Not really hitting my stride yet, any suggestions how to improve?

[trichrider]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=331317

check this thread before rebuilding your soil, it has some great information.
and...

Changes in Properties of Composting Rice Husk and Their Effects on Soil and Cocoa Growth

Markus Anda , S. R. Syed Omar , J. Shamshuddin & C. I. Fauziah
Abstract

The worldwide production of rice husk, a by‐product and agrowaste that causes serious environmental problems, may reach 116 million t y−1. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the physicochemical changes of rice husk and its structural chemistry during composting using 13carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) and (ii) to determine the effect of the composted rice husk (CRH) on the properties of Oxisol and cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) growth under glasshouse conditions. Results showed an active composting phase occurred at the first 53 days as revealed by high carbon dioxide (CO2)‐C (40–71 µg g−1 h−1) production, followed by a matured composting phase occurring at 54–116 days as revealed by decreasing in CO2‐C production (10 µg g−1 h−1). The active composting was accompanied by increases in electrical conductivity (EC), pH, ammonium (NH4 +), and nitrate (NO3), whereas during the matured composting phase, the EC and cation exchange capacity increased but pH, NH4 +, and NO3 −1 decreased. The ash of the produced compost contains mainly calcium (Ca), potassium (K), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg), and phosphorus (P) as essential nutrients. The CP/MAS 13C NMR spectra before and after various composting times indicated the dominance of sharp and well‐resolved signal peaks at O‐alkyl C and di‐O‐alkyl C regions (67–73%), which are characteristic of cellulose. The percentage of N‐alky/methoxyl was 23–26% whereas phenolic, carboxyl, and alkyl C types were less than 3% each. The application of the CRH to an Oxisol significantly increased soil pH and Ca, Mg, K, sodium (Na), and silicon (Si) ions of in situ soil solution but decreased the amounts of toxic ions [aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe)]. The CRH was found to increase cocoa growth up to 37%.

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Howdy and thanks for the feedback!

I am reading and researching constantly.

One tidbit I would like to share that I recently stumbled across:
I listened to the Pot Cast on Soundcloud, the build a soil episode with Jeremy, to be more exact.

Well wouldn't you know it, they spoke about buckwheat hulls as an aeration amendment/perlite replacement.
And Jeremy said that he used buckwheat hulls once before and while the first grow went without a hitch and all was fine, he got hit with the worst nitrogen deficiency ever in the second round.
More than that, he, like me, used buckwheat hulls that he sourced locally that are used to stuff pillows normally. He said maybe that was his mistake (and mine) but either way, he just went away from buckwheat hulls back then because he didn't want to deal with these issues and went to rice hulls instead (mixed with a pumice alternative, forgot which).

He says it might still be a suitable alternative but he would definitely supplement a shit ton of N if he were to use it again.


Case closed pretty much, was exactly what happened to me. Only I am further along now and the buckwheat hulls have composted even further and thus compacted the soil even more which leaves me with my current drainage issues.

Another interesting tidbit from the podcast was that Jeremy alternates between light top waterings, maybe 2 or 3 times and then 1 deep watering in between.
He says he never waters to runoff as we don't have to flush out salts in organics.

I will try to adopt this watering regimen as I have noticed my top soil layer needs to stay more moist to wash down the nutrients from the top-dressing as well as to support the cover crop.


Going forward trying this watering regiment and implementing teas with EWC, kelp, malted barley, molasses and either include some bone/bloodmeal in the teas or topdress them, as well as top-dress with some dolomite lime.

To round things off I will get 3 separate humidifiers and put one in each of the grow chambers. I would prefer to put 1 large unit in the lung room but am still too paranoid about running an electric heater and magnetic ballast in the same room that I run a humidifier...

I know I still need to post pics, just wanted to update with my findings...

My container size also seems to definitely be an issue. Jeremy said that over at build a soil they recommend no smaller than 15 gallon containers for organics/no-till.
I will probably recycle my soil after this round and re-amend it with either perlite or if I can find them, rice hulls and maybe pumice or the alternative Jeremy mentioned in the podcast.

