Organic Fanatics - Australia

[craw_coma]

Gday folks
New member here from country vic, fairly new grower and my first post - gotta say, Great Thread!!!
Is fantastic to hear of Aussie products rather than OS gear and all so simply explained. Im sure Ill be coming back to this thread time and time again for info to help my canna and other growing.

Thanks for sharing folks

 

[Sat X RB]

did you hear Nutri Tech is in the poo with the organic certifiers?

seems BENZENE was found in two of their products (Fulvic Acid and "NutriCare") and they denied it for a while. but now someone has blown the whistle ...

 

[b00m]

Gday folks
New member here from country vic, fairly new grower and my first post - gotta say, Great Thread!!!
Is fantastic to hear of Aussie products rather than OS gear and all so simply explained. Im sure Ill be coming back to this thread time and time again for info to help my canna and other growing.
Thanks for sharing folks

Welcome to ICMag craw_coma

did you hear Nutri Tech is in the poo with the organic certifiers?
seems BENZENE was found in two of their products (Fulvic Acid and "NutriCare") and they denied it for a while. but now someone has blown the whistle ...

Thanks for sharing that tidbit of info Sat
Glad someone is testing out the products that are supposed to be Organic

 

[Sat X RB]

Thanks for sharing that tidbit of info Sat
Glad someone is testing out the products that are supposed to be Organic
[/quote]

no outside agency tested the products.

whistleblowers stated their analysis of chinese imported products which contained benzene was ignored by nutri-tech!

nutri-tech said the w/blowers are disgruntled ex-employees (isn't THAT a conservative reaction!) but will conduct their own in-house analysis. (presumably by employees who are NOT disgruntled.)

IMO the attitudes exhibited here by nutri-tech are NOT those of an organisation containing high ethical sensibilities.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

High guys. Didnt realise we had some activity here, been busy chopping wood and fixing stuff around and on my house. Also amalgamated my 2 compost heaps into one and mixed in a 25kg bag of lucerne horse feed and 20kg canola meal (lots of awesome nitrogen and ytace elements, minerals and growth hormones... Hopefully this will reactivate the mix a bit and get the larger bits of twigs, cotton and hay fully composted in time for spring planting.

Nothing from the shops and many bags of differing "compost" (some is more like woody soil) compare to the quality of a well made compost heap.

Seedlings started for this seasons grow. New moon now is a great time to think about getting a head start on spring

Nice pics guys. The waterfall and cave look real good spots.

I watched the 7.30 report about Nutritech. Bit of a worry. Hopefully it encourages a bit more openness about ingredients etc. But yeah benzene doesnt sound good. I really like their kelp amd fulvic acid powder. But the stuff with the benzene was a liquid so i reckon be a different batch/source. They should get all their products independently tested and display the results. Not doing so may well wreck their reputation... best to wait until the dust settles i reckon before i order from them again.

 

[Sat X RB]

the organic certifiers are auditing Nutri-Tech at present. are analysing stock held by farmers and distributors australia wide ... as well as the main Nutri-tech facility at Yandina.

Silver ... I too have nothing bought in my present manure piles (not game to call them compost piles in case they don't!) ... was wondering how you estimate how much dolomite to add to a compost pile to help it do it's thing?

that's right isn't it? lime or dolomite assists composting?

cheers all!

 

[Sat X RB]

good morning

I have a ute load of fresh almost dry cow shit coming on the weekend to mix with my soil.

what ratio of shit to soil do you think is appropriate?

cheers!

PS anyone care to reply to my question re dolomite above?

 

[Terroir]

sat

I am no where near an expert on this but making my own mix is my favourite thing.

Your cow shit while dry is still fresh (taken from your post)

Left to compost for the season it should be ph 6.5 when mixed next year. It will do its thing, turn it over ever month or so to let it breathe. As for the mix i have no idea however less is more. No point on burning your babies when a tea or additional ferts can be applied.
I dont use soil in my mix. Sheep poo, chicken poo, worm cast, perlite, straw, sand, cow poo. I like to use zeolite as an aditiive kelp meal and guano. A drink of epsom salts and wait. My patch is recycled. ONly adding more manure and guano and zeo. The straw was for aeration and to cook down when the mix was first made. The sand provides the drainage now, i had a bit of perlite lying around so in it went. MY beds are 9 foot long x 3 foot 2.5 high. i left it to cook for 5 months turning every 2 weeks and it really cooked. I then planted sea of green tomatos in it to suck some n out of it. PLanted 24 seeds mid jan and reaped a bountiful harvest in may. 16 females. Havent grown a crop in it for a few years but it keeps pumping out veges. Cant wait for the next time i can grow a crop in it. Missus aint to cool on the whole pounds of ganga drying in the living room or growing outside the kitchen windows.

