Organic Vs. Synthetic Nutrients

[MichiganMedGrower]

Well said . You know, the sound of bubbling water can be very therapeutic as well .... .

I do. It’s one of the things I love about kayaking on the river. And I never thought about the sound of the res. Interesting.....



I do miss my fish tanks. Watching them is proven to lower blood pressure.

Uh oh. I wonder if there is a way to combine fish tanks and gardening..........

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

Uh oh. I wonder if there is a way to combine fish tanks and gardening..........

aquaponics

 

[ShLUbY]

http://www.gardenmyths.com/teaming-with-microbes-book-review/

while i do agree with some of what this guy says... there are things that i've read in a couple of his articles that I just don't care for. the vermicompost article for example had some inaccurate details, especially pertaining to the "leachate" situation. of course that's an anaerobic mess. no ones worm bin should have standing water in it. you're just asking for anaerobic conditions. So while I think he has some good views on certain things, i also feel he lacks experience or background information on others. I got the impression of a guy who's just trying to sell something in a few of his write ups. i mean, yeah, aren't we all trying to sell something... but just my .02 about that particular author.

 

[Chunky Stool]

while i do agree with some of what this guy says... there are things that i've read in a couple of his articles that I just don't care for. the vermicompost article for example had some inaccurate details, especially pertaining to the "leachate" situation. of course that's an anaerobic mess. no ones worm bin should have standing water in it. you're just asking for anaerobic conditions. So while I think he has some good views on certain things, i also feel he lacks experience or background information on others. I got the impression of a guy who's just trying to sell something in a few of his write ups. i mean, yeah, aren't we all trying to sell something... but just my .02 about that particular author.

It's been my experience that worm bins always have a little black water in the collection tray. But it shouldn't stink. Give it a whiff & t should smell like dirt.

 

[ShLUbY]

It's been my experience that worm bins always have a little black water in the collection tray. But it shouldn't stink. Give it a whiff & t should smell like dirt.

i don't have a collection tray. i keep the moisture content as low as comfortably possible for them to prevent those kinds of conditions. maybe a sprinkle of water once a month. Aside from the initial hydration of the bedding, most of the moisture comes from the scraps i add. i also keep a piece of panda film loosely over the bedding to decrease evaporation. it's been working great! worm bin is probably the best investment of resources for an organic grow. it's hard to buy castings of home made quality. and you control what goes into them!

 

[MichiganMedGrower]

aquaponics

I know I was trying to be funny. Too bad for me.

 

[Chunky Stool]

i don't have a collection tray. i keep the moisture content as low as comfortably possible for them to prevent those kinds of conditions. maybe a sprinkle of water once a month.. most of the moisture comes from the scraps i add. i also keep a piece of panda film loosely over the bedding to decrease evaporation. it's been working great! worm bin is probably the best investment of resources for an organic grow. it's hard to buy castings of home made quality. and you control what goes into them!

Have you ever had your castings tested? I'm pretty sure mine are low on N & P but high in K.
So lately I've been mixing a little crab and neem with my scraps. I also add oyster shell flour to keep PH up.

 

[ShLUbY]

Have you ever had your castings tested? I'm pretty sure mine are low on N & P but high in K.
So lately I've been mixing a little crab and neem with my scraps. I also add a little oyster shell to keep PH up.

i have not, would be cool though. i should look into that. OSF is part of my bedding recipe, i add it just as i would to my soil, 1/2c per CF of bedding. then every now and again i mix in a couple tbsp of rock dust, crab meal, alfalfa, kelp, cannabis leaf meal, pretty much anything i put in my soil except the fishbone meal and gypsum.

 

[Budley Doright]

aquaponics

I have yet to witness a fully functional marijuana grow using fish only. Seen a few small scale failures though lol.

 

[Yodaweed]

Good book but its far from the whole truth, uncover a res and watch stuff grow in the light, see trichoderma form a green layer on synth fed rockwool etc etc etc.

Easy to prove that most stuff isnt that troubled by what levels of chems we feed.

Just saying that the basic info given isnt really reality, root rot wouldnt happen and a whole host of organisms etc etc etc.