Then I will consider moving to 15 gallon smart pots.
My problem with these is that if they are round, I severely limit my plant count. Currently prowling the web for square fabric pots in 15 gallon size
Maybe need to make them myself? Any tips welcome.

 

[PaulieWaulie]

Any updates on the last few runs ?

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Howdy Paulie,


thanks for checking in and showing interest!


Unfortunately: Short answer is no, no updates.


I had "real life" creeping up on me and had to leave my toys alone for a month to boot ...
Fortunately, this "real life" creeping up thing also might result in me becoming an actual, "professional" cannabis farmer next year. No more closets and chambers etc. but actual acres of field and green house. Still some kinks to figure out but I am beyond stoked for what is ahead.

Regarding the hobby side of things, I was unable to fix the N deficiency and the remaining veg plants started to die off more and more (starting with yellowing from the bottom).


I was trying to combat the N-deficiency through top dressing as well as aerated compost teas based on krill meal (and some kelp and ewc added). It did not work. I also was limited in that attempt by the ongoing compaction and thus drainage issues. I simply couldn't water very much because the 1 gallon pots needed like 2 weeks to completely dry out (with the top few centimeters being dry after 4-7 days). Was difficult and annoying and I think I failed to manage that right...
Even wasted a couple of spoons of high quality mycorrhizae in a desperate attempt to get the plants to root through the pots. To no avail...


I was not able to start any flowering run in the meantime as my schedule/work and the one month absence after did not permit me to ...


So I went into salvage mode and am happy to say I at least was able to keep my keeper pheno from my critical mass round alive. Aside from that only a few more seedlings from the last round survived and are still alive. The one month absence means I need to prop them back up for now.




And then I need to make an executive decision on my soil...


I lean towards rebuilding it from scratch again before I start back up...
This time no more buckwheat hulls. Just good old perlite, peat moss, EWC and then krill meal (I hope I am not wrong in assuming this is a suitable alternative to blood and bone meal?), kelp meal, neem meal, dolomite lime, rock dusts, some epsom salt and that's that.



My current soil mix is basically the old soil mix with the composted, nitrogen leeching buckwheat hulls still incorporated but "stretched" with a bunch of perlite and re-ammended with copious amounts of EWC and enough nutrients.


But this is the same mix I used in veg before I had to shut everything down 2 months ago.


It worked well for about 2 months in veg, from seed as well as with the clones from last round, but (I believe mainly due to the drainage issues) I had a lot of fungus gnats coming back and the plants never rooted through their 1 gallon pots. even though they grew quite tall for a month or so there...


Afterwards, the yellowing and dying from the bottom started. The 1 gallon pots were still not rooted through and I went into salvage mode as I said above.


My options now (as I see them) are to keep working with that old soil and just add more perlite and more nitrogen and hope I can fix the N deficiency and drainage issue that way.


But that would be the second run in which I try to "save" the old soil. As much as it hurts me to throw it out in the yard, I think that's the best way to go about it (but please stop me if I can fix it otherwise!).


I also might only have one, definitely no more than 2 or 3 runs in this setup before I pack up my toys and start my farm. I don't want to risk ruining one more run with the old batch of soil as I really need both the experience and the pheno hunt to find some keepers.


Both times I mixed a fresh batch of soil (even though I was using buckwheat hulls), I went from seed to finish without a hitch, the second time I mixed a fresh batch I was really, really pleased with the results, just the quantity was lacking.


Allright, happy for any feedback, criticism, advice, etc.!


BBB

 

[Infinitelight5D]

I'm not trying to be mean at all but you shouldn't start a "professional" farm.
How would you deal with acres if you can't master a closet/room.
You seem to make everything overly complicated, I think you need to get out of your own way.
good luck with organic growing, it is rewarding once done right

 

[PaulieWaulie]

I think you had plenty of amendments, just those buckwheat hulls probably aren't the best for aeration. I also have a very rich organic soil that I have built up over the last year like you. I use 40% perlite as rice hulls break down, and need to be contonuously bought and added. that wasn't economical for me.

