Organic Fanatics - Australia

[gr0wm3]

Silversurfer .... elite organic brews my friend, impressive ...... another commercial product that is great in oz is whats called gogo juice and triple boost (both organic enough... hehe whatever that means) ..... the gogo juice has humic but its best properties is that it is full of beneficial live bacteria.... is kelp based..... plants love it ... and the triple boost, well that shit is organic ..... and is great for using as an organic nutrient for cannabis ... the best seaweed concentrate these days in oz is eco-cweed (i think its called eco-cweed.... its powdered and highly concentrated... theyre the same mob that make eco-neem) ....all of which can be purchased from major stores like bunnings ...... probably not much help mentioning this but somebody may gain from what ive mentioned in this psot .... peace n pot

 

[_Ina_]

Hallo guys! i,m the biggest organic fanatic ever haha i make my own fertz,i use guano straight from the cave never use chemistry for my plants and they are very happyi,m trying to make some sea weed fertz,sometimes use ferts from one plant but i cant tell you how is its name on english,i make tea from it. some times i use cow poop,sheep and goat poop too.Wormcasting is very good too But now i,m very scared because here soon some companies will start FRACKING-gas drilling and what then?! how can i grow medical plants with home made nutrients,when they gonna frack allover my country?! i saw you know very well in Australia what fracking is I cant speak about organic food or marijuana when i know they gonna start this shit here!I even dont buy organics because they are not organic enough for me and now what? gardens,everything will be destroyed soon,There will be no clean water even! WTF? What we really gonna do then? Here is one,two of my organic plants,i love themthis is home made mix between some dutch strains

 

[gr0wm3]

Yeah, ive been experimenting recently with making brews from seaweed from the beach (washed of salt/sand etc) at different stages of degradation and brewed based on the levels of degradation of seaweed (at different stages) ..... some dried on a hot surface like concrete etc .... for a short time ... some dried etc for a long time and so forth and then brewed together ....., when i want to whip up a fast organic tea ........ searles 5n1 in a sock in a bucket of water ..... much better if you can oxygenate it with airstones etc ..... but either way it works well if its used asap ... works great as a diluted foliar spray ......

 

[_Ina_]

Hey,thank u! i didnt know how exactly to do this seaweed fertilizer. i was wondering if they must be dried or fresh. yes i hurt spraing is good for leaves. this plant i use for fert is called 'nettle' on english. do u know it? it is great tea from this plant,u can use it in both stages,but i use it mostly in second half of flowering. there is many iron in it,the plants like itthis is famous fertilizer i think. now i have something called 'palm tree ashes"-NPK 0-3-11 or something but i,m not sure exactly when to use it. this is the only fert i buy,because it was new for me and interesting how it works. i see most of the wood ashes have the same NPK(mostly K) so it is the last time i buy it

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Hey guys thanks for contributing.

The best and freshest fertilisers are the ones we can pick/make ourselves and the cost is next to nothing. Nettles, comfrey, dandelion, camellia, seaweed and yarrow all spring to mind as great liquid soaks or mulch. Also great additions to the compost pile of course. But it is good to keep them seperate and concentrated in one form or another.

I will get together a guide to harvesting and processing the above plus a few more in a day or three.

 

[gr0wm3]

Hey,thank u! i didnt know how exactly to do this seaweed fertilizer. i was wondering if they must be dried or fresh. yes i hurt spraing is good for leaves. this plant i use for fert is called 'nettle' on english. do u know it? it is great tea from this plant,u can use it in both stages,but i use it mostly in second half of flowering. there is many iron in it,the plants like itthis is famous fertilizer i think. now i have something called 'palm tree ashes"-NPK 0-3-11 or something but i,m not sure exactly when to use it. this is the only fert i buy,because it was new for me and interesting how it works. i see most of the wood ashes have the same NPK(mostly K) so it is the last time i buy it

yeah the palm tree ashes and charcoal etc is obviously going to be good for bloom etc ..... very simple brewing seaweed though, seaweed degraded at different stages (some of the seaweed can even be fresh) and then left in the hot sun in a bucket of water and for great effect so that there is dried seaweed, seaweed dried for just a day and some dried for 4 days or so .... .... its best if its then oxygenated ...... tea's are awesome but it can be important to understand that leaving organic animal by-products sitting in water for more than 4 or 5 days or so is not a good idea without oxygenation as they can become toxic to plants and by the 5th day the tea is already very alkaline.... if you use soil you want to aim for 6.8ph-ish in your medium (but still allow it to swing from 6.5-6.8 if possible in soil Mg is less bioavailable under 6.5) so its best to be careful i think and to not feed the plants with excessively alkaline nutrient solution ....... ..... living sea moss's fresh and washed with fresh water left in a bucket establish beneficial bacteria which can be a great brew aswell, aslong as it is isnt brewed for too long and the moss can remain relatively lively ..... great if you live by the ocean .... Im yet to make nettle tea's but i best grab some nettle and grow it in my outdoor herb/vege patch .... I must admit i usually only use salt-based nutrients in vege and organic nutrients in bloom to increase turpene development and flavanoid improvement...... Nettle is high in nitrogen and great for vege ..... peace n pot crew.

 

[wilbur]

NPK 0-3-11

NPK 0-3-11

Hey,thank u! i didnt know how exactly to do this seaweed fertilizer. i was wondering if they must be dried or fresh. yes i hurt spraing is good for leaves. this plant i use for fert is called 'nettle' on english. do u know it? it is great tea from this plant,u can use it in both stages,but i use it mostly in second half of flowering. there is many iron in it,the plants like itthis is famous fertilizer i think. now i have something called 'palm tree ashes"-NPK 0-3-11 or something but i,m not sure exactly when to use it. this is the only fert i buy,because it was new for me and interesting how it works. i see most of the wood ashes have the same NPK(mostly K) so it is the last time i buy it

sorry to hear about fracking your country. same here in australia. soon we will be a hole in the ground filled with poisoned water ... and we will all be at the beach looking at the sea waiting for rescue!

but until then 0-3-11 should be perfect to put on soil, and water in when plants beginning to flower!

