Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[all natural]

I have some mr nice mango widow, black widow and cannabiogen's peyote purple in the soil mix gascanastan listed at the very beginning of this thread. i will let you all know how it turns out.
edit: wrong thread i thought i was in the living organic soil from start to recycling thread. sorry.

 

[Swayze]

^^^^ 3 weeks in I have 4 in 5 gal, same soil from last run that was not disturbed in the bucket, and 8 in "new" amended recycled soil mix.... They all look identical in growth.

That's what it's all about. Please keep us updated on how they do.

Is the decay of roots left in a medium after harvest a bacterial or fungal dominate kind of thing?

 

[BlueJayWay]

That's what it's all about. Please keep us updated on how they do.

Is the decay of roots left in a medium after harvest a bacterial or fungal dominate kind of thing?

In my case, fungal innoculations occur @ every transplant (until now - more on that later), and without microscopic observation or soil sample test, I would assume at least the immediate root zone to be fungal dominate @ time of harvest, again that's an assumption the mycorrhizal innoculations were successful.

I could be wrong here, just speculating - but with the death of the harvested plant, mycorrhizal fungi die off or go dormant (whatever it is they do) and bacteria move in to finish up the job - then of course as the newly planted crop spread out their roots into the existing medium, a mycorrhizal relationship develops again and fungi start to dominate the root zone once again, a natural balanaced up and down cycle between fungi and bacertial dominance, based on the needs of the soil and/or plants, respectively.

Ok - Microbeman, CC or those that actually know this stuff, slap me now or reassure my assurtions

 

[bid26]

Hey everyone,

I started my first grow a few weeks ago and transplanted into LC's mix (#2 and recipe #1) a little over a week ago. The recipe was followed exactly as he said.

After the transplant, I checked on it every day and the soil didn't seem to be losing moisture. At least, it didn't get that lighter brown color and it still looked really moist. Last night when I went to check it by sticking my finger in, it was hard as a rock. I immediately went to water it and the water had a hard time penetrating so I spent a while tilling it. Everything is looking a little better at the moment but I'm going to try to keep it moist.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any suggestions? I'm going to try to water it more frequently but I wanna make sure that everything is okay under the surface.

 

[Swayze]

Hey Bid,
Sounds like there isn't enough aeration materials in the mix. I've always thought that recipe was a bit low in that department even though I'm pretty sure perlite is already included in the Pro Mix. 3 parts soil + 1 part EWC to 1 part perlite sounds like mud to me especially as the perlite will float up to the surface. If possible try mixing in another aeration amendment in such as pumice, rice hulls, or more perlite if that is all you have.

 

[Neo 420]

In my case, fungal innoculations occur @ every transplant (until now - more on that later), and without microscopic observation or soil sample test, I would assume at least the immediate root zone to be fungal dominate @ time of harvest, again that's an assumption the mycorrhizal innoculations were successful.

I could be wrong here, just speculating - but with the death of the harvested plant, mycorrhizal fungi die off or go dormant (whatever it is they do) and bacteria move in to finish up the job - then of course as the newly planted crop spread out their roots into the existing medium, a mycorrhizal relationship develops again and fungi start to dominate the root zone once again, a natural balanaced up and down cycle between fungi and bacertial dominance, based on the needs of the soil and/or plants, respectively.

Ok - Microbeman, CC or those that actually know this stuff, slap me now or reassure my assurtions

From my reading it appears fungi dominates no till gardening. Something about tilling disturbs the fungi and lets the bacteria dominates. Also sequestered carbon is a benefit.....

 

[bid26]

Hey Bid,
Sounds like there isn't enough aeration materials in the mix. I've always thought that recipe was a bit low in that department even though I'm pretty sure perlite is already included in the Pro Mix. 3 parts soil + 1 part EWC to 1 part perlite sounds like mud to me especially as the perlite will float up to the surface. If possible try mixing in another aeration amendment in such as pumice, rice hulls, or more perlite if that is all you have.

Thanks for the advice! I figured that might be the problem. I watered Tuesday morning and some of the soil on top is already drying out and getting hard so I've been spending some time each morning breaking it up.

My plants are all potted in the soil and I don't plan on transplanting again. When you say to mix in another aeration amendment do you mean to a fresh batch of soil or is it (I doubt it) possible to add it to the pots I have already?

Some people recommended adding mulch on top to help keep the moisture in. Do you think that'll help? For now I plan to just water every other day even if they don't look too dry to ensure the soil stays moist and doesn't harden. If they start to show signs of over-watering I'll back off a bit.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Bid, if the soil is compacting or crusting at the top, you might want to try some bottom-watering methods. Mom-stylee, just put a plate or saucer under the pots, put water in that. I like to use something that's at least 2" deep.

 

[bid26]

Bid, if the soil is compacting or crusting at the top, you might want to try some bottom-watering methods. Mom-stylee, just put a plate or saucer under the pots, put water in that. I like to use something that's at least 2" deep.

