Shweedies in a soil bed

calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Lovely garden!
I especially like that no till soil bed of yours :D
I'm curious as to how you maintain the soil over such a long time?
Do you just topdress compost/wormcasts .. and mulch, I think I saw?
Cheers!
 
weariedjuggler

weariedjuggler

Well-Known Member
I drop leaves and topdress with neem meal oysershell flour and alfalfa meal. occasionally i water with sst and compost teas but mostly just water...most of the time i have nettle growing on the topsoil too :)
My oldest bed is from august of 2014 and im about to pull up the soil and amend...i stopped mulching and it dried the soil too much...
 
weariedjuggler

weariedjuggler

Well-Known Member
Also i spread work castings and rice hulls among the mulch as i top dress... iwish i was more organized about when i did what. but i dont have the luxury of growing at my own home so i have to make time between jobs and family obligations to drive a half hour to check on my little girls...usually i get to see them 3 times a week for visits that last betweeen 10 min and 2 hours.
 
weariedjuggler

weariedjuggler

Well-Known Member
But the last couple weeks ive been building a new room with a couple of buddies. its 4x7 feet with a 8 foot ceiling. we have a 6 inch exhaust running now with passive intake. the exhaust pushes air into an adjoining space after it pulls air from outside the building. im running 800w of diy cob leds. the wiring is sloppy right now but we needed to get it up within a short window. everyday will see some fun improvements. 32 plants spread amongst 6 27 gallon totes. all of them romulan clones from the momma that is flowering in my 3x3 soil bed.20161124_145504.jpg 20161124_145445.jpg 20161124_145428.jpg
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Ah cool! I'd love to get a glimpse of how the soil looks in that 2 yr old bed!
Did you have other aerating material beyond hulls in your original mix?

I'm currently puzzling together a midterm perspective for my own soil, after having noticed that my lava rock had all sunk to pot bottom after only 2 runs. Perhaps I should crush it more (it's 1-2cm diameter pieces)....
And actually I have some old wheat husks I was imagining could be great topdress aeration for being quite sturdy for a while, bringing more of the woody side of things to the soil, and, by the time they wander to pot bottom, will have been chewed up by the hopefully abundantly present fungi :mrgreen:
So it's great to learn you're actually already doing that!
 
weariedjuggler

weariedjuggler

Well-Known Member
calliandra said:
Ah cool! I'd love to get a glimpse of how the soil looks in that 2 yr old bed!
Did you have other aerating material beyond hulls in your original mix?

I'm currently puzzling together a midterm perspective for my own soil, after having noticed that my lava rock had all sunk to pot bottom after only 2 runs. Perhaps I should crush it more (it's 1-2cm diameter pieces)....
And actually I have some old wheat husks I was imagining could be great topdress aeration for being quite sturdy for a while, bringing more of the woody side of things to the soil, and, by the time they wander to pot bottom, will have been chewed up by the hopefully abundantly present fungi :mrgreen:
So it's great to learn you're actually already doing that!
Click to expand...
Ill try my best to remember to get a photo monday morning of the soil in the 2 year old bed. i wish i kept mulching the soil cuz it would be in much better condition. as a fun note i often get lbms (little brown mushrooms) in that bed if i get good wet and dry cycles. usually it means i am not able to water for a minute.

I think its fine for your aeration to sink toward the bottom as long as you continue to topdress/mulch with somethibg that will serve as aeration as the mulch breaks down. its pretty amazing how fast leaves break down as mulch :) ive never used wheat husks but i imagine it might work.

Also im not too bothered by the idea of the rice hulls moving arounf. the beds have worms that help break down old roots and they help keep my soil aerated.

As far as other aeration there is a smattering of different things that end up in there but mostly its just rice hulls
 
calliandra

calliandra

Well-Known Member
weariedjuggler said:
Ill try my best to remember to get a photo monday morning of the soil in the 2 year old bed. i wish i kept mulching the soil cuz it would be in much better condition. as a fun note i often get lbms (little brown mushrooms) in that bed if i get good wet and dry cycles. usually it means i am not able to water for a minute.

I think its fine for your aeration to sink toward the bottom as long as you continue to topdress/mulch with somethibg that will serve as aeration as the mulch breaks down. its pretty amazing how fast leaves break down as mulch :) ive never used wheat husks but i imagine it might work.

Also im not too bothered by the idea of the rice hulls moving arounf. the beds have worms that help break down old roots and they help keep my soil aerated.

As far as other aeration there is a smattering of different things that end up in there but mostly its just rice hulls
Click to expand...
Yeah the thing with non-compostable aeration sinking to the bottom is that over time you practically lose pot depth, as the bottom layer eventually consists of pure rock/pebbles/sand.
That problem can't arise with rice hulls (or wheat, barley, etc - the composition and characteristics of these are very similar) - or yes, leaves! I love leaves, I've been exploring it as a resource I want to use waaay more in my gardens! :D
 
weariedjuggler

weariedjuggler

Well-Known Member
well here is a picture of the 2 year old soil bed. i was even more disappointed with it today when i was checkin it out so i topdressed with wormcastings, peat, and vermiculite after taking the picture. i think i really need to get a wetting agent in there soon as the top couple inches of soil wont absorb any moisture. 20161128_082145.jpg​
 
weariedjuggler

weariedjuggler

Well-Known Member
Day 26 12/12

So i havent been able to replace the mars 700 with the 200w cob rig yet. and now the plant is nearing its fourth week of 12/12....im really tempted to just switch the lights as the mars is gonna have a tough time pushing light more than 8 inches into the canopy...but i didnt do it this morning because i got squeemish about stressing the plant right now...

She is lookin pretty anyhow :) i dont really find leaves with more than 5 points on them. any input on that?
20161201_084233.jpg 20161201_084200.jpg 20161201_084147.jpg
 

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