 

[wilbur]

go go juice

go go juice

Silversurfer .... elite organic brews my friend, impressive ...... another commercial product that is great in oz is whats called gogo juice and triple boost (both organic enough... hehe whatever that means) ..... the gogo juice has humic but its best properties is that it is full of beneficial live bacteria.... is kelp based..... plants love it ... and the triple boost, well that shit is organic ..... and is great for using as an organic nutrient for cannabis ... the best seaweed concentrate these days in oz is eco-cweed (i think its called eco-cweed.... its powdered and highly concentrated... theyre the same mob that make eco-neem) ....all of which can be purchased from major stores like bunnings ...... probably not much help mentioning this but somebody may gain from what ive mentioned in this psot .... peace n pot

anyone following this thread will know I 'm an organic newbie, but I 've discovered how good go go juice is.

I began a garden, dug it, added goodies and planted. hmmm, fair growth, plants of good colour but nothing like my expectations for growth ... or return for my efforts with the shovel either ... UNTIL I added go go juice. I swear the plants doubled in size in two days!

so I 'm sold on this stuff. will put it on my citrus and custard apples too. in fact will use it EVERYWHERE!

it's great to see this thread becoming international! long live multi culturalism!

cheers all and a happy new year to everyone ...

 

[gr0wm3]

anyone following this thread will know I 'm an organic newbie, but I 've discovered how good go go juice is.

I began a garden, dug it, added goodies and planted. hmmm, fair growth, plants of good colour but nothing like my expectations for growth ... or return for my efforts with the shovel either ... UNTIL I added go go juice. I swear the plants doubled in size in two days!

so I 'm sold on this stuff. will put it on my citrus and custard apples too. in fact will use it EVERYWHERE!

it's great to see this thread becoming international! long live multi culturalism!

cheers all and a happy new year to everyone ...

Hell yeah brother, i was using an australian stoner community site for a while but it just didnt feel right, i just dont feel as though the majority of the members are truly passionate and caring towards cannabis activism.... too much negativity and not a lot of current legit and useful information .... .... so i'm here to stay -ive met nobody but caring advocates of cannabis here .... you may find though brother that it works well outside/outdoors initially cause of the humic and kelp in it - but yeah, its useful isnt it!..... good soil should have a shitload of beneficial bacteria in it to begin with in an optimum grow medium so the beneficials may not be the catalyst for the initial signs of improvement of outdoor plants when gogo juice is applied to it ...... I use it indoors in coco to really stimulate the microbial food chain and introduce some beneficial bacteria (at a low price aswell compared to other commercial beneficial bacteria products)... Happy new year mate

 

[wilbur]

growm3, yes the garden soil hadn't grown anything but wattles after it was originally cleared. figured humates did it. didn't know about the kelp.

I was at that other site for a while. sense a better ambience here. not as much paranoia, I think.

hippie new year all!

 

[High Country]

growm3, yes the garden soil hadn't grown anything but wattles after it was originally cleared. figured humates did it. didn't know about the kelp.

I was at that other site for a while. sense a better ambience here. not as much paranoia, I think.

hippie new year all!

Wattles, acacia sp, are nitrogen fixers....use them.

 

[wilbur]

thanks High Country.

yes, I knew about wattles being a nitrogen fixer but I think the soil they're growing in has to contain other kinds of bacteria before the N process can get very far. many of the soils here are significantly depleted from original. just ground-up rock, really.

I know wattle mulch is very good but can anyone comment further on Wattle's N fixing abilities/process?

 

[High Country]

Here's a bit of light reading for you wilbur.

http://bingo.clarus.com.au/public/static/MN115_web.pdf

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

The wattles around here seem to be the yang to the gumtrees ying...

What i mean is the wattles form a natural barrier and allow the smaller and more sensitive trees/shrubs to establish themselves without competing for water or nutrients.

To allow the wattles to compete and establish themselves they fix their own N which the gums dont steal... not very scientific but there ya go. I also believe the wattles have shallower root systems while the gums go much deeper.

The wattles are much shorter lived and the wood rots down very fast. This will build up the humus layer much faster than any gumtree. Indeed gum leaves and i think maybe the bark produce a aleopathic compound which is very acidic and forms a waterproof barrier on the surface. This is why gums are so dominant in our landscapes.

I have a book that lists wattle as a bad companion as the shallower roots will compete for nutrients and water.... but i believe this is only part true.

A good idea i believe is to plant next to younger wattles or to chop off some branches first and use them as mulch. Cutting off any biomass from the wattle will also kill off some of their rootmass which will in turn release nitrogen into the surrounding soil.

The actual N fixing process is bacterial and the roots have nodes which take in N from the atmosphere and fix it into the roots. This is the same process as any other legume be it clover, broadbeans or tree lucerne. However clover for example needs a specific bacteria to allow ot to fix N. This comes in a sachet when the seeds are purcashed.

I believe the advantage of wattles would be the native bacteria would already be available in the native soil....

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Growing/harvesting our own fertilisers

Growing/harvesting our own fertilisers

First off this is a most excellent thread on the topic:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=215776

This website is from Isabell Shepherd who has written some very informative books on the subject of herbs and self-sufficiency. She is Australian too so the subjects are directly relevent to us down under.

The herb index is an excellent info resource.

http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information.html

The herbs/plants i am going to detail here are the ones most commonly used to grow marijuana. There are many others such as thistles, horsetail, clovers and many others that can all be used. In fact almost every plant and flower can be used.

It is worth noting that drying these plants is the best way to preserve all the nutrient value. Used dry as a mulch is great. Dry will also store for the longest possible period without any deterioration in quality.

The other way (and even more simple) is to chuck them in a food safe bucket (such as one used in restaurants for mayonaisse etc) and add clean water. A tight fitting lid is recommended so that nothing escapes, including the smell which is very strong...

