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Living organic soil from start through recycling

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ClackamasCootz

Expired
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CC

Curious about adding ProTekt to the insecticide posted above.
Is it just good practice to foliar the silica, or does have some mechanical effect, like the aloe does?
gregor mendel

In a foliar application it falls into the good practice column. In the soil it's a very different story.

CC
 
Y

YosemiteSam

559.57 grams of Agsil 16H per gallon final volume, to get a solution with 7.8% SiO2

YosemiteSam

So 35 grams of Agsil 16 to 8 oz. of water gets us to 7.8% SiO2, correct?

35 grams = 1.5 oz. (everything rounded off) - makes the mixing ratio pretty straight forward

CC

yep...I have never tried to get that much into solution though. It may be tough.

How many gallons and how much ProTekt are you using? An easier soln would be to find out how many grams of AgSil to add to the amount of water you are currently using. That way you would not be dealing with as concentrated a solution.

You are also getting a little more K than the ProTekt, but given your mix that probably is nothing to worry about.
 
Y

YosemiteSam

Foliar SiO2 application is a fantastic PM preventative. I have a friend in San Fran that sprayed a tomato plant a couple of times. Only plant in the neighborhood that did not get PM

Add it to water and spray it...do not adjust the pH.
 

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
I also have another question lobbed in MM's direction, i saw you mention it a few pages back and perhaps another thread somewhere here but you said you use an EM-1 brew of some sort for yaself and would be very curious to hear more about it.
I drink apple cider vinegar "with the mother" and kefir, mainly as a result of seeing the benefits of adding beneficial microbes to my soil/plants.

I have tried kombucha, I want to like it, but I don't. Taste like feet. I haven't drank alcohol in 18 months, so I got a buzz off it lol.

interesting. could you use the "leftover" water just to water your plants, if not then why?
and of course use the green stuff in the first bag to go to compost or topdress etc.
i've understood that the terpenes in pine needles for example are not so preferable, is it the same for cannabis?
As I said earlier in this thread, the process of making water hash is worth it for the tea alone.

Plants love being mulched by their own type, as in nature. This is why I will never understand the people who get busted dumping leaves and stems and old soil into the trash... Just cut all the stems from that one plant onto the soil it came from, and the junk leaves, all others go to hash, then mulched. Throw in worms, and white clover, and you have a closed loop pretty much.

If you make butter or oil with your trim, do not mulch with that, as it tends to suffocate the surface of the soil, and can contain salts. I have tried it.
 

Gascanastan

Gone but NOT forgotten...
Veteran
Foliar SiO2 application is a fantastic PM preventative. I have a friend in San Fran that sprayed a tomato plant a couple of times. Only plant in the neighborhood that did not get PM

Add it to water and spray it...do not adjust the pH.

I've been using the potassium silicate (pro-tekt) for PM prevention for quite some time.

Especially for the under canopy going into flower. I mix some sick proportion...like 1/4 cup per gal. and spray every leaf top and bottom. The silicate residue on the leaves stops PM in it's tracks. The top canopy gets more air and light...so no need to spray up there much.

Don't want to get the flowers..it does burn the hairs..and that retards flower development,so I avoid getting it on the forming flowers. After an application I'm usually good to go for the full flowering period without worry of PM attack in those little unseen dark damp spaces I can't get to easily or often.

I'm spotting some good old fashioned PM hitting some stuff up here in these parts lately...
 

ClackamasCootz

Expired
Veteran
YosemiteSam

I used your mixing ratio a couple of hours ago. The powder mixed with the water immediately as I stirred the water with a bamboo chopstick. Complete and total solubility.

At first the water was cloudy whereas Pro-TeKt is clear. After about 90 minutes the water was less cloudy and pretty close to Pro-TeKt

The big test for me was emulsifying neem oil and I went with that because it's much thicker than karanja oil. I measured out 4 tsp. of neem oil and added 2 tsp. of the AgSil mixture which is the same ratio that I use with Pro-TeKt. In this regard it is at least the same and probably better. The color change with neem is very pronounced and exact. I mixed this with water to make 1 gallon (with aloe vera) and used it to spray a mother plant that I'm getting ready to take apart this weekend.

8 oz. water + 35 grams AgSil 16H = works flawlessly

Thanks to everyone for helping me get this down. Basically 1 lb. makes 3 quarts - about 1/2 the price of Pro-TeKt with the ability to control the actual amount and the quality of the mix itself and save money - win-win

CC
 

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
S47; I really don't like accepting the responsibility of encouraging ingesting potentially unsafe fermentations, so leave that to braver souls than myself.
 

ClackamasCootz

Expired
Veteran
I'm spotting some good old fashioned PM hitting some stuff up here in these parts lately...
According to an email sent out by the horticulture school at OSU, this will be a very bad year for powdery mildew and related pathogens in the PNW - ideal weather patterns already seen.

"Preventative Maintenance"
 
I've contained myself long enough.Just want to say thank you all for this great tread,and especially to Gascanastan for kick starting it!
tiphat.gif


I enjoy reading this everyday!
 

