DonBrennons 'Unconventional' organic gardens

DonBrennon

DonBrennon

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
At risk of repeating myself... ah so lovely, your garden :grin:
All that work sure has been worthwhile -- too bad those monos keep acting up!

What week of flower are they at?
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'Grazie mille'...............Exactly week 3 from flip in the photo's and the monos are driving me crazy!!!.................just been thinking about it now and I don't think I've ever had a full tent or room look this healthy before and I had coco with canna nute's nailed down like clockwork on a few strains for long time. It's obvious the homemade compost is the driving force, there's no sign of the thrip returning or any infections or deficiencies, but my 'soil' is loaded with bugs, got shed loads of fruit fly and a few fungus gnat flying around, springtails are abundant and I've got these little shiny black things, I can't identify, that look like miniature beetles with pointy tails. The best bug in there must be my 'Mighty mite' http://www.organiccatalogue.com/Pest-Control-Biological-Control-and-Nematodes/c61_183/p3232/MIGHTY-MITE/product_info.html, they don't go into detail about what they actually are. I've tried 3 different foliage mites, hypoaspis miles and nematode. Non of them really did the trick and were soon untraceable, but these little fella's have stuck around and in good numbers too. I'll take a little vid soon, they're impressive. They mainly stay in the soil, but you see them patrolling around the plants, even right in the canopy, my worm bins also have a health population of them.
 
ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
a friend of mine does the coco and canna nutes. while the plants buds size are impressive.... the smoke just doesn't do it for me. it's alright, but it's nothing to get excited about.

your garden looks amazing man. keep up the good work and thanks for the pictures :) love seeing a garden that happy and clean!
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
DonBrennon said:
@Vnsmkr & @DonTesla, gravy going down!!!

The rest of the line up was a tough selection.........................and yes, I've got issues with buying beans, still want RM's CTF, the Doc's TPR and Tony's Gorilla bubble BX3, got to wait for finances to become a little more fluid though. Then I'm giving up buying beans(sorry lads)
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Wow.... is that the key to your chastity belt? :bigjoint:

Thanks for those great vids, loved them! your critters sure are busy bodies haha
Are the mites so big or is it the cam magnification that's so good?
oh and on the 2nd one, those little whitish worms, are they earthworm babies or those little sort of translucent whities (remind me of mini ricemeal noodles) I often see in my wormbin?

I'm probably going to go back to mulching too, as I'm coming to accept that fungus gnats are just part of the living soil web I do actually want.
So yes, I am very open to trying out these guys to help keep them in balance!
I actually added half a tablet of BT to my last wormbin feeding, just because I have them, no idea whether it'll help ;)
 
DonBrennon

DonBrennon

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
Wow.... is that the key to your chastity belt? :bigjoint:

Thanks for those great vids, loved them! your critters sure are busy bodies haha
Are the mites so big or is it the cam magnification that's so good?
oh and on the 2nd one, those little whitish worms, are they earthworm babies or those little sort of translucent whities (remind me of mini ricemeal noodles) I often see in my wormbin?

I'm probably going to go back to mulching too, as I'm coming to accept that fungus gnats are just part of the living soil web I do actually want.
So yes, I am very open to trying out these guys to help keep them in balance!
I actually added half a tablet of BT to my last wormbin feeding, just because I have them, no idea whether it'll help ;)
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Hahaha, yup, how'd ya guess? Lmao

The mites are huge as far as mites go, the clay pebble in the 2nd vid is about 1cm across for reference. The white worms are pot worms and although I've read that they prefer a more anaerobic and acidic environments, they seem to thrive under my mulch and my soil's Ph is pretty much neutral. The way I see it is the more diversity, the better. I know I've got earthworms, brandling worms and dendro's among others I've yet to identify, but I've no tiger worms, either in my soil or my worm bin. I have bought some, but they arrived in very poor condition and I don't think they survived. I've found a better source now and will be re-stocking soon.

I only worry about Fgnat when I've got cuttings or seedlings knocking about. As long as you've got organic mulch that is rotting and sustaining fungus, I reckon the larvae will go for that before your roots. I also think mature healthy plants will have some kind of self defence/protection. BT didn't work for me and after that I gave up trying, LOL:eyesmoke:
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
DonBrennon said:
Hahaha, yup, how'd ya guess? Lmao

The mites are huge as far as mites go, the clay pebble in the 2nd vid is about 1cm across for reference. The white worms are pot worms and although I've read that they prefer a more anaerobic and acidic environments, they seem to thrive under my mulch and my soil's Ph is pretty much neutral. The way I see it is the more diversity, the better. I know I've got earthworms, brandling worms and dendro's among others I've yet to identify, but I've no tiger worms, either in my soil or my worm bin. I have bought some, but they arrived in very poor condition and I don't think they survived. I've found a better source now and will be re-stocking soon.

I only worry about Fgnat when I've got cuttings or seedlings knocking about. As long as you've got organic mulch that is rotting and sustaining fungus, I reckon the larvae will go for that before your roots. I also think mature healthy plants will have some kind of self defence/protection. BT didn't work for me and after that I gave up trying, LOL:eyesmoke:
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LOL probably it was the way it is meticulously placed, as in hiding in plain sight, that caught my attention. Good to know, got to remember that spot :bigjoint:
Also, I'd love to leaf through those Principles of Horticulture there too!

Ohwow talk about getting into diversity!! You sure seem to know your wigglies haha
What is it about tiger worms that makes you want to have them?