Thanks to Jaykush for providing the following information:

Nettle


common name:stinging nettles, nettles,burn nettle, burn weed, burn hazel

scientific name:urtica dioica

uses:compost, plant extracts, soil amendment,in compost teas, foliar spray, mulch, dried root powder

nutrients:nitrogen, essential Oils, Ammonia,

Minerals: iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium and calcium

Other: vitamins A, C and D

Nettle's main plant chemicals include: acetophenone, acetylcholine, agglutinins, alkaloids, astragalin, butyric acid, caffeic acids, carbonic acid, chlorogenic acid, chlorophyll, choline, coumaric acid, folacin, formic acid, friedelins, histamine, kaempherols, koproporphyrin, lectins, lecithin, lignans, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, neoolivil, palmitic acid, pantothenic acid, quercetin, quinic acid, scopoletin, secoisolariciresinol, serotonin, sitosterols, stigmasterol, succinic acid, terpenes, violaxanthin, and xanthophylls.

difficulty to grow: very easy http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/mf2631.pdf
a easy to read pdf growers guide.

perrenial or annual: depends on location, dry hot places it will die each season. In moist places that dont frost hard it will grow almost all year round.

invasive or not: can be invasive. If kept under check and if your actually using if for fertilizers, you shouldn't have a problem, just dont over seed your area or let it go to seed!

soil conditions: will grow just about anywhere, but thrives in rich soil.

when to plant: grows best in spring, but ive seen it growing at all times of year in frost free areas, as long as there is water, sufficient temperature and light. Note that if its cold as hell, they will not grow that fast. When it warms up they get off to a much better pace. too cold and they die. or the seeds stay dormant.

where to plant: nettles grow good in the sun. But they flower faster and dont get as big IMO if you leave them to grow naturally( though with the right conditions ive seen 15ft+ tall nettles before). I grow them in the shade right out of the suns reach, or spotted light through a tree makes them grow well in nature and in our cultivation.

germination: 8 -10 days with good temps above 60F. 70-80F is best.

harvesting: make sure to wear gloves, or test to see if you are immune to the nettles sting ( some people luckily are)
for the best product snip only the leaves off at the top growing tips. For a quick and lazy way chop the stalks in half leaving lower growth to regrow. leaving lower growth will give you harvests year around or as long as the nettles are in season. chopping the plant at the base could kill your source. only take whole plants when harvesting the roots and always leave plants to re populate your plot. Dry in a warm dry place with lots of ventilation for best results, if lazy. leave it in a bag thats open and leave it outside where its dry. Make sure to let them go to seed if in the wild or you could be screwing yourself over in the long run, possibly just when you have your own methods and ratios down there could be no nettles left.

personal info:
stinging nettles, the name alone brings fear to some people i know, and im sure its the same way all over the planet. They are covered with little spikes that sting you, though they have a nasty bite, they are at the same time good soil builders and a EXCELLENT source of nutrients and plant chemicals, and wherever most nettles grow you will find healthy rich soil full of life( great for doing BIM cultures). They are an excellent fertilizer that is mostly a veg fert but can be used all around, it can be used as a main veg fert by itself and plants will thrive, and as a supplemental in the beginning of flower to mid and even small amounts in late flower for those long going sativas. It has great pest control properties( when used as a liquid fert. (Though the plant itself attracts some insects because it is great food for wild critters/bugs along with some beneficials as well, the extract repels bad bugs but leaves beneficials un touched.), I cant say exactly why but the nettles seem to build the plants "immune" system and i have read some others say the same thing. In veg there is no need for extra MG or CA, ive never seen a MG deficiency since i started using nettles. Nettles as companion plants are said to improve essential oils in neighboring plants, but ive never done a side by side comparison before. I know from observations plants growing next to nettles or downstream from them in the mountains grow much better and healthy by far, its like night and day difference.

some of the uses for nettles are as follows

-the main way is the liquid soak, take a 5 gallon bucket ( 1 gallon for people starting out), fill 1/3 with fresh chopped nettles, fill with stream water if possible, next would be rain and then dechlorinated tap. ( if you dont want the smell to be as bad, you can add some lacto bacillus culture and it will do a major dent in the smell of the final liquid but it is not needed use half final culture water with the water you will be using) now let it sit for a few days, then stir, you can take a little bit and apply at 1:1 nettle water:water at this point, then let sit for a week, stir again, you can strain now and dilute 10:1 water:nettle water. At this point you can let it sit longer but it will become really rank( i actually got used to the smell and leave it to go this far. then dilute 1:20, the best option is after the fermentation is done ( bubbles a lot when you stir) strain the material out well and store in jars that are not fully sealed. Over time( months) the liquid will become clear and loose its smell. This takes the longest to get to but i find it works really good, specially for indoor use because there is no smell and by then its basically liquid nettle is what i call it. if you get a perpetual system going on making the extracts you will always have the good stuff ready.

-quick veg fix, take some water in a pan on the stove, add 1 cup nettles to 3 cups water, simmer for 15 mins, itl get green and slightly dark, strain toss the scraps in the compost, dilute the liquid about 1:10 for strong 1:20 for light feedings. I usually add that to about 2 gallons, apply and there you go. its The fastest way of getting nettles to the plant, most of the water soluble nutrients are absorbed without the needed microbial breakdown. Then the rest get used up over time with help from the microbes.

-soil amendment ( still doing testing go light at first, then work your way up) ive been drying and crushing nettles into a powder. Adding them to the soil at about a tablespoon per gallon for plants coming out of seedling stage.

-mulch, dried leaves used as mulch, slowly adds nutrients to the soil while keeping it moist. You could probly use the spent stalks after drying too if you chopped them up.

-compost them. Put all plants in a bucket or a tub or wrap in a tarp ( stems and everything, preferably not seeded plants), take a 2x4 or a stick, smash plants till they are brused with a little water,(it even could be lacto B. Water.) add to the compost and watch the heat rise!

growing the nettles: there are three ways to grow nettles, care free, controlled and soil building.

