Living organic soil from start through recycling

[Gascanastan]

I sweated with the Native's in the joint....that's pretty hardcore. Those guys love burning white guys..not all of them are mean,but what a perfect place for payback. They tried getting me...but I got too much native in the mix.

I was in the territory of the Shoshone..so the sweats are done in the host tribes fashion.

The Navajo are awesome people...kind,relaxed,and got a grip of old peyote songs.

Sit through a few warrior rounds and you gain respect quickly.....Aho

 

[Gascanastan]

1/2 cup buttons
2 quarts water

Place into pressure-cooker and run that deal.

Drink the tea and slice up the re-hydrated buttons and eat .25 oz every 4 hours until finished

Sat Sri Akaal

....key phrase..."until finished"

 

[ClackamasCootz]

We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies — all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable.

We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes.

Doors of Perception - Aldous Huxley

 

[all natural]

all natural

Definitely the Malibu. Just to be clear on the fish compost, when CT Guy (KISS Organics) told me about this it was in the context of worm food. There is a bagged compost from Seattle called Cedar Grove which isn't very good for even worm bins. But CTG had run some basic tests and said that the bacteria levels were solid (not the exact term but close).

On your other question about Live Earth Humates - this isn't really going to do much in a container. I bought a bag a few years back and ended up adding it in the correct amounts to our vegetable and flower garden. It has a pretty long 'availability' issue meaning that 4 to 6 months in a container isn't going to give you much benefit.

HTH

CC

Ok thanks CC. Ive been feeding the fish compost to my worms. Are the humates something I could put in the worm bin?

 

[BlueJayWay]

Back to biochar for a second - how important is the process of pyrolysis?

In other words, what might I be missing out on by collecting chunks of charcoal from fallen trees and stumps (previous fires) out in the woods vs. collecting unburnt pieces and processing via pyrolysis? And what, if any, would be more beneficial - cedar, pines/firs, oaks - something tells me the oaks or a good mix of everything... Oh manzanitas too.

Sounds like a good afternoon to me, a bucket, a hatchet, and a walk out in the woods

 

[rrog]

My understanding is only for carbon made for adsorption. The pyrolysis process and temp affect the removal of molecules from the carbon surface. The differences between the starting carbon source is primarily the end carbon structure. Like coconut, when pyrolized, will create a carbon particle with more surface area. Good for odor control.

My thinking would be that carbon is carbon once pyrolized. The materials you described harvested in the wild would be only partially pyrolized, but would certainly have colonies of active microbes, I'd wager.

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

ahhh succulents...got any Lohophora williamsii in there...maybe some San Perdro..or Peruvianus.

I used to work the succulents.....taking appropriate sized williamsii buttons and grafting them onto the matched size of trichocereus rootstock. Increasing williamsii production at a much faster rate..in fact at the same growth rate as a trichocereus.

Ringin' any bells?

I was gifted a lil San Pedro's Torch about a month or two ago. Damn good thing I learned patience growing the good herb, because if I'd gotten this when I was tripping twice a week, it'd already be ravaged in search of drugs.

I'm usually good with succulents but kill cacti - any tips?

 

[BlueJayWay]

My understanding is only for carbon made for adsorption. The pyrolysis process and temp affect the removal of molecules from the carbon surface. The differences between the starting carbon source is primarily the end carbon structure. Like coconut, when pyrolized, will create a carbon particle with more surface area. Good for odor control.

My thinking would be that carbon is carbon once pyrolized. The materials you described harvested in the wild would be only partially pyrolized, but would certainly have colonies of active microbes, I'd wager.

Cool man, that's kind of what I was thinking / hoping to hear - there are lots of stumps and areas that smoldered for days, even weeks, after the fires were out, no shortage of charcoal that's for sure

 

[IncredibowlBoss]

 

[Gascanastan]

Well draining soil in DEEP clay pots. Water about once a month depending. I grew indoors under HID lighting 24 hrs veg...they used water like any other plant in that environment though. Check out the various cactus mixes...you could proly do better than what is offered in a bag.

 

[shmalphy]

I use biochar in my worm bin, I think it was Jaykush that I heard it from.

I got a royal dansk cookie tin and made some biochar in my woodstove today. Super easy. I was using the

 

[unclefishstick]

View attachment 192851

cactus like a winter rest period where they are kept around 45-50 f and only just barely kept moist,cool wet conditions will rot them out pretty quick.once new growth has started in the spring most cactus like food high in P and K and depending on the amount of light they are getting can actually drink quite a bit of water

Well draining soil in DEEP clay pots. Water about once a month depending. I grew indoors under HID lighting 24 hrs veg...they used water like any other plant in that environment though. Check out the various cactus mixes...you could proly do better than what is offered in a bag.

rodales has several good cactus mix recipes in there organic gardening books,finding good horticulture grade sand can be tough..

im just resting mine under lights this year since my un heated workshop is the easiest place for me to do so,next year they will spend the spring/summer/fall outside and i will be putting together a small greenhouse to overwinter them

 

[MrSterling]

I think carbon is carbon, the process of pyrolysis and biochar production just increases the amount of charcoal obtained. Slower burning at lower oxygen levels should leave more carbon.

