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Living organic soil from start through recycling CONTINUED...
- Thread starter gaiusmarius
- Start date
those piles of dirt that look like tic tacs are worm poop
their ingestion and digestion of organic material makes it readily available to the plant as nutrient
so, worms sh1t in the soil! who knew?
tune in next week where we discuss the actions of bears in forests...
and dont miss our Christmas special where we ask: What are the religious beliefs of the Pope?
back on topic, the plants look wonderful wierd! all very healthy although i would say the 10 gallon ones look a tiny bit better than the 5 gallons
much respect
VG
tune in next week where we discuss the actions of bears in forests...
and dont miss our Christmas special where we ask: What are the religious beliefs of the Pope?
back on topic, the plants look wonderful wierd! all very healthy although i would say the 10 gallon ones look a tiny bit better than the 5 gallons
much respect
VG
CimeTempestose
Member
great pics
..just a question Weird, how do you feed the worms once that the plant is in the pot since 20-30 days ?
great pics
..just a question Weird, how do you feed the worms once that the plant is in the pot since 20-30 days ?
Lol worms eat bacteria, which is plentiful in the soil food web. They don't get special treatment, they're part of the system.
If using LC mix 2 and feeding with teas and top dressing, can I just use that medium again no till? The 7 gallon smartpots would seem to have lots of dead roots after cutting the main rootball out. Should i till it and maybe add an enzyme? This would be an all organic top dress tea og grown media so im guessing no to any enzymes. Any info is appreciated.
in the spirit of ROLS, yes! you can recycle mixes like those. use of choices like dolomite lime or epsom salt can be problematic when recycling
for enzymes, we use seed sprout tea... other naturally occurring enzymes are in many plant-based amendments
i'd top-dress a small amount of crab meal & mulch that in w/ a little EWC and/or compost {vermicompost is best} comfrey & alfalfa fresh would make a nice addition to that mulch & even barley straw
then water w/ a SST to get everything going
for enzymes, we use seed sprout tea... other naturally occurring enzymes are in many plant-based amendments
i'd top-dress a small amount of crab meal & mulch that in w/ a little EWC and/or compost {vermicompost is best} comfrey & alfalfa fresh would make a nice addition to that mulch & even barley straw
then water w/ a SST to get everything going
L
Luther Burbank
I've been wondering about using millet for a SST. I'm assuming we're going for a certain mix of enzymes and barley works well for that, but millet is a food grain after all, and honestly way cheaper. I'm gonna do some research.
You know people look for best performance when doing a comparative and I will make a different suggestion.
Bring more plants into your life, non marijuana and grow them to the side and do trials with evaluating organic pre-cursors
some times local natural availability trumps performance and the best way to gauge that is through use.
If space allows (greenhouse, out doors, big grow rooms) I would be running companion plants for multiple purposes, one so I could run organic trials before I put them into production two I would run plants that add to IPM such as marigolds, lavender or other plants that at the same time could contribute to other consumption/medical use.
I don't know if marigolds or lavender are perfect examples to fit those molds but you get the gist of it.
Bring more plants into your life, non marijuana and grow them to the side and do trials with evaluating organic pre-cursors
some times local natural availability trumps performance and the best way to gauge that is through use.
If space allows (greenhouse, out doors, big grow rooms) I would be running companion plants for multiple purposes, one so I could run organic trials before I put them into production two I would run plants that add to IPM such as marigolds, lavender or other plants that at the same time could contribute to other consumption/medical use.
I don't know if marigolds or lavender are perfect examples to fit those molds but you get the gist of it.
L
Luther Burbank
I'm a farmer, so there's a lot of plants in my life, weird! Haha!
I hear you on wishing for enough room and numbers to test all these thigs. I've been wishing for enough cannabis seeds to feed my plants with a SST of cannabis. Someday I'll have enough to test that one out.
I hear you on wishing for enough room and numbers to test all these thigs. I've been wishing for enough cannabis seeds to feed my plants with a SST of cannabis. Someday I'll have enough to test that one out.