I agree with previous poster. But more out of personal experience in the last year,
I went really big and was overambitious based on my skill level. I created a lot of work, and a sub par product. But mainly, I wasn't having fun. Scale up at the rate of improvement, that way you are happy with the results, and not creating a whole lot of work. You only need so manly plants at a time to learn from. The best way to learn is doing side by side experiments so I think of a few to do on every run. So with this soil problem do 1 plant in it, and add 40% perlite to the 2nd pot and see how they do, for the 3rd one add compost tea every week to see if what they needed was more nutrients and microbial life. Once those buckwheat hulls have composted they will be giving back that nitrogen that they sucked up. I think...

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Thank you both for the feedback.


Obviously I disagree on the whole "you can't do it if you can't manage a closet" thing but let's leave that argument for another day, not really the scope of this thread, right?


The buckwheat hulls are really what keeps screwing me over, I believe. I, too, keep thinking "eventually they will have broken down completely and give back that nitrogen". But that "eventually" has cost me 2 runs now.


Also the whole side-by-side thing is absolutely right but I miss the baseline for that: A clone where I can actually compare results.


It will do me little good if I go from seed and put one seed in this and one in the other soil.
The one plant may be a huge nitrogen feeder while the other is content with very little nitrogen. And the impression I get from the side-by-side comparison would be misleading and do more good than harm.


I think the main issue is the compaction issue from the buckwheat hulls. The Nitrogen leeching is annoying but can be compensated but not with the compaction/drainage issue in tow.


So I might keep the soil stored away and not spread it in the yard and give it more time to compost.
Mix up a fresh batch without buckwheat hulls and start a new round.


My keeper from the CM round will survive, once in the new batch of soil, I am confident it will grow as healthy as it has before. That will give me the baseline for doing side-by-sides. Along with any other keeper I might find in the upcoming round with a fresh batch of soil sans buckwheat.


So the round after I will try again to have a clone or two in the old soil to see how they do. Probably stretch it out with more perlite at that point.

 

[Microbeman]

I suggest pumice over perlite.
If you are doing real farming in the ground or raised beds consider pea gravel.
It sounds like your use and concept of compost tea is off. e.g. mentioning krill.
The buckwheat hulls will never give back the N
Consider gypsum

 

[wvkindbud38]

Wow good luck....I really wish you a good outcome with this endeavor. I'd recommend a grower with some experience and at least 10-20 grows under there belt. I'm not trying to be mean just surround yourself with some experience/somebody to take you under there wing and show you the ropes. Stay on these forums, ask ???, don't try to over complicate shit man. But if your having trouble with a small grow then your gonna have more trouble than ever with acres/field??? I'm just assuming you have somebody tapped to help you that has the proper experience . Hopefully it works out friend I wish everybody the best in the cannabis community

 

[wvkindbud38]

I think you had plenty of amendments, just those buckwheat hulls probably aren't the best for aeration. I also have a very rich organic soil that I have built up over the last year like you. I use 40% perlite as rice hulls break down, and need to be contonuously bought and added. that wasn't economical for me.

I agree with previous poster. But more out of personal experience in the last year,
I went really big and was overambitious based on my skill level. I created a lot of work, and a sub par product. But mainly, I wasn't having fun. Scale up at the rate of improvement, that way you are happy with the results, and not creating a whole lot of work. You only need so manly plants at a time to learn from. The best way to learn is doing side by side experiments so I think of a few to do on every run. So with this soil problem do 1 plant in it, and add 40% perlite to the 2nd pot and see how they do, for the 3rd one add compost tea every week to see if what they needed was more nutrients and microbial life. Once those buckwheat hulls have composted they will be giving back that nitrogen that they sucked up. I think...

