OUTDOOR: best plant additives

[luni]

I'm wondering if I can start a conversation out of this thread. I've been growing outdoors for about 5 years now and 8 indoors. Over the years and now that I'm up in the mountains I'm gaining more of an appreciation for sustainability and learning composting techniques and looking for more natural solutions to my growing. I've seen the old schoolers in my valley with over 30 years of experience and one things for sure......they don't use large bottles of grow nutrients such as MaxSea or Humboldt nutrients. They go for compost teas using lama pu, fish emultion, sea kelp's and a barrage of different manures in the mixing stages (pre-planting). Their plants are what I'd call 100% organic and ALWAYS pass me up and have a better 2nd half.

What are some of you natural / organic additives that you add to teas and top dress your plant with.

Thanks for sharing
Luni

 

[JoNny Pot sMokeR]

blood meal, bone meal, mush room compost, fish emulsion, worm castings, with some chicken shit. hand full of each in a 5 gallon buckets, add water mix let sit for 10 days or so in direct sunlight good for 2 waterings with 5 or 6 plants did this on my balcony in Europe last summer.

 

[luni]

Hey there JoNny Pot sMoker, that almost sounds like a burn in a bottle. There's a lot of strong substances in there. I'd never suggest to place raw compounds together in a bottle without diluting them with a good amount of water. Hence the term nutrient lock-up. Thanks for the reply but I'll pass on that one.

Luni

 

[hydroponichygene]

you'd actually be suprised ,all the things he mentioned are naturall components that in nature would naturally be absorbed into the dirt. plus theres no man made chemicals or additives if its all organic . which no matter how much you use in your mixture it will never burn your plants or lock up your nutrient intake, I've been using worm casting, natural cow poo, fish emulsion, light Karo syrup(natural corn sugar that excites micro and macro organisms that stimulate your plants roots) water once a week with that and water every other day worked great for me.

 

[lotsofroom4u]

blood meal, bone meal, mush room compost, fish emulsion, worm castings, with some chicken shit. hand full of each in a 5 gallon buckets, add water mix let sit for 10 days or so in direct sunlight good for 2 waterings with 5 or 6 plants did this on my balcony in Europe last summer. View attachment 1634917View attachment 1634918View attachment 1634919View attachment 1634920View attachment 1634921View attachment 1634922

All of those components are common organic fertilizers. I'm an organic agriculture student and we use pretty much all of those ingredients on our schools organic farm. I do however doubt a handful of each will create a balanced slurry. It will likely run high in nitrogen and low in phosphorus, not to mention having an unpredictable pH effect to your soil. Also, when making compost tea it is best to do so anaerobicly (in an air tight container) as to minimize pathogen development.

Organic compost teas, aka slurry, is a great option not only because it provides nutes (both instant and slow release) but because it will inoculate your soil with microorganisms that will help your plant fixate nitrogen.