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Living organic soil from start through recycling

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ClackamasCootz

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Applied my first nettle tea today. I ordered the seeds earlier in the season, and I finally had enough to make a half gallon. I can see why the bugs stay away, that stuff smells like horse crap, only worse. It looks like you sprayed green spray paint on your plants though, and there is almost immediate noticeable growth. Good stuff!
Not to worry - all of the usual plants used for this smell equally bad.

Horsetail ferns is also bad with a couple of 'extra' aroma profiles moving around - wow!

CC
 

Gascanastan

Gone but NOT forgotten...
Veteran
Look Ma no salt~

Not much to look at yet....but here's a 'The One' x Blue Moon Rocks in living organic recycled soil...simple as that....

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SilverSurfer_OG

Living Organic Soil...
ICMag Donor
Veteran
What dilution rate do you use after bubbling is done CC?

SilverSurfer

This is probably the best way to answer that - I use 1 cup of alfalfa pellets (meal is getting harder to source, GMO issues in the USA) to 5 gallons of water.

I apply this straight to the soil, i.e. no diluting at all

Hope that makes sense! LOL

Good to 'see' you - long time!

CC

Great i think i've got a little more than that but not much in the mix. I will use it neat and wait for the growth explosion! :smoke:

I am finding with my recycled coco mix, roughly 1/3 coco 1/3 perlite 1/3 soil/compost/aged manure that it needs good amounts of N and to go easy on the watering until they are really thriving and drinking lots.

Pondering this (plus i am just getting over too much dolomite added about A YEAR AGO) and my more "soil-less" based mix it is certainly a bit more tricky but once its dialed in the girls love it.

Main points - make sure ph is on the acid side (more so than soil)
-watch the moisture level carefully (i use hempy's which have the res in the bottom couple inches)

Rest is the same but keep feeding every watering.

Also outdoors for me is much easier in general to grow the same plant in the same medium than indoors (but i'm defo getting there)



These pots were used last season outdoors and the medium is i think around 2 years old now. They have been left outdoors over winter and planted with oats and broadbeans. This new moon i am gonna be putting some nice plants i got going indoors into them. They are fully saturated but with the green manure plants should be cool. :D
 
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BlueJayWay

IncredibowlBoss I heard you can turn your strain strawberry by adding some strawberry nestle quik to your nute regimen said:
Bullshit man.......it's strawberry shasta dude...it's got co2 which makes it grow and turn flavors.....duh.

So I was eating some strawberries in someones backyard right from the plant, noticed a strange *but good* guava undertone, then I noticed a guava tree about 5feet away. I thought, not shit that's kind of odd.

Grabbed a few strawberries 10+feet away from the guava tree - no guava taste. Went back to the closer ones - strawberry taste!

No shit man, I thought it was amazing & I was confused/questioning myself at the same time, ha!, I haven't looked into it yet but I was told strawberries can do this, via roots of course but I can't even imagine exactly how, ya know scientifically speaking, other than I guess the exchange of residues/exudate's from the guava roots to the strawberries - whether direct or through microbial interaction - I don't know really, and it reminded me of the stalk of celery in the glass of water with food dye resulting in a purple or red or whatever colored stalk, unrelated but just the fact of absorbing the qualities of a foreign object, so to speak.

Ha, if that "transfer of taste via roots" shit is real and can be genetically segregated, I'm wondering when we'll see enhanced plants/vegetable crops with this feature
.........
Huh - wonder how strawberries might be as a botanical berry tea (sounds tasty)

potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and selenium. Strawberries are also a good source of the following vitamins: Vitamin C, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, and Vitamin E. Additionally, strawberries contain 18 different amino acids.

Nothin' on the guava strawberries, just that they "absorb things sprayed on them." Hmmm
 

ClackamasCootz

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BlueJay

First off, fruits have some of the highest levels of nutrients, per pound, in the plant world. Elements are Elements, Vitamins are Vitamins, etc. There are differences in the amino profile of one plant vs another but many would be shared.

Here's an example from our garden. I purchased 3 different Kale plants from a seed exchange club here. Since this isn't from a commercial seed company they arrived in generic packs with no images so out of the 3 there was only 1 that I knew what it looked and tasted like.

