TychoMonolyth
Boreal Curing
They naturally ferment when you compost them. It's common to see drunken raccoons here, and I mean pissed to the eyeballs laying on their back drunk, at this time of year just from eating ground apples.
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Local materials
- Thread starter Microbeman
- Start date
Rico Swazi
Active member
Rico Swazi
Active member
Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you. Spent much of the summer catching up with friends and family we haven't seen in quite a while and managed a little mini vacation at the coast. Not Kocomo like the wife wanted but still good nuff for this old fart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBIGwtyqBhA
Was joking about the mullein, never had it go so long into the winter as it did that year but they always die out not being perennial. I keep the stalk around for a conversation starter.
Friend of mine in southern oregon tried to grow kratom but didn't go so well. He put in a large container as you have but it struggled. He was told to upcan/pot up several times to have the most success.
How are yours doing?
I've tried kratom but it didn't agree with my digestive system.
Hope you are having better success.
a couple pics from yesterday of the food forest hooglie bed
headband haze cross
the peppers grew like crazy tho stayed green with the cooler weather that came in
The more sugar you have in your fermentation, the more alcohol you will produce. It could get up to around 14%.
The yeast fermentation does seem to help as a precursor to the lactobacillus fermentation.
I have some peaches in water with a little A little chicken manure and some Espoma. Some em-1. Yum.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0164776
Hookahhead
Active member
I would have cautioned about using an alcoholic brew on your plants, and suggested letting it go to vinegar before using. However, the latest Shaping Fire Podcast talks about the aquatic food web with Stever Raisner. It was a great episode and I recommend it. Anyhow he was saying Acetobacter (the organisms that convert ethanol to vinegar) also consume a lot of nitrogen. So adding a bit of ethanol is a good way to “soak up” the excess nitrogen towards the end of flower.
In Post 389, CannaRed mentioned hearing about pasta water being used as a foliar for pests.
Yesterday I made a big batch of pasta. I kept some of the water to start a new LAB brew. Being lazy I left the strainer in the pot. When I went to clean up today, the water level had dropped below the strainer, leaving behind this film.
A close up
Investigating this strange substance further, I found I could peel it off the strainer in a sheet. I gathered up a wad on the end of a toothpick.
It seemed like a pretty strong “glue”, so I wondered if it would break it down again. I added the wad to a shot glass of water, and it unfurled back into a sheet.
I left it sit for 24 hours. The sheet had broken up, though not completely dissolved. It smelled as some sort of fermentation has started, so it’s possible that bacteria are facilitating this process.
I can certainly see how this sticky, salty glue could immobilize / kill insects, especially smaller ones like thrips or mites. Thanks for that little comment CannaRed, it definitely got me thinking. I’ll explore this idea more next time I make pasta.
Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you. Spent much of the summer catching up with friends and family we haven't seen in quite a while and managed a little mini vacation at the coast. Not Kocomo like the wife wanted but still good nuff for this old fart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBIGwtyqBhA
Was joking about the mullein, never had it go so long into the winter as it did that year but they always die out not being perennial. I keep the stalk around for a conversation starter.
Friend of mine in southern oregon tried to grow kratom but didn't go so well. He put in a large container as you have but it struggled. He was told to upcan/pot up several times to have the most success.
How are yours doing?
I've tried kratom but it didn't agree with my digestive system.
Hope you are having better success.
a couple pics from yesterday of the food forest hooglie bed
headband haze cross
View Image
View Image
the peppers grew like crazy tho stayed green with the cooler weather that came in
View Image
Headband/Haze cross looks good, as does the peppers, the hoogle bed is treating them right.
Kocomo might have to wait, but it’s nice getting a change from the regular routine, even a couple days is nice.
Kratom is doing alright, apparently the green type is susceptible to scale but otherwise healthy, some thirty degree nights have slowed it down a bit.overwintering will be the test, if I can keep it warm enough in a minimally heated greenhouse. Has an energizing, pain relief quality if chewed fresh, no stomach upset so far
Hookahhead
Active member
I have mentioned a few times about a new garden bed I’m working towards. The previous owner had started it, but then it became a neglected project I think. It also the part of the yard that gets the best sunlight.
