Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[hashit]

I'm assuming that RECIPE #1 would be the best to use if you just want to water and nothing else, correct? If I don't have access to Jersey Greensand, what else can I use as a substitute?

I'm trying to make it as easy as possible as I may not have time to give the soil tea's regularly.

 

[dodo5678]

I'm assuming that RECIPE #1 would be the best to use if you just want to water and nothing else, correct? If I don't have access to Jersey Greensand, what else can I use as a substitute?

I'm trying to make it as easy as possible as I may not have time to give the soil tea's regularly.

I was under the impression that you could do the same thing with RECIPE #2 Just that the only difference was that #2 uses guano. I've been using #2 in the Dodo's Organic link listed in my sig and everything has been going well so far.

If i'm not using it correctly i'd sure like to know! Could one of the pro's take a look at my grow to see if i'm on the right track? it's my first attempt at organic!!

BTW, from what i understand the Jersey Greensand is optional... it takes too long to break down in 1 cycle so you can just use the powdered dol lime instead. unless you are going to recycle your soil, then it'll be around long enough to be beneficial, i'm pretty certain you can skip it.

hope that helps,
-dodo

 

[grapeman]

thanks for the link, nice site GM,

I think I'm going to get into teas when I get a chance.
which product do you use, the sp85 or the sp90
the 90 looks like its a finer powder
and it looks like they also have it in liquid form

I have the finer powdered product.

 

[santasapimp]

when do i start to use the flower tea outdoors? before pistils? first pistils?

 

[Carl Carlson]

Here's another interesting mix:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Orga...01/A-Better-Way-to-Fertilize-Your-Garden.aspx

By Steve Solomon
June/July 2006

Organic Fertilizer Recipe

Mix uniformly, in parts by volume:
4 parts seed meal*
1/4 part ordinary agricultural lime, best finely ground
1/4 part gypsum (or double the agricultural lime)
1/2 part dolomitic lime

Plus, for best results:
1 part bone meal, rock phosphate or high-phosphate guano
1/2 to 1 part kelp meal (or 1 part basalt dust)

*For a more sustainable and less expensive option, you can substitute chemical-free grass clippings for the seed meal, although clippings will not provoke the same strong growth response. Use about a half-inch-thick layer of fresh clippings (six to seven 5-gallon bucketfuls per 100 square feet), chopped into the top 2 inches of your soil with a hoe. Then spread an additional 1-inch-thick layer as a surface mulch.

How Much to Use

Once a year (usually in spring), before planting crops, spread and dig in the following materials.

Low-demand Vegetables:
1/4 inch layer of steer manure or finished compost
4 quarts organic fertilizer mix/100 sq. ft.

Medium-demand Vegetables:
1/4 inch layer of steer manure or finished compost
4 to 6 quarts organic fertilizer mix/100 sq. ft.

High-demand Vegetables:
1/2 inch layer of steer manure or finished compost
4 to 6 quarts organic fertilizer mix/100 sq. ft.

This organic fertilizer is potent, so use no more than recommended above. Excessive liming can be harmful to soil. If you can, increase the amounts of manure and compost by 50 percent to 100 percent, but no more than that. If you think your vegetables aren’t growing well enough, do not apply more manure or compost; fix it with fertilizer mix.​

 

[Cannasseur]

I've been in the process of tweaking my soilless mix, just wanted to clear it by a couple other people first. Here's what I came up with...

-40 gallons peat moss (3.8 cu. ft)
-30 lbs worm castings (approx. 1 cu. ft)
-20% perlite

Dry Ferts
-5 cups alfalfa meal
-5 cups soft rock phosphate
-5 cups kelp meal
-5 cups dolomite lime
-5 cups azomite

...How do things look?

 

[treefrog]

7 cups = 112 tablespoons.

 

[Cannasseur]

Whooops, doing math too high will be my downfall! I'll edit the post, good looks treefrog. How about now?

 

[fredcdobbs]

i'm usin lc's mix with recipe #1..this batch my fan leaves started turnin yellow and diein off in 4th week of 12/12...these were in 1.5 gallon buckets..next ones will be in 10 gallon containers and will be vegged for 3 months..will that help?...should i adjust my mix or wait til theyre in flower and add somethin?

