The Green Manure thread

[JackTheGrower]

It's Monday night September 10th 8:22 pm.

It ws a fun weekend. I trust you had a fun one as well.

As for the alfalfa ? Well they are sprouting.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Heres a pic of my wee plot. The alfalfa and fenugreek i planted are on their way.

Pic of a random spider web i found in my garden too...

 

[JackTheGrower]

Heres a pic of my wee plot. The alfalfa and fenugreek i planted are on their way.

Way cool!

keep posting!
Can you get some close ups?


All the sprouts are green now here. I had forgot to turn the light on when the were sprouting.

 

[jaykush]

damn im behind, must go buy some alfalfa seeds now lol. i got some comfrey roots on the way though and going to buy yarrow seeds asap.

 

[Tirs]

I just read through this thread, very well put together. How big are you intending letting these get this time?

 

[JackTheGrower]

It's 12:05 AM Wednsday september 12th.

there are a lot of sprouts.

I'm hoping a majority find their way down into the soil. Some, I think, will be reaching down from within a "raised forest" of sprouts.

 

[JackTheGrower]

damn im behind, must go buy some alfalfa seeds now lol. i got some comfrey roots on the way though and going to buy yarrow seeds asap.

Hey I want to read all about comfrey.

The alfalfa sprouts super fast!

What was the benefit of yarrow?

 

[JackTheGrower]

I just read through this thread, very well put together. How big are you intending letting these get this time?

Thanks for the feedback. I'm happy you like the thread.

How big? I assume as much as two 40 watt flo-tubes can grow them.

Truthfully I don't know. My goal is to do better than my first try.

Have you grown alfalfa in a planter bed?

 

[quadracer]

Hey I want to read all about comfrey.

The alfalfa sprouts super fast!

What was the benefit of yarrow?

I just picked up a yarrow plant yesterday!! Here is some info:

Yarrow makes a good activator, and is very nutritious. Yarrow contains Iron, Lime, Potash, Soda, Phosphorus, Sulphur, and Nitrates.

Yarrow is considered an especially useful companion plant, not only repelling some bad insects while attracting good, predatory ones, but also improving soil quality. It attracts predatory wasps, which drink the nectar and then use insect pests as food for their larvae. Similarly, it attracts ladybugs and hoverflies. Its leaves are thought to be good fertilizer, and a beneficial addative for compost.

It is also considered directly beneficial to other plants, improving the health of sick plants when grown near them.

Also, yarrow will increase essential oils and potency in herbs and spices. Place it near mint, basil, or any other herbs in your garden.

 

[jaykush]

hey jack, theres a few reasons i want yarrow. one its part of the compost activator ive been working on. another it taste pretty good for a nice snack while i was up in the mountains in northern California (stuff grows everywhere up there) its a great liquid feed, they bring beneficial insects around to keep pests such as aphids, mites and a few other buggers out of the area. and a few other benefits i cant think of right now.

quadracer where did you get yours, all ive been able to find locally is seeds and they take some time to grow i read.

and the comfrey is just good stuff, good for veg, good for flower, good for compost, good to munch on taste pretty good and really healthy for you.

at least im ahead on something and have a few thousand nettle seeds for next spring!

 

[JackTheGrower]

I just picked up a yarrow plant yesterday!! Here is some info:

Yarrow makes a good activator, and is very nutritious. Yarrow contains Iron, Lime, Potash, Soda, Phosphorus, Sulphur, and Nitrates.



Also, yarrow will increase essential oils and potency in herbs and spices. Place it near mint, basil, or any other herbs in your garden.

I was ready and wanting to ask if we need to add sulphur..

Sound good.. looking forward to how you all do.

 

[JackTheGrower]

It's 5 pm september 12th.

It's a carpet of green again!

Not bad...

I'm thinking I'll need to add some liquids with these many plants.









Temps are in the low steady zone so all is holding and well

 

[JackTheGrower]

Today is Friday September 14, 2007 12:49 PM

The alfalfa is much like I've experienced in sprouting alfalfa for salads.