It’s our rainy season so we get heavy rain nearly every day. I wanted to protect the soil, so this is where I used all that bamboo mulch from the ferment.
Another resource I like to gather is paperboard. When I had my worms this was my favorite bedding to use. Cardboard, newspaper and other paper products can be recycled, but paper board is made from recycled paper and can’t be recycled again. Not in the picture is a big stack of egg crates.
I moved into this house in April, which is the peak of our dry season. This bed was barren, but with the rains since then these plants have shot up seemingly out of nowhere and are now probably 10ft tall or more. I didn’t know what they were, but figured they must doing something good since they are so “weedy” in growth. My plan is to let them go until after the rains stop and chop/drop them into the bed. Today I found out they are Tithonia diversifolia
It turns out it’s a pretty cool plant, and my suspicions were correct haha.
It’s our rainy season so we get heavy rain nearly every day. I wanted to protect the soil, so this is where I used all that bamboo mulch from the ferment.
Another resource I like to gather is paperboard. When I had my worms this was my favorite bedding to use. Cardboard, newspaper and other paper products can be recycled, but paper board is made from recycled paper and can’t be recycled again. Not in the picture is a big stack of egg crates.
I moved into this house in April, which is the peak of our dry season. This bed was barren, but with the rains since then these plants have shot up seemingly out of nowhere and are now probably 10ft tall or more. I didn’t know what they were, but figured they must doing something good since they are so “weedy” in growth. My plan is to let them go until after the rains stop and chop/drop them into the bed. Today I found out they are Tithonia diversifolia
It turns out it’s a pretty cool plant, and my suspicions were correct haha.
They should grow out of it.[/QUOTE]
reporting that I think they have improved, my problem I think is that the CREE CXB3590 COBs ask for too much magnesium from the plants, before the problem was mitigated with magnesium sulfate but it was not enough, until one day I read KNF 1L diluted seawater from Dechlorinated water x 34ml of seawater and was a great boost to recovery.
Thanks for the tips.
thnaks.
reporting that I think they have improved, my problem I think is that the CREE CXB3590 COBs ask for too much magnesium from the plants, before the problem was mitigated with magnesium sulfate but it was not enough, until one day I read KNF 1L diluted seawater from Dechlorinated water x 34ml of seawater and was a great boost to recovery.
Thanks for the tips.
thnaks.
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Hookahhead
Active member
It’s been 70 days since I applied the algae mulch to this container. It has been outside under the elements this whole time. It hasn’t had a canopy in at least 30 days. The layer is very thin and tears easily now. It’s our rainy season, so everything has been pretty wet/humid. The algae has turned green again. I don’t believe this this the same species, it doesn’t seem to be regrowing. Most likely it is a different species growing on top of the other. The driveway and any cement grow a nice layer this time of year too. Recently I put a small tomato seedling that sprung up in the compost pile and a small mint stem in it just for fun.
I lifted up the algae to peak underneath. I was shocked to find 2 little worms! I’m not really sure where they came from since this is the first time I’ve seen them in my soil either before or after planting. I’m fairly certain they are a leaf litter species. I’m pretty thrilled by this discovery.
I lifted up the algae to peak underneath. I was shocked to find 2 little worms! I’m not really sure where they came from since this is the first time I’ve seen them in my soil either before or after planting. I’m fairly certain they are a leaf litter species. I’m pretty thrilled by this discovery.
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St. Phatty
Active member
For the micro-flora & micro-fauna, that is probably like one of those bottomless buffet brunches they have at the casino's in Las Vegas.
i.e. lots of food.
Hookahhead
Active member
Yeah I’m really happy with it as a material. I have a few containers I would like to stick some on now, but it’s our rainy season and my calm little stream is a full blown river currently. It will die down again in a few weeks.
