Team Microbe's Nose Dive into No-till (2nd cycle)

[Former Guest]

Clackamas coots talks about it a lot in the ROLS thread. It's very good quality. I added it to compost tea at 3/4 cup in 4 gallons and my small plants got a little too green. Very nitrogen rich. Little will go a long way. I used it 50/50 with EWC. I'm thinking about ordering a cubic yard for $46 for the veggie garden.

 

[w4tch]

Clackamas coots talks about it a lot in the ROLS thread. It's very good quality. I added it to compost tea at 3/4 cup in 4 gallons and my small plants got a little too green. Very nitrogen rich. Little will go a long way. I used it 50/50 with EWC. I'm thinking about ordering a cubic yard for $46 for the veggie garden.

Too many cost factors to calculate lmao. Thank you so much for the help.

 

[Former Guest]

I would also check out Coast of Maine. Their Vermifire compost and most anything else comes highly recommended by coots for east coasters.

 

[w4tch]

And im an idiot. its 53/3 because i was adding 1 cu ft + 1 cu ft + 1 cu ft so $18 per cu ft plus amendments (if i dont use anything cheaper than BAS compost). Might as well just buy their living soil at that point right? itd save me some work and would be cheaper if i couldnt find anything else besides their compost.

EDIT: AFTER SHIPPING THEIR SOIL IS A RIPOFF

 

[w4tch]

I would also check out Coast of Maine. Their Vermifire compost and most anything else comes highly recommended by coots for east coasters.

Thank you very much. I dont know what I'd do without you lady and Team Microbe!

EDIT: I didnt see Vermifire. I only saw this compost wise: http://www.amazon.com/COAST-OF-MAINE-S1-Compost/dp/B00D8XL4TC

and its $23/cu ft

that'd put me at $18/ cubic foot for the full soil mix (if i used that)

if i use BAS itll be $24/cu ft for the full mix ($40 cu ft for the sifted shit, the oly is still $27/cu ft. plus shipping. At that price id pay 6$ a cu ft to do it the regular way i guess).

I'd rather have the better yield than take a shortcut if there is no other substitute

 

[blackpulpit]

"That trout stream water would be amazing to feed to your girls if you can do that somehow... talk about beneficials!"


Wow thats right never crossed my mind!!!…dam I'm going to fill some containers up tomorrow from the top of the Mountain……gonna try this water for a nutrient tea run??? hummmm.

 

[Team Microbe]

Do it!!

 

[Team Microbe]

And im an idiot. its 53/3 because i was adding 1 cu ft + 1 cu ft + 1 cu ft so $18 per cu ft plus amendments (if i dont use anything cheaper than BAS compost). Might as well just buy their living soil at that point right? itd save me some work and would be cheaper if i couldnt find anything else besides their compost.

EDIT: AFTER SHIPPING THEIR SOIL IS A RIPOFF

Hahaha yeah if you can pick it up it's not bad, but I got a quote for a cubic yard super sack and it was something like $800 for shipping - twice the cost of the soil itself

Building your own soil is the cheapest option IMO, the main thing I pay for is compost since I don't have space to make my own yet. I built my last mix with 2 yr old aged BAS compost and OLY mtn, but the OLY really made it expensive. I found coast of maine lobster compost - that goes for $33 for a cubic foot (free shipping) so it's about the same as the BAS aged compost since that's $22 for 4 gallons worth. The lobster compost is actually a little bit cheaper, but I have yet to use it myself. I've seen youtube videos of product reviews on it though, and it looks really dark and rich so I might use it for my future 25 gallon no-till run.

Does anyone else have any quality compost recommendations that aren't as expensive as say Worm Power or Rocky Mtn Worm Company's humus?

 

[Team Microbe]

living mulch porn

living mulch porn

 

[w4tch]

Hahaha yeah if you can pick it up it's not bad, but I got a quote for a cubic yard super sack and it was something like $800 for shipping - twice the cost of the soil itself

Building your own soil is the cheapest option IMO, the main thing I pay for is compost since I don't have space to make my own yet. I built my last mix with 2 yr old aged BAS compost and OLY mtn, but the OLY really made it expensive. I found coast of maine lobster compost - that goes for $33 for a cubic foot (free shipping) so it's about the same as the BAS aged compost since that's $22 for 4 gallons worth. The lobster compost is actually a little bit cheaper, but I have yet to use it myself. I've seen youtube videos of product reviews on it though, and it looks really dark and rich so I might use it for my future 25 gallon no-till run.