-care free would be find an optimal spot to grow them, a spot with sun/shade, decent soil, water. Spread seed in early spring later winter, let grow naturally. The only thing you have to watch is to not let the plants go to seed unless you are collecting seed from one plant, remember there are male and female nettles, so you only have to eliminate one of the two.

-the controlled way is a bit more neat than just tossing seed out in a good spot and letting nature do the work. This involves either preparing a site, clearing other weeds and such then spreading seed with some reason, and not just tossing numbers out there. You would let the plants get big, chop off all flowering parts or chop near the base at the bottom 6-8 inches to harvest the top and let the bottom grow a second time for harvesting. At the end of the season, you will harvest the whole top, stems and all, then harvest some of the main roots as well for drying.

-soil building is the same basic principles of the controlled way, except for the fact nettles are used in a crop rotation system to help build the soil. You can also grow them as a cover crop, for turning into the soil, just make sure the plants are not seeded yet and dont overseed!. chances are Some might grow back so just pick those for drying or eating for drinking as tea ( for you its really healthy, for making shampoo, for just as mulch). For example this would be a rotation i might use......cannabis, alfalfa( for N fixing), nettles, yarrow/chamomile, cannabis

harvest processing of nettles:
drying- drying nettles is probably what most people will end up doing as you can do so much with it, there are a few ways you can let it dry, one is just lay it out in the sun, two would be a shed with good ventilation( possibly hanging) and the last which i do sometimes is leave it in the bag i harvest in( usually canvas to breathe) but ive used plastic many times. Then leave it in a warm shady slightly sunny spot for a week or so.

crushing- i usually do this in a thick very large plastic bag, dump all the dried material in, close it up or hold the top open end, and step on it....put a piece of plywood on it and walk on that, use your imagination. For small amounts you can use a blender or food processor to get the fine stuff ( which works great as a soil amendment or for liquid fpes, as it has high surface area in a powder)

storing- i usually store nettles in a 5 gallon plastic bucket with lid, or in big baggies. I keep my activator nettles in a glass jar as with the rest of the ingredients. Nettles keep for a long time when dried, ive had nettles at least a year old that i used to grow some amazing tomatoes. As long as it doesn't get wet and is sealed pretty well it will last some time. If your lazy you can just keep it in a garbage bag in a dry warm place. This is what i recommend for most people. If you grow enough in one go you can store enough for a whole years worth or at lest until more are done growing.

Comfrey



common names: Comfrey,Boneset, knitbone, bruisewort, black wort, salsify, ass ear, wall wort, slippery root, gum plant, healing herb, consound, or knit back.

scientific name: Symphytum officinale

uses: compost, compost activator, liquid fertilizer, foliar spray, mulch/green manure, soil building, fpe, soil amendment, plant extract, compost teas, dried roots, companion planting, animal food,

nutrients: excellent source of potassium (2 to 3 times more than farmyard manure), full of minerals, nitrogen, phosphorus, high potash feed, Protein, Vitamin C and A, Vitamin B12, B Complex Vitamins, Mucilaginous fibre, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Sulphur, Copper, Zinc, Selenium, Germanium

difficulty to grow: easy. See when to plant and germination.

Perrenial or annual: Perrenial

invasive or not: oh yea! If you let it to seed you're are fu%$ed! you want to grow the bocking 14 variety, the seeds are sterile and can only be propagated by root cuttings or you trying to pull it out of the ground. much like a dandelion.

when to harvest: In the first season of a newly established plant cut once in June to prevent flowering and allow the plant to grow and die back so as to build up reserves. Then cut plants before flowering in April when about 2ft high. Don't cut later than September to allow the plant to recover food reserves before Winter dormancy. As plants become strong they will be ready for cutting every 4 or 5 weeks giving 3 to 5 cuts per season.

soil conditions: Damp, often shady localities but likes sunny spots too, in meadows, woods etc, especially near streams and rivers. It takes all the N it needs from the soil, so yea, feed extra N to the comfrey patch, to make the soil and the plants happy. It doesn't like shallow chalky soils! Patch near compost would be ideal.

when to plant: Division succeeds at almost any time of the year. Simply use a spade to chop off the top 7cm of root just below the soil level. The original root will regrow and you will have a number of root tops, each of which will make a new plant. These can either be potted up or planted out straight into their permanent positions.

germination: Success will be around 20% in 8-9 days. Keep the soil moist and warm. Sow spring or autumn in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

harvesting: Cut it 2 inch above the surface, so it can grow back again without any problems. It'll grow back very very fast! Now you can dry it, use it in compost, to make some fpe or to make some plain comfrey extract without help of water (liquid fertilizer when diluted, strong stuff). When harvesting don't play with the leaves to much if you would like to dry them, because they will start to rot fast when "hurt". The best method for drying is to hang them with the help of a string or smth. or lay out on a flat dry surface.

info:comfrey is an amazing plant, it gives so much really. this deep rooted forager. mines its roots deep into the soil and subsoil bringing up things lost in the topsoil where most plants roots are. it is a VERY hardy plant. it grows extremely fast, it makes excellent flowering fertilizer, its provides a living mulch once established ( we grow them with out fruit trees here and they love it) bulk compost material, its great medicine for you, the list goes on. if you want to grow comfrey in a confined space, meaning you dont want it to grow wild and do its thing. you will want to be buying the bocking 14 variety of comfrey. not only does the plant not produce viable seed, it has a higher nutrient content too. and propagating by root division is just too easy. this plant is tested to help cells reproduce and divide better. it can be used as a stand alone flower fertilizer if need bet

what to do with it:
- compost: comfrey is a good plant for composting, as it produces a bulk amount of leaf.

- plant extract:chop up the plant material and stuff a container ( bucket, 2 liter bottle with the bottom cut off ) then add some weight on top, the material will start to decompose and compress, a dark thick liquid will collect at the bottom for you to drain out. this can be diluted and applied. very high in potassium.

