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Living organic soil from start through recycling

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ClackamasCootz

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Olympia fish compost???...good stuff,black,doesn't stink,full of humic material and definitely lacking the common 'yard and construction material'.....schwagg turned me on to this stuff last year...good score.
Yep - that's the stuff.

I used it in this mix we did Sunday evening......

1 bale Alaska Peat (3.8 but I'll call it 4.0)
4 c.f. crushed lava rock (really cheap from a landscape supplier)
2 c.f. worm castings
1 c.f. Malibu Biodynamic Compost
1 c.f. fish compost

3.5 gallons Basalt rock dust
2 quarts Kelp meal
2 quarts Neem & Karanja meal mix
2 quarts Crustacean meal (shrimp & crab from Newport, Oregon)

I'm still concerned about the N levels during flowering though......

CC
 
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ClackamasCootz

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Budwhyser

Assuming that the worm guy is using Red Wigglers (pretty safe assumption) then the brownish small worm could indeed be a newly hatched worm. They are a reddish-brown color as soon as they hatch.

However in the bedding are small white worms which play a role but I can't remember exactly what. The term 'potting worm' seems to be what I remember. My worm guy told me that many people mistakenly believe that these are young Red Wigglers but he assured me that they are not.

He stressed that they are one of the 'good guys' and from that what I would say from your description of your source, it's obviously a very live vermicompost that is very difficult to find in commercial bagged products.

Good source, IMHO

CC
 

Budwhyser

Member
Budwhyser

Assuming that the worm guy is using Red Wigglers (pretty safe assumption) then the brownish small worm could indeed be a newly hatched worm. They are a reddish-brown color as soon as they hatch.

However in the bedding are small white worms which play a role but I can't remember exactly what. The term 'potting worm' seems to be what I remember. My worm guy told me that many people mistakenly believe that these are young Red Wigglers but he assured me that they are not.

He stressed that they are one of the 'good guys' and from that what I would say from your description of your source, it's obviously a very live vermicompost that is very difficult to find in commercial bagged products.

Good source, IMHO

CC

CC thanks for your input. I was thinking I had a problem thanks for easing my mind. I guess you guys were serious about the name of this thread!
 

SilverSurfer_OG

Living Organic Soil...
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I got my blumats on ebay but am only just testing them out at the mo.

That microbe lift BTI sounds interesting.

Cheers :smoweed:
 
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shmalphy

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Veteran
There SHOULD be living moving things in your soil, especially worms. I have seen a huge difference since adding worms right to the pots. If the plants show problems, introduce predators. That is where I am at.
 
M

MrSterling

The worm introduction to containers seems to work especially well with a top mulch. The mulch does a great job keeping the soil itself moister, longer, and when you scrape it back the top couple inches is nicely friable from the worm activity.
 

Gascanastan

Gone but NOT forgotten...
Veteran
PS. I had 2 fat fucking rats eating the stems where i had gooped them. Some plants were seriously ring barked like from 4 or 5 branches right down to the soil! Got the pests now and all but one plant is fine.

Mix 1 cup of cayenne pepper and one cup DE together. Add enough water to make a paste and then cake this on the remaining stems with latex gloves. Now let the little fuckers nibble on that for a sec...
 

Gascanastan

Gone but NOT forgotten...
Veteran
Yep - that's the stuff.

I'm still concerned about the N levels during flowering though......

CC

Olympia fish compost is the best bagged compost I've seen out there next to the old Marwest. This is what compost is supposed to look like.

The product is mostly for retail sale only around the Olympic peninsula...but it's getting further nowadays.

AS for the concern over nitrogenz.....poop on your plants and add 6 tablespoons dolomite.
 

Gascanastan

Gone but NOT forgotten...
Veteran
Nice Gascanastan I was going to recommend a varmint rifle and round, heh. Bet that will work on deer and rose bushes too...

Deer are a different beast altogether...they are fast learners. My best defense for dear...predator urine from hunting/sporting goods department.
 
Olympia fish compost is the best bagged compost I've seen out there next to the old Marwest. This is what compost is supposed to look like.