Does anyone else have any quality compost recommendations that aren't as expensive as say Worm Power or Rocky Mtn Worm Company's humus?

1) How often should i feed them coco water outside?

2) In each 50 lb bag of hulls there is about ? cu ft? Just trying to calculate how much I will need. The amendments I'm just gunna buy in bulk and say fuck it.

3)I hope someone knows a substitute. That'd be a life saver. If not its no problem. My next problem is picking the size of the container/ how much dirt per plant and attempting to calculate a yield. Im gunna read through your old guerrilla thread again.
(i think I'm gunna make around 300 gals of soil. After everything including the trunk for my atv, i think it'll run me around 3200 (1700 of this is compost so i a substitute would save some crazy money. :/ hopefully this is a smart investment.

Thanks again Team Microbe!

 

[Team Microbe]

1) How often should i feed them coco water outside?

2) In each 50 lb bag of hulls there is about ? cu ft? Just trying to calculate how much I will need. The amendments I'm just gunna buy in bulk and say fuck it.

3)I hope someone knows a substitute. That'd be a life saver. If not its no problem. My next problem is picking the size of the container/ how much dirt per plant and attempting to calculate a yield. Im gunna read through your old guerrilla thread again.
(i think I'm gunna make around 300 gals of soil. After everything including the trunk for my atv, i think it'll run me around 3200 (1700 of this is compost so i a substitute would save some crazy money. :/ hopefully this is a smart investment.

Thanks again Team Microbe!

1) Every 4th watering is what I do indoors, so something like that would be ideal outside but isn't always economical depending on the operation size. 1 tbsp per 5 gallons adds up over time so I would write out your budget on paper and then dictate how often you can/want to feed the coconut water. I like to feed plant supplements (aloe vera, fulpower, coconut water, seed sprout tea, compost tea, Agsil16H) every other watering, with plain water in between.

2) Not sure actually, I have a 7 cubic foot bale and a 50 lb bag in my garage right now, and the 7 cubic foot bale is 1/3 larger than the 50 lb bale... so I'm guessing the 50 lbers come to about 35-40 gallons? I'll know in the next 2 weeks when I bust it open to mix soil with, remind me when I begin posting about my mix ok? Buying in bulk is the way to go if you can afford the costs up front, I've had some stuff for years and years (like my 5 gallon bucket of alfalfa meal, and my 2 gallon bucket of crab meal). It cuts down costs big time in the long run...

3) 300 gallons of soil is gonna cost you how much?! I'm not sure how much the trunk is but double check and make sure that's not a typo - 300 gallons of quality soil mix should only cost you $900 max. BAS sells kits that you add to a bale of peat moss for $300 (each one makes 82 gallons of soil) so times that by 3 and you've got about 300 gallons give or take. You can find it here
I've been sourcing the rice hulls in bulk, and my compost in bulk from places that deal high quality compost by the yard ($45-$65 a yard) to cut down on soil costs. I'll bag that up at my house in 5 gallon buckets then take them to my sites. I'll also grab the peat moss by the pallet ($7 for 3.8 cu ft) from a local nursery and flirt with the lady behind the counter for a better deal on 30 bales

 

[Former Guest]

I mixed a cubic yard of soil which cost $500. For that price you can have soil delivered that is premix water only $925 cuyd.

Have any of you tried posting Organics For Beginners thread? A lot of the people who answer questions are quite helpful and could probably point you to a place nearby your place. This isn't the first time someone's had to pay a killing for compost.

 

[w4tch]

1) Every 4th watering is what I do indoors, so something like that would be ideal outside but isn't always economical depending on the operation size. 1 tbsp per 5 gallons adds up over time so I would write out your budget on paper and then dictate how often you can/want to feed the coconut water. I like to feed plant supplements (aloe vera, fulpower, coconut water, seed sprout tea, compost tea, Agsil16H) every other watering, with plain water in between.

