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Butte's 2007 Outdoor - "In the trenches..."
- Thread starter Butte
- Start date
G
Guest
:jawdrop: 
wow
wow
How we all would love to do a grow like that /those atleast once in our life times! Awesome!
So, here's a shot of "Chucky" Cheese yesterday...
Many plants, though, just can't handle my Chernobyl-like soil (or should I say compost?!?).
Any suggestions from you long time organic gardeners? Right now I'm leaning towards adding coir in a ratio of 20-30%, but mostly for bulk. My soils scientist and I had a conversation last night about what to do and she suggested coir or peat, but that the mix should mellow on its own over the winter.
Any input is appreciated - Butte
Many plants, though, just can't handle my Chernobyl-like soil (or should I say compost?!?).
Any suggestions from you long time organic gardeners? Right now I'm leaning towards adding coir in a ratio of 20-30%, but mostly for bulk. My soils scientist and I had a conversation last night about what to do and she suggested coir or peat, but that the mix should mellow on its own over the winter.
Any input is appreciated - Butte
Hi man,
Some scary numbers indeed there Butte. I'm not sure how much I would do now as apposed to after harvest of course. Though, I would probably try to keep the soil more on the moist side in an effort to avoid concentrating those salts & minimize salinity stress- 10 millimhos per centimeter is way up there, even for a tolerant plant. I might also be tempted to add a microbial soil inoculant in an effort to increase biological activity & complex some of those salts. I think Gypsum additions would be welcomed in this soil as well. When the rains come, I might lay visqueen down over the entire area & cut out openings where my beds were to help flood them well, there's lots of potassium that needs leaching from this soil it looks like. It almost looks as if someone mistook bags of muriate of potash (potassium chloride) for perlite at the yard. Over the fall/winter/spring, I might plant orchardgrass, alfalfa, or other known accumulators of potassium to be harvested tall & removed from the garden. I would also double check & make sure my water is not causing any of these problems. I would try to fix over the fall, & definitely retest for progress (& lots of it) in the spring before adding more bulk.
Damn, what a drag.
Tom
Some scary numbers indeed there Butte. I'm not sure how much I would do now as apposed to after harvest of course. Though, I would probably try to keep the soil more on the moist side in an effort to avoid concentrating those salts & minimize salinity stress- 10 millimhos per centimeter is way up there, even for a tolerant plant. I might also be tempted to add a microbial soil inoculant in an effort to increase biological activity & complex some of those salts. I think Gypsum additions would be welcomed in this soil as well. When the rains come, I might lay visqueen down over the entire area & cut out openings where my beds were to help flood them well, there's lots of potassium that needs leaching from this soil it looks like. It almost looks as if someone mistook bags of muriate of potash (potassium chloride) for perlite at the yard. Over the fall/winter/spring, I might plant orchardgrass, alfalfa, or other known accumulators of potassium to be harvested tall & removed from the garden. I would also double check & make sure my water is not causing any of these problems. I would try to fix over the fall, & definitely retest for progress (& lots of it) in the spring before adding more bulk.
Damn, what a drag.
Tom
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G
Guest
Butte, what type of soil have you there? it looks a bit clay to me. Heres a fact, light loamy soils are often low on K but high on P, P will stick well to these soils, but K will soon get leached through. Exactly the opposite is true on heavier (clay) soils. In the winter I would look at how you could improve drainage on that soil, some plastic perforated drainage pipe under there. I dont know your winter rainfall, but irrigating fairly heavily will help wash those salts out. With clay this wont leach because of soil structure, it is dense & hangs together when it gets wet it becomes like cheese & slumps, locking its salts in. What you have to do in the fall is keep working that soil so that the soil particles break down when the soil is DRY. Organic matter will help but be carefull with manures they will increase nutrients, dry chopped straw, gravel, pea shingle sand PERLITE will all help hugely, & you have to keep working the soil. Too much water after working it will make it slump & compact again, LIKE A PUDDING MIX it becomes anaerobic & lockup again. So wait a while after working soil before washing it through. Think Air, loose, small soil particles, & WASH THOSE SALTS OUT. Once that is done you can think about manures. What you need is some good topsoil, heavy in shingles, & I think what you got there is subsoil. Good luck.
G
Guest
Might even be easier to dump those soils & add new. Check out starcrash's thread on creek bed soil, its pure silt, try to get some with gravel in, & watch those PH levels.
G
Guest
Holy lock up??????
What happened,saline soils SUCK....
YEEEEEIKES what a shame????
Good luck on the outcome,SHIT.
What happened,saline soils SUCK....
YEEEEEIKES what a shame????
Good luck on the outcome,SHIT.
