Living organic soil from start through recycling

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yesh why thank you!

I thought the thin pine boards on the bottom might give up the ghost fairly quickly but no, right as rain mate!

 

[Durdy]

BJW - My earlier numbers on the basalt rock dust were spot on.

3/4# per cup

3 3/4# per 5 cups

Thus 66.66 cups per 50#

This is for the fine not the course by the way.

 

[dogfishheadie]

evening folks. just want to and say thank you, thank you an another thank you for all those that have gave advice, tips, tricks, techniques and other golden nuggets of information to the masses, it's a fucking beautiful thing. on page 362 now, but like BJW and others have stated, this stuff really does transcend into your everyday life. everywhere I look I see things and think differently on how / if it could be incorporated into this beautiful process...and i've yet to crack my first bean.

i'd never given a second thought to my spring mix lettuce (the one with multiple types of lettuce) from my local chain grocer up until three days ago, after cootz explained how 400-600 trucks are loaded on a typical day in Cali during the lettuce season for just one type of lettuce in the package, really starts to make you think about the logistics / carbon footprint / shit they spray on it to keep from cross contamination etc. makes you wonder and think how things should and could be.

anywho, I digress. just wanted to see if I could get some help with two little hangups i'm having that are holding me back from my final purchases.

1) my base soil mix.
I plan on growing in (7), (3) gallon air pots. for round numbers i'm just going to assume (10) pots total and call it 30 gallons?

-sphagnum peat moss
-lava rocks
-high quality EWC
-high quality compost

what i'm wrestling with is how abouts do I make sure they are all equal parts to make sure I purchase and make enough? 30/4 = 7.5 gallons of each. so do I just take a 5 gallon bucket + 2 scoops of a gallon milk jug of each and mix it all together? maybe i'm high and totally over thinking it, but just can't seem to wrap my head around all the different conversions as volume / gallons don't really jive. my high math one night came out to 3.5 c.f total? somewhat close?

2) C02

I plan to implement C02 in the mix after my initial grow and wasn't really sure how the elevated PPM levels interacted with the different microbes, organisms and all other scientific stuff going on under the soil. will this kill off beneficial predators? anything else I should be aware / concerned about?


again, no homo...you guys fucking rock and really do appreciate all the awesome stuff that's taken place in this thread. pretty stoked going into my first grow with all this knowledge. hopefully bricks will be shat when some of my buddies see the stuff I hope to concoct.

ps. it was around page 350ish? where gas mentioned some of his seeds making it to the server donation cause? please, please, PLEASE tell me haven't missed that yet. back to reading!

 

[W89]

hello mate for you base I would do 1/3rd compost/EWC 1/3rd peat 1/3rd lavarock. or pumice

7.5 gal is a cubic foot so if your making 30gal thats 4 cubic foot

you will want...
5 gal compost
5 gal EWC
10 gal peat
10 gal lava rock or pumice



Amendments you could use are

Kelp
organic fish meal
organic fish bone meal
Neam meal
Crab meal
Alfalfa
I would use 2 to 3 cups per cubic foot. (take each of your amendments and add equal amounts of each to a tub. then take 2 to 3 cups of the mixture per cubic foot)

dunno nothing about Co2 so cant commment

HTH

 

[MileHighGuy]

I would use 2 to 3 cups per cubic foot. (take each of your amendments and add equal amounts of each to a tub. then take 2 to 3 cups of the mixture per cubic foot)

Really?! I use 1/2 Cup per cubic foot of those amendments.... am I way off?

and don't forget the minerals.... 4 cups per cubic foot of some rock dust.

The Gypsum was $9 per 50lb's at my ranch supply store. Calcium Sulfate, Ag Gypsum same stuff.

Edit: I think I get it now W89.... you said mix them up and then it equals 2-3 cups.... you listed 6 amendments that would be the 3 cup number... right?

 

[Ur Humbl Nr8tor]

Knock something together with spare timber and landscape fabric?

Like this:



https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=5838&pictureid=719131View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=5838&pictureid=719130View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=5838&pictureid=719126View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=5838&pictureid=719125View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=5838&pictureid=966052View Image

I like the wheels. Pot pot by day...drag racer at night.

I should state that I've used the rubber boxes for mixing soil in the past with little detriment. Just hoping to stumble on some good ideas that don't involve dubious plastic resins.

Thanks.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yeah to be honest i doubt the plastic affects the soil too much. Its not like it gets hot is it and thats when plastic leaches the really bad stuff. MM confirms pvc as no effect on microbes which is nice to know.

I am currently drilling holes all over my square 10litre (2 gallon-ish) ice cream tubs i been growing in for years.

This worked amazingly well for a regular plastic garbage can so now its going to be a regular thing...

 

[W89]

Really?! I use 1/2 Cup per cubic foot of those amendments.... am I way off?

and don't forget the minerals.... 4 cups per cubic foot of some rock dust.

The Gypsum was $9 per 50lb's at my ranch supply store. Calcium Sulfate, Ag Gypsum same stuff.

