[dank.frank]

And yes, that Alpha D F2 was just an amazing run for sure. Phillthy is an artist.








I go back and drool over his albums and review his thread often...



dank.Frank

[moses wellfleet]

Ha ha touché

Yes those are the exact pictures I was referring to. I always say that true art is created by nature and phillthy has made that point perfectly!!

[Slipnot]

Originally Posted by moses wellfleet

Ok understood. No I want to follow your mix exactly. Anyway I have access to some great dirt outdoors in a pine forest I know of. When you say coir, are you talking about the 5kg blocks of coconut fibre that you soak in water to loosen. I can get those but they come with residual calcium nitrate from the rinsing process to remove salts. Would the calcium nitrate be a problem I can rinse it more?

I personally stay away from meals , coir etc being true organic one should look for organic compounds from there geological area with that said .
i tend to use common house hold waste as in compost bin ,, old leafs raked up in fall , vegetable waste, grass trimmings, fish bones etc, And even used fats
The real goal is having Humus , Completely finished compost ) that is done decaying, meaning it can no longer be broken down
That is the real goal by having true humus which has a abundance of microbes , and available nutrients .. for your soil

What we really need to address is the lengths of time in which any amendment becomes available to crops..
for instance kelp meal ??? it can take several weeks to months before its available for plants . For instance my first pic is 6 week old seeding in several weeks or months this Pant is going to be a TREE i cannot wait for nutrients to become available
In many growers styles this could mean plants are almost done before kelp did any good
We have to realize some amendments take more time then others .. And what you are really wanting to accomplish,
The organic grower's primary concern is building a complex soil structure to support crops year after year and finish crops
Kelp helps in the long term run, and has many micro nutrients. But you should be aware the micro nutrient traces are really in rather extremely low amounts ..

Now even though many go out and get amendments try to build a organic soil that contains 2 - 1 carbon ratio we have to remember its man made product not even close to real mother natures concept of her Soil food web process we add and cut corners ??
Its trial and error and for some can take years to perfect ..

We also have to realize that what one person uses as soil may not be good in your situation being it geological area latitude weather conditions or just plain bad quality of soil in your area
So there are some really important things to consider one being if growing indoor and what we see today aphid issues , or some pest causing termoil

What is better starting out sterilized soil and building a live soil or just having issues by just blindly making a soil and dealing with insects , aphids, mites , gnats ???
Growing indoor our out door determines the route you should take ..
Step one Becoming a organic grower you need a compost bin plain and simple there are 1000's of videos on how to start one.
step 2 you need worms either purchase worms or go digging you can even find worms on sides of roads after rain fall . or just go buy 3 - 4 cans of worms that are in live bait sections at your local gas stations or fishing supply center .
trust me 2 pounds of worms in a couple of months can become 5 - 10,000 worms its amazing how fast they actually reproduce in the right climate with rich food source
once you got all this up and going good its simple i use juicer to mix vegetable wastes into worm bins

So adding eggs , vegetables , coffee grinds leaf matter , water and some soil into compost bin your on your way to building a soil simple with out any of these fancy amendments people are using on here ..
No need for it if you really get scientific google every organic matter you put in your bin figure out the values of micro and macro nutrients , It will give you a ball park figure of what NPK your compost is mind you its a guesstimate..

Everything takes time so even when you start to mix compost to new soil allow 2 - 3 weeks for ph adjustment and the micro colonies to establish them selfs in there new surroundings

its rather really easy instead of hot soil mixes
Its only us that makes it difficult.. keep it simple 2 - 1 ratio 2 bags of sterilized soil to 1 bag of your live finished humus compost make a tea to add to soil this will activate everything monitor ph as microlife start to colonize chemical changed occur and ph usually stabilizes usually 3rd week its perfect plant and walk away

Top dress with fresh grass clippings this helps in keeping soil moisture as well as slowly leach into soil ,, when you start entering bloom stage change up the mulch to potato peels with grass clippings your plants will love you for it that is how i do it

i make my 2 - 1 soil with my finished compost ( Year old ) with worms ,, place in my bed or area where i plan to grow leave soil alone for 2 - 4 weeks what i observed this year when i went to transplant as i dug my hole there were worms everywhere that also came to take up home naturally from surrounding area

[dank.frank]

Compost in that manner is a great addition for the 3 gallon soil component in the potting mix recipe being discussed...



dank.Frank

[moses wellfleet]

d.f do you recommend drainage medium at the bottom of containers for the soil mix in question?

[dank.frank]

No.



dank.Frank

[moses wellfleet]

Hi frank is there any reason why I cant use compost tea with this soil, I am presuming the water only thing is for the convenience of blumats?

[dank.frank]

You're more than welcome to use compost tea, it's not exactly "needed" but that isn't to say a mix I've labeled as basic doesn't have things to be improved upon.



dank.Frank

[moses wellfleet]

Ok the reason is I don't have any of the ingredients you list for pushing harder for yield, I do have fresh kelp, liquid kelp, fresh aloe juice, liquid seabird guano 14-17-2. And of course ACT!

I am after the nutrient kick that ACT delivers described by microbeman. I did experiment with one batch and they seemed to like it!

[dank.frank]

I'd say that is certainly the BETTER approach, however, a lot of people, myself included don't like (or simply can't have) the noise, smell, mess associated with making teas.

As far as on the shelf products, that most people should be able to find easily, I went that route. You could certainly look at what those products are and make your own teas to follow that same schedule.

That aside, Budswel is really just a good product - it's the best you are going to get outside of making your own tea. It was many years ago that MeltingPot turned me on to it because he was top feeding with the dry mix. I skipped that because I had so much in my soils already...and tried out the liquid and wasn't disappointed in the results.

That isn't to say you couldn't make your own version of the same thing by mixing all the ingredients and using a bit of common sense on it's intended purpose, N.P.K. ratios, and the application rates. That information can be used to logically deduce how much of what and in what ratios to each other.

When I made that post I wanted the information to be applicable to as many people as possible...and to make the process as care free as possible. Making a tea has many variables...you get where I'm going with it.

It's supposed to be "basic".

But you are correct in everything you are thinking. Combining the two is only going to be to your benefit.



dank.Frank