Excellent advice guys! Definately don't let the soil dry out too much or the salts will accumulate at the top, as tom said... Anything you can do to improve the microbial populations will help to pull those excess nutrients from the soil solution and hopefully the salt as well....
I didn't notice it was 10 mmhos/cm of E.C., that is definately off the chart....
I think it would be a good idea to add organic matter such as peat to absorb some of those nutrients and give the microbe populations some material to digest so they absorb more nutes from the soil.... while improving aeration at the same time.....
Coir does not have much nutrient holding capacity, so it would likely not be as beneficial as peat or other organic matter....
Nice Cheese bush! Is that different than the cheese from the UK?
Best of luck getting your soil back in order!
I didn't notice it was 10 mmhos/cm of E.C., that is definately off the chart....
I think it would be a good idea to add organic matter such as peat to absorb some of those nutrients and give the microbe populations some material to digest so they absorb more nutes from the soil.... while improving aeration at the same time.....
Coir does not have much nutrient holding capacity, so it would likely not be as beneficial as peat or other organic matter....
Nice Cheese bush! Is that different than the cheese from the UK?
Best of luck getting your soil back in order!
I used the 20 percent coir trick this year, worked like a charm for me. The soil really holds water and the coir acts as a wick to get the water all through the soil. I'm thrilled with the result, give it a try, think you'll like it. I just use 80 percent well rotted chicken bedding compost, black and crumbly, not too hot, with 20 percent coir and a good dash of dolomitic lime, about a cup per 10 gallons of soil, the results have been great. During the season I supplement with micronutrient blends, epsom salts and some ferts as needed.
If you're having problem with salts, the only solution is flushing. If you just add water and wet the soil without flushing, the salts just keep building up, it's been a problem with irrigated farmland for thousands of years. Parts of the Central Valley are no longer farmable due to salt accumulation. Every couple of weeks I water the hell out of my plants to really flush out the soil, then hit them with a good dose of nutes to get them back on track.
I'm growing in 10 gallon pots, not in the ground, but with the way your ground is it's more similar to a huge pot than typical soil growing, so some of it may apply.
If you're having problem with salts, the only solution is flushing. If you just add water and wet the soil without flushing, the salts just keep building up, it's been a problem with irrigated farmland for thousands of years. Parts of the Central Valley are no longer farmable due to salt accumulation. Every couple of weeks I water the hell out of my plants to really flush out the soil, then hit them with a good dose of nutes to get them back on track.
I'm growing in 10 gallon pots, not in the ground, but with the way your ground is it's more similar to a huge pot than typical soil growing, so some of it may apply.
LiViNg tHE <GReen> dreAM.... !!!
Keep It safe mate !!
Keep It safe mate !!
How about mixing Peat and/or Coco into the existing trenches at a high rate, then leach the hell out of them, and then build raised beds directly over the existing trenches, as high as you can afford. The raised beds can be filled with a carefully tested soil mix.
G
Guest
Wow Butte...very impressive....and that Jedi...whew man
Any chance we can get a yield on the Jedi after your friend harvests her?
She's at least 2.5 lbs IMO.
Any chance we can get a yield on the Jedi after your friend harvests her?
She's at least 2.5 lbs IMO.
Hello everyone
This week has been a really great time as I got a phone call earlier this week from a friend and master gardener that’s been lurking around this thread to come have a look at his garden. The combination of a dizzying array of top-flight genetics and some of the biggest TREES I’ve seen this year (and that’s really saying something!) bumped this garden to the top of my list. Perhaps I can coax him from the shadows to label these wonderful specimens for us?
It was a real joy to sit and talk about this year, next year and generally be able to connect on another level with some really great people.
Anyhow, here are some shots from their garden:
(both big plants on the left and right are Johnny Blaze and the "smaller" one is an F13)
(Johnny Blaze)
(High End - this plant ended up herm'ing just recently)
(Cracker Wreck = [GCxJack = CrackerJack] x TrainWreck)
Here’s one from the top of a nine foot ladder and these plants still came up almost to my knees!
_________________________________________________________________
This garden made its debut back at the end of July and is really cranking now. This one also has a wonderful array of strains, but the standout for me was this Blue Dragon X (AfCrack x Trainwreck). Wow. Also mixed in there are some GC’s and other great crosses. Nor Cal breeders are really trying some interesting things recently and I expect a couple real standouts to emerge from this season.
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_________________________________________________________________
Here is one of our favorites as well. As these gardens get bigger and bigger, it is getting very hard to convey what I am actually seeing. That’s pretty much true for all of these gardens, but some are much more difficult to try to capture.
How about the structure on this Ogre?
