Living organic soil from start through recycling

[2 Legal Co]

CC... and all;

How fine does the Gypsum have to be? Natural, ground, dust?

Mt. Princeton has 'chalk' cliffs that are said to be Gypsum...thx for the help.

I'm still a 'bottle' feeder,,, as of yet.

YS;
I have info that there is a semi commercial source of 'compost' in Pagosa Springs. Haven't been there yet, just heard of it yesterday. (unless you've already found a source over there of course). Supposedly by the front loader/PU load. FYI

2LC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

2 Legal Co

The label on a bagged gypsum that is sold around here sez:

Mesh Size Guarantee - 99% through 200 Mesh

Analysis

Gypsum - 97%
Calcium - 24%
Sulfur - 17%

That's a higher Calcium percentage than Dolomite Lime, BTW

CC

EDIT: On a number of mined mineral compounds, the 200 Mesh size is very typical - almost standard

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Now for my newb question of the day: what is the latest into flower that you will apply a neem foliar (or a foliar of any kind for that matter)? I would potentially worry about neem taste if it was sprayed pretty late, but what about a ful-power or sprouted seed enzyme foliar in mid to late flower? I am in the desert so mildew isn't as much of as issue, but it's not out of the picture either. thanks in advance

Cann

Formerly 'Barstow Flash' here - very formerly by way of Palm Springs

Are you spraying for Whiteflies and Aphids or the good ol' standard Spider Mite guests?

CC

 

[2 Legal Co]

Thx CC;

I'll be 'mining' mine with a bucket and shovel by the road, in that case. There's a Missouri Crossing, that 'flows' with Gyp when is melts quickly in the spring. After 'run off' they have to Bulldoze it open. lol

Don't think they'll mind the help.

 

[2 Legal Co]

^^^ I think so too..

the desperate assumption that somebody or at least some force is tending the light at the end of the tunnel”

and the sincere hope that 'the light' isn't an on-coming train!

 

[ClackamasCootz]

USDA National Agricultural Library - Digital Collection

You can search by Subject or you can go one of their Collections to narrow your search. Their Organic Roots Collection will narrow your search further. There about 10 categories under Collections.

At the bottom of the pages are links to Science.gov and other resources.

Use it - you paid for it

CC

 

[Gascanastan]

For the record...

Dumped all the no-till pots for an aeration amendment,mineral,and food boost for the ROLS.

To each 10 gallons of recycled soil I added the following:

2 gallons pumice
1 cup fish meal
1 cup fish bone meal
1 cup kelp meal
1/2 cup crab shell meal
1/2 cup neem seed meal top dressed on every pot.
1 cup basalt dust
1 cup glacial rock dust
1/2 cup Azomite (because someone gave it to me)

Remixed and planted directly into..against my own advice....why?...because I just can't wait,and the soil has become such a complete living mass. I'm sure such small inputs of fish meal and kelp meal (the components that would give you trouble not being composted before use) will be just fine.

If this seems light on the fish and kelp for every ten gallons of mix,consider that this soil is now 3 years in use and the humic,bacterial,fungal level is up there.

Somewhere in mid-flower I may start to use a fish and kelp tea,on top of every watering using Coot's barley seed teas.

Life forms observed:

centipedes
blind soil thrips
pot worms
predatory soil thrips
red worms
earthworms
fungus gnats
soil mites

Gas

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Gas

What size pumice do you use?

Just curious......

 

[Gascanastan]

This time large. But try to use all sizes according to what the dumped pots tell me

 

[ClackamasCootz]

It would be nice if a bag of a mix of different sizes were available but that isn't going to happen

 

[bigshrimp]

No rove beetles gas?

 

[bigshrimp]

I always wonder what percentage of the fungus gnats are feeding on my roots and how many are just soil decomposers. It seems like you'd have to have quite the infestation to cause economic damage.

 

[Gascanastan]

It would be nice if a bag of a mix of different sizes were available but that isn't going to happen

Yes sir!

No rove beetles gas?

No sir!

I always wonder what percentage of the fungus gnats are feeding on my roots and how many are just soil decomposers. It seems like you'd have to have quite the infestation to cause economic damage.

As long as I've been incorporating the crab and neem in my soil the fungus gnat populations never explode. At this point they are only introduced via bagged materials like compost,peat,etc. They build up a population for a second then it drops off dramatically.

Recently I've started realizing these guys play a roll in decomposition and predator/prey relationships. However,they do actually spread fungal spores as an evolutionary tactic....which may not be so good for a cannabis crop.

 

[bigshrimp]

Could also transport good spores too... idk pure speculation.

 

[Gascanastan]

Could also transport good spores too... idk pure speculation.

True,their one true objective seems to be to repopulate in mass,spreading spores secondary. Something like each female lays 300 eggs and 90% of the offspring are female,so populations explode quickly. If you watch them closely you can actually see them using the back legs to wipe the wings,then they fan their wings instantly to spread the spores.
This behavior continues as long as they remain able to function before the compounds in the neem hit their tiny brain.

 

[greenmatter]

organic or not Gnatrol and other products all have BT in them ........

i never really believed that fungus gnats would be the only thing in the soil that BT would effect, and figured chances are pretty good that it effects something that we want in the mix in a bad way

would the use of BT do more harm than good if you used it in the soil that everyone here is trying to build?

 

[Gascanastan]

I would use BT if I had an absolutely insane population of gnats. Since incorporating neem and crab shell in the soil mix I have never had to reach for BT again...3 years now.

BT is not as effective as they would have you believe. Constant treatments are required,which would indeed have a negative effect on beneficial life forms that go through the particular worm-like larval stage.

 

[Cann]

Cann

Formerly 'Barstow Flash' here - very formerly by way of Palm Springs

Are you spraying for Whiteflies and Aphids or the good ol' standard Spider Mite guests?

CC

Barstow Flash - I am spraying as a preventative for all of the aforementioned guests, as well as powdery mildew (just in case), etc. The last insects I had to deal with were mites in my quarantine room - and that plant got chopped a few weeks ago. 3 applications of spinosad later and I can't find a single mite...but that doesn't mean that I'm out of the woods yet. I sprayed spinosad a few days ago in the flower and veg rooms, and just hit them last night with a neem/protekt/aloe foliar. I am hesitant to do another application of spinosad in the flower and veg rooms because I want to release ladybugs soon...and they wouldnt be too happy about the spinosad. Also, I don't want to kill any young earthworms that might be hatching out of the cocoons that were in the EWC topdress.

What is the last day in flower you would apply a neem foliar?

What is the last day in flower you would apply an enzyme tea foliar?(assuming no risk of PM or botrytis, etc.)

What about ful-power?

Curious as to the imparted taste of a late flower neem foliar...anyone neem their flowers after week 6 or so?


P.S. - how was your time in lovely Barstow - the "Crossroads of Opportunity" lmao. More like the crossroads of meth and ignorance...

 

[W89]

I posted something in the botanical thread could someone with some experience on ALOE and COCONUT take a look please

 

[Microbeman]

I would use BT if I had an absolutely insane population of gnats. Since incorporating neem and crab shell in the soil mix I have never had to reach for BT again...3 years now.

BT is not as effective as they would have you believe. Constant treatments are required,which would indeed have a negative effect on beneficial life forms that go through the particular worm-like larval stage.

We used Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (vectobac) for over 15 years for control of mosquitos. It only effects mosquito and small fly larvae (black fly, fungus gnats) according to literature. In our experience, it did not appear to negatively impact other wetland insects like dragon fly. It works in similar fashion to spinosad (AFAIK) except that spinosad effects more species. The larvae must eat the bacteria (spore) and then they die.