Organic Fanatics - Australia

[wilbur]

sorry to have shocked you High Country! thank goodness I haven't mentioned what I do with the poo out of my composting toilet ...
but if you pee in a container, that containerful can be watered down and applied like any liquid fert. works good too! look at the site ...

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

I like using my piss for compost teas and just straight on the compost pile.

Indoors it does start to smell like a dirty pub toilet

 

[wilbur]

VOM … I 've dug a coupla new grow plots to fork depth and applied Gypsum. These are 'dryland' plots, so at present I 'm waiting for enuf rain to wash-in the gypsum before digging-in rotten hay and goat shit mix as you have previously suggested.

I have it in mind to also add Dolomite, Soft Rock Phosphate, Natural Rock Potash, Humates, a few pellets of Katek Supergrow, a sprinkle of Sugar, and a light dress of Urea before mulching.
(The sugar is in lieu of molasses tea because I can't get bulk liquids to the sites … and the urea is a 'starter' for the fresh mix.)

What I need to know is how much rotten hay/goat shit mix should be dug-in per square meter? Does half a potato sack per square meter sound right?

All contributions welcome!

 

[Guest50138]

Its good to hear someone use a good old fashioned measure like a potato sack yes what your suggested is about what I would be throwing on ,I would throw it on as mulch and dig it in once it looks like it has rotted down a bit. your EcoSanRes link was quite interesting, potash and phophate supplies are what is going to bring is to the brink ,nothing short of a total rethink of the way we do things is going to bring around the changes we as a global society are going to have to make..the throwaway consumer society is going to bite us on our collective arse's, its a funny world we live in when peeps are happy to water and feed their plant with HGR and all sorts of shit and get freaked out about using a bit of piss as fertilizer ...end rant. Happy Trails fellow shoveller's

 

[wilbur]

thanks VOM re yr advice. and... you echo my sentiments re consumerism exactly.
it seems to me the shortage of potash and phosphates is a pressing issue (there is plenty of unmined potash in afghanistan!) but the issue is rarely talked about. at the same time there is hysteria about petrochemical shortages.
the conclusion must be that people feel connected to their conveniences ... 'Hell! there's no fuel to drive to Maccas!' ... but never think about the REAL source of their food.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Yes the peak phosphorous problem i had heard about. Does seem like the perfect reason to move the entire agricultural industry towards a more natural approach!

The really ridiculous thing about the use of superphosphate etc is that the amount absorbed by the plant is only a small % and the rest is wasted and kills the microherd and benificial fungi. Its a really small % uptake and goes down rapidly over time.

I plan on getting my P from chicken poo and pig poo. Would like to get my hands on some soft rock phosphate but never seen it down my way.

Theres plenty of oil for fuel but really we need to move to alternatives for transportation. For instance someone has invented a solar power cell that runs at 90% efficiency compared to 20% currently... this opens up all kinds of new and exciting technologies... thats if TPTB let this one out. This kind of thing most often leads to car accidents etc

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/solar-power-nantennan-research-eletricity-power,news-11217.html

 

[wilbur]

soft rock phosphate from Nutri-Tech, Silver. perhaps they have a distributor your way. distributors listed on n/t's site I think.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Thanks Wilbur i will check it out.

Aussie member High Country has shown just how simple cloning can be with his cloning in dirt experiment. Looking like 100% strike rate with cuttings straight into soil. Good to know

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=214596

O yeah and those Hiko trays are the bomb!

 

[High Country]

Thanks for the plug SilverSurfer, I'm kind of getting sick of hydro. It's a 2 hour drive to the nearest shop however all organic supplies I can get locally.

40 ORGANIC CLONES, NO CHEMICALS

 

[AfroSheep]

Organic <3, one day ill get round to doing an organic grow.

 

[wilbur]

temperate/sub-tropical growers q re COMPOST

temperate/sub-tropical growers q re COMPOST

One of my pics shows what remains of 180 bales of good quality hay after being record-rained-on over summer.
I pulled out the baling twine and when shovelling into a heap noticed that some bales seemed to have turned into soil (is this Humus?) and mycellum “roots” could be seen tracing their way here and there thru the mess. I understand mycellum indicate nitrogen fixing activity.

However, there were also soggy wet clumps that had not rotted altho the stems of hay in them had become very fragile. I understand this clumpy wetness to be the result of ANaerobic decomposition and I broke up the clumps and made sure they were piled in contact with humus-y stuff. Now, am I right in thinking that letting air in when I broke up the clumps will stop ANaerobic decomp and allow Aerobic decomp to begin?

My central question re this pile is: will making the pile higher (rather than long) accelerate decomposition? I have gallons of chook poo juice mixed with human piss that I will water on and I will add dolomite.