- liquid soak: add chopped plant material to a bucket with water. let soak for a few weeks. strain out material, store it or dilute it and use it. 1:20 - 1:30

- soil amendment - dry leaf and crush to a powder. amend into the soil at about 3 teaspoons per gallon of soil or simply top dress mixed with some compost.

Yarrow



common name:Yarrow

other names: Milfoil, Old Man's Pepper, Soldier's Woundwort, Knight's Milfoil, Thousand Weed, Nose Bleed, Carpenter's Weed, Bloodwort, Staunchweed

scientific name: Achillea millefolium

uses:compost activator, compost, fpe, soil amendment, foliar spray, soil building, plant meal, vermicomposting

nutrients:Iron, Lime, Potash, Soda, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Nitrates

The primary chemical constituents of Yarrow include essential oil (proazulene, borneol, camphor, cineole, eugenol, linalool, pinene, sabinene, thujone), isovalerianic acid, achillein, formic acid, salicylic acid, polyacetylenes, asparagin, sterols, glycoalkaloid (achhilleine), flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin, rutin, quercitin), coumarins and tannins

difficulty to grow: easy, drought tolerant

Perrenial or annual: perrenial given it doesnt dry out to death

invasive or not:medium.... It self seeds if you leave the flower stalks to dry and mature, it is sometimes called invasive when grown in fields. But if you use yarrow a lot like i do. It wont be a problem with all the harvesting. and it looks beautiful.

when to harvest:when leaves are big and green, the flower stalks after they start to loose color( given your variety has some, true wild yarrow is white)

soil conditions:well drained poor soil, this one thrives on low nutrients, too much can mess it up. it only needs a good amount of water to grow at its best. If your soil is too thick, add sand. it will get bigger its second and third year for bigger harvests.

when to plant:spring or fall. Or indoors i suppose all year around.

propagation: medium

germination:2 weeks @ temps 65-75 or you can do a root division, pretty much uproot the plant cut it in half down the middle and plant the two. Fresh seed requires a period of after-ripening. Seed germination increases after a period of dry-storage. Germination is greater in the light and in alternating temperatures. Chilling and high nitrate levels promote germination in the dark. Seedlings require an open site in which to become established. Seedlings emerge from January to October but the main period of emergence is from March to April.

Sowing depth: Surface Sow

harvesting:harvest the plant a little at a time, they will keep growing and sprouting new leaves, try not to harvest too much at once off the same plant, it wont hurt it but wont guarantee it wont stunt the growth and keep it at full health. With 5 plants you can harvest more than enough for growing personal stash. they get bigger over time too so thats a plus. its really easy to just have a lot of plants. they look great so having lots of them is not a problem really.

personal infoh yarrow, oh yarrow........this is one of my other favorite plants, not only does it look good, but it does a good job. Yarrow is one of those "beneficial" plants, i cant say 100% why(yet), but i still love seeing it everytime im hiking in the wild, it makes me more excited than any other plant( except cannabis). In composting this is one of my major workhorses along with nettles. The two match together like a pair of lovers. One thing i like about yarrow is its ability to improve the soil and stimulate life, either from the chopped leaves simply amended to the soil, the fermented plant extracts, or the secretions the plant roots make( its said to increase essential oils in neighboring plants, and ive come to a close conclusion it is true). A handful of chopped leaves to the wormbin will make them happy. yarrow is considered to be an indicator of loam soil in nature, ive seen it grow elsewhere, but it grows in fields with decent loose soil.


what to do with it:

there are a few things you can do with yarrow.

----the best use of yarrow for ME is in the "quick return compost activator" as its called. You can google it and read it if you like. For this is one of the main ingredients to get that pile cookin FAST with all the beneficial microbes. you will dry slowly and crush into a powder, keep stored in a cool dry place. You only need a tiny bit when added with other herbs like nettles, dandelion when making the activator........... This in turn helps give you free top quality compost faster, the most valuable of all things free in the garden. some say activators are BS in composting, and most are. but this one when done right produces amazing results.

---- fermented plant extract, basically its a mixture of lacto bacillus culture, yarrow, water and small amounts of sugar( ive been testing with pure honey and get good results) and i mean small, one drop per pint is what i have been using uses. This lets the microbes on and in the leaf to multiply as well as make some nutrients soluble, you dilute and apply to your plants. use these withing 2-3 days. dont let it sit like the liquid soak. it should smell very nice and floral/sweet. dilute about 1:50-1:100 and apply.

---- infusion: take a small pot with a lid on the stove, fill it with 2-3 cups water, add some chopped yarrow leaf( about 10 fresh leaves, and a tablespoon maybe a little less of dried powder, and flowers if there is any. Put on low heat( do not boil like crazy!!!!) let simmer for 10 minutes..... Strain( and toss the scraps in the compost pile ) dilute....start with 1:20 and work your way stronger from there, some plants/strains like it more than others and of course little but often is better and apply to plants

----liquid soak, take water in a bucket, fill with yarrow, let sit few weeks, strain material out and dilute 1:20 at least, 1:30-1:50 for starters and apply.( this stinks kinda) you can store the strained liquid for at least 3 months.

----soil amendment, take fresh leaves and older leaves, and some flower stalks. Chop up as fine as possible with a knife or some kitchen slicer. Mix into soil( keep in mind i dont measure anything) and let sit in soil covered for a few weeks to a month. Then plant.

you can either use dried or fresh plant with this. Fresh need to sit longer of course but either can be used just make sure its in small pieces which = more surface area = faster decomposition.

----foliar spray, take the liquid soak, or infusion, or fpe. Dilute to 1:30-1:50 or more( remember less is more and little but often with foliar sprays) then spray on. Fpe would be best as it has the lacto b. In it as well, just as long as you didnt go overboard with the sugars, molasses and such on leaves is not good imo unless very very dilute.