Obviously this book dosent account for these basic soil and water dwelling organisms and a lot of their info has been superceeded by 21st century science.

Lets be honest here

Disadvantages of Chemical Fertilizer:

• Chemical fertilizers are primarily made from nonrenewable sources, including fossil fuels.
  
• They grow plants but do nothing to sustain the soil. The fillers do not promote life or soil health, and even packages labeled “complete” do not include the decaying matter necessary to improve soil structure. In fact, chemical fertilizers don’t replace many trace elements that are gradually depleted by repeated crop plantings, resulting in long-term damage to the soil.
  
• Because the nutrients are readily available, there is a danger of over fertilization. This not only can kill plants but upset the entire ecosystem.
  
• Chemical fertilizers tend to leach, or filter away from the plants, requiring additional applications.
  
• Repeated applications may result in a toxic buildup of chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, and uranium in the soil. These toxic chemicals can eventually make their way into your fruits and vegetables.
  
• Long-term use of chemical fertilizer can change the soil pH, upset beneficial microbial ecosystems, increase pests, and even contribute to the release of greenhouse gases.

Bottom line is synthetic fertilizers harm the soil, organic fertilizers feed the soil.

I have nothing against synthetic fertilizers by the way, i'm doing a side by side right now of hydro vs organic and both sides look fantastic, but you guys need to be educated , seems like you don't even know what you guys are giving your plants and what their repercussions are. Synthetic ferts damage the soil with toxic salt build up, over time that will kill the bacteria in the substrate.

 

[Johnny Lawrence]

I have nothing against synthetic fertilizers by the way, i'm doing a side by side right now of hydro vs organic and both sides look fantastic, but you guys need to be educated , seems like you don't even know what you guys are giving your plants and what their repercussions are. Synthetic ferts damage the soil with toxic salt build up, over time that will kill the bacteria in the substrate.

I don't nerd out with a microscope and study my bennies - but I know for a fact they do just fine in a hydroponic setup being fed synthetics.

I did a lot of nutrient experiments last year in an effort to cut costs and/or simplify things. I generally run a synthetic base nutrient, along with silica, kelp, and fulvic. I tried a couple things last year. Twice, I attempted a sterile rez - once using H2O2 and another time using chlorine. Both methods kept the root mass fairly healthy, but the plants were definitely not my best work ever in terms of both quality and final weight.

The other experiment I tried was running my usual nutrient recipe, but not adding bennies. Did this twice and both times i got pythium really bad. When I run the exact same nutrient recipe with bennies, i get beautiful, giant, white root masses. With the synthetic nutes I use as a base, this shouldn't happen if the salts were killing the bennies. If the synthetics are killing the microbuial life like you're claiming, then I should get the same results whether I use bennies or not. But I don't.

 

[Chunky Stool]

Disadvantages of Chemical Fertilizer:

• Chemical fertilizers are primarily made from nonrenewable sources, including fossil fuels.
  
• They grow plants but do nothing to sustain the soil. The fillers do not promote life or soil health, and even packages labeled “complete” do not include the decaying matter necessary to improve soil structure. In fact, chemical fertilizers don’t replace many trace elements that are gradually depleted by repeated crop plantings, resulting in long-term damage to the soil.
  
• Because the nutrients are readily available, there is a danger of over fertilization. This not only can kill plants but upset the entire ecosystem.
  
• Chemical fertilizers tend to leach, or filter away from the plants, requiring additional applications.
  
• Repeated applications may result in a toxic buildup of chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, and uranium in the soil. These toxic chemicals can eventually make their way into your fruits and vegetables.
  
• Long-term use of chemical fertilizer can change the soil pH, upset beneficial microbial ecosystems, increase pests, and even contribute to the release of greenhouse gases.

Bottom line is synthetic fertilizers harm the soil, organic fertilizers feed the soil.

I have nothing against synthetic fertilizers by the way, i'm doing a side by side right now of hydro vs organic and both sides look fantastic, but you guys need to be educated , seems like you don't even know what you guys are giving your plants and what their repercussions are. Synthetic ferts damage the soil with toxic salt build up, over time that will kill the bacteria in the substrate.