 

[_Ina_]

Sat X RB:i,m not sure for the proportion when the cow poo is not dry because i use poo from the previous year and older. In my case i tried even half poo,half other thing/soil and even to grow only in cow poo. my grandma says if it is fresh it can "burn" the plants so i suppose u must leave it to dry or use small . Last time i used cow manure i put something like 1/3 manure/soil. but i,m still new in the organic growing so lets see other opinions. By the way these trees on the pics were amazing,never seen something like that

 

[Sat X RB]

Sat X RB:i,m not sure for the proportion when the cow poo is not dry because i use poo from the previous year and older. In my case i tried even half poo,half other thing/soil and even to grow only in cow poo. my grandma says if it is fresh it can "burn" the plants so i suppose u must leave it to dry or use small . Last time i used cow manure i put something like 1/3 manure/soil. but i,m still new in the organic growing so lets see other opinions. By the way these trees on the pics were amazing,never seen something like that

I have two months to brew this lovely ORGANIC stuff into my version of 'compost'. I 'll mix some dolomite with it as I take it off the ute (small truck, Ina) and leave it for a while then mix it with my turkeys nest about 30%.
this is for a pot mix. for in ground I 'll just dig in about the same percentage.
I 'll put a small amount of chook poo in as well for immediate N to help the rot-down.

but yeah. the best idea is to let the manure rot for a longer period.

glad you liked the tree, Ina. I had never seen one so big before.
what a GOOD day THAT was! wandering in the rainforest while a local indigenous man explained the uses of plants! not a paid 'tour' either. just a local man who thought I was ok for a white guy.
am returning in September. he has promised to take me to another 'dreaming'.

oh SO magic ...

Peace, Peace, thanks ...

 

[b00m]

I'm picking up a few bags of horse manure this weekend for the garden and my OD soil mix for this spring and will be doing my best to crank out the dank down under

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

High guys.

Horse poo is best hot composted. This is because weed seeds pass right through their digestive systems intact. Its great stuff and i have used it fresh in layers of sheet mulch for growing potatoes along with hay and cardboard for the bottom layer. Because the potato is a very heavy feeder this is no worries

I am actually going to do a patch of potatoes and marijuana. They will make good companions i reckon.

Dolomite or any lime is not recommended for composting. This is because the microbes that work in a healthy compost need a relatively acidic environment. Other kinds of rock dust are good and wont keep the ph too high.

Dolomite is best added in the winter and given time to work its way into the soil. Then its good for 3 years.

Marijuana is an acid loving plant... dont forget the basics folks

 

[b00m]

Heya Surfer good to see you mate, thought you might be frozen solid down there bruz

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yeah shes a bit cold down here but its the rain that keeps me from doing stuff outdoors. And theres been plenty rain. Good for all the trees and stuff but not good for digging soil or gorwing much. Having said that there's still kale, rocket, parsley, rosemary and a few other things doing well.

Hey also the cow poo can be used quite liberally as its not super high in nitrogen. If its for marijuana i would mix it 50/50 or something like that i guess but it all depends on the quality of your soil to begin with. I like to use a mix of 1/3 cow poo (composted, from the store) 1/3 perlite and 1/3 coco coir for seed raising and pots in general.

Outdoors i know a mix of 50/50 river sand and cow poo is a great soil mix for raised beds.

Spring is right around the corner folks for us southerners.

 

[Sat X RB]

thanks Silver!

brought the poo home today. you should see the worms!

tnx for re dolomite, too.

my very first crop was 50/50 dry horseshit and sharp sand in 20 litre pots. made a very good consistency medium. but dunno how nutritious because I fed heaps with thrive.

in those days thrive was new and couldn't get flowering thrive. but damn, here I go telling stories about the old days ...

Old Fart Cheers!

 

[_Ina_]

Guys,i have some sand made from shells from the beach. It is not tiny shell parts but bigger parts. Can i use it somehow in my soil mix? i mean instead of sand/perlite or along with? or it is not good for anything?

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Shells are excellent and are good source of calcium. If they are crab or lobster it is made of chitin which is even better!

You could maybe smash them up into smaller bits by putting them in a strong bag and using a brick on concrete etc to smash/grind/pound them.

Just remember if it is oyster shell etc it will be like adding limestone, so it will be alkaline. Also be aware of possible salt content and give em a good wash...

 

[_Ina_]

Thank u very much! i knew i could use that "sand" for somethingI was carrying this for 500km in my car May be there is small parts of crabs in it,mostly shells. OK,so i will add a little in the soil to try them. chitin,the same like in the bugs cover,right?i have much bugs in the bat guano so i suppose it has chitin too. I will remember about the crabs, i think we do not have lobsters here in Black sea.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yes bug's exoskeleton is 100% chitin and that guano will be awesome stuff!

How do yer plants like it?

 

[_Ina_]

The guano is one of my better fertz for now,always work. i can say that because every time i use it in the last stages of flowering there is always a boom of new pistils and the flowering begins a little more. i,m trying to use different fertz every time. now i,m trying to replace that palm tree ashes with some ashes i make. That was good fertilizer but too expensive for me here so i,m burning some small wood parts from those trees that always grow near rivers...i,m not sure about their English name but i hurt their ashes will do.It is a little bit hard for me to make something with more P and specially K in it,hard to find. Most of the manures are rich in N i think. Any ideas for something else that i can use for flowering?