amending as you go?

having said that
if I cant get the granite rock dust

I might either just use azomite or maybe azomite and glacier

im willing to pay for the shipping if anyone recommends a source that's got plane brown box shipping

otherwide I might do what @Dynamo626 said which was a stellar recommendation

ha be funny if you show up at my shop tomarrow!

Jk we cary soft rock phosphate already

Dynamo626 said:

Jk we cary soft rock phosphate already

Click to expand...

which state lol

Ohio

Dynamo626 said:

Ohio

Click to expand...

nope no chance lol

im4satori said:

what if Im only using azomite? how much total per cubic ft would I use then?

Click to expand...

1cup/cf

Wetdog said:

1cup/cf

Click to expand...

another question if you don't mind

is the azomite something id amend back in each time I cook my soil? or is it like the granite/basalt dust which is super slow and degrades over many years requiring not additions but maybe every several years?

im4satori said:

another question if you don't mind

is the azomite something id amend back in each time I cook my soil? or is it like the granite/basalt dust which is super slow and degrades over many years requiring not additions but maybe every several years?

Click to expand...

It's slow, but not as slow as RD and I, myself, add it every other year/cook/reamend. The granite meal I use is only added once since the peat moss will degrade beyond usefullness before the granite meal is consumed.

I have 2-17gal tubs where this has happened. The mix was made in 2012 and has been in continuous use, outside, since then. The first 2 years was in 5gal buckets, reamended once (the first year was fresh mix). After the second year, it was all reamended again and put into the no tills where it has remained ever since, with just top dressings.

Anyway, to make a long story longer, after the last harvest I noticed that the mix had lost it's texture, like the peat had turned to dust. It's hard to describe, but it just felt, looked, and acted ... worn out. It will get spread onto the raised bed gardens.

The granite meal added back in 2012 was still plainly visable while digging around, inspecting the mix, 5 years after it was added. That is some kind of slow!

im4satori said:

having said that
if I cant get the granite rock dust

I might either just use azomite or maybe azomite and glacier

im willing to pay for the shipping if anyone recommends a source that's got plane brown box shipping

otherwide I might do what @Dynamo626 said which was a stellar recommendation

Click to expand...

you worried about people seeing what it is?
It's just plant food..
you don't have regular house plants or anything?

i'd get some basalt, and some andesite, if I were to do it all over again.
in a small batch that is, I don't experiment with large amounts of soil

I've been doing as much research on paramagnetics as possible, and i'm really wanting to experiment with it, it's supposed to couple with high humus/organic compost soils really well.
admittedly I am a skeptic on the subject... but so much of it lies in conjecture and theory that i'm curious to try..

Wetdog said:

It's slow, but not as slow as RD and I, myself, add it every other year/cook/reamend. The granite meal I use is only added once since the peat moss will degrade beyond usefullness before the granite meal is consumed.

I have 2-17gal tubs where this has happened. The mix was made in 2012 and has been in continuous use, outside, since then. The first 2 years was in 5gal buckets, reamended once (the first year was fresh mix). After the second year, it was all reamended again and put into the no tills where it has remained ever since, with just top dressings.

Anyway, to make a long story longer, after the last harvest I noticed that the mix had lost it's texture, like the peat had turned to dust. It's hard to describe, but it just felt, looked, and acted ... worn out. It will get spread onto the raised bed gardens.

The granite meal added back in 2012 was still plainly visable while digging around, inspecting the mix, 5 years after it was added. That is some kind of slow!

Click to expand...

ahhh yes... the mystery of the disappearing humus, I see that ALL the time, the compost I make is usually dissolved after two runs, I really don't know where it goes... but somehow the plant is consuming it, or it would appear...
I have some theories on the subject, but it's all speculation.
but I've noticed as my compost is aged/re-consumed by my worms and the microbes that it's becoming smaller particles, and also i'm noticing more runoff color when I made a most recent mix, and more need for more aeration
In conclusion i'm theorizing that compost is best used right after it's done composting, after that the consistency is more akin to castings (probably what it really is anyways, considering the billion worms in my compost)
much more fluffy when fresh, and easier to use in larger amounts

greasemonkeymann said:

ahhh yes... the mystery of the disappearing humus, I see that ALL the time, the compost I make is usually dissolved after two runs, I really don't know where it goes... but somehow the plant is consuming it, or it would appear...
I have some theories on the subject, but it's all speculation.
but I've noticed as my compost is aged/re-consumed by my worms and the microbes that it's becoming smaller particles, and also i'm noticing more runoff color when I made a most recent mix, and more need for more aeration
In conclusion i'm theorizing that compost is best used right after it's done composting, after that the consistency is more akin to castings (probably what it really is anyways, considering the billion worms in my compost)
much more fluffy when fresh, and easier to use in larger amounts

Click to expand...

Sometimes I wonder if you have actual compost piles (as most would envision them), or, giant outdoor worm farms.

Either way, it's all good, but it seems to have morphed way beyond traditional compost to a much higher level.

Wetdog said:

Sometimes I wonder if you have actual compost piles (as most would envision them), or, giant outdoor worm farms.

Either way, it's all good, but it seems to have morphed way beyond traditional compost to a much higher level.