Great advice....I'd 100% ditch the hulls for perlite. It's gonna be in your best interest to keep things simple at first while learning. I'd start with a simple soil mix that's easy for you to feed and not have all these deficiencys. I'd watch all of Jorge Cervantes DVDs and read the how to grow bibles some. You gotta put the time in to learn and understand when your right and not doing things right and have realistic expectations. You got way to much going on in your head....your making things a lot harder on yourself than you should ever. It seems like your way over-thinking everything.

 

[Infinitelight5D]

What will be your next batch of soil ? Can you share what you are putting in there?

Also I tried to do research on buckwheat hulls leaching N and I couldn't find anywhere talking about it.
Can you show me how you determined that?

Are you sure that is the problem? I have never used them, only rice hulls and I had no problem with losing N. They also broke down after 1.5 years roughly.
I use perlite and lava rock when I can now.

 

[wvkindbud38]

The main problem is you need to simplify things some.....it's more problems going on than anybody can pin point. I'd probably re-set my mind and do everything different because with all these problems your never gonna learn. Honestly do away with all this soil mix disaster your messing with and get you a good soil....sunshine, promix, fox farm, any of these and mix dolomite lime per suggest and some perlite and just go with that for 1 grow....after that you can decided what amendments you wanna add to a recipe. I guarantee you'd be happy if you did this, ya almost everybody adds amendments to these soils I listed but until you get a grow or so under your belt I wouldn't start messing around with the soil...if anything add some earthworm castings to those soils if you gotta put something if them. You'll learn more about growing and feeding using this than your ever going to messing around with the soil recipe you got. Not to discourage you but if you don't back up and see how much your over complicating things your never gonna control a field/acres. I'm in no way trying to be mean or offend you, we've all been there and had the same shit happen. If anybody says they never had a problem growing there lying. These guys around here at icmag will get you growing....but you gotta listen to people that's grew and know what there doing. You PH your water/nute solution so you'll do fine with a simple soil mix at first. Also buy yourself some good seeds from some of the older reputable seed companies. There was 15-20 seed companies 10-15 yrs ago now there's 100-200 guys making seeds. Not saying there good or bad but you need to eliminate as many problems as you can friend. I'm pulling for you man, I'm not against you

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Howdy ho folks and thanks for all the feedback and suggestions!


@Microbeman
Thanks man.
Pumice was not easily available for me in my current hobby setting so I went with perlite.
My farm is planned with raised beds in greenhouses and I absolutely will look into pea gravel but was considering a mix of pumice and rice hulls there. Although I have read that rice hulls can lead to similar difficulties as the buckwheat hulls have and have heard of a tendency to go pumice only from experienced growers.
Pea gravel is new for me, will check it out.


As for the ACT, yes, you are right, what I made wasn't an ACT but a nutrient tea (I suppose? I am not good on the terminology).
I had previously made an ACT with malted barley and mollasses (I believe I added some EWC) and used it not as a nutrient supplement but to innoculate/support the existing microbial system in the soil.


When that alone didn't do much (accompanied with top-dressing the pots), I tried to brew a nutrient tea with mostly krill meal and some EWC to combat the N deficiency.




@wvkindbud
I kept it very simple at the start and think I still am.
My soil mix is just coot's mix and I added water, that's it.
I only started "overcomplicating" things after my first round with each batch when (most likely due to the buckwheat hulls) I had continuous problems and was trying to figure out how to solve them.
I tried to keep it simple but none of the potential solutions worked and that's when I got to the point where I believe I have to start from scratch again, as the buckwheat hulls remained as the only constant that could be responsible for both the N deficiency and the drainage issues. And all the attempts I had made to fix those did not solve the problems.


I am approaching 10 grows under my belt but 2 were in a soilless mix with bottled nutes and 4 were with the buckwheat hulls incorporated in some way or another.


Again:
2 of the grows with the buckwheat hull soil mix were absolutely beautiful, they only lacked weight, the rest was absolutely awesome and the best bud I or anyone who got a chance to try it, had ever smoked. I really had to turn a lot of people away who wanted to buy all the bud from me, but I produce headstash for myself and mine, not volume to deal.