Chamomile



Family: Asteraceae

Genus: Matricaria

Species: chamomilla

latin name: Matricaria recutita, Chamomilla recutita

Common Names: Chamomile, German chamomile, Amerale, Babunnej, Bayboon, Camomile, Chamomile, Kami-Ture, Manzanilla Dulce, Manzanilla, Papatya

Part Used: Whole herb, flowers

useslant extract, fpe, foliar spray, light soil drench, worms, companion plant, soil builder, living mulch, compost tea

nutrients:Minerals
Calcium 2 mg
Iron 0.08 mg
Magnesium 1 mg
Potassium 9 mg
Sodium 1 mg
Zinc 0.04 mg
Copper 0.015 mg
Manganese 0.044 mg

plant chemicals:Alpha-bisabolol, Choline, Eo, Galacturonic-acid, Glucose, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic -acid, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic-acid, 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic-acid, 3-carene, 3- hydroxy -2-methylidene-butyric-acid-angelate, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-be nzoic-acid, 4-methoxybenzoic-acid, 6-3-dimethoxyquercetin, 6,7-dimethoxyquercetin, 6-hydroxy-luteolin-7-glucoside, 6-methoxykaempferol, Alpha-bisabololoxide-a, Alpha-bisabololoxide-b, Alpha-bisabololoxide-c, Alpha-bisaboloneoxide-a, Alpha- muurolene, Ap igenin Glucosides, Ascorbic-acid, Axillarin, Azulene, Betacaryo-phyllene, Beta-damascenone, Bisabolene, Borneol, Bornyl-acetate, Caffeic-acid, Calamene, Capric-acid, Caprylic-acid, Caryophyllenepoxide, Catechin-tannins, Chamazulene, Chamomilla-esters, Chamomillol, Chlorogenic-acid, Chrysoeriol, Chrysoeriol-7-glucoside, Chrysosplenol, Chrysosplentin, Cis-caryophyllene, Cis-en-yn-dicycloether, Epsilon-1-(2,6-dimethylphenyl) -2-buten-1-one, Ethyl- benzoate, Ethyl-decanoate, Ethyl-palmitate, Ethyl-phenyl acetate, Eupaletin, Farnesene, Farnesol, Furfural, Galactose, Gallic-acid-tannin, Gentisic-acid, Geraniol, Herniarin, Hyperoside, Isoferulic-acid, Isorhamnetin, Isorhamnetin -7-glucoside, Jaceidin, Kaempferol, Linoleic-acid, Luteolin, Luteolin glucosides , Matricarin, Matricin, Niacin, O-coumaric-acid, P-coumaric-acid, Palmitic-acid, Patuletin, Pectic-acid, Perillyl-alcohol, Polyacetylene, Quercetagetin-3,5, 6,7, 3',4'-hexamethylether, Quercetagetin-3,6,7,3',4'-pentamethylether, Querce-tagetin, tetrameth ylether, Quercetin, Quercetin-3-galactoside, Quercetin -7-glucoside, Quercetrin, Quercimeritrin, Rhamnose, Rutin, Salicylic-acid, Sinapic-acid, Spathulenol, Spinacetin, Tannin, Thiamin, Thujone, Trans-alpha- farnesene, Trans-en-yn-dicycloether, Triaconta ne, Umbelliferone, Xanthoxylin, Xylose

difficulty to grow:easy

Perrenial or annual: annual

invasive or notossible

soil conditions:varied
when to plant: direct sow seeds in spring

info:chamomile is an interesting plant, There is a lot going on in those little white blooms, even more than I know. If there's one thing I know though, chamomile is friends with almost any other plant. Its almost like nettles in that aspect. To me it acts like a catalyst, it makes other things better. the soil, the biology, the plant itself.

Depending on where you live it might be a native plant, or just a plant thats growing wild. there are a lot of look alikes so be careful and ID properly. Because once you do this plant is not only good for your plants, its good for you. If you are worried just go buy some seeds and start your own patch, on ebay you can get 1400 seeds for 2$. more than enough to get you started with a 10x10 patch or bigger. they self seed year after year with proper management on your part, either leave a few plants to go to seed evenly for next year, or just cut flower heads always leaving a few on each plant and also selectivly cut leaves as well( or take a whole side branch)

germination:8-10 days.

planting: you want to just toss the seed out on prepared soil, do not cover them! they need light to germinate and you will get a much better success rate. you can mix with some fine sand to help disperse them more evenly. keep moist.

harvesting:as mentioned above. harvest all leaving a few plants to seed next year, or cut individual pieces off selected plants for continual fresh harvest, one good thing about chamomile is it doesnt have to be really concentrated, so you dont need that much at a time. if you are in areas where there is cold winters, at the end of the season harvest most the plants, you can leave a few to let seeds mature and spread them yourself for next year, or save them indoors for taking to a new area.

what to do with it:
plant extract: soak a small amount of leaves and flowers in a liter of water. you dont need add a lot to get chamomiles effects, 3 tablespoons is enough for a liter of water
foliar spray:take plant extract and dilute well, foliar spray plants in early season when its still moist outside or spray seedlings. also does well as a mid flower foliar spray.
light soil drench:soil drench with plant extract or FPE. you dont need much, this works well as a mid flower drench along with an application of ACT.
worms:dry flowers and leaves, crush to a powder and feed to worms.
companion plant: grow chamomile under or around your plants( not too sure on its effects indoors maybe someone wants to try it)
soil builder:chamomile is one of the soil building plants i use, wherever i find healthy old chamomile patches in nature its growing in fertile soil.
living mulch: grow as living mulch under fruit trees and big outdoor cannabis plants. will keep the soil shaded and will help with evaporation loss.
compost tea

Lucerne (alfalfa)

These 2 photos are of barrel medic a very close relation to lucerne. The main difference being lucerne has purple flowers. The leaf shape is the same.

common name:Alfalfa,Buffalo herb,Purple medic, lucerne

I buy mine from the animal feed store at the moment. Its sold as horse feed.

scientific name:Medicago Sativa

uses:soil amendment, compost material, liquid fert, fpe, soil building, nitrogen fixing, cover crop, compost tea, mulch, soil restoration

nutrients:
* Triacontanol (growth stimulant)
* Vitamin A (high concentration)
* Thiamine
* Riboflavin
* Pantothenic Acid
* Niacin
* Pyridoxine
* Choline
* Bentaine
* Folic Acid
* co-enzymes
* Crude proteins (16 - 25% in dry alfalfa)

Amino acids (% in alfalfa meal).

