Organic Fanatics - Australia

[Sat X RB]

just to bump the thread along thought I 'd show everyone the kind of rot I 've experienced this year.

neemed ... but the areas already affected continued to brown.

strange thing ... there are two pots side by side ... branches of plants in one pot touch the other. BUT only the plants in one pot have mould.

this tells me the affected plants susceptibility to mould is soil-based ... because my soil brew was too fresh when I planted in it.

anyway that's my theory ... and I 'm sticking to it.

cheers all!

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yup its a daily battle down here with the botrytis. Interesting on the soil. But it makes sense as a well conditioned and "living" soil will have more beneficial microbes and fungi and also perhaps more silica available. High silica in the plant stems/leaves etc also gives the mould less surface area to infect whilst actually increasing the cell walls thickness which makes it harder for sucking insect pests to get in their feeding parts...

This in turn makes less damaged areas for mould spores to get in.

I dont use a ph meter anymore noyd. This is the organic fanatic thread mate, i only ph my soil mix before it goes into my pots/beds and thats it!

What brand of coco you in?

 

[noyd666]

Yup its a daily battle down here with the botrytis. Interesting on the soil. But it makes sense as a well conditioned and "living" soil will have more beneficial microbes and fungi and also perhaps more silica available. High silica in the plant stems/leaves etc also gives the mould less surface area to infect whilst actually increasing the cell walls thickness which makes it harder for sucking insect pests to get in their feeding parts...

This in turn makes less damaged areas for mould spores to get in.

I dont use a ph meter anymore noyd. This is the organic fanatic thread mate, i only ph my soil mix before it goes into my pots/beds and thats it!

What brand of coco you in?

sorry mate, the other lot of young ones were in organic mix, but seem to be recovering.

 

[ozzieAI]

I dont use a ph meter anymore noyd. This is the organic fanatic thread mate, i only ph my soil mix before it goes into my pots/beds and thats it!

good to see, as i rarely use my meter at all these days...plants have never looked better...

 

[Sat X RB]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=41238&pictureid=1039389View Image View Image hi i culled these out, any idea's what it could be?

just a mo' everyone!

I 'd like to know what's wrong with Noyd's plant from the point of view of the experienced cannabis growers who visit this thread?

I first thought it was mould started in droplets of liquid remaining on the leaf.

but looking again, besides the spots I wonder why the seedling is yellow, not green?

I think the spots ARE marks from moisture droplets and they are there because somehow this seedling is locked out from its nutrition and lacks vigour.

to my mind the most likely cause is pH wrong or faulty nutes.

Everyone, is that logical?

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Perhaps. Hard to know for sure without more info.

But i bet the root system is almost non existent...

 

[noyd666]

Perhaps. Hard to know for sure without more info.

But i bet the root system is almost non existent...

they have bounced back, fixed ph and stronger feed, all ok root system was quite good, lil bit starved was old food nutes but not opened ????? happy easter.

 

[Sat X RB]

Building Soil in Layers

Building Soil in Layers

I need to know AT WHAT STAGE I should add Dolomite to the following:

I 'm making a garden bed using Turkeys Nest (T/N) as a base. the amount of material is too large to pre-mix, either by hand or with a cement mixer, so I 'm building up the bed in layers ... in the following way:

first 150mm T/N, then Char, then chook poo and sheep shit ... then a second layer of T/N and manure, and so on until I reach required depth. probably three layers ...

the manure is on top of the Char to nitrogenate it ... correct?

but where do I fit the Dolomite for best results? under the char/manure? OVER the char/manure? ON TOP of the finished bed?

cheers all ... hope the Sun's shining wherever you are ... !

 

[Rumblefish]

Sat I would just dust it over the top..Dunno why its just how I would do it Just finished
revitalizing my beds to give them plenty off time to break down and get the worms active:

 

[Sat X RB]

Thanks Rumbles (may I call you Rumbles?) for yr input. yes there's plenty of time for the worms to grow 'til late spring.

yr photo shows interesting sun angles. lotsa sun in that spot in summer I bet.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

I would go with some quality gypsum instead of dolomite.

