So who here is growing in true organic living soil?
- Thread starter Rrog
- Start date
fattiemcnuggins
Well-Known Member
The bti has been part of the routine for the past year and I havent had any gnats , no aphids. I just let my anti mite routine get away from me and suffered the consequense. Rookie mistake.
I wet my dirt bins and room down with spinosad also. And I tossed all buckets etc. It has been about 3 years since I dealt with them so I am fairly confident I will break the cycle. Just wanted to double check with the experts before I reused the dirt, wasnt sure if I should just toss it all
I wet my dirt bins and room down with spinosad also. And I tossed all buckets etc. It has been about 3 years since I dealt with them so I am fairly confident I will break the cycle. Just wanted to double check with the experts before I reused the dirt, wasnt sure if I should just toss it all
Mad Hamish
Well-Known Member
I am going to wait till LED gets a bit more reasonable to import. In the peak summer over here it is the ONLY way to keep temps sensible. Indoors in Jan is pushing it, even with 15 000 BTU of A/C (which I want to stop using completely), February, forget about it! But shipping and import tax takes a single Area 51 panel to the equivalent of USD 1000 for me. Not gonna happen
At least I have the great outdoors, but reports of rippers are on the increase. I literally camp in my garden come flower time.
Mad Hamish
Well-Known Member
I have 10 thumbs Rrog... Did it involve a hot iron? I have so many little tattoos from fixing guitar gear already LOL. Perhaps I can convince a mate to build it FOR me. Importing a home build won't work for me otherwise I would ask you. If it doesn't have the 'official' stickers on it, it won't be let in from a country that operates on a different voltage from us. DIY might be the way though. I'll wear chaps on my arms. Yee-Haw!
EDIT: Is there anything involved with herb you are NOT a master at?!
HGK420
Well-Known Member
hey fungus guys.... i got a question. i just germed some seeds. 2 different strains. 12 of one, 5 of another. they spent 24 hours in cups of water then went to paper towel in a plastic bag in a dark cabinet. each strain got their own paper towel in their same bag. stayed in the paper towel for 72 hours.
now when i opened the cabinet to plant them the paper towel had a bunch of little red circle cultures of something all over it. mold or bacteria or something. the red is whats got me in a huff. red is a danger color in my mind. i don't see red fungus/mold/bacteria growing on stuff every day so when i do i get nervous.
of course i began itching like a mad man as i proceeded to plant all 100% germed seeds. the itching I'm pretty sure is just mental but maybe not?
anyone know of red mold/fungus?
now when i opened the cabinet to plant them the paper towel had a bunch of little red circle cultures of something all over it. mold or bacteria or something. the red is whats got me in a huff. red is a danger color in my mind. i don't see red fungus/mold/bacteria growing on stuff every day so when i do i get nervous.
of course i began itching like a mad man as i proceeded to plant all 100% germed seeds. the itching I'm pretty sure is just mental but maybe not?
anyone know of red mold/fungus?
Mad Hamish
Well-Known Member
I sure hope it is nothing to worry about! You make it sound pretty nasty. I am sure your soil is alive with good critters so not much to worry over. I recently beat back damping off with EWC, so I am convinced by the power of good microbes. INCREDIBLY convinced. First time I had the opportunity to test the theory in practice. Right as a little bit of doubt crept in too.
Thanks Rrog, you are an absolute star. I will go do my homework first though. Those LED guys can get pretty intense!
HGK420
Well-Known Member
this batch of seeds is gonna end up in the batch of soil I got cooking up. I'm really hoping whatever it is just simply doesn't like plants and prefers paper towel (LOL 
) BUT incase that this is reality I'm living in, its probably some evil bug thats wants my children to starve, i figured i better go organic soil to be safe. H2o2 and hydro environments are easily taken over by baddies.
) BUT incase that this is reality I'm living in, its probably some evil bug thats wants my children to starve, i figured i better go organic soil to be safe. H2o2 and hydro environments are easily taken over by baddies.
Rrog
Well-Known Member
... wow, no. If your soil is healthy, I'd plant them. The good guys will put a pounding to the bad guys. Obviously everyone has a way they like to start seeds. After many paper towels, here's whet I do:
Seed Starting:
Soak seeds overnight to crack at 85F
Use Pro-Mix in a small pocket in the soil in the 1 gallon pails of soil
Saturate the entire pot, then leave alone and mist the top only to keep moist
Warm the soil. THEN add the cracked seeds. Place them in the also warmed room.
I lay these seeds flat. Cover 1/2'’+ deep. Tamp it a bit.
No Saran wrap on top and I found that misting soil tops unnecessary.
Turn on 100W bulb in the room as a possible guide for seedlings. Do this as you plant them in soil.
Once they sprout, get a fan on them blowing very lightly. Also turn on the big light but up higher for a couple days.
Mist soil tops to water to avoid damp off id needed, but be careful.
Seedling Timetable:
Day 1 = Drop seeds in water
Day 2 = Plant in soil
Day 5 = Seedlings emerge.
Seed Starting:
Soak seeds overnight to crack at 85F
Use Pro-Mix in a small pocket in the soil in the 1 gallon pails of soil
Saturate the entire pot, then leave alone and mist the top only to keep moist
Warm the soil. THEN add the cracked seeds. Place them in the also warmed room.