It has a strong flavor (I’ve sampled a couple of sprouts)

They are several inches long already and I'm concerned that some of the crowded patched of sprouts are not getting their roots down but, I won't know unless I dig a patch up.

Not going to happen.

I'll be digging around the shed today if I find any last seasons liquids I'll feed them something...

A little nitrogen maybe? We will see. I haven't ordered any materials for this season yet to come so whatever is left is all I have...

Might brew some cowboy coffee or even make a fresh batch of liquid alfalfa. I still have two bags in the fridge.

 

[JackTheGrower]

It's Tuesday September 18th

I haven't fed the alfalfa anything and it's slowly developing.

One note here is keep the seeding on the light side. Too many sprouts can cause none of the sprouts to dig into the dirt as they all push their way up in one big heap towards the light.
I have a couple patches that seem to have failed to root themselves.

 

[Guest]

Start thinning out some those sprouts. Make yourself a salad. But thin them out some. Give them a chamce to grow.

 

[quadracer]

hey jack, theres a few reasons i want yarrow. one its part of the compost activator ive been working on. another it taste pretty good for a nice snack while i was up in the mountains in northern California (stuff grows everywhere up there) its a great liquid feed, they bring beneficial insects around to keep pests such as aphids, mites and a few other buggers out of the area. and a few other benefits i cant think of right now.

quadracer where did you get yours, all ive been able to find locally is seeds and they take some time to grow i read.

and the comfrey is just good stuff, good for veg, good for flower, good for compost, good to munch on taste pretty good and really healthy for you.

at least im ahead on something and have a few thousand nettle seeds for next spring!

I picked up my yarrow plant locally at a local nursery, and picked up some chamomile seeds for next season. As far as places on the web, there are some cool sites to check out. Also, keep your eye open for it growing. It is native to California, and grows wildly.

Here are some cool sites to check out, they sometimes have cuttings of plants.

http://www.seedsaverexchange.com has some amazing heirloom strains of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. I'm thinking of picking up some borage and hyssop from them, among a ton of vegetables.

I just found this site today, http://www.richters.ca, and apparently they deliver to the U.S. AND they have cuttings of Russian comfrey. I was given regular comfrey, but have been unable to find the Russian variety (aka Bocking 14). They have it, and a bunch of other herbs and plants.

Of course, it is always better to find it locally. If I'm looking for a plant, I'll go to the farmers market and ask around, or to one of the many nurserys.

 

[jaykush]

hey quad racer. your local nursery is kick ass if they have yarrow and chamomile, mine sadly has none. one good thing is i have found a website that has 12,000,000 yarrow seeds (yes 12 million) for 9$. and this is for comfrey
http://www.horizonherbs.com/comfrey-root.html
i know the yarrow is in california but not locally, in norcal i saw insane amounts but none were in seed only early bloom. i have looked and the area is not the best for finding yarrow, i do know of a place but its a few hours away.

ill check that seed exchange site.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

That Yarrow sounds like good stuff... if it increases potency in the essential oils of a plant then awesome!!!

Has anyone planted it alongside weed here?

My patch is coming along nicely.

My camera is broke but new one has already been purchased on ebay so pics soon.

 

[JackTheGrower]

Start thinning out some those sprouts. Make yourself a salad. But thin them out some. Give them a chamce to grow.

Indeed OF..

I am actually installing an MH light. I thought about it and decided I couldn"t judge growth factors correctly with the skimpy 80 watts of flo's

So this second attempt may also be a learning experience.

You see; I had thought "oh this minor cover crop for green manure don't need much light.

My bad...

I think 1k in a 4x4 is over kill but 250 to 500 watts of MH should work.

So thanks Oldfool.. I think this is another learning experience so we will see.

Two 250 watt MH units to install today.

 

[JackTheGrower]

I'm thinking to turn it under again and replant.

I'm positive I've been using too little light and now have a MH installed.

So here is what my soil looks like today.