St. Phatty
Active member
Nightsoil is the ULTIMATE local material.
Not something I would bring up in a first interview.
Not something I would bring up in a first interview.
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Local materials
- Thread starter Microbeman
- Start date
St. Phatty
Active member
Today is Organics day.
Yesterday was Water Everything to the Max day.
Today's Mix ...
2 gallons vertebrate sourced nitrogen rich yellow green water
Heaping Handfuls of Wood ash (Potassium)
2 or 3 heaping 1 ounce spoonfuls of Seabird Guano (Phosphorus)
PLUS composted chicken manure - more NPK.
Mix with water - crush all the lumps by hand.
Pieces of charcoal go in one of the plant pots, like mulch sort of.
The smell is MAJOR ammonia. Of course I'm usually holding my breath because the wood ash is so dusty & smokey.
Once it's all mixed, I divide it equally into 3 or 4, 5 gallon buckets,
and fill them with water.
Then hand-water everything except the fruit trees, who got their share of Nuke Nutes 2 waterings ago.
Sort of like Intel's Tick-Tock chip upgrade scheme.
Yesterday was Water Everything to the Max day.
Today's Mix ...
2 gallons vertebrate sourced nitrogen rich yellow green water
Heaping Handfuls of Wood ash (Potassium)
2 or 3 heaping 1 ounce spoonfuls of Seabird Guano (Phosphorus)
PLUS composted chicken manure - more NPK.
Mix with water - crush all the lumps by hand.
Pieces of charcoal go in one of the plant pots, like mulch sort of.
The smell is MAJOR ammonia. Of course I'm usually holding my breath because the wood ash is so dusty & smokey.
Once it's all mixed, I divide it equally into 3 or 4, 5 gallon buckets,
and fill them with water.
Then hand-water everything except the fruit trees, who got their share of Nuke Nutes 2 waterings ago.
Sort of like Intel's Tick-Tock chip upgrade scheme.
Sorry for the question, which recipe of aerated compost tea do you use when the soil is of poor quality?
Hookahhead
Active member
I think there is a bit of confusion. Compost tea is great for increasing/supporting the microbial community (Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa). This is made by aerating compost with a simple carbohydrate source. Compost is a good inoculation source for the microbial community. It also has a large amount of complex molecules such as proteins, organic acids, amino acids, enzymes, etc. However, it’s fairly lacking as far as soluble major plant nutrients go (NPK). This is because much of the nitrogen is gassed off as ammonia and other nutrients are leached away with rain.
If you want to use teas for nutrients, you need to be brewing a nutrient tea. These are made using things like manures, freshly harvested plants, or other NPK sources (see St Patty’s post above). If you try to feed a plant in nutrient poor soil strictly with ACT (aerated compost tea) you will likely show deficiencies pretty quickly. Once you pour all of those microbes into your soil, they quickly soak up the easily available nutrients for their own bioprocesses.
If you want to use teas for nutrients, you need to be brewing a nutrient tea. These are made using things like manures, freshly harvested plants, or other NPK sources (see St Patty’s post above). If you try to feed a plant in nutrient poor soil strictly with ACT (aerated compost tea) you will likely show deficiencies pretty quickly. Once you pour all of those microbes into your soil, they quickly soak up the easily available nutrients for their own bioprocesses.
Now if I am more confused, I thought that with earthworm and molasses humus it was enough to nourish the plants.
I thought that a nutritious tea was a TAC with alfalfa flour or oatmeal, seaweed meal, fish hydrolyzate, the microorganisms that reproduce in the TAC eat these nutrients (alfalfa flour or oatmeal, seaweed flour, fish hydrolyzate) and when applying the TAC to the plants they released these nutrients when entering the trophic chain of the soil.
once again excuse me if I'm wrong
Two different things.
ACT supplies microbes that will covert nutrients into the form that plants can use.
The microbes are picked off the compost in the process of making ACT, they consume the sugar from the molasses and multiply.
Nutritional teas supply the nutrients. Of course nutrients could be added to the ACT at any point, but it does complicate things and there’s generally no point.
Nutritional teas can be made from many sources. Grass. Seeds off your trees. Dried leaves. The growing tips of tree branches. Kale, spinach, peas.
Forget what you can’t get. Take inventory of what you do have. Every plant in your yard. Search them on the internet. Look for the qualities you desire. Fast growth. Green leaves. Sturdy.
Read up on fermentations.
Read up on wood ash.
Eggshells, coffee grounds, manure, urine, night soil.
I found half a bucket of grain the other day. Thought it was manure. I must have left it out months ago. The rain kept it wet. Put a lid on it to kill the fly larvae. When I dumped it what looked like manure and fly casings, turned into a sticky mass of grain. I added sugar and yeast. Let it ferment. Then I made oatmeal with it. Used it for mulch.
ACT supplies microbes that will covert nutrients into the form that plants can use.
The microbes are picked off the compost in the process of making ACT, they consume the sugar from the molasses and multiply.
Nutritional teas supply the nutrients. Of course nutrients could be added to the ACT at any point, but it does complicate things and there’s generally no point.
Nutritional teas can be made from many sources. Grass. Seeds off your trees. Dried leaves. The growing tips of tree branches. Kale, spinach, peas.
Forget what you can’t get. Take inventory of what you do have. Every plant in your yard. Search them on the internet. Look for the qualities you desire. Fast growth. Green leaves. Sturdy.
Read up on fermentations.
Read up on wood ash.
Eggshells, coffee grounds, manure, urine, night soil.