Mostly because the biochar is going to be alkaline and act as a liming agent. The chicken poo is also quite high ph.

How soon you planning on planting out your bed?

 

[Sat X RB]

thanks Silver.

now, it was on my short list to pH the pile of char and ash before I apply it because I know ash is alkaline. and yes, I recall reading that chook poo can be limey. also the pH of the Turkeys Nest is only one point below optimum.

and it would be disastrous if the pH of the bed was too high overall.

but I 'm wondering about sufficient Mg if I leave out Dolomite? what options might I have?

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Its a bit of a myth that we need dolomite for magnesium.

There is plenty mg in the poo and compost. Plants also accumulate plenty that can be utilised. Quality molasses and EWC are on my list. Also comfrey, kelp and dandelion among others are dynamic accumulators of magnesium.

http://oregonbd.org/Class/accum.htm

 

[Sat X RB]

OK, sounds reasonable ...

forgot to say won't be using the bed til November so that should allow things to settle/cool down. (have a pumpkin planted in a pile of char and ash ... took a LONG time til N became available ... and pumkins don't need a lot of it either.)

what do you say about ... rather than using limey chook poo for N ... using 'blackwater' instead?
blackwater is human piss and other liquids that have drained from my composting toilet. as you may well imagine it is POTENT! it makes plants go dark green.
doing this is very experimental as I cannot find info on dilution etc. I guess because everyones situation is different. (I mean like, I piss perfume but I 'll bet you don't!)

I don't want this garden to be high maintenance ... like giving teas at regular intervals. would like to plant it and leave it ...

thanks for yr input! (PS must spread some reputation around before giving it to Silver again.)

 

[Rumblefish]

Sat when it comes to diluting home brews for the garden I dilute it so its about what you expect a cup of tea to look like..Low maintenance garden beds are the way to go Iv'e been doing all my prep work over winter lots of compost,dynamic lifter and top dressed with with a trailer load of horse shit also I dig in Bokashi Compost as well..last year my garden was teaming with worms when I planted out and by the end of the season the worms were all but gone and the soil looked quite depleted ..just as you want it.These plants weren't given anything after they were planted just water and mulched with lucerne hay

 

[noyd666]

Lucerne hay is the best mulch I ever used, plenty nitrogen, plants just jump out of ground.
real bastard when your hay carting though, bloody heavy.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Blackwater?! I wouldnt use that on anything i was smoking or eating. I would use humanure after its composted for at least a year (if i HAD too).

I use my own fresh urine sometimes as an N boost but only in veg and only outdoors...also good for possum repellent.

Stick to plant sources and homemade compost/EWC with the occasional SST and compost tea and you cant go wrong. Especially if your base mix contains biochar.

Nice plants Rumblefish!

 

[pisspotgrower]

Cheers guys for all the valuable info on this thread, heading outdoor to do a run this year m this is just what i needed for my plots...

Cheeers guys n grow big

 

[Sat X RB]

Silver: yes, urine in veg, not later.

but Mate, I 'm going to give it a go because I reckon those "dark" rich soils found by the Portuguese when they captured the Mayans (Incas, Toltecs ... um?) didn't get dark just because of charcoal.

and historically the gathering of nightsoil for farming was a thriving business in large cities all over the World. seem to recall "Farmers for Forty Centuries" focusing on this. and China's population is probably BECAUSE of human poo.

and (as I go red in the face and splutter with Purple-Rhino-fuelled righteous indignation) why should poo out of a chickens bum be better than poo out of MY almost organic no hormones-at-all bum! answer me that, Young Feller!

 

[Sat X RB]

Rumbles: thanks for tip on Dilution. and worms.

My stuff is sorta like the Teas you and Silver have spoken about before because I put all my troublesome weeds and fly-effected fruit in it too. used neat it would be too strong. bet it's very acid.

I 'll work it out, I reckon. and it's months 'til planting.