Beneficial Microbes or sterile growing?

[aeviaanah]

The title says it all. Im wanting to hear peoples experiences with pros and cons to raising beneficial microbes vs sterile hydroponics. If this discussion is in another thread please link me!

 

[Goldowitz]

Heisenberg has a great thread in the DWC section. I started brewing microbes the way he said and have not looked back.
ETA - at least a dozen people in that thread had problems that H202 could not help, but the microbes did.

 

[cannawizard]

cant go wrong with brewed microbes, good stuff & great for plants.

 

[tommyo3000]

Incorrectly-brewed teas can screw a whole grow up. That said, if you read a few books about teas, you should be fine making and applying them. I suggest picking up a copy of

.

"Science is only beginning to understand the microscopic communities of plants and animals providing nutrient cycling, plant protection and plant growth mechanisms. The authors use non-technical language to describe the basic biology and chemistry of nutrient-cycling and plant-growing environments. They also include simple explanations about how to add biology to any plant-growing system and guidelines for conventional, sustainable and organic applications. Whether you're growing indoors in controlled environments and soilless media or outdoors in soil, this book helps you figure out methods for incorporating biology into your programs."

http://www.besteshydroponics.com/Books-Videos/Adding-Biology-for-Soil-and-Hydroponic-Systems/prod_709.html

 

[cannawizard]

Incorrectly-brewed teas can screw a whole grow up. That said, if you read a few books about teas, you should be fine making and applying them. I suggest picking up a copy of

.

"Science is only beginning to understand the microscopic communities of plants and animals providing nutrient cycling, plant protection and plant growth mechanisms. The authors use non-technical language to describe the basic biology and chemistry of nutrient-cycling and plant-growing environments. They also include simple explanations about how to add biology to any plant-growing system and guidelines for conventional, sustainable and organic applications. Whether you're growing indoors in controlled environments and soilless media or outdoors in soil, this book helps you figure out methods for incorporating biology into your programs."

http://www.besteshydroponics.com/Books-Videos/Adding-Biology-for-Soil-and-Hydroponic-Systems/prod_709.html

*looks like i found a new book to read for the weekend, thnx

 

[tommyo3000]

There are a few more:

http://www.earthfort.com/products/literature/books/compost-tea-brewing-manual.html

http://www.earthfort.com/products/literature/books/teaming-with-microbes.html

 

[homebrewer]

The title says it all. Im wanting to hear peoples experiences with pros and cons to raising beneficial microbes vs sterile hydroponics. If this discussion is in another thread please link me!

Microbes do work in sterile media with mineral-derived nutrients, but I have a feeling you'd see more of an improvement using them with orgaincs (because organics generally don't yield as well). I found great white to be an affordable product that works in hydro, fyi.

 

[Beansly]

Is this in regard to a DWC setup or something else?

 

[aeviaanah]

Is this in regard to a DWC setup or something else?

flood and drain

 

[Goldowitz]

Microbes do work in sterile media with mineral-derived nutrients, but I have a feeling you'd see more of an improvement using them with orgaincs (because organics generally don't yield as well). I found great white to be an affordable product that works in hydro, fyi.

Have you ever used the Great White in a tea or just directly into the rez? GW is what I use to make my tea along with Ancient Forest humus. I figure the $40 jar of GW will last a year and a half for making tea.

 

[Heisenberg]

Incorrectly-brewed teas can screw a whole grow up.

A tea made with a focus on microbes is really hard to screw up once you understand the basic concept. You can't really overdo it with microbes (assuming you keep a diverse population) and the tea will never burn or otherwise harm the plants. My comments here pertain only to a microbe tea, and not to any sort of nutrient providing tea.


Sterile res Pros:
Water looks/smells clean
no gunk build up
no disease

Sterile res Cons:
Requires frequent scrubbing
Requires chilling
Requires light-proofing
Requires purchase/application and upkeep of additional chemicals
Often does not provide a totally sterile res
Disharmonious to the grow process (though not harmful at all)

Microbe res Pros:
No gunk build up
No disease
No need for 100% light-proofing (though roots do prefer darkness)
No need for chilling
Only need to scrub res between grows
Roots will be stimulated to grow and thicken
Roots will be extended via fungal hyphae
Microbes produce enzymes making enzyme products redundant
Water uptake increased
Induce natural stress and disease resistance
Induce a slight resistance to pests, including mites
Protects against root pests like gnats and aphids
Products are cheap and last a long time

Microbe res Cons:
Microbes consume oxygen putting even more importance on aeration
The tea needs to be made every 10 days for constant applications
Some preparation is required; everything is not in one simple bottle
Some education is required

Lets not forget a microbe tea also makes a great foliar spray and helps protect cuttings from damping off.

This is what I can think of for now, I invite anyone to modify.

 

[aeviaanah]

A tea made with a focus on microbes is really hard to screw up once you understand the basic concept. You can't really overdo it with microbes (assuming you keep a diverse population) and the tea will never burn or otherwise harm the plants. My comments here pertain only to a microbe tea, and not to any sort of nutrient providing tea.