Also:
I have a "support system" of experienced farmers in place. That includes cannabis farmers (although they are mostly experienced with industrial hemp). But they know the lay of the land, the soils there, the water, the nutrients readily available in the country etc. etc.


Never said I am going at it blind.
But the logic of "if you have trouble with a small grow, you will have more problem with a big farm" is particularly faulty due to it being organic soil based growing. Which is, by all accounts, a lot more difficult in a small hobby setting than in a large farm setting.
The buffer-factor of a living soil system cannot be understated. The more volume you have, the bigger the chance for the soil-food-web to regulate itself.


But I get where you and the other poster come from and take your feedback to heart. Just already considered that and made sure I have a support system in place.




@Infinite
There are some posts on the topic around here on IC. Some of the older threads I started also had experienced members chiming in and warning me about the buckwheat hulls and them being the potential problem source.
Back then I was so focused on the fungus gnats and clinging to the hope of keeping my soil mix that I tried to eliminate all other potential problem sources first.
Well I did that and it turns out the users who warned me back then were probably right.


Also, there is a podcast from KIS organics, I believe, where they interview Jeremy from build-a-soil.
He ran into exactly the same issues I have.
Only difference: He didn't bother to try and fix it as his experience told him it wasn't worth the hastle. So he scrapped that soil mix and started fresh. I believe with a mix of pumice and rice hulls instead of the buckwheat hulls. Lo' and behold, no more issues.




Regarding the soil mix, it is based on coot's mix.


Old soil mix (taken from another thread where I posted this):
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1 part = 5 liters

3 part peat moss
1 part coco coir
1 part hydroton with mycos
3 parts buckwheat hulls
2 parts EWC

Makes 50 liters of basic mix. A little more actually, I think about 55 or 60 liters. I just roughly measured it.

I amended with:
1 cup kelp
1 cup bloodmeal
2 cup bone meal
2 cup dolomite lime
1 cup oyster shell flour
1 cup neem seed meal
1/2 cup epsom salt
[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I added by feel:
Azomite
Basalt meal
Lavarock meal
Glacial rock dust
Bentonite[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Current mix:[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Old mix, stretched with perlit (about 50:50) and re-amended with nutrients as mentioned above.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Future (planned) soil mix:[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5 parts peat moss[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3 parts perlite[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2 parts EWC[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Amendments:[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1 cup kelp meal[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2 cup krill meal (to replace blood and bone meal, still waiting on feedback if that is suitable? My research tells me yes)[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2 cup dolomite lime[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1 cup oyster shell flour[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1 cup neem seed meal[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1/2 cup epsom salt[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]And rock dusts as usual.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My mycos are now no longer mixed into the soil but are on vermiculite to be powedered into transplant holes when up-potting, as is common practice I believe.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The plan is to brew an ACT with malted barley, molasses, EWC for the first watering, then maybe again a week or two later and then go plain water from there.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Even without the ACT, this has yielded me impressive bud, just no bulk, 2 times already.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Just when it gets to top-dressing/re-amending after a successful grow, I have always drawn the short straw so far and ended up with disastrous "second rounds".[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As it stands, I blame the buckwheat hulls and have reason to believe I will be good to go once I eliminate them for the next round.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Any feedback, as always, welcome!
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[Microbeman]

Just so you know, ACT means aerated compost tea. It is comprised only of compost or (and) vermicompost and a food source for microorganisms immersed in well aerated/agitated water. I've no experience with whether malted barley functions as a food source in ACT. It is, primarily, I believe a source of enzymes.

Experiment with a simple vermicompost (EWC) and molasses recipe.

The raised bed situation you described is what we used successfully for over 15 years of cannabis cultivation.

PS. Perlite floats and flows. I personally hate it.

 

[bigbadbiddy]

The malted barley is indeed mainly for the enzymes.