 

[KnightRueben]

Hi guys quick question.

Using LC’s Soiless Mix #1:
5 parts Canadian Spaghnam Peat or Coir or Pro-Moss
3 parts perlite
2 parts wormcastings or mushroom compost or home made compost
Powdered (NOT PELLETIZED) dolomite lime @ 2 tablespoons per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of the soiless mix.
...Wal-Mart now sells worm castings.

Food source
RECIPE #1
If you want to use organic nutes like blood, bone and kelp...
Dry Ferts:
1 tablespoon blood meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
2 tablespoons bone meal per gallon or 1 cup per cubic foot of soil mix
1-tablespoon kelp meal per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of soil mix or Maxicrop 1-0-4 powdered kelp extract as directed
(OPTIONAL) 1 tablespoon per gallon or 1/2 cup per cubic foot of Jersey Greensand to supplement the K (potasium) in the Kelp Meal and seaweed extract.

EWC tea recipe:
Mix 1 cup earthworm castings into 5 gallons of water to make the tea.
Add 5 tbs. Black Strap Molasses.


Question: I've been watering with EWC tea every watering and I'm seeing some ram's horns now after a tremendous few weeks of growth.

Is EWC tea every watering possibly too much? If so, how often should I use the tea?

Thanks, as always,

-KR

 

[treefrog]

Whooops, doing math too high will be my downfall! I'll edit the post, good looks treefrog. How about now?

Hmmm, 1 cubic foot is 7.48 gallons.

So, are you using 40 gallons of peat, or 3.8 cubic feet, because 3.8 cubic feet is not 40 gallons..

I like to be precise. It makes tweaking easier. That way, you get a soil-less mix that is specific to your environment/growing style.

Also, for me, 20% perlite is not enough. I prefer at least 30%, but it's very humid where I'm at. Building a mix is science AND art, so on the other hand, do what you want and take good notes. Don't mix your soil when you're stoned though, lol.

 

[grapeman]

Hmmm, 1 cubic foot is 7.48 gallons.

So, are you using 40 gallons of peat, or 3.8 cubic feet, because 3.8 cubic feet is not 40 gallons..

I like to be precise. It makes tweaking easier. That way, you get a soil-less mix that is specific to your environment/growing style.

Also, for me, 20% perlite is not enough. I prefer at least 30%, but it's very humid where I'm at. Building a mix is science AND art, so on the other hand, do what you want and take good notes. Don't mix your soil when you're stoned though, lol.

I concur with treefrog. At least 30% perlite.

 

[Cannasseur]

I usually mix perlite by eye and overall texture. So 20% is only a relative figure, but I think I should probably take some initiative and get a bit more precise about things.. With this in mind, I'll now add 10.5 gallons of perlite for every batch. Ya guys won me over.

I may've misled you when I said 3.8 cu ft. The product available comes in a compressed bale. Once broken up, the bale covers 7.8 cu ft (Fills the 12 inch deep kiddie pool I use to mix up 6 inches).

5 ft** x 3.14159 = 15.70795 ( Area = (diameter x pi)/4 )
15.70795 / 4 = 3.9269875 sq ft
3.9269875 / 0.5*= 7.853975 cu ft

**(diameter of the pool)
*(the depth of the pool as a decimal)
Then with your calculation, that's roughly 35 gallons of peat.

 

[treefrog]

I usually mix perlite by eye and overall texture. So 20% is only a relative figure, but I think I should probably take some initiative and get a bit more precise about things.. With this in mind, I'll now add 10.5 gallons of perlite for every batch. Ya guys won me over.

I may've misled you when I said 3.8 cu ft. The product available comes in a compressed bale. Once broken up, the bale covers 7.8 cu ft (Fills the 12 inch deep kiddie pool I use to mix up 6 inches).

5 ft** x 3.14159 = 15.70795
15.70795 / 4 = 3.9269875 sq ft
3.9269875 / 0.5*= 7.853975 cu ft

**(diameter of the pool)
*(the depth of the pool as a decimal)
Then with your calculation, that's roughly 35 gallons of peat.

