No Till Gardening (Indoors) with Team Microbe

[Slickdeez16]

TM, I have another question. I'm putting my soil together for my first run. What's the bare minimum time that I need to let it compost before planting in it? I'm putting in well established plants that have been grown in one gallon containers. I'm making it today and then adding mulch and watering with an act. Ideally I'd need to transplant into it in about one to two weeks. Any suggestions? I know that the main issue will be that the nutrients won't be available to the plants yet and they might show some deffficiencies. Is there any other potential problems? Thanks, slick

 

[Team Microbe]

TM, I have another question. I'm putting my soil together for my first run. What's the bare minimum time that I need to let it compost before planting in it? I'm putting in well established plants that have been grown in one gallon containers. I'm making it today and then adding mulch and watering with an act. Ideally I'd need to transplant into it in about one to two weeks. Any suggestions? I know that the main issue will be that the nutrients won't be available to the plants yet and they might show some deffficiencies. Is there any other potential problems? Thanks, slick

That all depends, what's in your mix?

 

[Slickdeez16]

That all depends, what's in your mix?

Pretty much exactly the recipe you have listed on this thread. Using malibu compost, and everything else you have on the list. Thanks

 

[Team Microbe]

Pretty much exactly the recipe you have listed on this thread. Using malibu compost, and everything else you have on the list. Thanks

I planted in this recipe almost immediately after mixing, so 1-2 weeks would be more than enough I think. An ACT will do well in helping everything become available fast, I think I drenched with a barley tea and then mixed FulPower in with that to help chooch things along a little bit. I never saw any deficiencies after planting, as a matter of fact things took off when I did so no worries I'd say!

 

[Team Microbe]

Week 3

Week 3

1976 Highland Thai x 1971 Kandahar Afghani

Guerrilla Glue #4 and a few Mendo's crowd the corner of the room

OGKB X Mendo Montage (Mendo Breath)

From here on out I'll keep things simple with mostly water, a few kelp teas and a few PMB dressings watered in with FulPowe to act as a catalyst's catalyst (enzymes > > > fulvic acid)

 

[7thson]

I gotta say,that Oly mountain looks a lot better then Malibu.I used the Oly and had pretty good results, smells good too.

Can't always go by looks though.

 

[FunkBomb]

Hey TM what LED light are you using in your growroom? How are you liking it compared to the HPS?

-Funk

 

[Team Microbe]

I gotta say,that Oly mountain looks a lot better then Malibu.I used the Oly and had pretty good results, smells good too.

Can't always go by looks though.

I've never used Malibu myself but I'm almost certain it's of higher quality than Oly, just based on the process Randy brings everything through and by the looks of their soil tests - everything is much more balanced than Oly.

With that being said, I've had good results with Oly.

Hey TM what LED light are you using in your growroom? How are you liking it compared to the HPS?

-Funk

I'm using a fixture by MARS Lighting, it's nice! It throws out a lot less heat than my HID fixtures, but lacks light penetration into the canopy I think. Great for veg, but I wouldn't use it alone in flower unless I had a lot of them. A few of my plants are under the LED alone so we'll see how those stack up compared to the HPS this round. First time using the LED for flower

 

[7thson]

I'm still living in the stone age,I need to be looking at tests more.

 

[heady blunts]

we've got some good bagged compost producers on the east coast as well.

i've had years of consistently excellent bags of coast of maine. the quoddy blend is my favorite, it's a thermal compost made with lobster shells.

vermont compost company makes a great manure compost and last time i got a bag it was heavy and dense, so i don't think they add any peat. that can be good as long as the bags are stored well, but the addition of peat does make for better moisture control when the bags are left exposed to the elements stacked on pallets.

benson farm makes a "surf and turf" cow manure/lobster compost that i've been using for a couple years too. i have noticed a bit of ammonia smell on some bags so i think it's a big "hot" compared to the others. makes a great bedding for my worm bins.

when i lived in cali i was using the malibu "bu's blend" and loving it. only got one or two anaerobic bags but i blame the garden center i bought it from for storing it improperly. all the other bags i've ever gotten were fully finished and very lovely.

never tried oly mountain, but i've heard good things.

