Do you know much about biochar??
I think the feminisation is a touchy thing. I'm about to find out also. I really would have thought the hormones would have done the trick. I wouldn't think the foliar could have been a bad thing.
That's good info on the lack of roots in the water layer.
Really sorry to hear about your males. Really
Could one of these be turned into an awesome fast composter?
Greetings.......first post on ICmag......great topic/thread. Just an idea in keeping with the organic theme........using HigroMite in place of the Hydroton.
I've used DE in my organic soil mixes, and Higromite in hydro DWC with good results. Thought I'd throw in a suggestion for consideration.
http://www.higromite.com/how.htm
Hey you good people!
Do you know much about biochar?? If not you should check out my Terra Preta thread on my sig... I was thinking it might be really cool to use lumps of biochar in place of the hydroton or lavarock!?
Whaddya think bout that LadyL??
It would be lighter, cheaper, greener (fuck Al Gore btw) and holds all kind of excellent microlife... only one way to find out i guess!
one of the buckets, you mean? Like after I'm done with the medium?
Yes. A gardening buddy and I are actually looking into that right now. We theorize that after a finished medium has been 'cooked' in a high-oxygen environment the benefits of air injection subside. We're building a 30 gallon simplified OBBT. Just an overflow drain, no lower flush drain. The idea is to fill the bottom couple inches with rock and water as usual. Build the medium and flop it on top. This will provide for a super-rapid composting action. He's going to carefully remove the finished medium and place it in many smaller pots to do a moderately-sized SOG grow. I will be updating about how well it works.
That's great. Glad to see some experimentation. Rapid composting could really improve a lot of organic gardening materials. EWC is great, but I like a mix of composts. Actually a bio-box could probably support some types of worms pretty well. I wonder.....
I will be picking up a 1.250" hole saw tomorrow to put in the uniseals.
I tested the drilling on an old bucket. Highly recommended. I found that you just need to pull that trigger and GO FAST through the plastic. Don't stop 1/2 way. Then carefully remove any flash and use a 500 grit or so sandpaper to smooth the hole. Be careful not to make the hole wider.
Use the Windex as they recommend as a lube.
The cheap airstone I was using has started to lose some grit so the next setup will be with the bubblewands.
One other thing I noticed. When I tried to blow into the air line before I took the bucket apart it was hard to blow into, so I'm not sure how much air was getting into the bucket. That was the main reason I took it apart. I should try that on the other 2 just to see.
Whoa! I've got to give this a try. And the idea of turning this into a compost bin? Brilliant! I can't wait to see what you find out about worms in these. It may take me a few weeks to get the materials collected, but expect a few pics when I do.
Mmmmmm. I love that tingly feeling in my brain when I stumble across a new idea!