Help a new living organics grower.

W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
I guess there is no drainage holes in that tote. Those are a must have in whatever you keep mix in.

It all depends on what's full and what's available, but a good deal of my cooking mix is outdoors and exposed to the weather. Sometimes in totes, but mostly in the planting containers the mix is intended for. All have drainage holes and range from 5gal buckets (smallest used), to 17gal no tills, or a 32gal tote.

Rain becomes a non issue.
 
Johnei

Johnei

Well-Known Member
I would love to just place composting soil rubermaids outside with some drilled holes, but I'm afraid of bugs maybe getting in because I use the mix indoors. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about it I don't know.
 
Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
As long as it doesn't stink it should still be good. Let it all dry out & it will be fine.
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What's up man, my ph is still running a little high, about 7.8 or so. It's been staying there for a few weeks. I was thinking about adding something like blood meal
globally to bring it down a little. Just thought I would get ur thoughts on it.. it will still be a month or so before I transplant and use it.. Also I just got my neem seed meal in so I'll be adding some of it globally. Have u ever done a foliage feed with it? I've read where people have and just wanted to know if it's worth trying.. thanks for ur input.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Johnei said:
I would love to just place composting soil rubermaids outside with some drilled holes, but I'm afraid of bugs maybe getting in because I use the mix indoors. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about it I don't know.
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The bugs that get into compost or cycling mix are generally decomposers and welcome guests. The "bad" bugs are usually not around at all, since there is no food (Live plants), for them to attack and eat.

The bugs that attack your plants WILL get in sooner or later. That's just a fact of life and a good reason for IPM.
 
Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
As long as it doesn't stink it should still be good. Let it all dry out & it will be fine.
Click to expand...
What's up man.. the ph in my mix is staying up around 7.8 or so. It's been there for a few weeks.. I still have another 3 weeks before I transplant but I was thinking about adding a small amount of blood meal globally. Just wanted to get ur take on it.. Also I got my neem seed meal in and will be adding some of it globally.. I wanted to ask if u have ever done a foliage feed with it? I've seen where people have talked about it and was wondering if It was worth trying? Thanks for the input.
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Sidvicious1 said:
What's up man.. the ph in my mix is staying up around 7.8 or so. It's been there for a few weeks.. I still have another 3 weeks before I transplant but I was thinking about adding a small amount of blood meal globally. Just wanted to get ur take on it.. Also I got my neem seed meal in and will be adding some of it globally.. I wanted to ask if u have ever done a foliage feed with it? I've seen where people have talked about it and was wondering if It was worth trying? Thanks for the input.
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Did you ever get to try adding in some oyster flour to your mix? I'm sorry I really have no idea how blood meal affects ph but oyster flour should help regulate it if you add it into the root zone. You can just sprinkle some in at transplanting it just has to be fairly close to the roots. Neem seed meal is good stuff but I have never fed folar with it or anything for that matter except just plain EWC tea.
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
Adding some plain spagnum peat moss will get your pH down. It's very acidic when not limed, but easy to regulate.

Small amounts (like 1/4cup/cf, small), of horticurtural sulfur will also work. REAL easy to overdo it though.

Using blood meal or neem to lower pH is just not a good idea.

Peat moss is your best bet for lowering pH without throwing anything else out of wack, like over nuting.
 
714steadyeddie

714steadyeddie

Well-Known Member
Richard Drysift said:
Did you ever get to try adding in some oyster flour to your mix? I'm sorry I really have no idea how blood meal affects ph but oyster flour should help regulate it if you add it into the root zone. You can just sprinkle some in at transplanting it just has to be fairly close to the roots. Neem seed meal is good stuff but I have never fed folar with it or anything for that matter except just plain EWC tea.
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How often do you use myrcoriza?
 
Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Did you ever get to try adding in some oyster flour to your mix? I'm sorry I really have no idea how blood meal affects ph but oyster flour should help regulate it if you add it into the root zone. You can just sprinkle some in at transplanting it just has to be fairly close to the roots. Neem seed meal is good stuff but I have never fed folar with it or anything for that matter except just plain EWC tea.
Click to expand...
What's up man, I had a question pertaining to a post I sent a while back.. u said that u use About 6 dropes or so of calmag+ per gal of water to bump up ur ppm.. I ordered some and havnt having used it yet but I was reading son stuff by the rev and he was saying don't use val mag+ because it uses cheated salts. Do u have any insight on this.?. Made by general organics, I thought I was all good.. Thanks..
 
Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Sidvicious1 said:
What's up man, I had a question pertaining to a post I sent a while back.. u said that u use About 6 dropes or so of calmag+ per gal of water to bump up ur ppm.. I ordered some and havnt having used it yet but I was reading son stuff by the rev and he was saying don't use val mag+ because it uses cheated salts. Do u have any insight on this.?. Made by general organics, I thought I was all good.. Thanks..
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So u use cal mag+
Richard Drysift said:
Did you ever get to try adding in some oyster flour to your mix? I'm sorry I really have no idea how blood meal affects ph but oyster flour should help regulate it if you add it into the root zone. You can just sprinkle some in at transplanting it just has to be fairly close to the roots. Neem seed meal is good stuff but I have never fed folar with it or anything for that matter except just plain EWC tea.
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Also, is regular molassas ok to use when making tea or is blackstrap alot better? And do u mix molassas with ur water when watering sprouts? My sprouts are in a mix that's 2part organic soil mix, 1part cooked soil mix, 1 part ewc, 1part perlite.
 
Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Sidvicious1 said:
What's up man, I had a question pertaining to a post I sent a while back.. u said that u use About 6 dropes or so of calmag+ per gal of water to bump up ur ppm.. I ordered some and havnt having used it yet but I was reading son stuff by the rev and he was saying don't use val mag+ because it uses cheated salts. Do u have any insight on this.?. Made by general organics, I thought I was all good.. Thanks..
Click to expand...
Oh sorry I didn't get back to you. What the Rev said was if you use RO or a distilled water source not to use the dosage listed on the label because it does contain sodium which if given as directed every watering can result in a buildup or even leaf necrosis. That's why you should use a squeeze dropper instead of a tsp to measure it out & give no more than 10 drops per gal. I give only 6 & it seems to work great. 25 ppms on your TDS is the sweet spot according to the Rev. Once you get some good sources of macros like eggshells broken down from a compost pile or worm bin you won't need to add liquid cal-mag as much. I already give my plants nothing but water past week 6 of flowering.
Sprouts also shouldn't need anything but water for at least a month but once they get a few nodes on them it's ok to give a diluted AACT. I have no idea what the difference is between blackstrap or regular or diet molasses. I just use either the generic store brand or whatever is cheap; I currently have grandmas brand molasses on hand. Any form of sucrose should work; I've even used organic maple syrup. I don't see the point in giving it directly to the plants but it is essential for compost tea. It doesn't do much of anything for the plants themselves; molasses is like an easy food source for the microbes in a compost tea while it bubbles so they spend more time fucking and making babies instead of searching for something to eat.
 
Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Oh sorry I didn't get back to you. What the Rev said was if you use RO or a distilled water source not to use the dosage listed on the label because it does contain sodium which if given as directed every watering can result in a buildup or even leaf necrosis. That's why you should use a squeeze dropper instead of a tsp to measure it out & give no more than 10 drops per gal. I give only 6 & it seems to work great. 25 ppms on your TDS is the sweet spot according to the Rev. Once you get some good sources of macros like eggshells broken down from a compost pile or worm bin you won't need to add liquid cal-mag as much. I already give my plants nothing but water past week 6 of flowering.
Sprouts also shouldn't need anything but water for at least a month but once they get a few nodes on them it's ok to give a diluted AACT. I have no idea what the difference is between blackstrap or regular or diet molasses. I just use either the generic store brand or whatever is cheap; I currently have grandmas brand molasses on hand. Any form of sucrose should work; I've even used organic maple syrup. I don't see the point in giving it directly to the plants but it is essential for compost tea. It doesn't do much of anything for the plants themselves; molasses is like an easy food source for the microbes in a compost tea while it bubbles so they spend more time fucking and making babies instead of searching for something to eat.
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I got ya, I saw where he said to mix a tablespoon with a gallon of water with but I believe he was talking about useing using it in cooking soil not when ur growing. My mistake. Also take a look at these pics. I'm not sure why they've been kind of droopy the past day n half. I havnt overwaterd them. Temp is about 78º at canope. 400watt MH is about a foot above them.. I backed the light off a little to see if it helps..
 

