Organic no till, probiotic, knf, jadam, vermicomposting, soil mixes, sips etc... Q & A

SSGrower said:

I can understand the worry with asbestos 2 concerns, if it is friable and are you creating or being exposed to dust/fibers. I hope the manufacturer and supplier protect their employees and will investigate before making another purchase. Thanks to your warning I will exercise more caution when mixing it. It is also my understanding that it is present in all volcanic rock? Since it is kept wet and I do want it to last as I am working on taking a quasi rols method to something I can sustain and maintain with minimal effort.

Oon that note I thought crystalline silica could be present in amendment like gypsum, and possibly diatomatious earth any insight you have here would be appreciated.

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Gypsum and other rock dusts have trace amounts. Always wear a painters mask when dealing with rock dusts and mixing soils. You don't want to breathe in those particles.

Cheesy Bo' Greesy said:

Yo! thanks my man! Appreciate that.

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This is late but..
Great white / plant success/ og bio war /
Whatever is local to you

Lightgreen2k said:

This is late but..
Great white / plant success/ og bio war /
Whatever is local to you

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much appreciated brother! this is a great community.

The very bottom little leaf is yellow and dried. What caused this? This is clackamas coot's recipe soil topped with bagged ewc and mulched with barley straw.

keepsake said:

The very bottom little leaf is yellow and dried. What caused this? This is clackamas coot's recipe soil topped with bagged ewc and mulched with barley straw.

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It's fine. That's the cotyledon. Those almost always yellow early on. When plants yellow over night, that's usually caused by the soil drying out.

hyroot said:

It's fine. That's the cotyledon. Those almost always yellow early on. When plants yellow over night, that's usually caused by the soil drying out.

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Thanks

can you stop by n check out my grow journal.
any input from you is well valued by me.
thanks

https://www.rollitup.org/t/strawberry-cough-quantum-board-led-organic-living-soil.952813/

Some AEM Bokashi thats drying

Where to get the ingredients

Wheat bran or rice bran can be purchased at any co-op or grain/feed supply store. A 50-pound bag of wheat bran usually costs about $15 (plus tax). The molasses can be purchased at a feed store or in any grocery store in the baking section (near the sugars). A quart of molasses is usually about $5. Blackstrap, cane, or feed molasses are what you want. Other sugars can be used, but require recipe changes to accommodate for lack of sugar and minerals and are not as stable during fermentation.


Materials:

1. Ingredients
2. Large black plastic garbage bag or airtight container(s)
3. Something to mix the materials in or on

Procedure:

1. Mix one gallon of the water with the molasses to dissolve the molasses. Mix in the EM•1 or AEM
   
2. Mix the liquid thoroughly into the bran.
3. Squeeze some of the bran into a ball. If it holds shape and no extra liquid comes out, it is the correct moisture. Put into bag or container. If it is too dry, add more water and mix.
4. If using the bag, tie the bag tightly, squeezing out excess air. If using a container, press down mixture and cover container tightly.
5. Place mixture somewhere warm and out of the way. Let it ferment for a minimum of two weeks. Longer is fine.
6. When fermentation is complete, you may notice some white mold on/in the bokashi. This is good. Black or green mold means some air got into the container or it was too moist and is not desirable. You can use the material as is without drying, stored in a closed container, for up to 2 weeks, or dry for long-term storage.
7. Keep airtight during storage, whether dry or wet.

hyroot said:

..
I have a recipe for fermenting citrus to make a pest spray foliar. I will post that tomorrow.
...

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Hey there Hy, How are tings?

Couple questions for ya if you dont mind!
1. First off, um, Did you happen to forget about this one by chance (citrus foliar), or did I happen to miss it? hah

2. Also, so you did cut out alfalfa meal in the end, hey. Was it causing too much leafage or what are your thoughts there? Do you still endorse using TRIA at all, whether foliar or otherwise, or is the malted barley its replacement for ya?

3. Can you elaborate on the difference between Karanja and Neem, if you don't mind, quickly, and why you choose both exactly, that would be cool! I know they are super similar but nice to hear your thoughts too.

4. Have you ever experimented with higher kelp amounts beyond 0.42% of the mix (1/2 cup per CF).. I see that (up here anyway) producers say to use 2 to 3% especially when in pots, so just curious there, mostly cause I had a really potent round when pushing the limits a bit!

5. Lastly, I see your rock mix has gone back to using basalt and gypsum, so no more GRD in sight, nor Oyster SF, nor bentonite volcanic RD, why the change and progression, mate, if you may?