Sterile res Pros:
Water looks/smells clean
no gunk build up
no disease

Sterile res Cons:
Requires frequent scrubbing
Requires chilling
Requires light-proofing
Requires purchase/application and upkeep of additional chemicals
Often does not provide a totally sterile res
Disharmonious to the grow process (though not harmful at all)

Microbe res Pros:
No gunk build up
No disease
No need for 100% light-proofing (though roots do prefer darkness)
No need for chilling
Only need to scrub res between grows
Roots will be stimulated to grow and thicken
Roots will be extended via fungal hyphae
Microbes produce enzymes making enzyme products redundant
Water uptake increased
Induce natural stress and disease resistance
Induce a slight resistance to pests, including mites
Protects against root pests like gnats and aphids
Products are cheap and last a long time

Microbe res Cons:
Microbes consume oxygen putting even more importance on aeration
The tea needs to be made every 10 days for constant applications
Some preparation is required; everything is not in one simple bottle
Some education is required

Lets not forget a microbe tea also makes a great foliar spray and helps protect cuttings from damping off.

This is what I can think of for now, I invite anyone to modify.

after transplant from soil to hydro, i used h2o2 at 7 ml per gallon. is this enough to throw off microbes? i think i will go with the microbe res, i should probably replace the whole reservoir before proceeding correct?

 

[tommyo3000]

I think 7mL of H2O2 would not be good for microbes...
If there is residual H2O2, which there prolly is, you should change that out before putting in beneficials.

 

[Heisenberg]

after transplant from soil to hydro, i used h2o2 at 7 ml per gallon. is this enough to throw off microbes? i think i will go with the microbe res, i should probably replace the whole reservoir before proceeding correct?

H202 can take up to three days to completely break down, but probably falls below fatal levels after 12 hours. One should always make a fresh res before adding microbes the first time though, just in case some harmful bacteria already had a foothold.

 

[Heisenberg]

Plant requires mineral and organic nutrients form soil.Sterilized soil grows plants better because bacterial fungal pathogens are removed.But the microbes and fungi can't be replaced with ordinary fertilizers.

Sterilized soil offers no nutritional value because microbes are not present to break down food. You would have to supply synthetic ferts. We do not replace microbes by adding ferts, but by adding microbes.

 

[aeviaanah]

H202 can take up to three days to completely break down, but probably falls below fatal levels after 12 hours. One should always make a fresh res before adding microbes the first time though, just in case some harmful bacteria already had a foothold.

thanks ill definately follow your tek on breeding microbes!

 

[cannawizard]

There are a few more:

http://www.earthfort.com/products/literature/books/compost-tea-brewing-manual.html

http://www.earthfort.com/products/literature/books/teaming-with-microbes.html

*just waiting on amazon

 

[cannawizard]

A tea made with a focus on microbes is really hard to screw up once you understand the basic concept. You can't really overdo it with microbes (assuming you keep a diverse population) and the tea will never burn or otherwise harm the plants. My comments here pertain only to a microbe tea, and not to any sort of nutrient providing tea.


Sterile res Pros:
Water looks/smells clean
no gunk build up
no disease

Sterile res Cons:
Requires frequent scrubbing
Requires chilling
Requires light-proofing
Requires purchase/application and upkeep of additional chemicals
Often does not provide a totally sterile res
Disharmonious to the grow process (though not harmful at all)

Microbe res Pros:
No gunk build up
No disease
No need for 100% light-proofing (though roots do prefer darkness)
No need for chilling
Only need to scrub res between grows
Roots will be stimulated to grow and thicken
Roots will be extended via fungal hyphae
Microbes produce enzymes making enzyme products redundant
Water uptake increased
Induce natural stress and disease resistance
Induce a slight resistance to pests, including mites
Protects against root pests like gnats and aphids
Products are cheap and last a long time

Microbe res Cons:
Microbes consume oxygen putting even more importance on aeration
The tea needs to be made every 10 days for constant applications
Some preparation is required; everything is not in one simple bottle
Some education is required

Lets not forget a microbe tea also makes a great foliar spray and helps protect cuttings from damping off.

This is what I can think of for now, I invite anyone to modify.

* ever since i switched to this method of growing.. no more PPM/EC, no more pH, no morre nute burns, healthy plants 24/7, roots look like monsters-- i dont use light covers at all (ill take a pic on how massive the root system gets i <3 microbes

 

[aeviaanah]

* ever since i switched to this method of growing.. no more PPM/EC, no more pH, no morre nute burns, healthy plants 24/7, roots look like monsters-- i dont use light covers at all (ill take a pic on how massive the root system gets i <3 microbes

right on, thats good to hear so many people are enjoying this method

 

[clownbow]

I would have recommended a sterile grow much easier ..no pH fluctuations cost less to do.. grows bigger buds and more potent bud