Something People Ought to Know

skem64 said:

I have an organic compost heap that's about 4yrs old. Garden waste (grass cuttings, nettles, leaves etc..), kitchen waste, tea bags, veg peelings (no potatoes!) egg shells and about 4 banana skins a week. One top of all that, I've added the leaves, stems and roots of about 6 mj plants. It is well rotted and siffs like sugar through your fingers, quite dark and light (weight-wise).

I really want to use it (not just because I could do with the space...) but because I imagine it to be filled with nutrients, bacteria and fungi though re: fungi, I don't see any fluffy bits like mold). Anyway, will this be a good mix to use with my next crop. If so, should I use it neat or mixed by ratio with Coco or something similar? I suppose I could experiment but I'd hate to see a plant not grow and I don't want to take chances. So guys, should I risk it?

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why no potatoes? and personal i never use banana peels as i have been told the skin has arsnic in it. i only use banana in my compost for flowers.

Forgive me if this was covered, but I think it's pointless to talk about organics without talking about myocorrhizae. If you're using organic, non-mineral based nutes, I can't see trying to grow without myocorrhizae.

Very nice post/thread.

Greensome said:

Forgive me if this was covered, but I think it's pointless to talk about organics without talking about myocorrhizae. If you're using organic, non-mineral based nutes, I can't see trying to grow without myocorrhizae.

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Could you expand on this?

Hi Im going to be using the General Organic line with The House of gardens Root excellerent and liquid Karma.

12 PLANTS LEGAL LIMIT

For soilless I'm thinking of going with PRO-MIX BX BIOFUNGICIDE+MYCORRHIZAE..

Im wondering if this sound fine for my plants or if anyone has any recommendations.

I wanna do a 10 week veg cycle (I want big Plants.
WATER, FEED, WATER going to WATER, FEED, FEED

SOLO CUPS FOR 2 WEEKS FLORESENT LIGHTING(I got plants in solo cups)

1 GALLON FOR 3WEEKS UNDER A 400 WATT MHPRO-MIX BX BIOFUNGICIDE™+MYCORRHIZAE

BEFORE GOING INTO A 7 GALLON FOR 5 WEEKS UNDER (2) 1000 watt mh.
I wanna line the bottom 2 inches of the the pots with something maybe sterile rocks for aeration open to recommendations.

Greensome said:

Forgive me if this was covered, but I think it's pointless to talk about organics without talking about myocorrhizae. If you're using organic, non-mineral based nutes, I can't see trying to grow without myocorrhizae.

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The original post mentioned bacteria and fungi. The fungi is the myco you speak of. Over time it will establish itself, but adding it will speed up the colonizatin process.

Very good info !

Becorath said:

The original post mentioned bacteria and fungi. The fungi is the myco you speak of. Over time it will establish itself, but adding it will speed up the colonizatin process.

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Kindof ^. The fungi that break down organic matter in a compost heap or a tub of "cooking" soil are not mycorrhizal. Helpful, yes. But very different from actual "myco" fungi, which won't even start growing unless they are in contact with a live plant root (they live off exudatesf produced by the plant).

SpicySativa said:

Kindof ^. The fungi that break down organic matter in a compost heap or a tub of "cooking" soil are not mycorrhizal. Helpful, yes. But very different from actual "myco" fungi, which won't even start growing unless they are in contact with a live plant root (they live off exudatesf produced by the plant).

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That is correct, but I believe the OP was referring to the fungi living in the soil around the plants' roots.

• 
  Fungi and Bacteria are the two primary "workers" for providing nutrition to your plant. Fungi, though much smaller than bacteria individually, form long sort of "tunnels" from your plant's rhizosphere to nutrition found in nearby soil. Fungi are special in that they can break down "harder" materials and bring nutrition through their tunneling systems. They then either keep the nutrients until they die and then exude the nutrition into back into the soil in a plant or bacterial edible form. As said before, fungi break down hard materials, like bones, phosphorous, copper, zinc, etc. As you can probably now tell, fungi are very important. It is also important to note that the best defense against harmful fungi is beneficial fungi. Beneficial fungi out compete harmful fungi every time.​
  
  
  
  

great source of soil biology here. it only took me a couple years to find and only 4 billion years to create.

Why would you not use your compost after all that is the purpose of having the pile. Mother nature is a genius when it comes to gardening, let her do her thing she will not fail. My opinion is keep it simple, no need to go all "Lab Tech".

Sent from my M886 using Rollitup mobile app

Hats Off to Cucumber

It is really hard to make people aware and to explain how microbes work to improve plant health. I have been trying to create awareness about organic farming and I will surely be following the simplicity you used in this beautiful post.

You should keep expanding horizons too, various updates in organic growing are there. I would love to contribute too.

+Rep for the post.

Happy New Year to you!! Guys like you make the stay in RIU worthwhile.


Peace and Love,

Toker.

I'm not sure why everyone is out there looking for the best solutions for building their soil, and looking for the best combination of organic amendments. Why wouldn't you want to take the work out of it and go with a pre-mixed bag that comes from a quality company. Not the Foxfarm, Botanicare blends, etc., but go for a much higher quality mix. As long as you start with a good mix with good drainage, even if you dont have food into it already, this is all you need to start with.

Then you need a fully enzymatically digested organic nutrient so that it is IMMEDIATELY available to the plants. The line that myself and my crew have been using for years has been the Nectar for the Gods. I have been getting consistent results that rival the output of synthetics. We were turned onto this stuff by the owner of the company, and now we by it from the Monster Gardens store in northern California. Highly recommend this line over any other organics that I have come across

Best quality out of anything on the market, fully broken down and made with organic chelates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BjbW2KPbTw

^^^ maybe best quality on the capitalist market. For sure not the best quality mother earth has to offer

is this the same book

http://ge.tt/9LYCbnC/v/1

Thanks Cucumber - well said.

Keif Cheif said:

Why wouldn't you want to take the work out of it and go with a pre-mixed bag that comes from a quality company. Not the Foxfarm, Botanicare blends, etc., but go for a much higher quality mix.

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Same reason I would rather cook a curry from scratch than buy even the best jarred or canned stuff. There is no contest. There are some pretty good bagged products out there (like Bu's Blend, Oly Fish Compost, etc) but these are still just ingredients for a supreme soil.

If you like buying something and rolling with it, go for it.

But those who truly educate themselves to learn to prepare their own, ideally from local materials, will have a much more solid product in every regard. Creating a medium is empowering in a way that purchasing a solution cannot touch. The satisfaction of knowing exactly what every single ingredient in the soil that produced your herb is priceless.

Next time you share with a friend and they say "you grew this??" you can say "well, I made the soil, the plant kindof grew itself".

Good stuff bud, points out a lot of good information for those just getting into organics. Also if rec. Teaming with microbes for those wanting to learn more about it. Very helpful. Im currently back in school for viticulture and enokogt (winemaking) and I've been taking classes like horticulture, soil science etc. That have help further my knowledge of plants and what they need. Keep up the good information

What are you thoughts on Dr. Earths Soils? (A friend introduced them to me, I wanted to ask what you felt)

mccumcumber said:

I personally would use lady bugs or dragon flies over neem oil. You can buy lady bugs at most if not all organic sores.

If you only have access to neem don't worry too much, it will kill some of your microbiology, but not too significant of an amount.

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Agreed I always use lady bugs with great results

Neem oil is cool but it clogs the pores on the plant and the girls dont like it.

Teaming with microbes has turned to be my new organic bible, they cover the whole process.
thank you all for sharing such knowledge.