So they have grown very large and it's the curly-leaf kale which I do not like. Kale is very nutrient-dense plant so they got whacked, chopped and are not in a water tank like you would do with Comfrey or whatever. Looking at the nutrient profile of Kale the accumulated nutrients are on par with Alfalfa, Comfrey or Stinging Nettles and on a couple are higher.

That doesn't translate into me planting kale next spring to make fertilizer but almost anything out of your garden can be 'water composted' and have their nutritional benefit made available to use to water your raised beds or however you're set-up.

CC
 
J

jerry111165

I used to live near many Portugese families growing up in southeastern MA - kale soup with chourico was a staple - tasted great and good for you. It definetly takes all day in the pot to soften those dark curly leaves up enough to eat though!

J
 

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
The story behind Strawberry Cough (Strawberry Fields x Haze) is that a Vermont farmer was growing a strain called strawberry fields in his strawberry patch, and that is what made the strain taste like strawberries.

edited to add: I am not supporting or denying this claim, just thought it was relevant

Now for the strawberry fields. It is a 100% indica strain that
originated in vermont. around 7 weeks flowering time. Breed
for the taste and smell of strawberries, and to be able to
finish before the first snow fall in Vermont. High yielder. from
what I understand, the strain was given it's name because the
breeder grew it for many years in with his strawberry plants,
and claimed that the original scent of strawberries was intensified
because of the way he grew the plants together. nevertheless, if
his theories were correct or not, the worked plants in his field
had developed a scent and smell that matched his freshest
strawberries to a tee. But the high was not ideal for his
prefrences(needed to be more cerebral). He took an outstanding
pure haze male and crossed it with his best female flowering in
his fields. These are essentially strawberry cough seeds, but not
the clone that's going around. The SC pheno clone was found in
sorting through dozens of these seeds that were given to kyle
kushman. the SC clone yields very heavily from it's mother
strawberry fields(which I was told the real deal is now
extinct). expect a minimun of five to six ounces per sc plant,
and the real deal finish around 7.5 -9 weeks depending on what
you look at to harvest. each branch must be supported with at
least one stalk, or the weight of the buds will cause your limbs
and buds to hang on the ground
 
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BlueJayWay

Been on the botanical tea kick for a good month now I guess. It's easy for me to observe a highly positive reaction from the garden, across the board from moms to clones to near harvest. And i daresay - THE best my garden has looked - period(.)

I've used the regular cast of characters I hear about - comfrey, nettle, yarrow, kelp, aloe and alfalfa which I had already been adding to my EWC teas for a few months (the obvious benefits of that lead to me look into what else is out there).

I have two outliers in the garden, two sativa leaning phenos of Stargazers (warlock X AK47 X Sensi Star), the "from seed" plants show signs of early yellowing and lower fan leaves wilting and falling off, upper 85% of the plant is perky and healthy looking, just more of a lime green plant as opposed to the dark green of the rest of the garden. The first set of clones from these ladies are in a no-till tub though and are showing vigorous dark green growth with no degradation of lower growth etc., only a week into flower but this little issue may have already worked itself out in the 2nd gen.


Have alfalfa sprouts soaking, going on 3 days, tested a few plants with foliar & light soil drench - I had to test a few before going to town with this because it's the foulest smelling *homemade* brew I've made so far & it honestly made me nervous LOL. 4 hours later the lucky ones that had received it are lookin' great, we'll see how they are tomorrow and the rest i'm sure will get their turn. --- This was a "strawberry basket size" of sprouts soaked in 1gal RO water, they've all but disappeared and turned to mush at this point, diluted 1cup to 1gal water that had aloe/protekt added.
 

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
I decided on new containers, as the living soil is eating through the old poly grow bags. I have had them for about ten years now, I can probably relegate them to outdoor use now.

http://www.amleo.com/product.aspx?p=RP5H3

They are like the smart pots but cheaper and they have handles. I got 20 shipped for $27, smart pots are $5 apiece. For vegging plants I use half gallon milk/juice cartons. They breathe a little, which develops a nice root system, much better than a plastic container in a side by side. It is like a free (upcycled) mini smart pot.