2) Not sure actually, I have a 7 cubic foot bale and a 50 lb bag in my garage right now, and the 7 cubic foot bale is 1/3 larger than the 50 lb bale... so I'm guessing the 50 lbers come to about 35-40 gallons? I'll know in the next 2 weeks when I bust it open to mix soil with, remind me when I begin posting about my mix ok? Buying in bulk is the way to go if you can afford the costs up front, I've had some stuff for years and years (like my 5 gallon bucket of alfalfa meal, and my 2 gallon bucket of crab meal). It cuts down costs big time in the long run...

3) 300 gallons of soil is gonna cost you how much?! I'm not sure how much the trunk is but double check and make sure that's not a typo - 300 gallons of quality soil mix should only cost you $900 max. BAS sells kits that you add to a bale of peat moss for $300 (each one makes 82 gallons of soil) so times that by 3 and you've got about 300 gallons give or take. You can find it here
I've been sourcing the rice hulls in bulk, and my compost in bulk from places that deal high quality compost by the yard ($45-$65 a yard) to cut down on soil costs. I'll bag that up at my house in 5 gallon buckets then take them to my sites. I'll also grab the peat moss by the pallet ($7 for 3.8 cu ft) from a local nursery and flirt with the lady behind the counter for a better deal on 30 bales

You're so clutch if you just saved me what you think I did. Thank you Team Microbe!

So buy this for kit for $385 (the peat kit is 385, the promix is 300) and goto HD and add 1 bale of pemier peat to it and just mix in the whole kit (3cu ft, why does their list say 2.2 before spag pm, do i only mix 2.2 cu ft in, or (2.2) 3 cu ft bales)?

so 9cu ft aeration/compost/WPP (+clackamas+ 3cu ft peat)= 12 cu ft total for 385+peat + $12 peat (for the kit). So 90 gal for $397.
Thats $1200 for 300 gal of finished soil!
Way better than $1750 just for the compost!! Thanks!

So the kit has(DONT I HAVE TO MIX THESE 1:1:1?):
"4 Cubic Feet of Worm Power Premium Vermicompost
3 Cubic Feet of Organic Par Boiled Rice Hulls (Excellent aeration)
1/2 yard Clackamas Coots Nutrient Kit with Minerals ready to mix into your soil.
Kit for 2.2 Sphagnum Peatmoss Bale Comes with 2 Cubic Feet Extra Pumice."

Question: Is the 1/2 yard Clackamas the additives/amendments i'd put into the soil? Or do I still have to buy those?

Worm power premium would be considered compost right? so there is 6 cu ft of compost (total humus+worms), the amendments?(or do i still have to buy them), and 3 cu ft aeration?

Im just a little confused now because i thought things got mixed 1:1:1. I just wanna make sure I'm making the right calculations. But If thats true you saved me A LOT!

I really hope they did make it so I only have to add 1 bale of peat


Would you get the nute kit if you were doing guerrilla only? I'll buy it if it'll pay for itself in my yields. If not I might just get the coco to water with. Maybe something like

Week1:
Tea

Week 2:
Reg Water

Week 3:
Coco water

Week 4: Regular water
(Repeat)
Would this work?

Thanks buddy

 

[w4tch]

I mixed a cubic yard of soil which cost $500. For that price you can have soil delivered that is premix water only $925 cuyd.

Have any of you tried posting Organics For Beginners thread? A lot of the people who answer questions are quite helpful and could probably point you to a place nearby your place. This isn't the first time someone's had to pay a killing for compost.

Thank you very much Lady! I've been skimming through everywhere a little bit. Its hard to find what I'm looking for since I want proven results. School is in session. Im a nerd. I love learning and I've been catching myself on ICMAG for hours instead of doing my homework . If that kit is the solution I just might go with that (just because its guaranteed good results). But you don't know how much I appreciate your input. I'm gunna need to find a good source of compost in the spring so I can stop paying a buttload for my soil :/.

 

[Granger2]

http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume-conversion.htm use cu ft to gal. Good luck. -granger
1 cu yd=27 cu ft

 

[Lapides]

....

 

[mojave green]

They still mixing soil!

 

[bobblehead]

I think i saw some clover growing a few pages back.

