The New & Improved [ROLS MEGATHREAD].

[BlueJayWay]

Jubiare - You've obviously done your research and are coming to the same conclusion that I would - I haven't found another company manufacturing fulvic acid @ the level & with the quality of raw material that bioAg uses - IOW if fulpower was not an option I would not be using another fulvic acid at all.

I would take advantage of the discount you mentioned and order a couple gallons!

Greetings to you all!
I've been doing some catch up between the old thread and this one, I have been recycling for a year though. I always get a best plant out of other ok ones.. I am patiently (!#÷π√!) learning I suppose?

Anyway, I am trying to get some good advice on liquid fulvic acid, do you guys use such a product as ful-power (as suggested by CC)?
The problem is sourcing ful-power in EU. They do have a EU distributor, but if you compare the us rrp of 1q bottle $19.95 to the EU version €29.95 + €13 shipping... That's a ducking joke right!? (That's equivalent to $56.12!!!)
The UE distributor said, a discount only if spending over $100 + free shipping, so if anyone in the UK is up for a group buy? Moderator, is that all right? Sorry if it's not.

Alternatives:

As for what CC let us intend
Fulvic from Leonardite is a joke
Any chemical heated extraction process is also an inferior product
The natural cold fermentation process that bioag employs is prob the best and maybe the only worth it?

The closest I found is dry flower liquid gold no leonardite yes fermentation process... But when I asked if that was a chemical free no high temps job the answer was: - sorry that's proprietary-

What the duck!

I do incorporate humates and are easily sourced in UK, that seems a legit product from viresco.

Guys, should I just not bother with the fulvic?
or any alternative product?

Thanks!

 

[YosemiteSam]

"Would even adding 1tbs of elemental sulfur per gal cause a problem?"

this soil I'm in is 3-4 runs old and sulfur def. I used dusting wettable sulfur for roses... instead of Epsom Salts... and the interveinal chlorosis on my growth tips cleared right up... without any other issues that I can see... Sulfur is used as a fungicide though... and w/o a scope I don't know if it has totally wiped out my hyphae...

It is not easy to keep S in these types of organic mixes (ones that get Ca from worm poop vs liming). If you are watering to runoff SO4 will tie up with things like Mg and flush them both out of the mix.

SO4 is also important for the conversion of N to protein in the plant and for the formation of secondary metabolites.

It might be worth getting some gypsum in that mix before the next run.

Spray those leaves with some aloe now, it will help a fungal population re establish itself.

 

[Coba]

YosemiteSam,
thanks for sharing your mineral knowledge man, anyone who used to mix their own nutes from pure salts should know a little something something.

I have a new mineral mix I just made... 2 cups of each of...
10:1 limestone, gypsum, calcium bentonite, montmorillonite, greensand, soft rock phosphate, and granite dust.
I was going to add GGGRD but I can't find a mineral analysis on the stuff and I don't need to order anything I already have. ( hopefully I'm just looking in the wrong place for the lab analysis of Gaia Green, if anybody has a link, please feel free to post it)
I'm going to be adding this to my soil before the next adventure, that's a must. I just wonder what my alternative solution could have been... half a run deep and sulfur deficient...

 

[YosemiteSam]

I will be 100% organic outside this year And then next fall I will be setting up another house and reusing that soil indoors.

The conversion is underway...I promise. I will still use soil tests (cause I am anal that way) and adjust to Albrecht ratios...but it should be close to what you guys are doing. My main goal will be building true humus levels...gonna see if I can match the Luebkes.

 

[Gascanastan]

...gonna see if I can match the Luebkes.

A worthy goal...I'll be curious to see what you come up with.

 

[YosemiteSam]

That is the true measure of sustainable soil....humus...right?

 

[jubiare]

BJW, thanks for that.
No ful-power no party than
Eheh

Guys..... You rock!
Standing ovation for you all and this gold thread(s)

 

[Gascanastan]

That is the true measure of sustainable soil....humus...right?

I would say it's what the life forms that utilize the soil combined with that ever popular humic containing material where it starts to get interesting. I care for the several species of insect that populate my soil like pets...when one specie drops out of sight I get nervous.

 

[c-ray]

YosemiteSam,
thanks for sharing your mineral knowledge man, anyone who used to mix their own nutes from pure salts should know a little something something.

I have a new mineral mix I just made... 2 cups of each of...
10:1 limestone, gypsum, calcium bentonite, montmorillonite, greensand, soft rock phosphate, and granite dust.
I was going to add GGGRD but I can't find a mineral analysis on the stuff and I don't need to order anything I already have. ( hopefully I'm just looking in the wrong place for the lab analysis of Gaia Green, if anybody has a link, please feel free to post it)
I'm going to be adding this to my soil before the next adventure, that's a must. I just wonder what my alternative solution could have been... half a run deep and sulfur deficient...

gaia green used to have a complete elemental analysis on their website for the glacial rock dust back in 2004-2005.. one can find some numbers in the washington fertilizer database.. there is significant amounts of aluminum in it and more iron than calcium.. too much iron to be of any use for me..