* Tryptophan
* Aspartic Acid
* Threonine
* Serine
* Glutamic Acid
* Proline
* Glycine
* Alanine
* Cystine
* Valine
* Methionine
* Isoleucine
* Leucine
* Tyrosine
* Phenylalanine
* Histidine
* Lysine
* Arginine

Minerals (contained in dry alfalfa)

* Nitrogen 3.75-5.5 %
* Potassium .75 - 3.5 %
* Phosphorus .3 - .7%
* Calcium 1 - 2 %
* Magnesium .30 - 1 %
* Sulphur .2 - .5 %
* Manganese 30-200 ppm
* Iron 20-250 ppm
* Boron 20-80 ppm
* Copper 5-20 ppm
* Zinc 20-70 ppm

difficulty to grow: moderate, not too good in cold. otherwise its pretty easy for anyone familiar with gardening.

Perrenial or annual:Alfalfa is a Cool season perennial legume that goes dormant in the Winter. If you sow it in Spring (or Fall) it will grow for several seasons if you let it.

invasive or not:not

when to harvest:you could harvest sprouts( and eat them too), wait till they are mid age or right when they flower for highest nutrients.

soil conditions: does best in mineral rich, well drained soil. but will tolerate other conditions


when to plant:spring-summer- fall outdoors, all year indoors.

info:alfalfa is a great plant, one reason is its available everywhere, and its cheap, and it works awesome. Alfalfa is one of the more commonly known plants that are used as a fertilizer. You can get it at most animal feed stores for very cheap, its 12$ for 50lb bag here. Given how you use it that could last well over a year specially if you use it with your own homegrown nutes as well as along with your free compost and others. As some people know there is a secret ingredient in alfalfa, its Triacontanol, and from my notes ive collected we have this explanation. "Triacontanol is a straight-chained alcohol that has growth stimulant properties..." "Triacontanol has had good results as a bating-agent, when added to soil and most of all: as a foliar spray. For a long time it was unknown what caused the growth-improving effect of triacontanol. The latest researches suggest that triacontanol directly activates the genes that control photosynthesis. These genes in turn activate the enzymes controlling the chemistry of photosynthesis." take into account the amount of N available at the same time and you get great veg growth and overall plant health. I like to use this along with nettles in veg. Alfalfa is a great plant to grow, for you outdoor growers can be benefiting from so much. Alfalfa roots go deep, sometimes 20ft deep. This breaks up any hard spots and or hard layers, in the mean time they are fixing nitrogen into the soil with the help of micro organisms. come harvest time when the roots die and decompose after you chop they create air pathways in the soil, highways for worms, and easy pathways for your next crops roots to get use of all the nice new aerated nitrogen rich soil. So when that is happening you will be either composting the top greens, drying some for use for months to come, or making liquid extract to use when the nitrogen fixed is used by your monster plant. I would suggest to always save some for drying, you can use the dried leaf as a soil amendment, compost tea, liquid extract, compost, mulch.


what to do with it:

----soil building: grow alfalfa in your soil( best to be in ground) you can apply a nitrogen fixing bacteria innoculant if you want. So now over the season on your soil(remember this is a crop rotation system sort of, so it takes more land than just growing a single crop alone. And gets rotated every year) the bacteria and plants will fix nitrogen into the soil ( take it from the air, and put it in the soil) as well as shooting roots deep aerating your soil and making it lighter and not as compact. When the plants are beggining to flower you might want to let them flower for a little bit, as it will bring native bees and wasps and beneficial insects such as hoverflies. over time plants like alfalfa will bring some fertility to your soil if starting from scratch.

-----soil amendment: so now the growth of alfalfa is over, its going to go into making seed soon, now is the time you want to chop chop. If your going to make a soil amendment you will want to dry it first, try not to just lay it in the harsh sun and roast it. I like to leave it in the spotted shade/sun of under a tree. Im pretty sure you could also hang dry it upside down like a herb plant if you wanted. Just do what works best for you. Now that its dry, smash it to a plant meal( small particles like kelp meal). Then take that and make sure its dry, then put in storage. To use just mix into the soil at about a tablespoon per gallon slightly less for those touchy sativas. dont use on seedlings or clones.

-----compost: after you first harvest, and the plants are fresh. This is the best time to make compost with alfalfa. Its still got all the juices inside the leaf. Get your materials ready and start as usual. And watch the heat rise!

-----liquid extract:this is going to be your quick fix with alfalfa, you take all the nutrients ( well most to be technical) all the water soluble nutrients i should say. So you would do basically the same thing as nettles, yarrow and dandelion. Take a bucket, add alfalfa, let sit( the longer it sits and the more you add the stronger it will be you CAN burn plants with alfalfa so dont think you cant) strain add the wet stuff to the compost, dilute the liquid, dilute it more for the longer it has sat. Say 1 cup per gallon that sat a week or so, i dilute 1:10-1:20. But i dont measure.

caution: the longer it sits, the stronger the smell. It can get bad. But once applied and watered in its fine, and it will not hurt your plants if it smells.

------cover crop: this is the old school way, the way most people know alfalf is used. Grow alfalfa, when it gets about a little over a foot tall. Mulch it into the soil( roto tiller works, but goes against the no till rules, but will still work your not going to kill all the microbes lol thats impossible) then cover with mulch or some finished compost. if your soil is very highly active, you can plant within a few days but you must have extremely fertile soil. otherwise most should wait at least a few weeks.

----foliar spray: take some of the liquid extract, dilute a lot about 1:100 or more. Foliars work best when in very very very dilute amounts. So dilute sometimes you would think its pointless.

where to get it: of course this beats growing your own ferts, BUT......you can buy this at most all animal feed stores. I was recently passing by the animal feed store for other supplies and checked it out, they it was a 50lb bag, and it cost 9$. Enough to last a long time. But this kind of defeats the purpose of growing your own ferts. But for those that cant it is an option.


