Y
YosemiteSam
So Cootz...in your soil mix, the 1/3 humus part...is it ever simply vermicompost, or is it always a mixture?
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Living organic soil from start through recycling
- Thread starter Gascanastan
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Really not sure because I live far from that area, I was walking around the nursery and she mentioned that they were organic fed chickens and she loved the stuff, I'm pretty sure that she mentioned boulder.... but didn't say where she got it.
I'll have to ask more about it and find out... I'll be there on Tuesday to get some more compost so I'll ask then.
OrganicLearner
Member
Would you run into cold temp. problems with the smart pot style worm bin if left outside in the winter time, and also have you guys modified the pot into flow through bin style or just a big heap with worms?
Also was wondering if the use of dolomite in a soil mix is only rational to use for its calcium content and if so can you use any source of calcium to "neutralize" ph??
Also was wondering if the use of dolomite in a soil mix is only rational to use for its calcium content and if so can you use any source of calcium to "neutralize" ph??
im going to guess that you've never worked in a grow store,while im sure answering questions here can get tedious on occasion,let me assure its nowhere near as bad as explaining for the 10,000th time that reflectors need a bulb and ballast to work.and no,just because i work in a hydro shop does not grant me clairvoyant powers to remotely diagnose a plant i have never seen and i cant tell you what kind of bugs you have from a vague two word description!! sorry i try to help people by selling them something i hope will help from tiny scraps of actual info i can wrest from them...
sorry for the rant,i really enjoy reading this thread,its a rare island of intelligence and genuine good humor,as well as being chock full of useful information...
but you know,the hardcore organic soil types are always the most preachy and up on their soapboxes
(j/k painting groups of people with broad brushstrokes is never a good idea)
I think defoliation = veg too long so they couldn't possibly fit unless you trim them back...
You would need a ton of light and space in veg to run like that perpetually.
Back to reality... somewhat I guess...I have been thinking about the 6 plant rule in CO, and I was wondering if we will see a trend of grafting? Seems like the only way to "legally" have a wide variety of strains...
You would need a ton of light and space in veg to run like that perpetually.
Back to reality... somewhat I guess...I have been thinking about the 6 plant rule in CO, and I was wondering if we will see a trend of grafting? Seems like the only way to "legally" have a wide variety of strains...
Gardens Keeper
Active member
Heh, must be terrible. I read a post a long time ago of someone on here whom worked at a dispensary and a lady came in and bought some clones only to come back and say they died. When asked how she propagated them she said she stuck them in a pot of dirt and put them in the living room next to the window.
but you know,the hardcore organic soil types are always the most preachy and up on their soapboxes
For years, I too, tried to seek shelter from the fact that organics produces superior weed, is 100% fool proof, can be fully environmentally ethical, and is infinitely cheaper than bottled chemicals that cost astronomical amount of money compared to their natural sources. Realizing I was paying scientists salaries for a product designed to be dependent on other products offered by the same company has been enough to drive me permanently away. No more will I mistake arrogance for truth. Amen, Amen heh.
not to be antagonistic,but economy of scale would suggest to me that bottled "veganic" nutes would have a much smaller carbon footprint than dragging 50 lb sacks of amendments from across an area of thousands of miles..i seriously doubt many people are going out and gathering and drying kelp or growing your own neem trees or grinding up crab shells and whatnot so in that regard an organic soil system is probably the least efficient method....
Zoiks Shaggy..
I feel for ya Unc...time to bump up herb production and grow your ass up the food chain. Fuck that job...grow organic herb instead...ya know like Mr. Gashole here..it's been my bread and butter for nearly 20 years.
You can do it~
Organic herb peeps are like fine wine peeps....if it isn't up there with the best of them,everything else is crap....especially if you have enough olfactory senses left from sniffing glue to discern the difference between something that smells and tastes like burning tires compared to the unrivaled flavors and epic highs quality organic cannabis can deliver...seriously some of the most attentive people on this planet.
I feel for ya Unc...time to bump up herb production and grow your ass up the food chain. Fuck that job...grow organic herb instead...ya know like Mr. Gashole here..it's been my bread and butter for nearly 20 years.
You can do it~
Organic herb peeps are like fine wine peeps....if it isn't up there with the best of them,everything else is crap....especially if you have enough olfactory senses left from sniffing glue to discern the difference between something that smells and tastes like burning tires compared to the unrivaled flavors and epic highs quality organic cannabis can deliver...seriously some of the most attentive people on this planet.
Not exactly....think about what goes into making a plastic bottle..even if they recycle the plastic for the molds,that is a massive amount of plastic molding beads to be shipped to the molding facility and then shipped to packaging facilities where it is then shipped to distributors.
Each molding machine is massive and requires industrial amounts of energy to heat,melt,inject,eject..and run non-stop 8 hrs a day..
That's just the bottles alone...few people are on the 'grow for free with what you can find around you' trip....most are just going to mix soil and fill pots then grow some Scooby-Kush under a 400 watt HPS...these type of organic peeps want what they can go and buy at the dro-store or garden center. This bag..that bag..etc.....but environmental costs aren't my area of specialization..so I'll let those guys take this one...
