Large soilbed, no drain, reused soil, problems occurring

[GDK]

save the wood pellets for your asparagus bed. annuals get hay and straw, that's what they need, and when you have it, trimmings from your plants. For feeding fungi, use woody growth from your plants, but cut it up so that you give bacteria a chance.

To favor fungi: lignin and cellulose, above ground, big chunks.
to favor bacteria: fleshy stuff, buried, small pieces

Awesome post Madlib...making things simple enough for guys like me to understand. Since i started this thread, i have actually been thinking about continuing building this soil so i can use it even further for more crops, even tho i was ready to start over when i was done with this crop. But now im hungrier for knowledge than i have ever been. I actually think i have a good thing goin here. Now the worms...i found several living healthy looking worms when i transplanted. I believe they stem from the EWC i have used over time. What are the optimal conditions for these to reproduce, and what kinda worms am i looking for if i want to add to the population? Things are lookin way better in the bed already...gave em a dose of Epsom salt and kelp, along with some ewc slurry. Been foliar feeding some kelp and epsom as well..thanks guys.

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[mad librettist]

Large soilbed, no drain, reused soil, problems occurring

best thing to favor those worms is your straw mulch. also, dried and crumbled cannabis trim will keep them happy. along with kelp meal, brans, seed meals, etc... top dressed under your mulch is good. worms also need grit for their gullets, and rock powders are great for this. they also work faster with a good calcium supply, so broccoli, dandelion, etc... are great. in my bins, I use dolomite, because I have noticed the worms grab it, probably both for grit and calcium.

those worms are going to help balance out the fungal component. entire old growth systems have been destroyed by worm pollution caused by fishermen dumping unused bait.

 

[nameless]

interesting mad lib, could you elaborate on how this happens? are the bait worms not the right type? i know nightcrawlers arent as good as red wigglers as far as castings go but can they actually be damaging to certain ecosystems?

 

[mad librettist]

Large soilbed, no drain, reused soil, problems occurring

whenever you have steep banks on fresh water, especially mud banks, wigglers are better bait than nightcrawlers.

earthworms are actually a naturalized invasive in north America. before jamestown, out forests were very different, with massive leaf drifts and a totally different ecosystem. worms changed all that by disappearing the leaves, raising pH, etc...

the worms that belong in old growth forests are very different, and there are fewer of them than you find in bacterial dominated systems.

whether it was nightcrawlers or wigglers that damaged the old growth I know not. the events are referred to in the book "teaming with microbes".

 

[GDK]

On another note: I have been wondering if i could brew my own EM1 solution from a store bought one? Im using this product, and im loving it: http://www.biosa.dk/England/products/soil and plants/garden/garden oversigt.htm
I have been searching around here for the answer, but i might be too high right now cause i cant seem to find it. But i was thinkin if i just grab some of the Biosa and mix with molasses and water, wont the EM "grow" in this new batch?

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[mad librettist]

EM-1 is usually brewed out into the first generation only. Still, with a liter of EM-1, that makes for a shitload of brewed out activated EM.

 

[GDK]

Please elaborate Lib...im not sure i fully understand.

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[mad librettist]

Large soilbed, no drain, reused soil, problems occurring

a bit of EM is diluted in water and fed molasses. the result gets down to ph 3-3.5 and is said to be activated EM.

 

[GDK]

Oh so the stuff im using now is actually activated EM, made from pure EM. And theres no way to extend it? The stuff isnt too pricey, but it would be nice to keep it goin if possible.

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[CheifnBud2]

Hey man, anything new? have you tried the ewc slurry yet?

I really wanna see your plants get back in check and thriving!

 

[johnyhash]

looks like the mix is a too hot for young clones. I wouldnt add anymore ferts for a while.

 

[CheifnBud2]

Also one more question, have you done a soil Ph Test? they are pretty cheap.

 

[nameless]

thanks for that explanation madlib that was pretty informative. gdk i hope your ladies are looking better

 

[GDK]

Hey man, anything new? have you tried the ewc slurry yet?

I really wanna see your plants get back in check and thriving!

Yea i did the slurry thang, and watered in some epsom salt and kelp tea as well. They are already looking better. Im spraying epsom foliar as well.

looks like the mix is a too hot for young clones. I wouldnt add anymore ferts for a while.

Nope i wont...i usually just use plain water with a shot of molasses and EM1 every now and then.

Also one more question, have you done a soil Ph Test? they are pretty cheap.

I did a slurry test with ph paper and it read around 6,5.

thanks for that explanation madlib that was pretty informative. gdk i hope your ladies are looking better

Thanks man..they are..ill try to snap a few shots tonite...flipped em this monday.

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[CheifnBud2]

Good to hear man, update us with pics once they start looking more healthy!

 

[vonforne]

Where are your rock powders in that mix?

EWC slurrz to the rescue.

V

 

[CheifnBud2]

How are they looking now?

 

[GDK]

Where are your rock powders in that mix?

EWC slurrz to the rescue.

V

Yea i know..im still debating if i should start over with a new soil after this run, or continue..

Here they are @ day 14. They are much better and growing fast as hell. Still a lil hungry for mg, but i didnt want to overdo it, so were going slow.

First up is the Niterider and WhiteS1´s. They are still a lil Mag hungry, but we are gettin there:

And a shot of the whole canopy:

Next up is the Happy Brother´s, They are taking off and are looking great again:

And heres the SourKush and Starfunk girls doin their thing...all free of deficiencies and stretching like healthy girls should:

I did a good leafing, to allow better penetration, and air cirkulation:

So as you can see, things are going way better, and were almost there...thanks for all the help guys...you truely are invaluable!!!

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[vonforne]

Hey man, it looks like it is just strain related with the first two sets of plants. And really nothing to worry too much about.

The third tray looks good.

I would not over do it. Just give them a EWC slurry. It will usually fix any type of minor problem. I have run tubs before with no drain and had no problems. Just do not over water.

Plants are looking good.

Are you going to run this at MSC?

Von

 

[GDK]

MSC? do you mean the seed collective? I havent really checked it out. Just notice i had a thread deleted about it tho...lol.

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