizer, 1/7 of kelp meal per 7.5 gallons. It's not that much if you consider the low NPK values of the frass and the minimum amounts of the rest of the ferts. All in all they amount to something like 3,5 cups/7.5 gallons. I have put their pots in the plants already so we will see how it goes. The top 1 gallon of soil was Biobizz All Mix soil and not my mix.
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top