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well, funny enough, they are one of the same it would seem.
you see, the issue is/was I reaaaally have a thing for watching compost happen, I know it's extraordinarily weird but I am what I am.
so after last yrs pile, I realized that I have enough compost for like the next decade now.
And I don't know what to do with it past just keeping the worms alive in there, so it literally is just a massive wormbin now.
But what do I do?
I can't come up with any other alternative past giving my landlord a bunch for his outdoor plants, but i'll be damned if i'm doing that, I helped him yrs ago go from chemicals to organics, and his yields went from a 4-6 ozs per plant OUTSIDE to like 1.5 to 2 lbs per plant, no joke, no exaggeration, and because of my help and advice he made thousands and thousands of dollars the next three yrs, and I got NOTHING. Not a thanks, not nugs, not shit, and to throw insult to injury he will eagerly bitch at me if my rent is even a day late.
no shit, he said "hey, rents due by the way" the morning after it was due, and while I was literally walking towards his house to pay him.
Fuck him.
Only reason it was late is because he insists on cash and the ATM restricts daily withdrawals of cash.
Yea... i'll be damned if i'm giving him shit.

hmm.. lil tangent there...seems I have a lil aggression goin on here, maybe I should go lift more weights, it's slow at my shop and that's all I've been doing recently.

so im going to just maybe order it from build a soil

but it cost almost as much in shipping as the dust it self lol

so im looking at maybe just the 16lbs and eating the shipping

but before I order it I have to wonder

I have no idea how many cups are in 16lbs

anybody got a guesstimite

im4satori said:

so im going to just maybe order it from build a soil

but it cost almost as much in shipping as the dust it self lol

so im looking at maybe just the 16lbs and eating the shipping

but before I order it I have to wonder

I have no idea how many cups are in 16lbs

anybody got a guesstimite

Click to expand...

reminder
ive got 12 pots each #20

each filled with about 18 gallons soil or roughly 2.5 cubic ft

its once used fox farm which was originally amended with rock dust but given what ive seen from the soil id say its very light to start and id like to add some rock dust into the next re-amendment

I also have another 30 cubic ft of soil im building from scratch and that will require I think it was 8 cups per...or something

so Im trying to determine if 16lbs is enough to get both the new 30 cubic ft amended along with the 30 cubic ft of FFOF to re-amend

im4satori said:

so im going to just maybe order it from build a soil

but it cost almost as much in shipping as the dust it self lol

so im looking at maybe just the 16lbs and eating the shipping

but before I order it I have to wonder

I have no idea how many cups are in 16lbs

anybody got a guesstimite

Click to expand...

depends on the dust man, typically we amend with cups rather than weight
greensand is dense, granite is dense, etc.
we don't amend the soil by weight, so it's best to go on amounts instead
go light.
usually 2 cups per "virgin" soil per cubic foot.
30 cubic feet would be roughly 60 cups
reamend of the ffof, would be 30 cups
so you need 90 cups
like roughly 5 to 6 gallons of rock dust for 60 cubic feet
i'd go with two types at least to ensure you have the bases covered

greasemonkeymann said:

depends on the dust man, typically we amend with cups rather than weight
greensand is dense, granite is dense, etc.
we don't amend the soil by weight, so it's best to go on amounts instead
go light.
usually 2 cups per "virgin" soil per cubic foot.
30 cubic feet would be roughly 60 cups
reamend of the ffof, would be 30 cups
so you need 90 cups
like roughly 5 to 6 gallons of rock dust for 60 cubic feet
i'd go with two types at least to ensure you have the bases covered

Click to expand...

right
its just hard to know how many lbs to buy

id be happy with a guess

the damn shipping is almost equal to the purchase

plus I wont need to use it again for a few years so theres no reason for my to have excess laying around

but now that you've broke out the numbers 90 cups sounds like a good bit

build a soil sells it in 16lbs and then 50lbs

I could absolutely mix azomite in along side the basalt rock dust

azomite I can get local

so would it be reasonable to go 2 part basalt RD and 1 part azomite?

60 cups basalt 30 cups azomite roughly in total

geeze
even
60 cups I might need the 50lbs ah?

I called the local farmers co-op

they don't stock it but I bet if I went in I could ask them to order it

im just a little paranoid
its a small farming community and I don't have a garden/farm going gotta keep the peepers away
everyone knows everyone (except me im from out of town lol)

ive gone in there in the past and ordered stuff they don't stock
everyone always gets curious and asks :what are using that for?

I order some mkp 50lbs a couple years back and was asked by three people what im using it for

I said roses
but still

im4satori said:

right
its just hard to know how many lbs to buy

id be happy with a guess

the damn shipping is almost equal to the purchase

plus I wont need to use it again for a few years so theres no reason for my to have excess laying around

but now that you've broke out the numbers 90 cups sounds like a good bit

build a soil sells it in 16lbs and then 50lbs

I could absolutely mix azomite in along side the basalt rock dust

azomite I can get local

so would it be reasonable to go 2 part basalt RD and 1 part azomite?

60 cups basalt 30 cups azomite roughly in total

Click to expand...

well, I used to use 5-gallon jugs filled with sand for exercise, so I can safely say that 5 gallons of sand is a LOT more than 50 lbs, like probably 70 or so
so that being said i'd buy the 50 lb bag and see how far it gets you.
remember that all rock dusts aren't the same, some are more for soil structure and microbial interaction, while others are more as a nutrient, further still others only as aeration and micronutrients.
i'd get one part basalt, one part andesite
azomite or granite can be used as well.
but i'd go with basalt and andesite.
if you are shy on slow release phosphorus you could use soft rock phosphates also
greensand is great if you are shy on potassium but doesn't do the same things as the other minerals
also granite is relatively high in slooow release potassium as well.

keep in mind these types of minerals take a LONG time to ever justify reamending
for the record I have NOT reamended minerals to my mixes, only if I am creating more compost, and that's more for the microbial relationship of the minerals and fungal microbes
but for the most part, you want igneous rocks, ground as fine as possible