Living organic soil from start through recycling

[ClackamasCootz]

canna woop!

The heirloom black & purple barley seeds germinate very quickly and their growth rate is fast and strong. I dropped 6 purple seeds into a #1 container with potting soil and they broke through the soil in less than 72 hours.

No problems whatsoever......

 

[canna woop!]

How interesting, Clackamascootz! I dropped mine in the planter's with the primroses and topdressed them with chicken manure, but i think it will have to wait until the rain to sprout. The customer service at the spot i got the grains was top notch, the clerk even double checked with me that it would still be OK to get a QP of each food grade barley, They were unsure if I would accept the higher price of these product. Relative pricing is high compared to their feed grade, but it was only a couple dollars in sum lol!

 

[ClackamasCootz]

canna woop!

I read an article a couple of weeks ago about growing grains on a small scale for a family of 4 - raised beds, good soil, compost, etc. and the yields were stunning which is why I stuck some seeds into soil to see how strong they are.

The grain (grass) with the highest production far & away is rice. Just amazing differences between rice & wheat, corn, barley, oats, etc.

For the enzyme teas, brown rice might be a good option for some folks because it should be available at any supermarket I would think. The one thing about rice that might discourage some is that it takes 2x - 3x as long to actually germinate so you need a longer lead time if you're going to use it for an enzyme tea.

The Indian basmati rice I tried wasn't too successful - about 40% germination but the organic brown rice from Lundberg Farms in California sprouted almost as quickly as barley, wheat or oat seeds.

CC

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Never thought about trying to sprout rice.

Nice

I constantly either have barley sprouting or bubbling at the moment.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

I constantly either have barley sprouting or bubbling at the moment.

SS OG

That's pretty much the deal around here as well! LOL

I have some Golden Flaxseeds and Amaranth seeds (I grew these) that I'm going to sprout next week when I flip the plants in veg to the flower cycle.

Let's see how much of a 'super food' they actually are, right?

CC

 

[canna woop!]

I also had great results using barley sprout teas, having used it for only a few months during some plants vegetative cycle. I was not supplementing much else beside topdressing neem and I don't use liquid silica, I can say for a fact the sprouts have silica and all the other good stuff, these plants were praying hard! seriously. I am now making the first barley tea in over a month, including a few types of sprouts and pinches of both kelp and alfalfa to increase microbe diversity.

I am going to get into growing rice too, given how highly rice is priced and how nice of a treat-on-the-go rice makes, that sounds like a good bet! Lundberg farms brown rice, I will look into it. I am also looking into methods for rice farming in areas that have a climate much like a dust bowl, so I will look at Fukuoka's 4 principles of natural farming again. I already know it involves lots of wild clovers and alfalfa as well as rotation with wheat, but I will review it again to see if the model can't be useful for transitional farms and areas with lots of drought and other adverse conditions.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

canna woop!

Sounds like a subscription to Acres USA Magazine might be worthwhile for you. Request a complimentary copy and you can see if there's a value there to help you plan things out.

This month's lead article on urban farming was a great read and some interesting methods were featured and sorted out.

CC

 

[BlueJayWay]

7 pages of catching up....I had two things I wanted to comment on....but I do believe I forgot what both were....

The barley I use is a huge bag from the feed store....

Here's what Ido to mutant ladies, stick em in a large notill when small, just to see what they'll do...


In the 2nd pic its the little bud way on the bottom...

*************

Question / opinions - #45 smartpots, indoor notill setup, 12 flowering cycles / 2 years +

Doable? Realistically?

 

[W89]

my NL has those weird leaf patterns like a mottled pattern... both shown bananas at the calyxs where the branch meets the stem I just picked them off will check daily for new ones, and will chuck if they tart appearing in the buds

 

[BlueJayWay]

Interesting W89, because this has NL, its VR x NLH

The rest are very consistent

 

[ClackamasCootz]

my NL has those weird leaf patterns like a mottled pattern... both shown bananas at the calyxs where the branch meets the stem I just picked them off will check daily for new ones, and will chuck if they tart appearing in the buds

Did you say that at least some of your plants are auto-flowering?

 

[invocation]

Growing hobbits eh?

 

[W89]

Did you say that at least some of your plants are auto-flowering?

No mate, I did breed some auto flowers couple years ago. and have a lots of F2 seeds but not got any growing atm....

What do you think to this filter? cheap enough should do a good enough job for what I want my water is about 0.4ec well at my old house couple miles down the road it was I duno where my ec meter is ive not used it for a while so wanted to get some decent water for my plants and me... want to start drinking more water and my water stink of chlorine http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fridge-Wa...=UK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL&hash=item4d0a0777bb

 

[W89]

Interesting W89, because this has NL, its VR x NLH

The rest are very consistent
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=38993&pictureid=1023741&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

I will take a pic when the lights come on.. and get a good view for ya to see, I also have some of those NL5H x VR can't wait to get some growing

 

[BlueJayWay]

I will take a pic when the lights come on.. and get a good view for ya to see, I also have some of those NL5H x VR can't wait to get some growing

I started 6 of them, all female, so I have the little gal plus 5 big bushes all in flower now - flowering time can be 75-100+ days, I'll keep ya updated with pics so ya know what to expect.

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Blue Jay

RE: VR x NLH

As far as the flower cycle, how long have you taken any of this hybrid so far?

 

[BlueJayWay]

Blue Jay

RE: VR x NLH

As far as the flower cycle, how long have you taken any of this hybrid so far?

I've only just started my first flowering cycle, the little gal is 3 or 4 weeks in and the rest are just days in, I'm quoting you and Gas on the flowering times, I wish I already had some finished!

How far have you taken any? I'll post pictures of each one as they go along, and if you recognize one that will benefit from longer flowering time I'd be willing to let it go as long as it takes to realize its full potential

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Blue Jay

I would suggest going a minimum of 10 weeks and see where you're at. You're using much better techniques now than I did then, enzyme teas, 're-cycled' soils, etc.

It's worth the 'extra' time though I personally have never found the elusive 8-week strain but we all have different criteria on when a flower cycle is finished so there is that.

CC

 

[ClackamasCootz]

SS OG

See what you think: Australian Seaweeds

 

[BlueJayWay]

Blue Jay

I would suggest going a minimum of 10 weeks and see where you're at. You're using much better techniques now than I did then, enzyme teas, 're-cycled' soils, etc.

It's worth the 'extra' time though I personally have never found the elusive 8-week strain but we all have different criteria on when a flower cycle is finished so there is that.

CC

Cool, you should talk to your ganja gal or whatever, she's got 38 day sativas man.

I have one in an 18gal no till to itself, the VR x NLH is the 3rd cycle, maybe 4th I wasn't keeping track