Oh btw I have begun reactivating my 40L cannabis soil. Just began watering it slowly, as it seemed quite dried out.
Put a lid on to keep the moisture in, and when I went to check on it the next day, I was surprised & delighted to see a bunch of worms scurry away from the light! Magic!?! They must've been dormant in there somewhere?!
Or maybe it just wasn't as dry as I thought lol :bigjoint:

Yeah I'm pretty sure the BT isn't going to do much too, but might as well use it up ;)
Actually, my mind began wandering in the direction of competition. What critters have the same menu as the fungus gnats but are less prone to swarm out (a factor in my case as most of my garden, bar the weed, is going to be directly in my living space) or nibble plant roots? I'm not actively searching, just posed the question to the universe hehe
In case of enlightenment, I'll share of course ;)

Meanwhile, yes, we can just focus on keeping them away from seedling roots - I quite agree with you on keeping the larvae fed with composting material and thus distracted from those juicy little sprouts!
And a larger plant can take a little bit of nibbling, whereby!
I do think it's true that pests don't attack fully protected plants. I have this accidental basil clone, which definitely is mycorrhizal and has seen some compost tea inn its lifetime. Totally rootbound, but still completely healthy. Sitting right next to the chili, which got a bad case of aphids. Hell, the branches are even touching sometimes. And I have seen aphids on basil before (though I concede it may have been another species that doesn't mind the basil's strong scent). So my hunch is that the basil has a fully functional microbial shield going that practically makes it invisible to pests :blsmoke:
 
DonTesla

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
DonBrennon said:
@Vnsmkr & @DonTesla, gravy going down!!!

The rest of the line up was a tough selection.........................and yes, I've got issues with buying beans, still want RM's CTF, the Doc's TPR and Tony's Gorilla bubble BX3, got to wait for finances to become a little more fluid though. Then I'm giving up buying beans(sorry lads)
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Awwwwww sheeeeeiiiitt

our brother done caught tha fiyyyaaaaa bug!

so awesome that that gravy is way at the top there!

i posted an article in the Dons thread about anthocyanin and moreso about ph, environment, and al3+ and the effects of the different factors on the different pigments; blue, red, and bloody-purple.. totally check it out bro

excited for this one..

DT
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
DonTesla said:
Awwwwww sheeeeeiiiitt

our brother done caught tha fiyyyaaaaa bug!

so awesome that that gravy is way at the top there!

i posted an article in the Dons thread about anthocyanin and moreso about ph, environment, and al3+ and the effects of the different factors on the different pigments; blue, red, and bloody-purple.. totally check it out bro

excited for this one..

DT
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yeah we were discussing this one before christmas - just don't remember in which thread? lol
 
iHearAll

iHearAll

Well-Known Member
SSGrower said:
Just lurking around, like your Mars hacks, more proof organics not equal to technical neophyte.

Trying bokashi for first time made some with em, some with lacto, some with wheat bran, some with barley "bran" I ground and sifted, and some with a 50/50 mix.

Qustion for you and the other posters here - The lacto is getting bluegreen and red spots, has it "spoiled", is it useable?

Thanks in advance.
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collected beneficials? indigenous ones or LABS? i prefer EMe for bokashi. I then supplement indigenous microbes in the compost just for biodiversity. But anyway i have gotten flourescent pinks and greens show up in speckles on the surface of my EMe bokashi. I assume they come from an unclean pail or a vigorous initial bacteria in the substrate.


edit: read where you said lacto was used. lacto is a bit more lime indigenous microbes since it resembles a sour dough starter cillecting the yeast from your house. something must have entered the aerum or like stated above, a dirty pail. but dont worry, use it up.
 
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SSGrower

SSGrower

Well-Known Member
iHearAll said:
collected beneficials? indigenous ones or LABS? i prefer EM1 as the mother culture to EM extended and the EMe for bokashi. I then supplement indigenous microbes in the compost just for biodiversity. But anyway i have gotten flourescent pinks and greens show up in speckles on the surface of my EMe bokashi. I assume they come from an unclean pail or a vigorous initial bacteria in the substrate.


edit: read where you said lacto was used. lacto is a bit more lime indigenous microbes since it resembles a sour dough starter cillecting the yeast from your house. something must have entered the aerum or like stated above, a dirty pail. but dont worry, use it up.
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Thanks for confirming it was likely contaminated, i could sterilize with a bisulphite solution prery easy so ill try that next time. This was a small batch in mason jars so I just discarded the one, the others were done with EMe and got fed to the worms.
@calliandra aphids got alot of my garden this year but basil and root veggies were left alone. Ladybugs helped but they seemed to prefer hunting for them on things like spinach and romain, stuff with smoother leaves.
 
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iHearAll

iHearAll

Well-Known Member
SSGrower said:
Thanks for confirming it was likely contaminated, i could sterilize with a bisulphite solution prery easy so ill try that next time. This was a small batch in mason jars so I just discarded the one, the others were done with EMe and got fed to the worms.
@calliandra aphids got alot of my garden this year but basil and root veggies were left alone. Ladybugs helped but they seemed to prefer hunting for them on things like spinach and romain, stuff with smoother leaves.
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once you get a good hardy bokashi culture you can easily reuse the container a few times until some sort of mishap like a liquid build up, but even then, eh, not a big deal. anyway lucky you got worms working. I accidentally got a mite infestation in my worm bin, likely from my previous home. I'm not sure if i can use neem oil in a worm bin so I'm probably going to cut my losses to the castings and fresh bedding, bury all that, and wash off some worms and repopulate them inside for a few month.
 
Orphan Crippler

Orphan Crippler

Well-Known Member
Don I just have to know... How many watts does your led setup draw for your room? and whats the coverage area?
The results of your grows are great and due to the climate here in the Dark Continent the LED's would be preferable to my hid lamps.

I have bought some low bin Chinese led's before and they work well but for smaller spaces and have had some decent success with them but not with the distance from the canopy like yours.
 
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