I lay these seeds flat. Cover 1/2'’+ deep. Tamp it a bit.
No Saran wrap on top and I found that misting soil tops unnecessary.
Turn on 100W bulb in the room as a possible guide for seedlings. Do this as you plant them in soil.
Once they sprout, get a fan on them blowing very lightly. Also turn on the big light but up higher for a couple days.
Mist soil tops to water to avoid damp off id needed, but be careful.
Seedling Timetable:
Day 1 = Drop seeds in water
Day 2 = Plant in soil
Day 5 = Seedlings emerge.
Javadog
Well-Known Member
Beating back damping off...that is extreme.
I thought that would have waited for nanogardening robots.
Great stuff.
JD
P.S. ...but then again, that is pretty much what you did, isn't it?
I recall suggesting that when it comes to the BioTechnology suggested
in Science Fiction, that we are more likely to adapt existing life into
a machine than we are to adapt a machine into living. It gets weird,
and was very likely very high. :0)
I thought that would have waited for nanogardening robots.
Great stuff.
JD
P.S. ...but then again, that is pretty much what you did, isn't it?
I recall suggesting that when it comes to the BioTechnology suggested
in Science Fiction, that we are more likely to adapt existing life into
a machine than we are to adapt a machine into living. It gets weird,
and was very likely very high. :0)
HGK420
Well-Known Member
i did em very similar for a long time rrog and i had a batch go sideways on me and only had 2 outa 20 germ. I've been scared to stray from the paper towel ever since.
im gonna take a pic of the paper towels for ya so you guys can actually see. 50+ little circle colonies. its narly.
im gonna take a pic of the paper towels for ya so you guys can actually see. 50+ little circle colonies. its narly.
Rrog
Well-Known Member
Wow!
When I see stuff like this, it reminds me of the great job BIMs do. The normal background microbes that help us. Could be that you tried to have a sterile environment, and this is what happen. When you wipe the microbial slate clean (like a big shot of bleach) that temporarily sterilized area may be re-colonized with bad microbes. All of the good guys were killed off and so no one to keep mold from showing up.
If we instead embrace the microbes and understand that they will help and protect these things don't happen as much. My rate of food spoilage in the fridge has dropped, and I often wonder if it's because I let good microbes live here.
When I see stuff like this, it reminds me of the great job BIMs do. The normal background microbes that help us. Could be that you tried to have a sterile environment, and this is what happen. When you wipe the microbial slate clean (like a big shot of bleach) that temporarily sterilized area may be re-colonized with bad microbes. All of the good guys were killed off and so no one to keep mold from showing up.
If we instead embrace the microbes and understand that they will help and protect these things don't happen as much. My rate of food spoilage in the fridge has dropped, and I often wonder if it's because I let good microbes live here.
HGK420
Well-Known Member
thats what i figured, the tap water in my town smells like bleach. like really bad. worst I've ever seen it in a handful of counties around here.
now my question is this. is it from my hands? i wash my hands pretty regularly, after bathroom, before meals, before i touch my kid. is it something from the air? the cabinet? the paper towel to begin with and the bleach just killed off all the cops so to say and the baddies got to run nuts?
now my question is this. is it from my hands? i wash my hands pretty regularly, after bathroom, before meals, before i touch my kid. is it something from the air? the cabinet? the paper towel to begin with and the bleach just killed off all the cops so to say and the baddies got to run nuts?
Rrog
Well-Known Member
All of this stuff is in every breath we take. Can't be avoided even in a surgical clean room. So my take is embrace them rather than looking to avoid them, 'cause you can't
In a sterile environment, the baddies are faster, and tend to want to set up first, if allowed. The good guys are stronger but slower.
In a sterile environment, the baddies are faster, and tend to want to set up first, if allowed. The good guys are stronger but slower.
Rrog
Well-Known Member
IMHO- if you avoid anti-microbial soap, you're mostly there. Use diluted bleach more if you need to nuke an area. Sure it's nasty initially, but evaporates off fast and the remaining Cl in the air dissipates fast. This material does not linger in the environment like so many other things do. So it's a good nuclear option for us.
Nothing wrong with soap, but I try and stick with eco-friendly soaps. Soaps, detergents, lotions, vitamins, deoderants, bug spray, toothpaste, air fresheners, etc, etc. All of these things can dump chemicals directly into your bloodstream. This is not questioned by any scientific mind because we can measure all of these in your bloodstream after contact. So you can assume anything they'd let into your blood must be safe, or you can just say I'll avoid those, thank you.
There are safer alternatives to all of those product choices above is how I see it, but that's just me.
Nothing wrong with soap, but I try and stick with eco-friendly soaps. Soaps, detergents, lotions, vitamins, deoderants, bug spray, toothpaste, air fresheners, etc, etc. All of these things can dump chemicals directly into your bloodstream. This is not questioned by any scientific mind because we can measure all of these in your bloodstream after contact. So you can assume anything they'd let into your blood must be safe, or you can just say I'll avoid those, thank you.
There are safer alternatives to all of those product choices above is how I see it, but that's just me.