Edit: I think I get it now W89.... you said mix them up and then it equals 2-3 cups.... you listed 6 amendments that would be the 3 cup number... right?

I meant take what ever amendments you have be it 1, 3 or 10 different ones. add them into a tub at equal amounts, then take 2 to 3 cups of that mix per cubic foot. Sorry if i wasn't clear mate! hows things going in the garden anyway ?

Yeah to be honest i doubt the plastic affects the soil too much. Its not like it gets hot is it and thats when plastic leaches the really bad stuff. MM confirms pvc as no effect on microbes which is nice to know.

I am currently drilling holes all over my square 10litre (2 gallon-ish) ice cream tubs i been growing in for years.

This worked amazingly well for a regular plastic garbage can so now its going to be a regular thing...


[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=41942&pictureid=1023714&=1]View Image[/url]

Looking good SSOG I havent had much success outside, I'm hoping to get something outside this year tho couple months yet tho

 

[budman8]

Firstly, sorry if this has been covered already, but I don't want to wait 6 months to finish this thread. I have made it past 100 pages, but haven't seen much on the issue of adding clay and a preferred way of doing it. I mean, what clay is best? I've been looking at bentonite.... but I don't know shit lol.

 

[Coba]

since topsoil is a third of the base mix... and quality topsoil is 40%sand, 40%silt, and 20%clay... i would then say... 20% of 1/3rd of your base mix should be clay... Bentonite is what most people consider really good clay. It sells for butt loads at the Day Spas

 

[budman8]

since topsoil is a third of the base mix... and quality topsoil is 40%sand, 40%silt, and 20%clay... i would then say... 20% of 1/3rd of your base mix should be clay... Bentonite is what most people consider really good clay. It sells for butt loads at the Day Spas

Quick response there Coba

Yeah, I see it's pretty pricey.... Was wondering if just some red clay brought in from (gasp) outside would be anywhere near acceptable..

 

[Coba]

I don't know, what are you trying to get from the clay?

I learned from Gas, when bringing things in from outside... bio-diversity is key.

 

[W89]

My comfrey root starts came today.. how should I propagate them until they root? just stick them in a pot in a prop and let them shoot?

 

[budman8]

I don't know, what are you trying to get from the clay?

I learned from Gas, when bringing things in from outside... bio-diversity is key.

The clay is missing in my mix, and should increase my CEC. I know that SRP (if I could find it locally), would help a bit, but I found a post by GC that answered my question. Seems it's no biggie to bring in outside elements, if precautions are taken.

Guess I should have used the search key sooner.

 

[Coba]

when I was looking up Bentonite clay on shopping sites I found one that was being sold as a dietary supplement. Supposed to take a tsp or something like that every morning... helps the GI tract

It got me to thinking why?

then I realized... it's only been the last 50-75 years that the Human species has completely eliminated dirt from our diet, and we've evolved 20,000 years eating dirt, along with the stuff that grows in the dirt.

the old saying "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt" really rang out when that light bulb went off.

 

[budman8]

Interesting thought about no dirt in our diets these days.

Found a possible source. Kitty litter. Not sure if that is the sodium or calcium variety.... yet.

 

[shmalphy]

Does anyone here use PBH (rice hulls) as an aeration amendment? They carry them at my supplier now, I was thinking of picking up a bag...

I was also thinking of either getting capillary matting to make my fabric pots "self watering... Anyone else ever try that? I was curious if they would be too wet, or maybe not wet enough? I have an irrometer, so I am thinking it will take playing with the aeration percentages and taking readings to get the proper perched water table...

 

[BlueJayWay]

Hey shmalphy, what's PBH?

You don't mean Permastall Horse Bedding do you?

 

[Ur Humbl Nr8tor]

Yeah to be honest i doubt the plastic affects the soil too much. Its not like it gets hot is it and thats when plastic leaches the really bad stuff. MM confirms pvc as no effect on microbes which is nice to know.

I am currently drilling holes all over my square 10litre (2 gallon-ish) ice cream tubs i been growing in for years.

This worked amazingly well for a regular plastic garbage can so now its going to be a regular thing...


https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=41942&pictureid=1023714View Image

That's a nice little tucked away spot you got there. Really healthy looking plant, too.

Yeah, I may just be using the big old rubbermaids. Good to know about PVC and nil effect on the micro herd. I like the idea of drilling small "aeration" holes in the lower half of the containers. Maybe double up with the bottom container acting as a catch basin for run off. Or maybe I will be lazy and keep using the 10 gallon Smart Pots I've got. I've got a week or two to figure it out.

Cheers,

 

[xmobotx]

comfrey root starts came

plant 'em where they are going to be>you should see something of a crown end to the slips

they like worked soil and lots of organic matter

eating dirt

the thinking behind consuming those clays is actually similar to the thinking in soil

as we have all considered clay increases CEC acting as a buffer storing nuts in the soil -it is also a possibility that it binds certain un-desired 'toxins' which ties in to the dietary effect; they figure it binds toxins so they pass {w/ the clay} from the dietary tract