MrSterling
I don't won't discuss mined phosphate any more - too much emotion and worse.
See what you can garner from this paper from the University of Minnesota - Understanding Phosphorus Fertilizers
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Living organic soil from start through recycling
- Thread starter Gascanastan
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I don't won't discuss mined phosphate any more - too much emotion and worse.
See what you can garner from this paper from the University of Minnesota - Understanding Phosphorus Fertilizers
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YosemiteSam
I love that Nutri Tech site. I read every one of those articles.
YS
The 'organic' sites in Australia, England and India are my main source for research.
The American implementation of organic farming (or even sustainable) is a few decades behind our friends around the world. It's the way that university research programs are funded here vs. places where the adults are in charge.
CC
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YosemiteSam
Taking advice from Swerve is always a genius idea.
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YosemiteSam
That right there is the truth. When you defund university research and make them rely on corporations...they don't do science anymore...they do jack our profit up research.
That is why Albrecht's 1950s work is better than anything coming out today. it is a sad state of affairs.
edit...and cutting off our new research from Cuba may just be why their health care cost is so low...they had to go organic, we wouldn't sell them shit to poison themselves anymore...not that anyone would notice.
"Manufactured Results"
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YosemiteSam
Can we back up to compost?
Could I literally build a compost pile with minerals, alfalfa straw and horse shit? That is all I really need to get started?
It would go thermal and kill any seeds...right?
Could I literally build a compost pile with minerals, alfalfa straw and horse shit? That is all I really need to get started?
It would go thermal and kill any seeds...right?
Sure...I'd make sure to balance the greens to browns though..typically horse manure comes with straw or pine shavings...that's fine. It's the cedar shavings you DO NOT want in your horse shat.....as for the seeds....maybe/maybe not.
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YosemiteSam
But horse shit is to...right? Do I also need a good carbon source?
Hay, brown leaves, straw all are kick-ass Carbon sources.
Just an opinion, of course, but even with using horse or cow manure you'd still want some amount of Alfalfa to the mix.
As you're doing the 'lasagna layering' deal just toss some alfalfa hay or pellets on each layer. You'll get the pile up and moving in a couple of days. Comfrey REALLY kicks it in - wow! Stinging Nettle - the usual cast of characters.
CC
Just an opinion, of course, but even with using horse or cow manure you'd still want some amount of Alfalfa to the mix.
As you're doing the 'lasagna layering' deal just toss some alfalfa hay or pellets on each layer. You'll get the pile up and moving in a couple of days. Comfrey REALLY kicks it in - wow! Stinging Nettle - the usual cast of characters.
CC
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YosemiteSam
Sweet...I can get this done. Minerals, alfalfa, horse shit, leaves. Sounds like even my dumb ass could make compost
edit...note to self, find a bigger source of comfey
edit...note to self, find a bigger source of comfey
Horizon Herbs - Bocking 14 roots pieces. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
You can take a single piece and you can cut them in half - just use something that gives you a clean cut. Like wire cutters.
"You cannot kill this plant" - it's impossible
You can take a single piece and you can cut them in half - just use something that gives you a clean cut. Like wire cutters.
"You cannot kill this plant" - it's impossible
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MrSterling
Can we just close off the organics forum from the rest of ic? Please. These people are duuuumb.
Here's a real suggestion. Separate Toker's Den rep from grower's forum rep. Rep means nothing about growing skill when morons can hang out in chat threads for years and have other morons positive rep them. Hard for new people to tell who is worth listening to.
Out here in the real world I'm constantly plugging compost and EWC to any gardener who wants to get serious about living soil and lay the 'ol Ph meter down forever.
That's the most important thing next to learning what drainage/aeration percentages to incorporate...for the noob that is.
That's the most important thing next to learning what drainage/aeration percentages to incorporate...for the noob that is.
K+
I wish they would at least get their terminology straight. Genetic drift is something that happens to populations of plants, not individuals.