I get you!
I've also done the same with perlite at different times. Once you get a feel for how much perlite is good, it's easy to just mix it up.
It's hard to tell where everyone's at with their growing experience and whatnot. The amendments is where I really do the tweaking.

I'd say, mix up your EWC, perlite and peat as you like, then figure out how much you have total, in gallons. To that add the lime @ 2 tbs per gallon etc. I do one tbs per gallon of the azomite, 2 of the kelp, unless I'm adding greensand and sul-po-mag, then I only do one tbs of the kelp. It may be hard to overdo the K, but when there are three good sources of it in a mix, it seems like overkill, especially when also doing some kelp in teas.

That's kind of my approach. I like a variety of sources for all of the elements, which brings me to your N source. I'd add another source of N to the mix, in addition to the alfalfa, if possible. I don't think there's enough N in there. Are you purposely trying to stay away from animal products? If so, there are seed meal options you could add with the alfalfa. Avoid cottonseed though.

Same with the soft rock. It will work, but different sources together is better, especially if you're recycling soil, which is a good idea when spending time, money, energy building it.

I like a soft rock guano mix..

Have fun and wear your mask, lol!

 

[Hammerhead]

^^^ agree after years of mixing you get use to what works well. I recycle my soil. I make a compost pile with it. It has never let me down

 

[Bennyweed1]

Hey everyone.

I am putting together a nice organic soil for the first time and would like to hear from some one with more experience concerning this stuff:

http://www.backtonaturecompost.com/cbc.html

I want to use it but havent found anyone else using it and I dont know what it will give the soil and plant as far as NPK, traces and microheard.

Also, what is a preferred base to start with? I dont want to buy a soil like FF or whatnot because that defeats the cheap route of using organics.

As of now I plan on using peat moss and sand as my base.

combined with Azomite, cotton burr, worm castings, chicken compost and mushroom compost, blood and bone meal, dolomite lime, epsom and perlite.

I dont have the ratios down yet but will get it figure out through trial and error.

Thanks IC.

 

[Hammerhead]

I use sunshine mix#2 as by base and add all the amendments to that. After a few years of growing your compost pile will be large or should be anyway. I don't use sand only green sand. sand compacts to much and you don't need it there are other ingredients u can use that work better for drainage. Once it get wet it weighs a ton so if using pots not easy to relocate. Good Luck

 

[ninjacorey]

how oftern do u water? every 2days every 3days? and if i water every 2 days and use tea every 3rd water day than i water with tea every 6th day?

 

[redneck shogun]

how oftern do u water? every 2days every 3days? and if i water every 2 days and use tea every 3rd water day than i water with tea every 6th day?

My grandmother made the best homemade biscuits because she spent a lifetime mastering the art of it. When I make them they only occasionally compare to her's because I am not experienced enough to know all the factors that can cause a biscuit to be less than it is capable. She would never give me the recipe because she never went by one. You should follow her wisdom and forget about schedules and start learning when the soil needs moisture by observation.

 

[Cannasseur]

That's kind of my approach. I like a variety of sources for all of the elements, which brings me to your N source. I'd add another source of N to the mix, in addition to the alfalfa, if possible. I don't think there's enough N in there. Are you purposely trying to stay away from animal products? If so, there are seed meal options you could add with the alfalfa. Avoid cottonseed though.

I've been trying to lean against sourcing animal products, but mainly because I wanted to capitalize on alfafa meal and the bennies of triacontonol. I've heard and read some good things, alfalfa also seems abit safer than running the risk of exposing myself to the harmful spores in guanos. Any recommendations for seed meals to use in conjunction with alfalfa meal?

Same with the soft rock. It will work, but different sources together is better, especially if you're recycling soil, which is a good idea when spending time, money, energy building it.

I completely agree with you on rounding out my source of soil amendments. Just didn't want to complicate things with too many ingredients when tweaking my soil for the first time in a while.

I'll prolly add some greensand and glacial rock dust somewhere in there too..