The product is mostly for retail sale only around the Olympic peninsula...but it's getting further nowadays.

AS for the concern over nitrogenz.....poop on your plants and add 6 tablespoons dolomite.

Actually eat the dolomite then poop. Start the breakdown early ;)

sent from my HTC inc2
 
Y

YosemiteSam

Yep - that's the stuff.

I used it in this mix we did Sunday evening......

1 bale Alaska Peat (3.8 but I'll call it 4.0)
4 c.f. crushed lava rock (really cheap from a landscape supplier)
2 c.f. worm castings
1 c.f. Malibu Biodynamic Compost
1 c.f. fish compost

3.5 gallons Basalt rock dust
2 quarts Kelp meal
2 quarts Neem & Karanja meal mix
2 quarts Crustacean meal (shrimp & crab from Newport, Oregon)

I'm still concerned about the N levels during flowering though......

CC

I would be curious what the cec of such a mix might be. My wild ass guess is that once you get over 30 or so the magic happens.

edit...and I am still too rookie to tell if you are kidding about the N or not, but this dude told me about bio teas once upon a time
 
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C

CT Guy

The organic straws that I used for the first compost piles for this year have finished the 'heat ramp' deal and are going to be loaded into large SmartPots and moved into the garage to cure until next spring. I'm really happy with the whole process this time around. The borage, comfrey, yarrow and alfalfa definitely did their job on getting thing moving with the carbon sources. I have enough garden material to do another 2 c.y. pile and I just need to pick-up a couple more straw bales. I checked today and they still have oat, wheat and rye straw - certified organic.

Then last week CT Guy (Keep It Simple Farm and KIS Organics) called and told me about a fish compost (certified organic) that they are offering and at a really good price!! He is using it in some of the worm bins as feedstock. This is black compost. Not brown. Black. There is absolutely no fish smell at all - just the smell of well made compost.

Then on Saturday I went to my regular organic farm store to pick-up a fairly large order and they had several pallets of the biodynamic compost from California - Malibu Biodynamic Compost. They just started carrying it and their price was $16.50 which is less money than the price charged buying it direct out of California and you still have to factor the shipping charges. Moving single pallets out of California into Oregon isn't cheap because it's just too much trouble for most carriers. The local price (before any discounts) is very fair given the quality of this compost, IMHO

I think that I'm set on humus materials for the next several months even without the worm castings I've accumulated that will be applied to the raised beds after the rain season is over - whatever that means in the PNW.

Just a reminder that CT Guy carries the neem & karanja oils & meals from Neem Resource (The Ahimsa Foundation) and he's able to be more flexible on pack sizes on the meals which is a nice benefit. I like using a mix of neem & karanja meals/cakes. "Just because"

CC

The KIS Organics site isn't fully functional yet (not all the products are listed yet, and you can't checkout correctly). If you go to http://www.kisfarm.com/test-3/ you can see the list of available amendments and just send them an email to get a per lb price and shipping cost. The basalt, neem cake, crustacean meal, and glacical rock dust are all available. Shipping via USPS Flat Rate Box eliminates much of the weight issue.

Another product available that is based off of Coot's recipes:
http://simplici-tea.com/nutrientpack.htm

Hope that info helps!


PS: I looked at the Oly Mountain Fish Compost and was impressed with the active bacterial levels when compared with other local composts (Cedar Grove is awful). The fungal activity was still low, but that's fairly common with commercial composts, I believe due to the rate in which it's produced. I would use it in conjunction with another compost with higher fungal activity, but for the price, you really can't beat it.

You can also get it for around $45/yard locally, which puts it on par with Cedar Grove in regards to cost. (Cedar Grove is our local composting company that takes all the municipal food waste).
 

Gascanastan

Gone but NOT forgotten...
Veteran
Cedar Grove is junk.....lots of uncomposted material. The first and last bag I will ever buy was ripped open by raccoons late one night in my backyard to get at the uncomposted food in the bag.

It's cool that they have the facility to recycle all this local stuff,but they need to step up the practice a touch.
 

DARC MIND

Member
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cherijuana
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:biggrin:
 
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