Weird

3rd-Eye Jedi
Veteran
folairs have been one of my favorite tools in my tool box but i deviated from using potassium silicate foliarly because i felt it would be better to source in an natural occurring organic amendment such as DE

curious of the consensus here
 

unclefishstick

Fancy Janitor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
According to an email sent out by the horticulture school at OSU, this will be a very bad year for powdery mildew and related pathogens in the PNW - ideal weather patterns already seen.

"Preventative Maintenance"
one benefit of living in the high desert,zero pm problems...bud mold? whats that? waaaay to dry here for that,it takes effort for me to keep my rooms at 30% rh...
 

SilverSurfer_OG

Living Organic Soil...
ICMag Donor
Veteran
You can get DE small enough to foliar?

I wonder how much silica is in comfrey leaves? They certainly hairy and itchy enough.

I collected 4 wheelbarrows of comfrey in flower from under some feral apple trees next to a road yesterday. Most is for compost but i might make some foliar for my seedlings.

My aloe vera gel has Hydroxybenzoates and Diazolidinylurea what ever they might be...
 

Gardens Keeper

Active member
You can get DE small enough to foliar?

Yes, you can find it in powder form in many places. I have always avoided the dunks because I hear they have a very high salt content from a breeder I trusted the info from. Caution when working with the very fine powder, don't be the guy coming back here saying you just wanted to smell it and now you got blood runnin from your nose, lol.
 

MileHighGuy

Active member
Veteran
Just getting used to this recycled soil thing... my current batch is on it's 3rd round or so but I've never seen this before when I was using those awesome bottled nutrients....

So, Maybe something is wrong?

The Tips of the leaves are usually a different color like yellow and the rest of the leaf was never this green..... also, if you look in the tray in the bottom....
picture.php


.... close up of tray on same plant...
picture.php



Lol. I wish I would have started off first with organic soil... oh well, now I can really appreciate it.

Like that picture above... it is a Dinafem Blue Hash Plant, and one of my favorite pheno's out of two packs. Now, more than ever before, the blueberry leaf crinkle is so noticeable to me. The DJ short characteristic stands out now that I understand she is healthy and it has to be the genetics, not just a nutrient issue or Ph issue.... and that makes me happy!

Anyways, I really just wanted to post the picture above because those roots blew me away, the pot was pushed against the tray and this one was in the back corner of my tent so it was more shaded on one side of the tray.... I know some of us out there need to see lots and lots of pictures of results when trying to wean off the bottle.
 

Budwhyser

Member
YosemiteSam

I used your mixing ratio a couple of hours ago. The powder mixed with the water immediately as I stirred the water with a bamboo chopstick. Complete and total solubility.

At first the water was cloudy whereas Pro-TeKt is clear. After about 90 minutes the water was less cloudy and pretty close to Pro-TeKt

The big test for me was emulsifying neem oil and I went with that because it's much thicker than karanja oil. I measured out 4 tsp. of neem oil and added 2 tsp. of the AgSil mixture which is the same ratio that I use with Pro-TeKt. In this regard it is at least the same and probably better. The color change with neem is very pronounced and exact. I mixed this with water to make 1 gallon (with aloe vera) and used it to spray a mother plant that I'm getting ready to take apart this weekend.

8 oz. water + 35 grams AgSil 16H = works flawlessly

Thanks to everyone for helping me get this down. Basically 1 lb. makes 3 quarts - about 1/2 the price of Pro-TeKt with the ability to control the actual amount and the quality of the mix itself and save money - win-win

CC

CC can you share your source for the AgSil please?
 

ClackamasCootz

Expired
Veteran
Sorry about that - Custom Hydronutrients

They sell a wide range of products including base mineral salts for those who want to make their own hydroponic nutrients. Seems like the way to go.

Watch their S&H charges. Definitely an interesting approach.

CC
 

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
The Tips of the leaves are usually a different color like yellow and the rest of the leaf was never this green..... also, if you look in the tray in the bottom....
View Image
I used to keep a bucket in the grow room for fallen leaves, which I would incinerate once it got full.

Then, about a year ago I started reading threads here by JayKush and Mad Lib, Heady Blunts and such talking about soil recycling. I got the "aha moment", and I went out to the compost pile (which at that point was just leaves from the yard, and used pro mix with tons of bat guano, kelp, and Black Gold Micronutrient that only went through one cycle) and filled a few containers. I used that as a base and built it into a soil over a few cycles with char, local rock dust, fpe's, accumulator weeds, worms, seaweed, kitchen scraps, mulch, local soil, leaf mold, sand, straw, grass clippings, coffee grounds, banana peels, pistachio shells, etc. All of it was free, and honestly pretty fun to collect all spring, summer and fall.

I don't have adequate climate control systems in place, and I use wood heat so it is tough to regulate accurately. Healthy soil helps plants thrive in adverse conditions, I have not seen a leaf yellow, fade or fall off since I switched from soil-less mix and hydro store bought "organics" to recycled organic living soil and free locally sourced goodies. I have been getting the best looking plants, and biggest harvests yet just like Gas said "the way granny grows her tomatoes" Clearly, there is no turning back.
 
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