 

[rrog]

That's my understanding. Mr S. Open flames would reduce the carbon to ash, stopping 1/2 way would yield some ash, some carbon, and some wood. Controlled pyrolysis yields little ash or wood. Just carbon.

 

[MrSterling]

The problem speaking as a rural person is the BTUs of wood are too valuable as fuel in the winter to warrant use as char. I need to figure out an easy way to process brush.

 

[CT Guy]

Morning all! Hope life is treating you guys well and that you're all staying good and high. All I seem to do these days is rake!

Autumn really decided to show up after that hurricane sucked the warm weather away. The upside of having to make fires is I'm getting chunks of char again to add to the compost; MM is using this for inoculating I think I read?

Some of my potted plants got repotted into my organic soil mix since they needed doing. I was worried it would be too rich but frankly the plants are riding out the cold like I've never seen. I've a marigold plant that's been holding its blossoms way longer than usual too. A very pleasant experience!

Is there any benefit to using honey over molasses for ACT? I figure it's six of one, half a dozen of the other, but an old head gave me a bunch of local honey and ACT is definitely new territory for me.

Namaste!

Honey has some natural antibacterial properties, which is why you can eat raw honey and not process or refrigerate it (just harvest some awesome Japanese Knotweed honey from our hives!). I wouldn't use it in the ACT though for that reason. Haven't seen any testing on the subject.

Unsulfured blackstrap molasses is cheap. At your local feed store, it's under $15 for 3 gallons or so. You're using tablespoons in a 5 gallon brew so the cost is pennies.

 

[MrSterling]

Yeah CT, I pick up organic unsulphered on the cheap. Love my feed store...who still hasn't gotten my kelp meal in yet. The honey on the other hand is free, just not in the quantities, so I'll be sticking with the molasses.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Back to biochar for a second - how important is the process of pyrolysis?

In other words, what might I be missing out on by collecting chunks of charcoal from fallen trees and stumps (previous fires) out in the woods vs. collecting unburnt pieces and processing via pyrolysis? And what, if any, would be more beneficial - cedar, pines/firs, oaks - something tells me the oaks or a good mix of everything... Oh manzanitas too.

Sounds like a good afternoon to me, a bucket, a hatchet, and a walk out in the woods

If you live in areas that get a good bush fire every 100 years or so then i bet there is char buried nearby. I am lucky enough to dig in my clay soil and come across perfect little nuggets of char in various places. Some is where people have been emptying their ash buckets or have had bonfires. But i have found char buried in much bushier areas.

I would look for stuff that has naturally pyrolised. If its buried under a good blanket of ash then wood starved of oxygen is exactly what we is after. Obviously by now the ash will all have washed away and the char maybe many years old... so long as its evenly black and shiny.

If you check the terra preta thread in my sig there is lots of info.

Including an ancient method for charring lots of brushwood at once: Simply dig a long, deepish trench and keep the soil handy. Fill the trench with your branches etc. Start a fire and get it burning hot and even.

Then evenly spread the soil back onto the fire. You should completely smother the fire but leave a breather hole for oxygen to enter by heaping soil around a straight branch and then removing. It may help to use more muddy soil for this bit.

Allow the fire to burn and watch the smoke coming out of the hole. Once it changes from thick white smoke to wispy and thin, almost no smoke fill in the air hole and allow to cook out for a few hours. Its best to leave it overnight and allow to cool right down. EDIT: Be sure to have a garden hose or water on hand if things go pear shaped or if you are in a hurry and want to cool it down quick.

You should be left with a nice big pile of perfect char.

I did this once in a big hole left by an uprooted tree. Worked well and i got a good few wheelbarrows of char.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/Make-Biochar-To-Improve-Your-Soil.aspx

Yesterday i was repotting some seedlings. In the bottom of each pot i put a 50/50 mix of dried pig poo and crushed char. I reckon this will give the plants a nice boost once the roots get down the inch or so of soil to the bottom.

Because the char absorbs bad stuff i reckon i wont have any root rot issues either if i get lots of rain before the plants fill out their new home.

 

[Neo 420]

My cacti actually consumes a nice bit of water. The pic below was during the summer. Was nice to catch it in full bloom..

 

[CT Guy]

Yeah CT, I pick up organic unsulphered on the cheap. Love my feed store...who still hasn't gotten my kelp meal in yet. The honey on the other hand is free, just not in the quantities, so I'll be sticking with the molasses.

As a beekeeper myself, I can tell you that the amount of work that goes into honey is amazing, and you should definitely enjoy it yourself.