The correct term for what they think is happening is "somatic mutation".
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YosemiteSam
I thought genetic drift was when your plant went round the corner to fast
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MrSterling
Ok gents, let's talk soil. I figure now's the time to get this shit right and settled. I'm pretty happy with the soil mix I make, but I'd like y'all take and some advice on where I need to go with it. I'd love to understand more how some of you are running no-till, because I read and read but feel like I'm missing something. I basically run LC's Mix with amendments #1 which Burn1 suggested in the "Organics for Beginners", but I lower the peat a little and raise the compost, so probably 40% sphagnum peat, 20% homemade compost, 10% ewc, and 30% perlite.
The soil mix gets blood meal, bone meal, and kelp meal. I was using dolomitic lime at suggested doses, but left it out of this last batch and everything seems a-ok. The past couple small batches I've done I've added in azomite, greensand and rock phosphate I have lying around(CC, I'm JUST reading up on the link you sent me now, so I'm unsure if this is a situation where only the mining is harmful, or if using it is harmful as well. I figure if it's already been bought, and can be safely used, "waste not want not".) I've a bunch of perlite left, but after this bag is gone I'd like to switch up to lava rocks or pumice for sure.
My compost is frankly the shit, literally and figuratively. We have a lot of animals and land, so it's a ridiculously diverse heap. As far as I can tally the ingredients are: grass clippings, clover, alfalfa, crab meal, chicken shit, guinea hen shit, peacock shit, horse shit, goat shit, cow shit, guinea pig shit, rabbit shit, egg shells, and every bit of green scraps from three households. At the beginning of summer the heap was probably 30 feet long by 10 feet wide, but now it's broken down nicely and I've compacted it a couple times. I've wondered if all the stuff in it whether you couldn't just toss 5 gallons of that in a pot and grow out of it.
Now that I've gotten my compost bragging out of the way(sorry guys
), where is there room for improvement here? CC I know you've discussed gypsum a bit.
The soil mix gets blood meal, bone meal, and kelp meal. I was using dolomitic lime at suggested doses, but left it out of this last batch and everything seems a-ok. The past couple small batches I've done I've added in azomite, greensand and rock phosphate I have lying around(CC, I'm JUST reading up on the link you sent me now, so I'm unsure if this is a situation where only the mining is harmful, or if using it is harmful as well. I figure if it's already been bought, and can be safely used, "waste not want not".) I've a bunch of perlite left, but after this bag is gone I'd like to switch up to lava rocks or pumice for sure.
My compost is frankly the shit, literally and figuratively. We have a lot of animals and land, so it's a ridiculously diverse heap. As far as I can tally the ingredients are: grass clippings, clover, alfalfa, crab meal, chicken shit, guinea hen shit, peacock shit, horse shit, goat shit, cow shit, guinea pig shit, rabbit shit, egg shells, and every bit of green scraps from three households. At the beginning of summer the heap was probably 30 feet long by 10 feet wide, but now it's broken down nicely and I've compacted it a couple times. I've wondered if all the stuff in it whether you couldn't just toss 5 gallons of that in a pot and grow out of it.
Now that I've gotten my compost bragging out of the way(sorry guys
), where is there room for improvement here? CC I know you've discussed gypsum a bit.MrSterling
Here's the best advice that I can come with: the recipe for a soil is moot if the humus isn't right, i.e. you cannot amend your way to a viable soil.
Get the compost and/or worm castings dialed in and you won't have many questions that need an answer.
Probably too simplistic for many but that's how I see the way/method to growing plants successfully.
HTH
CC
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over - Hunter S. Thompson
Here's the best advice that I can come with: the recipe for a soil is moot if the humus isn't right, i.e. you cannot amend your way to a viable soil.
Get the compost and/or worm castings dialed in and you won't have many questions that need an answer.
Probably too simplistic for many but that's how I see the way/method to growing plants successfully.
HTH
CC
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over - Hunter S. Thompson
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