 

[xmobotx]

well; the general idea w/ living soil is that the 'life' in the soil balances things out and it doesnt so much matter if there's extra iron or something

maybe if it was a huge spike? but this region where i live is strong for agriculture and theres a lot of iron here

i like the idea of getting 'close' to albrecht ratios and even possibly testing soil when there is a problem but; when amending a custom mix you kind of automatically get close w/o having to reeally balance {esp w/ plant-based amendments} but people have had success w/ glacier dust

i havent used it because it isnt readily available here & that is another point of focus for living soil gardeners ~local supply

maybe azomite is handy {its nut balance isnt perfect either} maybe its glacier dust or maybe you need to hit a quarry for some basalt dust or a stone finisher for granite or maybe you should look around outside and see what might be laying on the ground in your region

but the important component is the 'living' part and not some specific balance of nuts

you cant amend your way to a living soil

 

[Old_Headbanger]

Here's my first go at making crustacean shell meal from a couple lobster shells and a bunch of shrimp shells. Only got 4 cups worth, but didn't take too long. I'll save all my shells from now on. Easy to dry outside, bugs and critters clean the rest out for you pretty quick.

 

[c-ray]

the mineral ratios in azomite are far more useful than the gaia green rock dust / plus the azomite has lots of silica.. if I had access to both I would not even bother with the gggrd..

 

[M.A.W]

the mineral ratios in azomite are far more useful than the gaia green rock dust / plus the azomite has lots of silica.. if I had access to both I would not even bother with the gggrd..

I to like azomite over gaia......

I went/am using a 50/50 of azomite and planters trace II (its newly available to me..)

P.T.II is 14% silicon, 5% calcium, 5% sulfur and 28 other traces minerals...

Worth a mention/look for people searching for minerals...

 

[xmobotx]

what i m saying is none of that shit has the 'perfect ratio' and it doesnt seem to bother mother nature too much

 

[Coba]

I would use them both if I had a couple of bags... for the diversity.

speaking of insects... I got up close and personal with my buckets last night, while I was watering... like, magnifying glass and led flashlight close. I was so surprised I had so many life forms occupying the surface of my soil (diverse life forms too, springtails, mites, beetles, pill bugs, centipedes, etc.) ... It was a cool moment for me... a year or so ago, I would have had lost my nerve big time seeing all those bugs in my buckets... I did scour the plants looking for signs of pest damage though I had none... not one bite mark, it was a pretty cool moment indeed.

one of these days I'm going to bring my laptop in there and try to ID the bugs...

 

[bajangreen]

This shit was too funny not to shear, hope it gives you as much a laugh as it did me.

 

[vonforne]

I have been using GGGRD and Azomite together for sometime. I like the diversity it provides but I do this with all of the ingredients in my soil mixes.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Not to be a dick but out of true curiosity...what does diversity of a mineral actually provide. I mean Fe is Fe is Fe...no?

I get diversity of protein sources, or even things that bring different anions with them or hormones/enzymes/etc (like kelp or even alfalfa).

But when you are dealing with rock minerals why does it matter? Why not use the one that provides the mineral profile we know to be best for the plant/microbes?

Does anyone buy into the microbes can transmute elements school of thought?

 

[c-ray]

what i m saying is none of that shit has the 'perfect ratio' and it doesnt seem to bother mother nature too much

but the ratios in azomite are actually quite useful in most soils, probably since azomite is from an ancient ocean and oceans tend to have balanced (useful) mineral ratios / just the way it works..

imo gggrd would make a great amendment for soils lower in iron, since it has so much (5%).. personally I use a spreadsheet to figure out a quantity of each amendment to add when making compost, so I can keep the mineral ratios within the range that has worked well for me.. so the minerals are in a ratio relative to each other.. ie 8 parts iron to 4 parts manganese to 2 parts zinc to 1 part copper, 10 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus, 7-10 parts calcium to 1 part magnesium, 1 part phosphorus to 1 part potassium, and so on and so forth..

 

[c-ray]

Not to be a dick but out of true curiosity...what does diversity of a mineral actually provide. I mean Fe is Fe is Fe...no?

it provides a diversity of mineral compounds, which is particularly important with calcium since there are thousands of different calcium compounds..

I get diversity of protein sources, or even things that bring different anions with them or hormones/enzymes/etc (like kelp or even alfalfa).

But when you are dealing with rock minerals why does it matter? Why not use the one that provides the mineral profile we know to be best for the plant/microbes?

Does anyone buy into the microbes can transmute elements school of thought?

suppose they can (transmute elements) would not their energy be better used not having to?

is it also possible that these random rock dusts are replete with paramagnetic energy, which might make them far more valuable than their numbers?