Today I was cleaning up some lower leaves. I always like to give them a look over for pests. However this is the first time I’ve seen this in my garden!
Some sort of fungus has stopped this bug in its tracks and is now sporulating. Man I really wish I had some agar now. I added a a pinch of sugar and a pinch of 20-20-20 to 250 ml of water and sterilized it in the microwave. When it cools completely, I’m going to add the whole insect to the broth. I’m not really expecting this endeavor to be successful, but I figure it’s worth a try. Anyone know what kind of bug it is?
Hookahhead
Active member
Well it’s been 3 days and we definitely have some activity going on. The color has changed from clear to yellow, gas bubbles are visible on the surface, and there is a lot of sediment, floaters, and even a strange mass.
It’s hard to get a good picture of the mass, it’s in the center on the bottom.
This growth has been pretty fast, which in my experience tends to indicate bacterial contamination. Unfortunately I wasn’t really thinking when I prepared this initial culture. I don’t have agar or the other tools needed to work this up properly. Still, I always like to do strange little experiments. A few bowls later I came up with two ideas based on what I have on hand.
Then first one is simply the same broth as before (a pinch of 20-20-20 and sugar) with 12.5 mg of clavaseptin (10 mg amoxicillin, 2.5 mg clavic acid) added. This is an antibacterial and therefore inhibits bacterial growth. The clavic acid helps reduce certain resistances to the amoxicillin. I’m hoping the cloudiness will clear after it cools.
For the second one I used 250 mL hot water and added 2 Lipton Black Tea bags. After steeping for 5 minutes I squeezed out the bags the best I could. I added another 250 mL boiling water (500 mL total) to dilute it 50%. I am using 250 mL as broth, and I drank the rest. Nothing else was added to this broth. The original recipe called for the addition of lime (calcium carbonate). I didn’t have any here so I omitted it. The idea behind this broth is that by excluding simple sugars and other nutrients, only organisms that can feed on the more complex carbon sources can survive. I know this media works well for wood eating fungi, I don’t know know applicable it is for other stuff though.
Both broths were sterilized by repeated boiling in the microwave. In the morning I will inoculate each of them with 1 mL using a sterile syringe. I’m still not super hopeful this will result in anything, but let’s see what happens!
It’s hard to get a good picture of the mass, it’s in the center on the bottom.
This growth has been pretty fast, which in my experience tends to indicate bacterial contamination. Unfortunately I wasn’t really thinking when I prepared this initial culture. I don’t have agar or the other tools needed to work this up properly. Still, I always like to do strange little experiments. A few bowls later I came up with two ideas based on what I have on hand.
Then first one is simply the same broth as before (a pinch of 20-20-20 and sugar) with 12.5 mg of clavaseptin (10 mg amoxicillin, 2.5 mg clavic acid) added. This is an antibacterial and therefore inhibits bacterial growth. The clavic acid helps reduce certain resistances to the amoxicillin. I’m hoping the cloudiness will clear after it cools.
For the second one I used 250 mL hot water and added 2 Lipton Black Tea bags. After steeping for 5 minutes I squeezed out the bags the best I could. I added another 250 mL boiling water (500 mL total) to dilute it 50%. I am using 250 mL as broth, and I drank the rest. Nothing else was added to this broth. The original recipe called for the addition of lime (calcium carbonate). I didn’t have any here so I omitted it. The idea behind this broth is that by excluding simple sugars and other nutrients, only organisms that can feed on the more complex carbon sources can survive. I know this media works well for wood eating fungi, I don’t know know applicable it is for other stuff though.
Both broths were sterilized by repeated boiling in the microwave. In the morning I will inoculate each of them with 1 mL using a sterile syringe. I’m still not super hopeful this will result in anything, but let’s see what happens!
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Mullein in first year planted in bin. big....nice. Right hand man hand.
T
Teddybrae
Forest Soil
Forest Soil
Hello Everyone. I come in Peace.
Here is a photo of the soil I 'm using to make a vegetable garden in a 1000 litre tub.