 

[Team Microbe]

we've got some good bagged compost producers on the east coast as well.

i've had years of consistently excellent bags of coast of maine. the quoddy blend is my favorite, it's a thermal compost made with lobster shells.

vermont compost company makes a great manure compost and last time i got a bag it was heavy and dense, so i don't think they add any peat. that can be good as long as the bags are stored well, but the addition of peat does make for better moisture control when the bags are left exposed to the elements stacked on pallets.

benson farm makes a "surf and turf" cow manure/lobster compost that i've been using for a couple years too. i have noticed a bit of ammonia smell on some bags so i think it's a big "hot" compared to the others. makes a great bedding for my worm bins.

when i lived in cali i was using the malibu "bu's blend" and loving it. only got one or two anaerobic bags but i blame the garden center i bought it from for storing it improperly. all the other bags i've ever gotten were fully finished and very lovely.

never tried oly mountain, but i've heard good things.

Great info Heady

I used COM's Lobster compost in my 2nd no till mix with great success, I love their Penobscot blend too and use that for lots of top dressing (blueberry, muscle, salmon mix). I think I remember hearing the lobster is more bacterial dominant than the Penobscot too... anyways - great products all around IME as well man

I too have seen these go anaerobic (and fast) when improperly stored outside in the rain/snow. It's such a shame too, because that's the stuff readily available to their customers out front lol. I always ask for the dry stuff in the back.

 

[HerBnGorE(illa)]

Damn good thread guys. Im very interested in the methods you are implementing. I have been reading/studying a lot lately about TRUE organics but still have so many questions that i do not feel comfortable making the switch. Keep this thread going so i can keep learning! Thanks to all who contribute.

 

[HerBnGorE(illa)]

TM. Pardon my ignorance, but why are you not adding wood into your mix? Ive been reading about huggelkulture lately and it seems right in line with what you are doing. Sorry if its a dumb question. Thanks.

 

[Team Microbe]

TM. Pardon my ignorance, but why are you not adding wood into your mix? Ive been reading about huggelkulture lately and it seems right in line with what you are doing. Sorry if its a dumb question. Thanks.

Wood chips would be a great addition to my mix or the top layer for that matter, you're right about that.

I didn't have wood chips on hand when I amended this mix initially, but I have mulched with the composted wood chips Coast of Maine sells by the bag with success - and tons of springtails for that matter lol


Hugelkultur is great too, that's a German styled garden bed that has wood in it's base to breakdown over time (and provide water/nutrients). Me and my partner made one this spring actually...


First we dug the trench along a feeder stream that was rich in organic matter


Then we filled it with dead tree litter


And topped it off with the native soil we dug out mixed with some peat moss and compost


Cover cropped and mulched with rocks, then let them be for the season. This is a swamp with a high water table so we can get away with not watering all year...


Check out the "Who's going guerrilla this year?" thread in my signature for more shots of that grow, we've got a few different locations this year

 

[slownickel]

Team,

Have you ever taken a soil analysis? If so, is it posted here?

 

[Team Microbe]

Team,

Have you ever taken a soil analysis? If so, is it posted here?

I have not, but was literally talking about doing so soon earlier today. I'm really interested in what the results would be...

 

[slownickel]

Team M,

Me too.

May I strongly suggest using Spectrum Analytic in Ohio, using Melich 3, Ammonium acetate (AA) at 8.2, include Na, Al and nitrogens.

The AA@ 8.2 removes the influence of carbonates and bicarbonates. Bicarbonates are quite toxic above certain levels and rob the soil of available calcium.

Here is a good link why from the golf course guys, they figured this out before the aggies.

http://goo.gl/tu1id6

 

[Team Microbe]

Team M,

Me too.

May I strongly suggest using Spectrum Analytic in Ohio, using Melich 3, Ammonium acetate (AA) at 8.2, include Na, Al and nitrogens.

The AA@ 8.2 removes the influence of carbonates and bicarbonates. Bicarbonates are quite toxic above certain levels and rob the soil of available calcium.

Here is a good link why from the golf course guys, they figured this out before the aggies.

http://goo.gl/tu1id6

Thank you! I'll remember that when I do get a test

 

[lotus710]

I layered dead wood ontop of some lava rock on the bottom of my notill pot

 

[Chunkypigs]

View Image
1976 Highland Thai x 1971 Kandahar Afghani


View Image
Guerrilla Glue #4 and a few Mendo's crowd the corner of the room


View Image
OGKB X Mendo Montage (Mendo Breath)


View Image
From here on out I'll keep things simple with mostly water, a few kelp teas and a few PMB dressings watered in with FulPowe to act as a catalyst's catalyst (enzymes > > > fulvic acid)

those look really nice! what side are the tan smart pots and how many you run per light?

how often/much water you giving that size?