YS
For about the past 18 months or so the only thing that I was using was vermicompost. Before that I was sourcing humus materials as best I could and that included at one point using the Malibu Biodynamic Compost product but that had to be ordered out of California and with shipping charges via an LTL carrier it wasn't too feasible.
This cycle I used the Malibu product because it's now available at the organic farm store at 25% less than I was paying out of California before adding on the S&H charges.
I also added a small amount of the organic fish compost 'just because' it looked nice and I was told that it had good bacteria levels. I'm going to stick with this mix given the health of the plants that I have in flower (Day 14) using this mix.
Since you've used the enzyme concoctions I don't need to belabor the effectiveness of using these throughout the different cycles.
CC
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Also, instead of arguing that the organics "must contain stuff shipped from all over"
I could very easily use all local sources and make an excellent soil batch... the great thing is that I don't have to and the organics for me right now only extends to the quality of my product and not to the entire carbon footprint of an industry.
As I learn more and more, I'm certain I can easily grow with some good soil, compost, rocks and chicken shit with egg shells etc... just from around my house.
I think the veganic nutrient bottles are interesting, but that is like saying that bottled water is better for the environment than all of those pesky at home water filters. Once I mix my soil, I'm good for a LONG Long time... no buying more stuff.
Edit: Also, I feel that local industries could pop up and be supported... Just swing by the organic guy's house and get some fresh FPE's, Compost Tea's and locally sourced amendments.... ???
Except that you're stating 'facts' that are not 'facts'
How does sourcing 'bottled organic gunk' from China equal 'smaller carbon footprints' - or are you claiming that the grow store products are formulated in the USA?
And even if they were, which they are not, how does having Botanicare sourcing crap alfalfa from wherever result in 'smaller carbon footprint' vs. buying legitimate local alfalfa from certified organic growers for $15.00 per 50 lbs. bags?
The business model for grow stores is to sell the customer THE worst possible excuse for potting soil, load them up with magical, mythical and mystical bottles with goofy labels that rack up big commissions for the 'guy at the grow store'
Get 'em on the treadmill so that the kid who failed at selling cheap plastic handsets at the Verizon kiosk at the mall now has viable career options.
But here's my favorite sales pitch at grow stores:
"A lot of the big growers use this!" - coupled with a stupid look on their face.
Translation: "This crap really beefs up my commission"
Without terms like 'proprietary ingredients' and Cal-Mag Lockout and especially pH mythology, this industry would be f*cked 10 ways to Sunday.
And then there's the entire OMRI scam played to perfection by NGW, Sun Light Mfg., et al.
CC
I started using that Oly Mountain last year sometime after schwagg alerted us to it. Nothing but positive results with ACT,topdressing,and soil mixes...good stuff..high humic value for the $.
Guess what..it's a hot item right now in that 'all of a sudden' way after it gets discussed here...sort of like karanja meal showing up on the shelves eh.... used to be pallets of it sitting around at some places and now they can't get it in fast enough...uh oh...could we see a quality drop here?
Are you talking about the new pack from DTE?
...I have not seen the new pack.
Down-To-Earth began distributing Karanja meal earlier this year - 6 lb., 25 & 44 lb. packs. Their neem meal is from the plant in China that presses the oil for Dyna-Grow who chose not to distribute the neem direct to retail stores.
I have no idea where their Karanja meal is coming from. It may well be India but I'd have to look-up their filing. I'll do that tomorrow and let you know what I find out.
I'd still rather buy from KIS Organics on either neem or karanja oils and meals. Very fair prices.
CC
I have no idea where their Karanja meal is coming from. It may well be India but I'd have to look-up their filing. I'll do that tomorrow and let you know what I find out.
I'd still rather buy from KIS Organics on either neem or karanja oils and meals. Very fair prices.
CC
The whole China thing just kills it for me....I can't consciously support businesses that send jobs to China like that then pack the shelves at unsuspecting (or not) hippie dippie co-ops....especially from an 'organic' consumer based point of view.
Gascanastan
Back to growing 'dank' and such - I'm very nervous and concerned on a condition that I've seen on the TO plants this cycle and it ties into the 'schooling' that you got over 'band-aid cures' and such by one of the resident 'dank experts' - purple stems.
My situation is much, much worse - I've got purple stalks! But the entire stalk isn't purple bu rather the purple is in stripes running vertically - oh my!
Does this mean that I almost have my pH in line so that's why I'm only getting stripes or does it mean that I'm drifting out of a safe pH range?
Molybdenum issues? Manganese?
Troubling times indeed......
CC
Back to growing 'dank' and such - I'm very nervous and concerned on a condition that I've seen on the TO plants this cycle and it ties into the 'schooling' that you got over 'band-aid cures' and such by one of the resident 'dank experts' - purple stems.
My situation is much, much worse - I've got purple stalks! But the entire stalk isn't purple bu rather the purple is in stripes running vertically - oh my!
Does this mean that I almost have my pH in line so that's why I'm only getting stripes or does it mean that I'm drifting out of a safe pH range?
Molybdenum issues? Manganese?
Troubling times indeed......
CC
The entire grow store business paradigm is linked at the wrists & ankles with the chemical companies in China
Alibaba.com or TradeKey.com shows how easy this really is. All you need is working capitol and you can make 1700 - 3000% mark-ups.
But there is that honor and integrity issue to contend and deal with.
CC
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