The second pic is of layers of goat shit and rotted hay. The ratio is 1 goatshit : 1 ½ rotted hay. Dolomite has been added. Is this pile too small to compost properly?

Because my grow will be reliant on late spring and summer rainfall it is likely I will not plant the bed until late September. Enuf time, d'ya recon?

And do you guys have to water yr compost piles often ?

Thanks in advance … cheers ...

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

According to my compost book it is better to make long heaps rather than high ones. It needs to be a minimum of 1m cubed.

The smartest way is to make the pile at the top of a hill and then steadily work it downhill as you turn it over. Not always possible but.

The thing is once you have rotted hay etc its hot composting ability decreases. You will need to add a lot of fresh grass clippings or fresh horse manure to get the N levels back up. Your chicken poo/urine mix will help. I would also add some diluted mollasses. Its real cheap from animal feed stores.

Its looking good and should be ready by september if you work it. Also adding compost accelerating plants such as yarrow or comfrey will speed things up. A liitle goes a long way.

For bad smells in your heap make a batch of lacto b serum with rice water and milk. Its real simple. Just make a batch and spray. https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=96325

 

[johnnybsmokin]

Hey all
Got a quick question on raising the Ph of my soil in my pots. Iv'e just gone and bought a Ph prob as some of my latest plants are looking very "ordinary" and found the reading to be 5.8 in the pots that are 6-8 weeks into flower.
Now my fresh soil and plants in veg are at about 7.0, but I need to get the Ph up and want to do it organically if possible.
Any sugestions with out killing the "micro herd" and maintaining the organics of it all??
Not sure why the Ph is falling as this is the first time Iv'e noticed problems in the latter stages of flowering. Up untill now Iv'e had no problems.
A quick run down on my mix:
I use about equal amounts of perlite, coir, finely sifted home made compost and worm castings. To that I add some blood and bone, a small amount of sulphate of potash, some dynamic lifter and lime.
Watering consists of alternating WMC teas with mollasis and then a mix of seasole and powerfeed with a a couple of mls of "monstabud" and a couple of drops of "superthrive". I also am adding a couple of times in the flowering cycle some PK 13/15 from "proganics".
Any thoughts??
Cheers Johnny

 

[bonsai]

Weird to have low ph, not enough lime?

 

[wilbur]

seems I recall vinegar will acidify and builders lime (tablespoon to ten litres ... go gently gently) will sweeten.
must say you seem to be putting a lot of nutes on. has your soil got added nutes too?

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Any soil mix will gradually acidify. 5.8 is perfect for soiless or a LC's#1 mix based around coir and perlite. If you already near the end i would just chill on the ferts. You want your leaves to yellow as they use up the stored N and enter senesance (dying). Too much left in your plant and it will take much longer to cure and taste harsh and chemmy... not what we are after!

The best way i have found to adjust ph up is either Seasol or a silica additive. Both of these are alkaline. Also bio-char comes out around the 8.5 mark.

You really dont want to be using drastic measures indoors or in pots like builders lime... outdoors in a bed maybe but yeah go easy as Wilbur says.

I bet that medium as it is (@5.8) could go another run with new plants and no extra ferts no worries... well maybe a small amount of N might be needed once the coco is hungry.

 

[Guest50138]

.johnnybsmokin I would say your problem was the power feed..were they looking deficient when you feed them?

 

[johnnybsmokin]

Hey all, thanks for the replies.

1 plant has got a week to go but that has been showing some die back of the small bud leaves now for a week or so now. I origanally thought it might have been an under water issue, ( I let them go a day or so to long and had some bad wilting happening a couple of weeks ago) and that is when the browning started. The next 2 still have 5 weeks to go so for these 2 I am a little worried about the Ph levels. The other 2 which are only 3 weeks into flower are still ok at this stage.

So whats the suggestion to raise it up?? a little lime on top and watered through?? or just continue with the seasole?? (when I use the seasole and powerfeed I am only using about 4mls per litre of water).

Thanks again in advance guys

Cheers Johnny

Edit: I should mention that I use rain water every time and this time of the year only "water" every 5 days

 

[Guest50138]

M8 that powerfeed is pretty strong and if you use it on a mix that already has plenty of N it causes all sorts of problems..if it were me I would water only at this stage...we need to discuss potting mix's ...I'll be back

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Before taking drastic action make sure its ph related. I never use a ph meter now but its good practice when trying new products. So really ph isnt such a big deal unless in hydroponics... unless using way too much lime etc

Manutec make a great ph tester for soil. The one you have is junk if its the one im thinking of and used to own. I bet it reads 5.8 if you stick it up your arse

How wet is your medium?