Dandelion



common name: dandelion

Plant Family: Asteraceae

scientific name:Taraxacum officinale

uses:compost, compost activator, fpe, soil amendment, soil builder, liquid soak, dried root, flowers

nutrients:Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Potassium and Manganese

difficulty to grow:very easy, pretty much grows itself

Perrenial or annualerrenial

invasive or not:invasive but can be easily kept in check

when to harvest: when green leaves are big enough for your taste, they get bigger as the plant gets older, mine are about a year or so old and i get 15 inch long 2 inch wide leaves on the big ones.

soil conditionsretty much anything, they like disturbed blank soil though.

when to plant: anytime really as long as its not freezing cold.

personal info:

this plant has a funny place being in this thread, most people consider this plant a horrible weed. They see the yellow flowers in the lawn and you can literally watch their face get red , but to those that are in the know. Dandelions are a great plant. Actually a wonderful plant! For those with hard solid compacted soil, this one soil builder for you. The roots go deep! Very deep.... And in turn bring up depleted minerals and other things from the subsoil. Now see this is where most see that as a problem. The plant will keep growing back from the roots when you cut it and growing back....now if you think of that the other way around and turn it into the positive, and know the uses of dandelion as a source of nutrients. It keeps growing back and growing back......Get my point? after some time dig and collect as much of the root as you can for drying and some use which i will get into later. It will probly grow back, but only a few times more when you take the bulk of the root. eventually you will exhaust the nutrients to the part that is deep underground. by then though you should have other plants reaching maturity and some in all stages of growth. anything That is left and it will break down creating a nice pathway for earthworms and soil aeration.

one thing you will have to do it when the plant goes to flower you will have to pick them off when they pop up for two reasons.
1. To keep them from seeding your whole area and overtaking you. It might be a little work, but think of the work you would have if they kept seeding for a couple of years and the end result is hundreds of dandelions to take care of? Thats too much work for me haha. If you keep it to a small patch and manage it you will be fine. Just like with most invasive plants. the flowers are also very beneficial in many ways. so you actually want to collect them
2. When you pick the flowers the plant wants to grow more, grow more = more and bigger leaves = more free nutrients.

another benefit for dandelion is you can eat the leaves and flowers. And its good for you too the leaves taste good in salads( some not used to eating wild plants might find it a bit bitter, for those people its best to cook them or make tea). If your growing for nutrients AND food. Keep them in a nice clean area and don't splash with mud/dirt.

how to harvest dandelions...you are going to only want to take healthy large mature plants. chop all the leaves at the base of them. leave the little nub to grow back more dandelions for later harvesting. after some time you will want to move to another plant or few plants or a new patch depending on how much you harvest each time. this gives them time to recover and give you nice vigorous growth when you get back to them. pick the flowers just before they open. his is when they have the most energy being put in them by the plant. to harvest the root only do so on the oldest plants, there roots will be much worth the effort rather than the tiny young ones. dig as deep as you can collect it without working yourself too hard. it helps here if there growing in loose topsoil.

what to do with it after you have harvested. There is a number of things you can do with the leaves can be used either fresh or dried. Fresh you can compost them if your patch is big enough. You can make an infusion ( like making tea on the stove, the tea you drink not compost tea) you can make a liquid soak. If you want to dry them, i would lay them in an even layer in a warm place with lots of ventilation. Or under a tree just out of the sun. When dried it can be crushed into a powder and amended to the soil, used in the quick return compost activator, added to worm bins or to make the liquid extracts.

 

[gr0wm3]

Must add to this, have you ever heard of Jasmonic acid ? It is available within different sage bushes........ and could be made into a brew that will most definately improve trichome production ..... as we know trichomes/resin is a defence mechanism for the deterence of bugs/critters and to also encourage birds/bee's to spread pollen .... it is concentrated in artemisia tridentate and there must be an easy way to brew it to massively increase resin concentration on the plant, what do you reckon mate ? Jasmonates control resin production / increases threat resistance of bugs etc ....... Could be errr advantageous, jasmonic acid has been in a few additives over the years and there has been considerable noticeable changes in resin production with the implementation of jasmonic acid applications...... just a thought, what do you think silversurfer..

peace n pot,

 

[gr0wm3]

growm3, yes the garden soil hadn't grown anything but wattles after it was originally cleared. figured humates did it. didn't know about the kelp.

I was at that other site for a while. sense a better ambience here. not as much paranoia, I think.

hippie new year all!

Happy new year to you to brother, yeah, the ambience, exactly the word i was looking for to describe the finer qualities of icmag They actually quite cheeringly refer to this place as "icfag" ... its all about the $$$ for them .... the "crew membership" ..... nice meeting you here......... Silversurfer, have bookmarked this thread bro, will come in handy undoubtedly !!!!! anyway,


all the best, keep it green

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Cheers mate.

The jasmonic acid i have heard mentioned around these parts before. Not sure how we could concentrate it but... i like to use as much diversity as possible so that i can bring as much to the table as i can. I bet a nice ferment with em1 and sage leaves/flowers would be good to try in flower.

Sage is certainly a wonderfully useful plant. I like to drink a herbal tea with 2 parts lemonbalm and 1 part sage leaf. Its very tasty and refreshing in the heat of summer.

icfag... lol

 

[wilbur]

Here's a bit of light reading for you wilbur.

http://bingo.clarus.com.au/public/static/MN115_web.pdf

thanks HC ... but my browser won't let me into this site. says 'invalid security certificate' ... suggests the site may be masquerading as another site ...

so is this a cannabis site or ... ?

 

[High Country]

thanks HC ... but my browser won't let me into this site. says 'invalid security certificate' ... suggests the site may be masquerading as another site ...

so is this a cannabis site or ... ?

No...it's a 132 page document produced by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research in co-operation with the CSIRO and Dept. of Primary Industries, Victoria.