I includeded them in my aerated compost teas after listening to a few podcasts with clackamas coot. Wasn't aware this could negatively affect the ACT base of EWC and molasses?
Malted barley sounded great and he highly recommended it.


It might have been my misunderstanding or they also said it differently in those podcasts, but I had always thought adding nutrients (like blood/bone or krill meal) to the mix doesn't change that it is an ACT.
Apparently it does.


I only made any distinction between ACT and a nutrient tea after you mentioned that in another thread where I misnomed the two.


Haven't had anyone to talk about it in a strong minute and now online, forgot about the right terminology again and went to my old habit of using the wrong terms.




But just to clarify:
Would you say adding a nutrient source like krill meal to an ACT based on EWC and molasses (+malted barley maybe) negatively affects the innoculating/supporting properties for the microherd?
I was under the impression, kind of like top-dressing the nutrient source, this just adds the nutrients on top. Wasn't aware/hadn't thought about the nutrients messing with the balance of the ACT in a way that might negatively affect the microherd...




I also am not fond of perlite by the way.
Which is why I ended up with the buckwheat hulls. No other alternative was readily sourcable for me over here.
And since the buckwheat hulls were so problematic, I now had to look for another alternative again. Situation hasn't changed though, so this time I will use perlite for my small indoor, hobby setup.


But there is basically no way this would be the case on my farm. I already know that rice hulls won't be a problem and I am part of an agricultural coop once I set up over there and am sure, through them, I will be able to get (the right grade) pumice without a problem, too.

 

[Samuel Caldwell]

What you have is a good start. I'd definitely reuse it with 2 simple amendments.

I don't see any compost in your mix? Add a bunch of fresh compost. And for aeration, I'm with Microbeman, I can't stand perlite. Scoria (lava rock) is available in bags at hardware stores and bulk at landscaping companies. But lots of folks use perlite so whatever. Just use a good amount.

I've seen people running 5 gallon no-till successfully in the big no-till thread but larger is definitely easier. I'm in the process of setting up my 20 gallon geopots. I've used them in the past with great success and I'm glad to be in a situation where I can run them again. They're by far the best quality and easiest way I've grown. IME hydro will give larger quantities but organic soil crushes it for quality. No contest.

 

[wvkindbud38]

I'd go one more round with coots mix and if it gives you trouble I'd switch to something like subcools mix or a modified version of subcools mix. Still to this day I don't like a soil mix that I have to mix a ton of different shit into. But if you got some experienced growers in place that's harvested some nice killer buds there's no reason why they should have any problem getting you up and growing. If they can't get you lined out there not very experienced or your not listening.....so with this in place it's only 1or2 things that can go wrong. Experienced growers shouldn't have problems mixing soil or feeding so if they suggest maybe going a different route on some of your idea at least let the experience guys have free reign to do there thing on a group of plants. So at least you'd have 2 groups of plants to look at to compare....your stuff you 100% wanna do and the expert guys stuff they 100% wanna do. That should start to narrow down the problems. Just keep ph ing and make sure your water is good. If your going big scale if you don't have a big R/O water filtration going, get somebody to come in a get a analysis of your water. Good water is a must if you wanna grow good weed. It seems like your making some better decision with stuff. You can't listen to everybody or you'll always be experimenting. But if you experiment do it with 1-2 plants or wait until you find a soil and feeding nute schudule that you finally nail before you even experiment other stuff. Please get you a outdoor and indoor grow bible from Jorge Cervantes....sit around and read and he'll get you growing i promise the best 30$ you'll ever spend. I think you'll figure things out buddy. If you wanna pm me I'll do anything I can for you and answer any question I know the answer to. Just make sure when you ask a question that the guy that gives you a answer is giving you a fact and not this opinion. If the guy has done things himself and knows it works is the advice you need at this point....opinions later on when you experiment with things. Hang in there you've going to do this I'm sure you'll turn it around brother

 

[wvkindbud38]

I'd definatly do away with buckwheat hulls....there's tons of other good ideas I've seen guys say you can use. I don't know of many guys that use those. Lay the earthworm castings to your soil. If you add horse or cow manure make sure to go easy at first. I'd mix anything a lil weak at first...your bone,blood meal and stuff just kinda go with a less is more thought. It's always better to have your soil to weak as to have it burn your plants up. If it's to weak you can mix your nutes stronger but if your soil is mixed way to hot and it burns your babies up your basically fucked again.