 

[Team Microbe]

You're so clutch if you just saved me what you think I did. Thank you Team Microbe!

So buy this for kit for $385 (the peat kit is 385, the promix is 300) and goto HD and add 1 bale of pemier peat to it and just mix in the whole kit (3cu ft, why does their list say 2.2 before spag pm, do i only mix 2.2 cu ft in, or (2.2) 3 cu ft bales)?

so 9cu ft aeration/compost/WPP (+clackamas+ 3cu ft peat)= 12 cu ft total for 385+peat + $12 peat (for the kit). So 90 gal for $397.
Thats $1200 for 300 gal of finished soil!
Way better than $1750 just for the compost!! Thanks!

So the kit has(DONT I HAVE TO MIX THESE 1:1:1?):
"4 Cubic Feet of Worm Power Premium Vermicompost
3 Cubic Feet of Organic Par Boiled Rice Hulls (Excellent aeration)
1/2 yard Clackamas Coots Nutrient Kit with Minerals ready to mix into your soil.
Kit for 2.2 Sphagnum Peatmoss Bale Comes with 2 Cubic Feet Extra Pumice."

Question: Is the 1/2 yard Clackamas the additives/amendments i'd put into the soil? Or do I still have to buy those?

Worm power premium would be considered compost right? so there is 6 cu ft of compost (total humus+worms), the amendments?(or do i still have to buy them), and 3 cu ft aeration?

Im just a little confused now because i thought things got mixed 1:1:1. I just wanna make sure I'm making the right calculations. But If thats true you saved me A LOT!

I really hope they did make it so I only have to add 1 bale of peat


Would you get the nute kit if you were doing guerrilla only? I'll buy it if it'll pay for itself in my yields. If not I might just get the coco to water with. Maybe something like

Week1:
Tea

Week 2:
Reg Water

Week 3:
Coco water

Week 4: Regular water
(Repeat)
Would this work?

Thanks buddy

Yeah the kit has everything measured out for you to add to a tarp/kiddie pool to mix together yourself, all you need is the bale of peat moss that costs like $10 at Home Depot. It's in a 1:1:1 ratio already, and it's got the amendments as well. It's everything you would need basically. I'm sure you can find it even cheaper somewhere else, you would just have to source things locally. Sometimes you come up empty handed, then other times you hit gold mines and save a ton of money. As for compost - I've found some high quality compost an hour away from me for $80 a yard (200 gallons). I'm going to use that for my outdoor plots because I dig relatively big holes and purchasing bagged compost would simply be insane.

You can easily find quality compost made by a farm or a landscaping business, and then inoculate that soil mix with a higher quality compost like Worm Power or Rocky Mtn Worm Castings. While adding these premium composts to the soil mix can grow healthier plants, the difference in cost isn't anywhere near worth it when you can grow just as nice plants with a few tricks and a compost tea brewer. Things to avoid when looking for compost is inputs like leaves or any ingorganic additives. You wanna be spending at least $45 per yard if it's going to be decent IMO.

That watering regimen would absolutely work. For a rough, outdoor climate that wouldn't be attended on the regular I would add a silica product in there along side the coconut water in week 3, just to keep branches strong enough to withstand the elements. I actually am using the CC kit for all of my holes this year - it will pay for itself and then some too.

90 gallons of mix calls for $55 worth of nutrient kit (considering you buy the XXL kit for a cubic yard's worth). I'm going to go with 45 gallon holes since my budget isn't massive, because I like growing multiple strains for variety over the year pretty much. Since I've made this diagram I've found cheaper rice hulls and cheaper compost, reducing the cost per hole from $50 to $35. Considering each plant grows to reach 1/4-1 pound depending on strain, it's well worth having that complete diet in the soil for them.

 

[Team Microbe]

No weed in here yet?

I switched my room around a bit and rather than repeating a run in the 7 & 10 gallon no-tills I decided to use them to mother future mothers in, and am currently building soil for (10) 25 gallon pots that I'll be flowering in from here on out. A little delay and less than ideal, but I think it'll be worth it for the next run to be bigger and better than the last. I probably should've started the thread when the containers were built, but I didn't make the decision til a few weeks ago so my apologies!