Have a great day, thanks in advance, and keep up the good organic work, look forward to smoking some of your flowers someday when down in the US to see how they compare.

Cheers,

DonT

DonTesla said:

Hey there Hy, How are tings?

Couple questions for ya if you dont mind!
1. First off, um, Did you happen to forget about this one by chance (citrus foliar), or did I happen to miss it? hah

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I was going to make a tutorial video but experimenting withh othe recipes first. Here is the recipe I started with.

citrus ferment recipe

2 cups of citrus peels
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp dry yeast
4 cups of clean water

ferment in a sealed container with an airlock for 2 1/2 weeks then strain. Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar.

use 3 oz per gallon of water and only spray at night. It will burn plants during the day.

I'm currently testing out 2 other recipes. One without water and more sugar. water reduces osmostic pressure when using sugar. Another using labs and water like the flower power

Labs breaks down organic material. Sugar relies on osmotic pressure to pull juices from fruits and plants.

DonTesla said:

2. Also, so you did cut out alfalfa meal in the end, hey. Was it causing too much leafage or what are your thoughts there? Do you still endorse using TRIA at all, whether foliar or otherwise, or is the malted barley its replacement for ya?

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I only use alfalfa meal in veg tea's and I feed it to the worms. They love it. Yes when it was in my soil mix it did promote more leaf. Too much N from the alfalfa attracts pests and changes flavor.. I do not know what you mean by TRIA

DonTesla said:

3. Can you elaborate on the difference between Karanja and Neem, if you don't mind, quickly, and why you choose both exactly, that would be cool! I know they are super similar but nice to hear your thoughts too.

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Neem oil is cold-pressed from kernels of fruit from the Azadirachta indica tree.The cake is made from the Neem tree seed residue . Karanja oil is cold-pressed from seeds of the Pongam tree. Karanja Cake is the residue obtained from Karanja seed kernels which have been crushed to extract the oil. Neem has Azadiractin and Karanja does not. Both are pest inhibitors. Both rich in npk and other minerals and elements

DonTesla said:

4. Have you ever experimented with higher kelp amounts beyond 0.42% of the mix (1/2 cup per CF).. I see that (up here anyway) producers say to use 2 to 3% especially when in pots, so just curious there, mostly cause I had a really potent round when pushing the limits a bit!

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I have done more kelp with plants that are potassium hogs. No ill effects

DonTesla said:

5. Lastly, I see your rock mix has gone back to using basalt and gypsum, so no more GRD in sight, nor Oyster SF, nor bentonite volcanic RD, why the change and progression, mate, if you may?


Have a great day, thanks in advance, and keep up the good organic work, look forward to smoking some of your flowers someday when down in the US to see how they compare.

Cheers,

DonT

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Gypsum seems to work better than oyster shell flour for cal mag and it has sulfur. My blueberries outside love gypsum. Most rock dust is essentially volcanic rock dust excluding glacial. Basalt made buds denser and increased brix levels quite a bit. It's soluble and works almost intsantly. The bentonite rock dust seem to clump up and it takes a while to break down.

hyroot said:

Yes when it was in my soil mix it did promote more leaf. Too much N from the alfalfa attracts pests and changes flavor.. I do not know what you mean by TRIA

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Awesome replies, man. Big thanks.
By TRIA I just meant Triacontanol, the active ingredient in Alfalfa meal, which I find a bit over rated as well, in a mix at least. Alfalfa seed sprout tea in flower, if stretching, I might endorse, but cool to see you agree about the leafage. I got a 4 to 1 calyx to leaf ratio on a plant when I cut it out the mix and haven't looked back, since!

hyroot said:

... Neem has Azadiractin and Karanja does not.

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Ah, very nice. So if choosing just one, you would go for the Neem and its Azadiractin, eh?

hyroot said:

... I have done more kelp with plants that are potassium hogs. No ill effects

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Beauty. I too have pushed the amounts, as high as 2% of total volume, with no ill effects, so just thought I would ask about your experiences. Right on. I also see that the numbers vary quite a bit for most the meals, so thats something to consider (for Hy's readers here)

hyroot said:

...Gypsum seems to work better than oyster shell flour for (it has) cal mag and it has sulfur. My blueberries outside love gypsum. Most rock dust is essentially volcanic rock dust excluding glacial. Basalt made buds denser and increased brix levels quite a bit. It's soluble and works almost intsantly. The bentonite rock dust seem to clump up and it takes a while to break down.