I found half a bucket of grain the other day. Thought it was manure. I must have left it out months ago. The rain kept it wet. Put a lid on it to kill the fly larvae. When I dumped it what looked like manure and fly casings, turned into a sticky mass of grain. I added sugar and yeast. Let it ferment. Then I made oatmeal with it. Used it for mulch.
I'm sorry that you have become confused. There is no really simple answer for you. A lot depends on whether you grow in small or large containers, raised beds, indoors or outdoors. I know none of this.
I have never been one to go along with all the super soil recipe stuff.
The recipes I used for ACT were to grow microbes which cycle nutrients to roots of plants; not for nutrients for the plants. Contrary to what others say, good compost or vermicompost is loaded with nutrients, including nitrogen which are microbially delivered to the plants.
When I grow using high quality vermicompost and ACT, I need practically nothing else. I very rarely use nutrient teas if I observe a problem. I did topdress some things like kelp and alfalfa and also occasionally clay/rock powders [found outside]. I did this on a commercial level for 15 years.
hh is right that you can look around to find materials locally. There is nowhere in the world where you cannot get alfalfa (Lucerne).
I suggest you read the articles on my website;
More on Compost Tea (2013)
https://www.microbeorganics.com/#More_on_Compost_Tea_2013_
Living Soil
https://www.microbeorganics.com/#Living_Soil
You should be able to do a reasonable google translation on them.
I am recycling my land 80% earth and 20% earthworm humus and I put 1gr of Dolomite per liter of prepared earth, I moisten it with LAB molasses and water, but now I will do better with TAC or EM1.
Flowering nutrition is provided by bioblock biobloom, I use enzymes 1mlx1L in each irrigation and molasses 0.5mlx1L in each irrigation and dechlorinated water and regulated the pH at 6.5, TAC once a week and SST once a week.
I just want to learn and take away Ph's headache and Electroconductivity.
thanks for the links I will read them again carefully
Thank you.
St. Phatty
Active member
Rico Swazi
Active member
been away and just now catching up
incredible how the hopping spider follows your every move. Had one attack the camera, scared the crap out o me. I have a bit of arachnophobia from being bitten by a black widow or recluse, doctors not sure, but I can tell you that I would gladly sit quietly in a room filled with thousands of them rather than one minute with the most wickedest of men in our gov't doing the most wickedest of things for the greatest good for themselves.
nice word play btw
Edit- Forgot to mention that a keyhole hooglie with a walkway up the middle for your chair would be the ticket to ride in your case
incredible how the hopping spider follows your every move. Had one attack the camera, scared the crap out o me. I have a bit of arachnophobia from being bitten by a black widow or recluse, doctors not sure, but I can tell you that I would gladly sit quietly in a room filled with thousands of them rather than one minute with the most wickedest of men in our gov't doing the most wickedest of things for the greatest good for themselves.
nice word play btw
Edit- Forgot to mention that a keyhole hooglie with a walkway up the middle for your chair would be the ticket to ride in your case
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Rico Swazi
Active member
Hola crisduar how do you know your soil is of poor quality?
from what I have read, your soil seems to have enough of what is needed to grow plants. I may have missed it but what are you growing in? beds, containers or in the ground?
questions are good, no apologies necessary
Rico Swazi
Active member
I was that stall cleaner. I would take what I wanted and loaded pickups and trailers with less desired mat'l for others to haul away. For a good five years everything was hunky til I got sick in '11 and others came in to take my place. One person bought a new compact Kubota during that time because he saw how easy my tractor worked the stalls. reminds me of my girlfriend Cecelia when I got up to wash my face
7 billion people on the planet
biomass of any quality has become a commodity and will be soon out the reach of the common grower
if you know the right people, you may get it on the cheap
barring that, biomass around here will cost you
having said that,
Just received another load of wood chips, for free from a a trusted tree trimmer I've known for over a decade. The darker chip are 18 months old and loaded with mycelium. I mix some of the old with the new to give the fresh pile a jump start
edit to add that I used to be able to pick up broken hay bails from the fields you see in the background for free but not any more.
you can pay over 12 bucks for a (light) two string bale of grass hay and I've seen alfalfa hay go as high as 18 usd
there is money in war and agriculture
just ask your local agmonger
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Rico Swazi
Active member
Very true, a grower may have to pay a little more but it can be had
No reason not to grow it or something similar yourself from seed either
https://ravallirepublic.com/news/local/article_347f8374-a2c5-11e0-9b68-001cc4c03286.html
Sainfoin grows well in dry calciferous soils unlike alfalfa which requires a bit more water
grow it yourself and you don't have to worry about it anymore
another alternative is planting legumes with cereal grains together to ramp up the nitrogen fixing process
so many ways to grow a plant
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T
Teddybrae
MM, please permit a humorous moment: Mr Swazi's ex-girlfriend looks like a Kubota tractor? I hope you didn't tell her this, Mr Swazi.
Lucerne goes $18 per bale here at present. BIG drought in the east of Land of Oz.
Lucerne goes $18 per bale here at present. BIG drought in the east of Land of Oz.
Rico Swazi
Active member
You bet I did, then traded her in for the Porsche I'm riding now
just celebrated our 31st
She (Porsche girl) bought me the ford tractor I have for my bday in '04
have you tried growing your own alfalfa Teddybrae?
thanks for the laughs, wish my jokes went so well
just celebrated our 31st
She (Porsche girl) bought me the ford tractor I have for my bday in '04
have you tried growing your own alfalfa Teddybrae?
thanks for the laughs, wish my jokes went so well
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Teddy and Rico laughs are my birthright. I have a small patch of alfalfa growing...about one square meter. I call it Marcos's hay field.