What I've been doing is watering every other day and taking any small, dried up pieces of soil (there's not too much after 2 days) and breaking it up.

The pots sit in a runoff saucer which I would say is about 1-2'' deep and I make sure there's a good amount of water sitting in it for the soil to soak up if it needs. Does that all sound okay?

 

[SeaMaiden]

Yeah, it sounds just fine. You can reverse the process if you're of a mind. Simply fill the saucers with water, and when they're empty, fill again.

 

[floral]

comparing peat- and coco-based mixes - one interesting data point

comparing peat- and coco-based mixes - one interesting data point

This year my smaller (3-gallon) geopots were filled with a mix using the same ratio as LC's #2
60% base medium - peat or coco with mineral amendments (but no slaughterhouse stuff)
20% aeration - biochar, rice hulls, pumice etc.
20% humus vermicompost etc. .

As an experiment, I used different base media in each of four containers and kept all other conditions as close to identical as I could. One of the containers had a peat-based mix with a little bit of additional lime and the other three each had different coco-based mixes. One of the four, one of the coco-based mixes, was set aside and kept in veg and the other three, plus two more older larger plants, are now at 12 weeks into flower.

The plants loved all the mixes, and throughout the season I detected zero differences. All four mixes were a great success, best season I have ever had. I even tested pH of runoff for each one at almost every watering or tea application and they all stayed in the same range every time.

So, with no discernible differences between any of the test subjects, I considered it a successful "failed" experiment right up into flowering. The three flowering plants each started showing slight N deficiencies at the same time, around 7 weeks in.

Only now, as harvest approaches, am I noticing any difference at all, and it's an interesting one - the flowers growing in the peat-based mix seem to be ripening a little bit faster.

To the unaided eye, they all look about the same, but I've been taking samples to gauge ripeness and making notes on fragrance, taste, pistils, calyxes, c:l ratio/structure, trichomes, etc. for each one. Samples are all of similar size, taken from the same area of the plant (counting # of branches up from roots/off main stem, the same % of the way to the top, and the same distance down the branch from the top).

Of the five plants I'm sampling--the three in the experiment and the two others, one consistently shows more developed fragrance and riper trichomes while all the others are just about the same, and that one is in the peat mix. I have a little chart for the five, and one column stands out--plant #3, the only one in peat. Interesting.

Not suggesting that this is scientifically valid or conclusive in any way, but I found it interesting and may try to repeat it at some point, though since I intend to recycle soil this time I don't really have a reason to start another fresh container.

I suppose I could continue the experiment while recycling the soil, and leave the labels on so I know which mix is which long after the plants in there are chopped. Why not?

Has anyone else noticed quicker ripening in a peat-based mix?

 

[green planet]

Hi all, does anyone know which class of fungi is be best suited for Canna plants ? Thank you. GREAT FORUM

 

[green planet]

Hi Guys. I also heard that you can get fungi within the leave structure of a plant. Mycology) Any ideas yet on what type of fungi to introduce ?
thanks for all the help.

 

[jubiare]

Greetings to you all!

Thanks for the enlightened thread, I read it all up eheh!

I am currently at my first organic grow, LC's dry ferts;
I went for coco coir not for peat...
I sn having conflicting results, one plant is doing well, the other less well.

My question is: is anybody having great results to confirm/share with coco + organic?

Is it true many have had issues?

I am wondering if I should use a mix of coco and peat moss next time

Many thanks
j

 

[Durdy]

I've been told coco has a tendency to make it very hard for the plant to obtain Ca and Mg while making it all to easy to obtain K.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I've been told coco has a tendency to make it very hard for the plant to obtain Ca and Mg while making it all to easy to obtain K

Durdy

A soil's efficiency is measured by its Cation Exchange Capacity (CeC) and Sphagnum Peat Moss has a CeC of 100 and coir has a CeC of 70

So a more apt description when comparing these numbers would be that coco coir is less efficient at exchanging ions than Sphagnum.

Increasing the amount of viable humus in your potting soil mix will resolve that quickly.

HTH

CC

 

[Durdy]

So what exactly is the difference in CEC due to? Particle size?

 

[ClackamasCootz]

The humic acids in compost and the clay content. These hold negative charges (-) and therefore capture and hold a specific set of cations. A cation is any element with a positive charge and in discussing CeC it's limited to Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K) and Sodium (Na) and the acid cations are Hyrdogen (H) and Aluminum (Al)

The amount of positively charged cations that a soil can hold is it's CeC. The higher CeC number means that it can hold more than a soil (mix) with a lower CeC.

This how a soil's pH is maintained along with several functions by microbes, etc.

HTH

CC

 

[senate]

I am having a hard time finding dolomite lime. Would this be ok to use? Im not sure if it's dolomitic or not, but the ratios seem to be ok. Here's the link:

http://www.fertilome.com/ProductFiles/32136 Agricultural Limestone Approved 11-05-09.pdf

Thank you.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Home Depot or Lowe's

Scott's Soil Sweet - Dolomite Lime

Scott's Super Sweet - Limestone

HTH

CC