Wildharvesting natural materials

[jaykush]

the horsetail is best dried well and ground to a powder for soil use.

if you go back collecting yarrow, find another patch. its not wise to harvest from the same patch over and over again. no even if it seems there is "enough" for the plants to self propagate again. plus while your on the search for more, chances youll find some other goodies.

 

[gOurd^jr.]

Sounds good, thanks jay. and in <10 minutes too! any good techniques for grinding lots of powder?

I'll be sure to hit a different patch next time, in fact I went to a different one today than last time already, and sure enough I found a ton of horsetail. When I pick the flowers I also leave a cluster or two on each plant to remain for seed. and I didn't even come close to hitting every plant...

 

[jaykush]

perfect gOurd. you will be rewarded with years of free organic materials for proper harvesting.

for grinding lots of powder, let the plants dry really well. then you can strip the leaves and flowers off of the stems( use the stems as mulch) into a big thick trashbag or on a tarp. close or cover and hit it with a stick or walk on them. i usually just walk on them slowly. there is no need to get a very fine powder also. generally crushed is good enough.

 

[gOurd^jr.]

I wonder if you might be able to lend any insight to a good regimen for feeding the yarrow jaykush? I have collected some dandelions earlier in the year and am going out for some more red clover blossoms today, but by far the most abundant (and still blooming) here is yarrow. I know you always reccomend it highly but caution that it is strong and to use carefully. I have been feeding with the FPE for the last couple cycles. Only yarrow this cycle though last I gave them some dandelions and clovers blooms. Guano was a bigger staple last time and I have been using it only a little so far this round. I have some plants that are clearly wanting more food and I would like to give them more yarrow vs. more guano if it will work well. they are right in main budding ~4-5wks and building up nicely but the leaves are sending a strong message for more food, esp P...
From what I've seen on the bio-accumulator and a look at Dr. Duke's it seems the flower FPE may be hefty on K and lighter on P? does that seem to fit your exp? The yarrow stats don't really list the flowers, though the clover does specify flowers. any reccomendations for getting some more P or would you just dose more yarrow? I have not been able to locate any comfrey, and only very small bits of chamomile, not enough to harvest. but perhaps there are other good flowers i may have around? tons of mullein and I might dry some leaves to powder into the soil bins but do you use the flowers at all?... I have loads of EWC in the bins too and they do seem to like a topdress under the blumat dripper about any time...but it only last for a day or two with the ladies eating like they are in 7&10gal felt pots.

Thanks a million for all the advice you dole out EVERY DAY helping countless growers garden cheaper, healthier, more sustainably and better. If you think there's a better thread for this just move'r on over...

 

[DARC MIND]

yarrow flowers rock,

i find P is best amended to soil as rock dust or fed to soil as organic matter(mulch,casting slurry or act) & yarrow flowers give pretty tasty yeilds(yrw fed maters & yeska above)
may i ask what message is in the leaves that is telling u they want P?

 

[gOurd^jr.]

Well as the plants are getting into full swing flowering they have been dropping too many leaves too quickly, getting pale/yellow as they brown and crisp from ends back to the petiole. Some show the slight purple streaking as well, but mostly the browning and crisping from the tips. This progresses from the bottom of the branch towards the top.
Last time they started dropping like this sooner (wk3 or so) the flowers were not developing much either. A bit of EWC helped briefly but I feel certain I waited too long to give them some more food since it just got worse until I finally did give them food(Guano mostly,0-12-1 and EWC) they responded instantly with rapid budding. and the leaves slowed their senescence considerably. This time I have been feeding them sooner, and less guano more yarrow juice, and the buds are much better looking than last time at this stage, much bigger and more developed, plus still shooting out fresh pistils (I did topdress each plant a Tbsp. or so of guano the other day) The plants and leaves look better too(a couple sativa's are just peachy) but the plants that show the most signs and first signs(known heavier feeding Indicas) are still steadily eating up leaves, and also showing some spotty patterns that resemble K def. and also some semblance of micro-defs. like Molybdenum, Manganes, Calcium from the sick plants guide. It says Moly. is often deficient when P is deficieint... This looks pretty much the same as previous runs that responded great to increased P.
sound on track to you?
what would you do?
not trying to turn this thread into the infirmary or anything...
Thanks for the reply though DARCMIND!

 

[RanchoDeluxe]

Bump

 

[John Deere]

Thanks, RD. Hadn't seen this one. Just read it and grabbed a couple new bookmarks to study more later.