What is the source of this bullshit?
Salts only build up when you overfeed w/no runoff.
Synthetic nutes do NOT increase pests. In fact, compost and worm castings actually attract fungus gnats.

 

[since1991]

A large portion of indoor cannabis growers are not using soil as a substrate with mineral hydroponic based nutrient fertilizers.

 

[since1991]

I dont have time for "organic soil" indoors with such a fast plant like cannabis. And where every other input is artificial and such a buge carbon footprint. I keep organics outdoors where it belongs.

 

[Chunky Stool]

I dont have time for "organic soil" indoors with such a fast plant like cannabis. And where every other input is artificial and such a buge carbon footprint. I keep organics outdoors where it belongs.

Same here.
Organic is the way to go outdoors, but I prefer "semi-organic" nutes indoors.

 

[since1991]

Coco coir and rockwool here. With "synthetic" "chemical". All plasticky and unnatural. Lol. Just like my wind..sun..air (hot and cold)..carbon dioxide..etc. Completely processed. Lol

 

[Kingrow1]

Its all in the balance though, nitrates have destroyed soil structure and farmland from over use over many years, we however do not reuse our soil like this and is much richer of an organic mix.

I hope this makes sense a bit more as to what im saying. The broad statement that synths killcsoil is wrong and right depending on context, would take a lot of fucking up to void my soil of organic life in 3-4 short months.

Disadvantages of Chemical Fertilizer:

• Chemical fertilizers are primarily made from nonrenewable sources, including fossil fuels.
  
• They grow plants but do nothing to sustain the soil. The fillers do not promote life or soil health, and even packages labeled “complete” do not include the decaying matter necessary to improve soil structure. In fact, chemical fertilizers don’t replace many trace elements that are gradually depleted by repeated crop plantings, resulting in long-term damage to the soil.
  
• Because the nutrients are readily available, there is a danger of over fertilization. This not only can kill plants but upset the entire ecosystem.
  
• Chemical fertilizers tend to leach, or filter away from the plants, requiring additional applications.
  
• Repeated applications may result in a toxic buildup of chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, and uranium in the soil. These toxic chemicals can eventually make their way into your fruits and vegetables.
  
• Long-term use of chemical fertilizer can change the soil pH, upset beneficial microbial ecosystems, increase pests, and even contribute to the release of greenhouse gases.

Bottom line is synthetic fertilizers harm the soil, organic fertilizers feed the soil.

I have nothing against synthetic fertilizers by the way, i'm doing a side by side right now of hydro vs organic and both sides look fantastic, but you guys need to be educated , seems like you don't even know what you guys are giving your plants and what their repercussions are. Synthetic ferts damage the soil with toxic salt build up, over time that will kill the bacteria in the substrate.

 

[since1991]

To be honest...if the majority of the worlds major agricultural food crops/farms used full organic means for cultivation...you would likely have a serious food shortage globally and likely outbreak cases of salmonella/e coli. type poisoning. Just being honest. There is a reason why its not the preferred method. The organic hocus pocus side has perpetrated alot of bowshit over the years. But lets save the earth right? ...right.

 

[Kingrow1]

To be honest...if the majority of the worlds major agricultural food crops/farms used full organic means for cultivation...you would likely have a serious food shortage globally and likely outbreak cases of salmonella/e coli. type poisoning. Just being honest. There is a reason why its not the preferred method. The organic hocus pocus side has perpetrated alot of bowshit over the years. But lets save the earth right? ...right.

Its reached a shortage, we have to either go gm crops, reduce population or sit back and watch some of the world starve...

Hence why genetic modification is being done on a vast scale.

The other option was to eat insects, fuck have you guys been for the last decade, shits already hit the fan, gm crops are noew everywhere and regs have been lifted...

 

[Yodaweed]

Its all in the balance though, nitrates have destroyed soil structure and farmland from over use over many years, we however do not reuse our soil like this and is much richer of an organic mix.

I hope this makes sense a bit more as to what im saying. The broad statement that synths killcsoil is wrong and right depending on context, would take a lot of fucking up to void my soil of organic life in 3-4 short months.

I reuse my soil, it's getting better with age, that's the difference in our growing methods and mindsets.