Thank you for the reply. What kind of problems would the dolomite lime cause when recycling media? I can also easily unload my used media into containers for tilling and "cooking" if necessary. I have been searching for a newbie thread or step by step guide for recycling bare media like the lc mix 2 so any help would be appreciated. I would consider myself an expert hydro and soil-less chemical grower as that's all i've ever done for many years and now fully converted and committed to organic soil, thanks for any help.
yes
this run some plants faded faster than others because of light intensity, but I do not think it is because I didn't add back enough but because temps were a bit low and biological activity wasn't meeting demand.
For that light intensity those plants should be warmer, and the imbalance in terms of living soil becomes noticeable in the plants.
Ions aren't selective in that regard and I still get stuck by that same ol' feed them whatever with a flick of the wrist and it will all work out.
Regardless, I am very happy with the results, if I replace the 5 gallons with 10 gallons and free up the floor space taken up by the fan I should be able to max my numbers sans co2, basically on par with where I was before I transitioned.
I wanted to really be able to build up soil and read plants once they were in it so I could get a real feel for how it works.
I feel like I have a fairly good handle on doing this and these learning experiences have been helpful in getting me there.
this run some plants faded faster than others because of light intensity, but I do not think it is because I didn't add back enough but because temps were a bit low and biological activity wasn't meeting demand.
For that light intensity those plants should be warmer, and the imbalance in terms of living soil becomes noticeable in the plants.
Ions aren't selective in that regard and I still get stuck by that same ol' feed them whatever with a flick of the wrist and it will all work out.
Regardless, I am very happy with the results, if I replace the 5 gallons with 10 gallons and free up the floor space taken up by the fan I should be able to max my numbers sans co2, basically on par with where I was before I transitioned.
I wanted to really be able to build up soil and read plants once they were in it so I could get a real feel for how it works.
I feel like I have a fairly good handle on doing this and these learning experiences have been helpful in getting me there.
yeah I prune into my pots and buck my fan leaves into them as well as work my stems back into them
I still add back amendments as well, but stick heavily to meals (fish, fish bone, kelp, neem, alfalfa) and I have been trying to stage them at strategic times.
After I pull but before I up pot my new plants going in I like to use an topdress kelp and use an alfalfa tea, and I use the same tea to foliar the plants in veg to go in.
Then before I flip to flower i dress in neem and In the first week or two of flower I put in fish and fish bone meals.
If I am adding stuff like incest frass or another organic amendment for diversity I add it in a way that its availability will coincide with the need for it.
I try not to disturb the soil layer when working in my amendments which is why using teas to apply them works well as well but you have to adjust how much and sometimes increase frequency of application.
I still add back amendments as well, but stick heavily to meals (fish, fish bone, kelp, neem, alfalfa) and I have been trying to stage them at strategic times.
After I pull but before I up pot my new plants going in I like to use an topdress kelp and use an alfalfa tea, and I use the same tea to foliar the plants in veg to go in.
Then before I flip to flower i dress in neem and In the first week or two of flower I put in fish and fish bone meals.
If I am adding stuff like incest frass or another organic amendment for diversity I add it in a way that its availability will coincide with the need for it.
I try not to disturb the soil layer when working in my amendments which is why using teas to apply them works well as well but you have to adjust how much and sometimes increase frequency of application.
one thing w/ dolomite is it's more tied up than other Ca sources. IOW, it has very little benefit when applied. Then, as it breaks down, if there isn't a requirement for more Mg, it can make for too much ~these factors can vary greatly depending on the activity in your soil & other buffers. essentially, 1 round w/ dolomite lime *can* go just fine. But, what you have actually added *can* end up being too much by the second round
~again, w/o actually knowing precisely how your mix was assembled {even though the "recipe" is available} things like brand choice, quality of ingredients & water source can make for wide variances
the same problems can apply w/ amendments suggested for no-till. the best example might be salted alfalfa when bunny pellets are chosen. similarly; a supply of alfalfa from a field where herbicides or pesticides are used might contaminate your mix & this could apply to all your botanical resources i.e. comfrey, lavender, chamomile/yarrow & dynamic accumulators ~you get the gist on that.
the discussion about live mulch & mixing other plant choices is actually very helpful here. a living soil thrives on having plants growing in it & barren, fallow regions of the soil are not natural. moreover, the health and growth of these other choices enables you to read the soil as these metrics represent the performance of the soil