The soil is what remains of a large old-growth Grey Gum which died then collapsed into a heap as a consequence of an unusual cycle of flood and drought. Here we call the centre of these deceased trees "Mud Guts".
What you see in the photo is soil from around the tree plus what termites have created INSIDE the tree over a lot of years. Needless to say the termite stuff is exceptionally well drained and is just right for Orchids.
I look forward to discovering what it takes, and for how long, to break what you see down into garden soil.
Peace. Out ...
Forest Soil
Hello Everyone. I come in Peace.
Here is a photo of the soil I 'm using to make a vegetable garden in a 1000 litre tub.
The soil is what remains of a large old-growth Grey Gum which died then collapsed into a heap as a consequence of an unusual cycle of flood and drought. Here we call the centre of these deceased trees "Mud Guts".
What you see in the photo is soil from around the tree plus what termites have created INSIDE the tree over a lot of years. Needless to say the termite stuff is exceptionally well drained and is just right for Orchids.
I look forward to discovering what it takes, and for how long, to break what you see down into garden soil.
Peace. Out ...
Back to cement DAMMIT!
Back to cement DAMMIT!
On the lot which I rented I had a few loads of pit run brought in to level out the back portion. My original intention was to put a layer of 1/2 inch crush and water in. My previous experience panned out with a concrete-type surface. However 1/2 inch crush cannot be found locally. The pit run compacted very nicely but has a clay component which sticks to boots.
We are covering the area with some nice heavy concrete bricks as pavers. My question, directed mostly to hh is 'would it be halfway sane to dry mix some hydraulic cement [Portland] with the screened sand which we sweep into the cracks between the brick pavers and then lightly wet it with a spray from a hose'? Or will this be counter-productive?
We are putting down a base of 3-4 inches of tamped sand and the base under that was tamped with a vibrator (dancer).
Back to cement DAMMIT!
On the lot which I rented I had a few loads of pit run brought in to level out the back portion. My original intention was to put a layer of 1/2 inch crush and water in. My previous experience panned out with a concrete-type surface. However 1/2 inch crush cannot be found locally. The pit run compacted very nicely but has a clay component which sticks to boots.
We are covering the area with some nice heavy concrete bricks as pavers. My question, directed mostly to hh is 'would it be halfway sane to dry mix some hydraulic cement [Portland] with the screened sand which we sweep into the cracks between the brick pavers and then lightly wet it with a spray from a hose'? Or will this be counter-productive?
We are putting down a base of 3-4 inches of tamped sand and the base under that was tamped with a vibrator (dancer).
Hola, amigo.
How big of an area? The general idea is sound but I wouldn't use any Portland cement in the mix. I typically use polymeric sand to fill the joints. Forms up nicely and performs better than stone dust or sand alone, IME. If you have a big area it won't be as cost effective as sand or stone dust so understandable to use those instead.
The reason I wouldn't suggest Portland and sand is because you don't want too rigid a joint on those pavers. In a couple of years you could end up with a bunch of cracked joints which becomes weed city if not managed. Coarse sand or stone dust alone is more than enough.
Is it only pedestrian traffic on the paver area or will cars be going over it too?
The area is 70 sq m. and traffic will be wheelbarrows but a motorhome may sit on a portion.
The sand you mentioned has a bonding additive which is why I thought of cement. I speculated it may help to keep the bricks from tipping and sinking over time and also swell the joints a bit. Hmmm, I wonder if they sell bentonite clay around here. I think weeds will pop through regardless.
BTW polymeric sand is not available.
The sand you mentioned has a bonding additive which is why I thought of cement. I speculated it may help to keep the bricks from tipping and sinking over time and also swell the joints a bit. Hmmm, I wonder if they sell bentonite clay around here. I think weeds will pop through regardless.
BTW polymeric sand is not available.
I wouldn’t use cement.
You want polymeric sand.
Sand mixed with polymers.
I just use sand on my own stuff.
As long as you get it in the cracks, it’ll lock them in.
https://youtu.be/s3z_fnWTQ6k