_________________________________________________________________
I hope to get up to see another couple gardens in the next few days, so another update on others should be coming up shortly. As far as my garden goes, here’s the current plan.
As soon as I can, I plan to pull all that soil out of the trenches and put it in a big ol’ pile. To this I’m going to add a mix that’s equal parts peat, coir, perlite, and vermiculate (not my favorite amendment, but it’s inert and water holding). How much of this mix I add will be a “feel” thing, but I’m thinking it should be a third to half or more. While the dirt is out of the trenches I plan to put in the drainage that I didn’t have time (or funding) to do this year. I touch of “landscaping” to make it easier to maneuver in the garden will also figure into the plan.
In another pile, I’m going to use the soil from last year (a mix of ocean forest, happy frog, and gardener and bloom organic), the compost from my chickens run through my new toy...
...and about a yard of worm castings left over from this year. Once this soil has been mixed, mellowed, and tested, I’ll put it into large containers similar to last year, but placed on top of the trenches. I’m also going to be doing a little something different with the containers, but more on that later when I can get a decent photo.
So, that pretty much brings everyone up to date except for a composite of what’s left in my plot...
This Mendo Purps isn’t doing too bad
...and this Purple Sour Diesel is among 4 that should give me a taste if not a lot of herb.
Until next time, happy growing - Butte
This week has been a really great time as I got a phone call earlier this week from a friend and master gardener that’s been lurking around this thread to come have a look at his garden. The combination of a dizzying array of top-flight genetics and some of the biggest TREES I’ve seen this year (and that’s really saying something!) bumped this garden to the top of my list. Perhaps I can coax him from the shadows to label these wonderful specimens for us?
It was a real joy to sit and talk about this year, next year and generally be able to connect on another level with some really great people.
Anyhow, here are some shots from their garden:
(both big plants on the left and right are Johnny Blaze and the "smaller" one is an F13)
(Johnny Blaze)
(High End - this plant ended up herm'ing just recently)
(Cracker Wreck = [GCxJack = CrackerJack] x TrainWreck)
Here’s one from the top of a nine foot ladder and these plants still came up almost to my knees!
_________________________________________________________________
This garden made its debut back at the end of July and is really cranking now. This one also has a wonderful array of strains, but the standout for me was this Blue Dragon X (AfCrack x Trainwreck). Wow. Also mixed in there are some GC’s and other great crosses. Nor Cal breeders are really trying some interesting things recently and I expect a couple real standouts to emerge from this season.
_________________________________________________________________
Here is one of our favorites as well. As these gardens get bigger and bigger, it is getting very hard to convey what I am actually seeing. That’s pretty much true for all of these gardens, but some are much more difficult to try to capture.
How about the structure on this Ogre?
_________________________________________________________________
I hope to get up to see another couple gardens in the next few days, so another update on others should be coming up shortly. As far as my garden goes, here’s the current plan.
As soon as I can, I plan to pull all that soil out of the trenches and put it in a big ol’ pile. To this I’m going to add a mix that’s equal parts peat, coir, perlite, and vermiculate (not my favorite amendment, but it’s inert and water holding). How much of this mix I add will be a “feel” thing, but I’m thinking it should be a third to half or more. While the dirt is out of the trenches I plan to put in the drainage that I didn’t have time (or funding) to do this year. I touch of “landscaping” to make it easier to maneuver in the garden will also figure into the plan.
In another pile, I’m going to use the soil from last year (a mix of ocean forest, happy frog, and gardener and bloom organic), the compost from my chickens run through my new toy...
...and about a yard of worm castings left over from this year. Once this soil has been mixed, mellowed, and tested, I’ll put it into large containers similar to last year, but placed on top of the trenches. I’m also going to be doing a little something different with the containers, but more on that later when I can get a decent photo.
So, that pretty much brings everyone up to date except for a composite of what’s left in my plot...
This Mendo Purps isn’t doing too bad
...and this Purple Sour Diesel is among 4 that should give me a taste if not a lot of herb.
Until next time, happy growing - Butte
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Garden's not lookin too bad, Butte, glad to hear you've got a plan for the trenches, sounds good to me! Thanks so much for sharing some of the gardens in your area! Simply amazing! The way things will be once we can live and grow in peace....
Looking forward to seeing the other gardens' updates! Boy thats a lot of trimming!
Looking forward to seeing the other gardens' updates! Boy thats a lot of trimming!
G
Guest
jah
jah
wow ...i am speech impaired..those are the most amazing canabis plants i ever could dream of, let alone see pics...thx sir!
jah
wow ...i am speech impaired..those are the most amazing canabis plants i ever could dream of, let alone see pics...thx sir!
