Organic amendments and fertilizers in Canada.

[Mikell]

The Bug Factory is in Naniamo.

They're good people, owned by Biobest now and have better pricing than NIC. Shipping time/cost for the West Coast is gold.

This goes for any beneficial order, but scope anything you buy from them. The first batch of cucumeris I ordered were dead in the water, maybe 1000 live mites in a tube. I called, explained how I came to that count, and they reshipped very quickly. The next order was prime, well above count if anything.

West coast source of PBH(rice hulls)
http://www.westcreekfarms.com/

I found that the other week. I never emailed to ask directly, but they appear to be a GH/nursery supplier?

http://torontobrewing.ca/index.php/brewing-ingredients/grains/adjuncts/rice-hulls.html

ill take 6 diff cuts, and 3 sacks of gingers plz. you can keep the soul.

It doesn't count if the shipping exceeds the cost of the order I can get it across the border for the same price.

 

[bigbag]

with beneficial bugs, what happens to there excrement and dead bodies...? one would think they/it would remain in the flowers to some extent...?

 

[HiFiGanja]

with beneficial bugs, what happens to there excrement and dead bodies...? one would think they/it would remain in the flowers to some extent...?

It'll be like smoking shrimp. Hmmm chitosan

 

[Pangea]

The Bug Factory is in Naniamo.

I found that the other week. I never emailed to ask directly, but they appear to be a GH/nursery supplier?

Yeah, not sure what there policies are, but they have the compressed 3.8 bales. I havent ordered from them or used the product, never had enough scratch to make it worth while for the freight.

 

[Mikell]

That would be the other issue.

Applying beneficials to flowering plants wouldn't be recommended. Full control usually takes a few weeks depending on the beneficial, population size released, target pest, pest population, environmental conditions, etc.

 

[SeedsOfFreedom]

with beneficial bugs, what happens to there excrement and dead bodies...? one would think they/it would remain in the flowers to some extent...?

With predator mites, I have found if released in veg before starting flowering, the predators have the upper hand by early flowering. They both remain at some amount until harvest, but usually the pests are nearly gone. The predators are starving for food by the time flowers really start, and populations of predators drop off.

As for decay and feces left on flowers, I don`t think it could be much worse than out door herb . Most of the battle between the bugs happens on the leaves anyway, and the alternatives to predators are much worse to smoke in my opinion.

I swear by predators for thrips and spider mites, best part is never spraying plants! SeedsOfFreedom can also say we have had no part in breeding supermites with resistances to sprays.

 

[bigbag]

good stuff to know, thanks

 

[Mikell]

On the subject of spraying


newdirectionsaromatics.ca

 

[diffusing]

was going to start a new thread, but it will fit well here I think.

any suggested "recipes" that people find effective for pest control using essential oils?

 

[Mikell]

Individual concentrations (re: concentration for each oil alone, not mixed together)

Neem, 1-2%

Rosemary, 1-2%

Peppermint, 0.25%

Emulsifier/Surfactant
Thermx-70
Bronners


Honestly wish I had more bugs to play with. All I can do these days is test for phytotoxicity. I was pinching aphids in a dream last night. Squish goes you. Much preferable to the other night, waking up to the image of root aphids crawling everywhere. Flailed around like an epileptic for a second, then ran and checked the room...

 

[Mikell]

Top Shelf Feeds carries a few things, including Bokashi material and two EM inoculants from Cowichan Compost.

There's also a chubby black cat that sits up on it's hind legs and waves it's paws in the air like a nutter. Had a mild buzz on the first time I saw it happen and laughed my ass off.

 

[bigbag]

^ you had a mild buzz on or the cat ? ha

 

[c-ray]

mikell have you ever been to integrity distributors in saanichton?

 

[c-ray]

Both Terralink and Evergro/Direct Solutions will do walk in sales. You'll pay full retail though. For some products it might not matter much but for others it could, just depends on what price the retailer negotiated.

I have a love hate relations ship with Evergro. The employees and service is pretty good but they control the price of Pro Mix so you get monopoly prices on promix. Even if you try to get a container load you get fuck all on savings.

I just did the cash and carry at evergro / bought some omri listed pro-mix MP @ $31/bale retail.. I bought a shovel too, looks like good prices on gardening tools.. I should have picked up one of those huge aluminum landscaping rakes that I saw there, they are pretty useful.. the omri sunshine is closer to 40 bucks/bale at terralink.. I just use a few bales for veggie starts, omri because we are certified.. prob should get an acct..

 

[bigbag]

was told a couple years ago, we were the only acct, " in the industry". meanwhile an old hippy lady from Lasquiti was loading up and asked if they could deliver it to the dock and load on her barge...as well as a Vietnamese guy grabbing equally as much...ha, suppose they have landscaping companies or something

 

[Mikell]

Cats never enjoy going into the cardboard box of smoke.

mikell have you ever been to integrity distributors in saanichton?

Nope, good place? Or is that what you were trying to suss out?

 

[c-ray]

yep the best for organic amendments on the island imho..

shar kare in nanaimo has cheap lime, aka imasco field marking powder.. 7 bucks a 50 lb bag.. mined in the north island, processed in surrey.. it's a real fine grind, and the vein they mine is quite pure, the same product in a super fine grind gets marketed as calcium carbonate for food applications.. shar kare in nanaimo also has cheap bags of perlite..

terralink has the black earth brand humates in a fine granule, 13 bucks a bag,.. water soluble fine grind gypsum 7 bucks a bag.. soft rock phosphate 23 bucks a bag.. trace sulphates are available in 2kg bags..

there's an organic alfalfa coming out of eastern sask. that's pretty good if one can find it.. I've seen in bc before just can't remember where: http://www.alfalfagreen.ca

red lake earth is a 67% diatomaceous earth / 33% calcium bentonite product mined north of kamloops.. pretty common in farm feed stores in the western provinces.. seen it in the 13-20 buck a bag range..
http://www.absorbentproductsltd.com

shar kare in courtenay has the pure white diatomaceous earth bulk and by the bag, like 70 or 80 a bag.. they also have stuff like kelp meal and a few other odds and ends..

 

[c-ray]

who's making the kick ass compost commercially in canada is the question I would like to know the answer to?

 

[Bmac1]

Would it be SeaSoil?

 

[c-ray]

is that a good one?
is there someone in canada doing luebke style controlled microbial composting?


another link, these guys have some microbes and ferts.. they carry Tainio products but for some reason don't list them on their website..
http://www.agriculturesolutions.ca/store