They are still made of plastic (recycled at least), which I wanted to get away from, but even if I made wooden raised beds I would have had to line them with plastic (defeating the purpose) or install floor drains (which was not feasible at this point).
 

ClackamasCootz

Expired
Veteran
I used to live near many Portugese families growing up in southeastern MA - kale soup with chourico was a staple - tasted great and good for you. It definetly takes all day in the pot to soften those dark curly leaves up enough to eat though!

J
Jerry

Have you grown a kale variety called 'Lacinato' - also known as Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, Italian kale, Dinosaur kale, cavolo nero, black kale, flat back cabbage, palm tree kale, or black Tuscan palm - LOL

That's the one that I like as it doesn't have that acrid taste of the curly-leaf varieties (Red Russian as I learned this year!!)

Here's a photo and it definitely looks different...

Lacinato_Kale__25834_zoom.jpg
 
B

BlueJayWay

Good news, Blue!

Pretty cheap 'nute program' wouldn't you say?

LOL

Can't complain my man! Just potted some cuttings, 9 days from cut, to my surprise one had a 5" root dangling down when I pulled it up, yet another testament to the mad (and sometimes i really mean mad, crazy, insane LOL) knowledge floatin' around this place...
 

ixnay007

"I can't remember the last time I had a blackout"
Veteran
Jerry

Have you grown a kale variety called 'Lacinato' - also known as Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, Italian kale, Dinosaur kale, cavolo nero, black kale, flat back cabbage, palm tree kale, or black Tuscan palm - LOL

That's the one that I like as it doesn't have that acrid taste of the curly-leaf varieties (Red Russian as I learned this year!!)

Here's a photo and it definitely looks different...

View Image

From what I've read, it's the parent of all cultivated cabbage varieties, the best time to harvest it is after a frost or a snow, the leaves it produces are smaller and more flavorful..

We eat a lot of it in winter, it's cheap at the farmer's market and it makes for an awesome winter soup ingredient, it makes almost a gelatin if you pass it through a blender when it's cooked (onions potato, butter milk and veggie broth).. the fresh leaves are an awesome source of folic acid for winter salads too.
 

ClackamasCootz

Expired
Veteran
From what I've read, it's the parent of all cultivated cabbage varieties, the best time to harvest it is after a frost or a snow, the leaves it produces are smaller and more flavorful..

We eat a lot of it in winter, it's cheap at the farmer's market and it makes for an awesome winter soup ingredient, it makes almost a gelatin if you pass it through a blender when it's cooked (onions potato, butter milk and veggie broth).. the fresh leaves are an awesome source of folic acid for winter salads too.
ixnay007

Thanks for the information - it does look like an 'ancient plant; - definitely a winter crop - well, you get the idea.

We saute it in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes over pasta. Pretty healthy dinner that actually tastes good.

Unlike tofu, alfalfa sprouts, etc. No thank you!

CC
 

shmalphy

Member
Veteran
We got a TON of kale at the CSA we did last year... I mean a TON... The curly variety too... Not much else either (one tomato all year... ONE). I have more to say about that farm, but I will leave it at that and let you draw your own conclusions.

Most of it got eaten as kale chips, which are tasty, but a PITA to cook with a small oven, while indoors in the summer.

CC, that looks a lot like green Swiss Chard, we eat a lot of the red variety, which is really good when prepared as you described, much less bitter than the Kale
 
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BlueJayWay

I make some awesome Orange Tofu - the key is to cook it like it's not healthy, fry those little suckers till they're crispy, a light batter makes it even better, I like coconut oil these days for frying/sauteing.
 

ClackamasCootz

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shmalphy

Lacinato kale is not bitter at all like the curly-leaf varieties. It's slightly sweet like the chards.

Have you gown the 'rainbow chards' - really nice addition to any garden. Very mold resistant which is an important consideration in the PNW
 
Can't complain my man! Just potted some cuttings, 9 days from cut, to my surprise one had a 5" root dangling down when I pulled it up, yet another testament to the mad (and sometimes i really mean mad, crazy, insane LOL) knowledge floatin' around this place...

And that's why I am here ! No more 'stoner-logic' to waste my time...
 
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