I like the looks of this other soil mix without the hulls I think you'll be much happier

 

[Infinitelight5D]

It also seems like your buckwheat hulls mix was way too heavy on the hulls. 15liters(3.9gallons) of hulls and an equal amount of peat. Was that the correct ratio? Anyways your new mix looks fine.

Regarding the krill, I can't find any information on it's npk. Can you show me a link or a brand I can Google?
Can you get fish meal & fish bone meal? I also am fond of using crab meal because of the chitin in the shells and nitrogen.

 

[bigbadbiddy]

Thank you all again for the help and feedback!


I have decided to scrap the old soil and mix a fresh batch of coots mix without buckwheat hulls this time.


For ease of use and availability, I will go perlite this time but only this time, for my small indoor/hobby setup and to establish a successful baseline. The main drawback of perlite (from what I understand) is that it turns into cement with age. This indoor setup will not be up much longer, maybe 1,2 max 3 rounds. So perlite should be okay. But as soon as I build up my farm for sustainability and long-term use, I will switch to pumice (and possibly rice hulls).


The x-factor now remains the krill meal.
I was looking at it as a replacement for crab meal which supplements not only NPK (particularly N) but is also a good source of calcium.
And since krill is just tiny crabs, I figured it should be the same.


I will look if I can find a source for NPK values of krill meal. I bought it from a fishing bait shop at a good price and it all looked clean etc.



Mainly I wanted to replace the blood meal as I could only get it in pelleted form, not meal/powder. I suspected the blood meal pellets to also be involved in the nitrogen deficiencies I was facing. Surmising that it releases the nitrogen (breaks down) slower than the other nutrient supplements due to the pelleted form and thus causing an N imbalance as well.




If krill meal is not a suitable replacement for blood and bone meal, I might just bite the bullet and get bone meal from one source and blood meal from another (avoided it so far because it would mean ordering from 2 different places).




In the future, for my farm, fish meal and fish bone meal will be easily available, as will crab meal and kelp (basically all "ocean stuff"). Have definitely planned to make use of these then.


The buckwheat ratio might have indeed been off as well. But the way I looked at it was that I replaced 1 part of peat moss with coco and 1 part with the mycos on hydroton. So I still looked at it as 5 parts peat moss, just broken into 3 part peat, 1 coco and 1 hydroton. That's why I didn't adjust the buckwheat/perlite amount etc.


This time will only be peat moss, EWC and perlite for the base mix, probably will be a better balance.




Alrighty then, I am off to get me some EWC and find a good peat moss. Going to try and see if I can get some sphagnum peat moss from Ireland/Scottland this time as the peat moss I used before (it was hard enough to find any that wasn't amended with nutrients already ...), was usually a mix of "white", "brown" and "black" peat moss, which means it was at different stages of degradation/decomposition. Was the best I could find but I now heard (again from a podcast with coot) that sphagnum peat moss is the way to go as it also doesn't turn the soil acidic and (if taken from the right source) is packed on-site and not broken up and sterilized before it is sold in bags.


Then off to mixing and cooking and by the end of August I hope to be planting a fresh round.
Probably going to do a skunk round to make it short, sweet and robust and get my baseline finally established so I can start tinkering and improving.




Again: Thank you all for the help and feedback. I wouldn't have gotten even to the point of failing if it wasn't for all of you fine folks.


All the best


BBB


/Edit
A first quick search on NPK values of krill meal has come up dry for me as well. I found a table comparing it to fish meal but not with regard to NPK values.
I think I will go by the book this time and just get some bone and blood meal, just making sure the blood meal is in powder form this time.