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new to biochar

N

new organic gro

New member
hi im new, i just started cooking my soil, i used an organic mix, with all the nutrients dry id need plus some, plus alot of worm castings, about 3 gallons per cubic foot of soil (8 gallons.) well i hastily added bio char at a rate of 5 % without soaking it. though i plan on cooking my soil for a longer time, will this be ok? or will it rob me blind of nutrients and ruin everything. im stacked to the max in n-p-k in the mix. i used clackamus coots recipe, for the most part and added some things and altered the soil of peat moss, and in turn used roots organics original soil. help! its my first time cooking soil like this and i think i might have hopefully not messed up with the bio char. next time i will completely soak the crap out of it before hand with teas, but so far im on week 3 of composting and plan to go about a month or so. will this be ok? i just dont want that bio char to be the thing that messes me up. i still plan on added malted barley and organic basmati rice. malted barley btw, is kind of hard to get my hands on. which is why i havent added it yet.
 
xmobotx

xmobotx

ecks moe baw teeks
ICMag Donor
Veteran
how about some more info on the rates of amendments you used & specifics? many people ask these kinds of questions & have not actually followed the "recipes" they reference

it sounds like there's a pretty good chance your soil is quite "hot" and that will charge the bio-char ~likely you should cut it w/ un-amended soil & biochar isn't your concern
 
G

GnomeWurks

New member
New Organic,

Have you brewed any tea's for this mixture to activate/bolster the microbial life within the mix? That would be my next step to insure that the soil has high concentrations of bennies, that will help to chelate all the dry amendments within the mix. Is the mix thermophilic?
 
N

new organic gro

New member
hey thanks for responding, i really appreciate it as i take this stuff incredibly seriously and this is my first time cooking soil. im just switching from all organic soil ammendments and teas and liquid organic "soup style" feeding as its called.

my last grow turned out great doing that why change something if it isnt broke, because id like to evolve into an even more organic medium.

your question i used clackamas coots soil pretty much, but instead of peat moss, couldnt find it, used roots organics original soil, at 6gallons, 2 gallons worm castings, then perlite and vermiculite to cut and add the moisture retention and aeration. i used

1 cup gypsum, 1 cup oyster shell, 1/2 cup crab shell, 1/2 cup neem seed, 1/2 cup kelp meal, some azomite, as his recipe called for, and about a quarter cup greensand, i couldnt find the rockdusts he recommended. about a half cup insect frass its 1-1-1 at that rate so i wouldnt think itd be too harsh, more of a food supply

to that i added biochar at 5% of the total volume. i watered with distilled water with great white mycho and bacteria at the recommended for per gallon. to that i have in big blue totes.
 
B

Bush Doctah

New member
Greetings new organic gro from a newb with the same question.


I'm not sure this will help you since you are 3 weeks into the process, but I'm wondering if charging can be done with soil that has just been mixed and is cooking/cycling?



So, you mix your batch, take the portion out that is 1:1 to your biochar, add it along with some molasses and soil selected from a variety of sources where growth is strong to inoculate with microbes, add water and let sit with your cooking/cycling soil until both are ready (like a month). Then mix the biochar back in to your soild and... maybe this might work?


I'll leave this to the experts. Hope that your biochar, soil, and most importantly, the end product work out for you!


BD
 
B

Bush Doctah

New member
I'm still wondering if this method will work. It occurred to me that it might result in under-amending if I don't add a wee bit extra to offset the dilution effect even though the bio-char is only 5-10% of the total mix.

I wonder because I will be amending lightly - 1/2 to 2/3 cups/cu. ft. - and supplementing with top dresses of raw dynamic accumulators in compost/EWC/leaf mold (one each for veg and flower).

So, would an extra 1/4 cup/cu.ft be enough? Too much? Forget about it altogether?

Any thoughts? Thanks again, BD
 
h.h.

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
I didn't add anything extra to compensate for using biochar.
I did presoak it along the lines you mentioned.
I used a product called Photosynthesis Plus along with amendments to create a fermented solution. I also used natto and spent grain.

Not an endorsement of the product. Other products out there will do the same such as EM-1.
You could maybe just use rice water...something to push the lacto.
I mixed it all in, then let it sit a couple days until the smell went from sour to sweet.

Reminded me of air freshener.
 
B

Bush Doctah

New member
Thanks again h.h. I have a soil activator that contains :

Bacillus Subtilus
Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens
Pseudomonas Monteilii

Is this sufficient? I will also be inoculating with soil samples taken from a few different spots where growth is strong.

BD
 
h.h.

h.h.

Active member
Veteran
Bush Doctah said:
Thanks again h.h. I have a soil activator that contains :

Bacillus Subtilus
Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens
Pseudomonas Monteilii

Is this sufficient? I will also be inoculating with soil samples taken from a few different spots where growth is strong.

BD
Click to expand...


I'll leave that level of expertise to MM.
He corrects me a lot.

But I will tentatively say yes.

I would add natto.Natto is pretty common as well as cheap. Used in traditional Japanese food, it is well studied. Especially with soy. I would use it again though I can't say it isn't redundant in process.
 
B

Bush Doctah

New member
Thanks again h.h. I'm hoping that MM will see this, but he has much more important things to do, I'm sure.



I was thinking of making my own labs but the time frame isn't going to work this time... way behind in everything right now... that's why I'm late in replying. Your other suggestions are great and I'll use them down the road. Thanks for the natto suggestion. I will definitely pick some up and add it to my innoculation mix. It'll all be good!



BD
 
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