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Yeah I only mess with glacial rock dusts, myself, as thats what Canada is abundant in, hence Gaia Green setting up shop up here, but since we like to drop Oyster Shell Flour too, I agree gypsum is great. Sulphur also helps terpene development so we love it. The clays do seem to be a bit tricky so I think you went with a good little mix. The basalt making buds denser, that's interesting. Any idea what that is attributed to, by chance? Again, thanks for the replies, man. Progressive.

Well I just mixed up 6 cubic ft of soil with this recipe:

3 cups (1/2 cup per cu ft):
neem cake
crustacean meal
kelp meal

12 cups (2 cups per cu ft):
gypsum
basalt

2 cups (1/3 cup per cu ft)
oyster shell flour (just cus I had some left)
grounded malted barley seeds

Watered down with em1 diluted water and generous sprinkle of gro kashi to top it off.
Sitting in my garage covered with a tarp. 4 weeks?

I have no put my no till sip togeather..


Reservoir filled growstones


The mix is 4:1 parts of growstones size 2 / the medium..

GROkashi to get Mycelium going..

My food left.. Redd Wiggler food right.. Oh yeah I have those too.. and barely straw at the top..

Lightgreen2k said:

I have no put my no till sip togeather..

View attachment 4040407
Reservoir filled growstones
View attachment 4040409
View attachment 4040410
The mix is 4:1 parts of growstones size 2 / the medium..
View attachment 4040413
GROkashi to get Mycelium going..
View attachment 4040414
My food left.. Redd Wiggler food right.. Oh yeah I have those too.. and barely straw at the top..

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Are you going to cook the soil in the bed. You should add veggies to the worm bin not your pots. It can end up being too hot and attract other pests into your pot / bed.

@DonTesla use both neem and karanja oil and alternate. You have to switch up foliars for ipm for them to work. For the cake / meal, build a soil sells a mixed bag of neem cake and karanja cake.

When buying neem oil or cake make sure it's Ahimsa Indian Neem. Not that watered down crap like einstein or dyna gro. The down to earth brand neem seed meal isn't organic. It's sourced from farms in China with low to no quality standards.


For my ipm I spray every other day. neem, citrus ferment, labs, karanja, essential oils, repeat.

Predator insects are good too

hyroot said:

I was going to make a tutorial video but experimenting withh othe recipes first. Here is the recipe I started with.

citrus ferment recipe

2 cups of citrus peels
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp dry yeast
4 cups of clean water

ferment in a sealed container with an airlock for 2 1/2 weeks then strain. Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar.

use 3 oz per gallon of water and only spray at night. It will burn plants during the day.

I'm currently testing out 2 other recipes. One without water and more sugar. water reduces osmostic pressure when using sugar. Another using labs and water like the flower power

Labs breaks down organic material. Sugar relies on osmotic pressure to pull juices from fruits and plants.



I only use alfalfa meal in veg tea's and I feed it to the worms. They love it. Yes when it was in my soil mix it did promote more leaf. Too much N from the alfalfa attracts pests and changes flavor.. I do not know what you mean by TRIA



Neem oil is cold-pressed from kernels of fruit from the Azadirachta indica tree.The cake is made from the Neem tree seed residue . Karanja oil is cold-pressed from seeds of the Pongam tree. Karanja Cake is the residue obtained from Karanja seed kernels which have been crushed to extract the oil. Neem has Azadiractin and Karanja does not. Both are pest inhibitors. Both rich in npk and other minerals and elements



I have done more kelp with plants that are potassium hogs. No ill effects




Gypsum seems to work better than oyster shell flour for cal mag and it has sulfur. My blueberries outside love gypsum. Most rock dust is essentially volcanic rock dust excluding glacial. Basalt made buds denser and increased brix levels quite a bit. It's soluble and works almost intsantly. The bentonite rock dust seem to clump up and it takes a while to break down.

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Wow....i just saw some of your flowers on IG. Well done!! I just started incorporating more rock dusts in my soil mixes, specifically basalt and GRD. The change is really exciting.

hyroot said:

Are you going to cook the soil in the bed. You should add veggies to the worm bin not your pots. It can end up being too hot and attract other pests into your pot / bed.

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When speaking to Mountain organics He said I had it right on point. Add a few patatoe skins / carrots skins through the mix so your worms could have food.


Booooooom

I mean do you disagree with Mountain Organics. I'm doing the same process?

hyroot said:

Are you going to cook the soil in the bed. You should add veggies to the worm bin not your pots. It can end up being too hot and attract other pests into your pot / bed.

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I have a few VEGAN / goodies mixed in...



And not FILLERS HA.

Why not just buy those ingredients in bulk for less than the cost of that jar?

That Tea Lab bubbler rocks!!