Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
i have a couple smart pots in veg but mostly plastic. I think fabric pots are better for veg and plastic pots better for flower. You want minimum of 7 gal for plastic. With my 5 gals I'm watering every other day. I'm constantly aerating water and brewing various teas. I'm upping pot size next batch. i dont have to water so often plus more roots more fruits...
Good idea. Makes a lot of sense.... might have to try that
 

CannaBare

Well-Known Member
I am trying to increase the cec of my mix, I only have rice hulls for aeration. Would It be better to use pumice, lava rock, or what someone smarter than me uses? I would like to make compost teas less often when I plant. I read cec helps the soil to hold nutrients.

So what would everyone use to increase cec?
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
I am trying to increase the cec of my mix, I only have rice hulls for aeration. Would It be better to use pumice, lava rock, or what someone smarter than me uses? I would like to make compost teas less often when I plant. I read cec helps the soil to hold nutrients.

So what would everyone use to increase cec?
I.just mix in coco. It provides enough aeration plus a good enough of cec. Pots will dry out faster than using rice hulls, pumice or perlite. In return promotes very fast root growth and plant growth. Possibly speeds up metabolism. You can do that with just IR lighting though.
 

CannaBare

Well-Known Member
So I can mix coco with peat moss, compost, and rice hulls? I was looking into switching my base to coco. Does coco need any aeration amendments?

I.just mix in coco. It provides enough aeration plus a good enough of cec. Pots will dry out faster than using rice hulls, pumice or perlite. In return promotes very fast root growth and plant growth. Possibly speeds up metabolism. You can do that with just IR lighting though.
 

DonPetro

Well-Known Member
I am trying to increase the cec of my mix, I only have rice hulls for aeration. Would It be better to use pumice, lava rock, or what someone smarter than me uses? I would like to make compost teas less often when I plant. I read cec helps the soil to hold nutrients.

So what would everyone use to increase cec?
Incorporate lots of humus into your soil mix. Finished, well-aged compost would be best. I use a humus-based soil as part of my base mix along with coir and it works great. Plus its a tenth the cost of FFOF.
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
So I can mix coco with peat moss, compost, and rice hulls? I was looking into switching my base to coco. Does coco need any aeration amendments?
yep. My mix is peat moss, coco, castings, compost and nutes /amendments. The only perlite or pumice is what's left over from 2 year old recycled soil. I match the same amount of recycled soil as peat. Then add everything else and that's just when ever I make a new mix. Also coco takes roughly about 3 batches to break down.
 

earthling420

Well-Known Member
What material provides the best aeration? Should I mix a couple together? Im going to be mixing coco and peat, how does coco peat work? Thanks guys, im very new to organic and growing so just trying to figure this out so I can make my soil and begin the organic journey :)
 

CannaBare

Well-Known Member
What material provides the best aeration? Should I mix a couple together? Im going to be mixing coco and peat, how does coco peat work? Thanks guys, im very new to organic and growing so just trying to figure this out so I can make my soil and begin the organic journey :)
I read this: http://forum.grasscity.com/coco-coir/1104950-about-coco-coir.html

Very informative. I do not quite understand how the drainage of coco works yet either so I bought some to play with. 15.00 for 5kg is ok with me for a tester! :)
 

Below66

Member
What material provides the best aeration? Should I mix a couple together? Im going to be mixing coco and peat, how does coco peat work? Thanks guys, im very new to organic and growing so just trying to figure this out so I can make my soil and begin the organic journey :)
Seems most guys end up using 2 types of aeration, most popular being lava rock, pumice, and rice hulls, with perlite falling down the ranks by the day. Good leaf mold compost will let you be able to drastically reduce aeration components.
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
Correction, correction, we know Hyroot is one hell of a serious organic cat and he drops knowledge like bombs when he wants, but i meant MASSIVE LIGHT on da STOW and GROW with tha COCO / PEAT / COCO-PEAT SIDE by SIDE expo, BIG UP .. i think Stow you be tote mixing today, yea?!
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
I read this: http://forum.grasscity.com/coco-coir/1104950-about-coco-coir.html

Very informative. I do not quite understand how the drainage of coco works yet either so I bought some to play with. 15.00 for 5kg is ok with me for a tester! :)
Nice Dig, Canni!
"Unbelievably, coco coir can hold eight to nine times its own weight in water! More importantly, coco coir holds a lot of air, in fact even when saturated it typically still holds around 22% air. In this respect it is superior even to rock wool,.."

but this what i liked:
"Did you know that coco coir possesses antifungal and root promoting properties?.. coir has a great ability to suppress and protect plants from phythium and phytophthora, two very unpleasant root diseases"
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
Does it inhibit symbiotic myco fungi relationships at all though, or does those little mycelium sheaths that form nah need very much space to get freaky wit da root tips? must astral travel into da microbe-world for a peak, mon.
(or.. i guess i could read teaming with microbes, haha)
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
Seems most guys end up using 2 types of aeration, most popular being lava rock, pumice, and rice hulls, with perlite falling down the ranks by the day. Good leaf mold compost will let you be able to drastically reduce aeration components.
So it's much about da quality of your compost and castings to begin with..and how much humus it has.

(For dee Dons, we are very pleased with da extreme quality of thee results from our latest run..1.65$ humus-base bagsoil + (high-humus compost on way) + fresh ALFAFA+FED superWORM castings + volcanic glass and rice + amendments like greensand + (aerated) RO water x all 95 days + insect frass (once or twice) + only one mild tea (and with constant Co2 from a 3 layer worm farm)= uber frosty, still glossy in parts, One gallon success with just 400W, and thats with 9 and 10 week strains in smart pots) :D
 

DonTesla

Well-Known Member
IMG_0917_Fotor.jpg

9 weeks in flwr tmrw, this girl is fox tailing like crazy up top spitting out tonnes of white hairs still.. she has a good week left, mon, phew, maybe more. this shot is just to attest to the health natural organics can bring. Peep da gloss, mon! even glossy higher up..Those dead leaves will not let go btw. They gooood to the last drop it seems, they hang in on strong
 

Old Busted Butt

New Member
You can
Hey guys,

I am really low on EWC and have a ton of rabbit poo. I lucked out and found a ton of poo for cheap, really clean, no hay in two bags! I couldn't believe it. Could I substitute the poo for the EWC? Why does it have to be EWC? I have always wondered that.

Thanks!

You can use rabbit manure directly to plants and your worm bin. No composting needed. Only manure you do not have to compost. And that info is in worm culture books. EWC is better, but if you cannot feed the rabbit crap to worms, safe to use feed directly. Good luck either way.
 

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
Correction, correction, we know Hyroot is one hell of a serious organic cat and he drops knowledge like bombs when he wants, but i meant MASSIVE LIGHT on da STOW and GROW with tha COCO / PEAT / COCO-PEAT SIDE by SIDE expo, BIG UP .. i think Stow you be tote mixing today, yea?!

Yezzir

Harvested 2.5cf of castings
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Brewed up a compost tea to wet the peat/coco mixes down with
083.JPG

Got busy mixin on the tarp
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Everything is done and will be left to sit for 6 weeks. I will start a thread in the organics section here when the clones get plugged in.......
 

CannaBare

Well-Known Member
Can I ask where you found the information about the CEC of coco coir, Hyroot? I can't seem to find evidence it has a high CEC, and from what I have found it seems peat is actually higher?
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Can I ask where you found the information about the CEC of coco coir, Hyroot? I can't seem to find evidence it has a high CEC, and from what I have found it seems peat is actually higher?
Utah state and oxford journals. Of course peat has higher cec. Coco has better and /or equal to other aeration products
 
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