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Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Oh sorry I didn't get back to you. What the Rev said was if you use RO or a distilled water source not to use the dosage listed on the label because it does contain sodium which if given as directed every watering can result in a buildup or even leaf necrosis. That's why you should use a squeeze dropper instead of a tsp to measure it out & give no more than 10 drops per gal. I give only 6 & it seems to work great. 25 ppms on your TDS is the sweet spot according to the Rev. Once you get some good sources of macros like eggshells broken down from a compost pile or worm bin you won't need to add liquid cal-mag as much. I already give my plants nothing but water past week 6 of flowering.
Sprouts also shouldn't need anything but water for at least a month but once they get a few nodes on them it's ok to give a diluted AACT. I have no idea what the difference is between blackstrap or regular or diet molasses. I just use either the generic store brand or whatever is cheap; I currently have grandmas brand molasses on hand. Any form of sucrose should work; I've even used organic maple syrup. I don't see the point in giving it directly to the plants but it is essential for compost tea. It doesn't do much of anything for the plants themselves; molasses is like an easy food source for the microbes in a compost tea while it bubbles so they spend more time fucking and making babies instead of searching for something to eat.
Click to expand...
So ur saying it is ok to use CaMg+ from general organics in small doses every watering or every other watering? When they get at least a month old that is. That's why I was also asking about the molassas, because it has 2% calcium and 2% magnesium. I have the grandmas unsulphered molassas also. I'm watering them each a double shot glass full of water every two to three days in these small pots.. im not sure why they are liking a little wilted, there still growing, I watered half of them this morning to see if there's a difference in them. The top half inch is dryish and when I get down in them a inch or so u can see it's has some moisture in the dirt so I didn't thing moisture was the problem.. I'll check back with u later and send u some pics of them and let me know what u think. Thanks
 

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Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

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Yep...Molasses mainly provides a food source for soil microbes; does contain some macros but it must be consumed by the micro herd first in order for whatever goodies are there to become available to the plants root systems. Unlike the liquid calmag which is immediately available. You can forget about the need to add back macros altogether if you collect rainwater and give to your plants as-is; it needs nothing as it should contain macros and microbes. The best water is sourced directly from heaven.
 
Hi crazii

Hi crazii

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Yep...Molasses mainly provides a food source for soil microbes; does contain some macros but it must be consumed by the micro herd first in order for whatever goodies are there to become available to the plants root systems. Unlike the liquid calmag which is immediately available. You can forget about the need to add back macros altogether if you collect rainwater and give to your plants as-is; it needs nothing as it should contain macros and microbes. The best water is sourced directly from heaven.
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Man your better than a computer, you have shared some great organic advice. Probably the best I have looked at. :clap:
 
Hi crazii

Hi crazii

Active Member
I do think it would be way easier for new organic farmers to simply buy a ready made soil and then maybe experiment on 1 or 2 plant with your supersoil.

Buy a decent soil, with less nutrients for seedlings. Add some organic root stimulant.

Get some organic veg fertiliser
Get some organic bloom fertiliser
Get some organic additive for flower to improve taste, I do personally think it's more down to your grow light to get the right accuracy of light to producing all the essential oils and terpenes. So mixing your lighting spectrum is really good.

And a get decent organic enzymes and beneficials tea, that should contain similar things like beneficial bacteria, fungi and biological catalysts, amino acids, humid acids, sea weed extracts, trichoderma, bacillus and mycrohizal fungi.
 
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ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
Not possible. Soil isn't organic for just containing organisms.
If I just took the people from your town and dumped them on the moon, it won't be a new town on the moon, only a dump of people.
You can start thinking of soil as alive after some time of exposure to the elements, plants, weeds and insects living on it, bacteria, fungi, nematodes and worms underneath. But as I said, it is not just a matter of containing them, they have to exist in established cultures.

Anything less than this is dirt with the potential of turning into soil.
 
Sidvicious1

Sidvicious1

Active Member
Richard Drysift said:
Yep...Molasses mainly provides a food source for soil microbes; does contain some macros but it must be consumed by the micro herd first in order for whatever goodies are there to become available to the plants root systems. Unlike the liquid calmag which is immediately available. You can forget about the need to add back macros altogether if you collect rainwater and give to your plants as-is; it needs nothing as it should contain macros and microbes. The best water is sourced directly from heaven.
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I got ya.. we're def getting alot of rain down here this time of year so I don't think it will be to hard for me to collect enough rain water to take care of them.. i remember u said that u use ur dehumidifier water with the calmg+ so If I need to go that route I can.. did u get a chance to look at those pics? I'm not sure what's up. They are a little more droopy that I'd like to see. .. I was thinking i might have been giving a little too much water because the one plant I have thats in a little bit bigger pot getting the same amount of water looks great. i backed off the water but there still not perking up to much. It's been two days since I watered half of them to see if I could tell a diferwnce. I'm going to back the light off a few inches and see if that might be it, could just be a little too intense for em. It's a 400watt MH I have a foot away from them. See how the one on the end in a bigger lot is looking fine the others are wilting a little more than I'd like.. thanks for the info and help..
 

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Richard Drysift

Richard Drysift

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They look ok to me. Droop is almost always caused by either too much or too little moisture in the container. High temps can certainly add to the problem. Sounds like maybe you just need to add some more perlite to your mix to improve drainage next time you pot up. I doubt your 400w is the culprit unless it's real hot in your grow area in which case you would need better ventilation and/or a higher cfm exhaust fan.
 
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