Malted barley

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member

Groat21

Active Member
Clackamas Coots talks about it on this podcast. He has 3 podcasts on this show and it's worth the time to listen.

https://www.kisorganics.com/pages/podcast
Awesome stuff! I've got to listen to the last two still, but seem well worth it!

Does anyone know if I should get more variety than just the 2-row? I heard him talk about using "malted grains, specifically barley". Didn't really touch on what the other grains were.

This is what I can get at a local brew store

2-Row ($0.004 per gram) (+$0.00)


Pilsner ($0.004 per gram) (+$0.00)


Maris Otter ($0.006 per gram) (+$0.01)


Red X ($0.008 per gram) (+$0.01)


Wheat ($0.004 per gram) (+$0.00)


Golden Promise ($0.008 per gram) (+$0.01)


I'm going ahead with 5lbs of the 2-row to start, but could use some input! Thanks, guys!
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
Awesome stuff! I've got to listen to the last two still, but seem well worth it!

Does anyone know if I should get more variety than just the 2-row? I heard him talk about using "malted grains, specifically barley". Didn't really touch on what the other grains were.

This is what I can get at a local brew store

2-Row ($0.004 per gram) (+$0.00)


Pilsner ($0.004 per gram) (+$0.00)


Maris Otter ($0.006 per gram) (+$0.01)


Red X ($0.008 per gram) (+$0.01)


Wheat ($0.004 per gram) (+$0.00)


Golden Promise ($0.008 per gram) (+$0.01)


I'm going ahead with 5lbs of the 2-row to start, but could use some input! Thanks, guys!
I hear that you can use any of them, but rye has too much phosphorus. What you should do next is find Wheat/Rice Bran and start making bokashi bran. Wheat bran has Mn, one thing that I am always low on. Plus, bokashi bran is a good compost accelerator that the worms LOVE, it makes a good topdressing with barley, and I've been using it to "Cook" my soil. I've been adding about 1/2gal of bokashi bran to 2cu.ft of soil and it cooks in about a week. My plants really respond to this too! Some don't want to hear me about it, but my plants are super happy after getting soil aged with bokashi bran. Here is what Grokashi does in my Earthbox. I get a good mycelium mat and then add compost. That's the shower cap around the plant, it covers the pot.
DSC01174.JPG

The leaves have been composting for a full year before I added them to the worm bin and you can see that the leaves are still red. Using my homemade Grokashi(5gal bucket) really helped to speed things up.
DSC01117.JPG

Here is a close-up of the leaves... This was before the grokashi. I noticed that I really didn't have a healthy worm population going into December, so I gave them 5gal of grokashi and covered them for the winter. I actually had a healthier worm population over the winter than I ever did. The 'kashi helped keep the bin warm.
DSC01128.JPG
 

Groat21

Active Member
I hear that you can use any of them, but rye has too much phosphorus. What you should do next is find Wheat/Rice Bran and start making bokashi bran. Wheat bran has Mn, one thing that I am always low on. Plus, bokashi bran is a good compost accelerator that the worms LOVE, it makes a good topdressing with barley, and I've been using it to "Cook" my soil. I've been adding about 1/2gal of bokashi bran to 2cu.ft of soil and it cooks in about a week. My plants really respond to this too! Some don't want to hear me about it, but my plants are super happy after getting soil aged with bokashi bran. Here is what Grokashi does in my Earthbox. I get a good mycelium mat and then add compost. That's the shower cap around the plant, it covers the pot.
View attachment 4334843

The leaves have been composting for a full year before I added them to the worm bin and you can see that the leaves are still red. Using my homemade Grokashi(5gal bucket) really helped to speed things up.
View attachment 4334846

Here is a close-up of the leaves... This was before the grokashi. I noticed that I really didn't have a healthy worm population going into December, so I gave them 5gal of grokashi and covered them for the winter. I actually had a healthier worm population over the winter than I ever did. The 'kashi helped keep the bin warm.
View attachment 4334850
What about just buying the wheat/rice bran and adding that along with the malted barley, etc, either as a top dressing or to the worm bin? Or both?

Don’t really want to get into the whole Bokashi thing, worm farm and compost bin should be good
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
What about just buying the wheat/rice bran and adding that along with the malted barley, etc, either as a top dressing or to the worm bin? Or both?

Don’t really want to get into the whole Bokashi thing, worm farm and compost bin should be good
I used to be the same way about bokashi, but I am only using the bran and not bokashi compost. Wheat bran has a lot of Mn along, then just add EM1 inoculant. Adding 'kashi to compost and the worm bin has been working pretty well for me. It really got my worm bin composting and the worm population really exploded. However, I was following a Grokashi recipe and it had stuff like Youngevity(multivitamin), azomite, beet juice, and sea salt for minerals. I also started adding greensand with a touch of Mn sulfate. I started adding my own trace minerals based on the soil tests that I have been getting.
DSC01163.JPG

I've been trying to keep a lower N# because it is supposed to help with K intake. K needs to be 2x the recommended amount for cannabis. I can usually get my iron levels up easy with kelp and rock dust, but Mn has always been a problem. Before, I never really considered it a problem but Dr. Steve Solomon talks about it on one of those podcasts. He said that it would take a ton of rock dust to just get a cup full of Mn and Zn. I understood that it was time to find Mn inputs. I'm looking into growing companion plants like comfrey and borage, then I got into KNF and JADAM.

I don't mean to rant, but I wish that I didn't turn my back to bokashi/grokashi several years ago.
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
What about just buying the wheat/rice bran and adding that along with the malted barley, etc, either as a top dressing or to the worm bin? Or both?
The wheat by itself really didn't compost very well and the worms didn't really seem to be attracted to it. Barley in the worm bin is good, also adding it to the mycelium mat from a 'kashi top dress. I add barley as a soil amendment and top-dressing and that huge bag that I have is going to last for a while.
 

Groat21

Active Member
I used to be the same way about bokashi, but I am only using the bran and not bokashi compost. Wheat bran has a lot of Mn along, then just add EM1 inoculant. Adding 'kashi to compost and the worm bin has been working pretty well for me. It really got my worm bin composting and the worm population really exploded. However, I was following a Grokashi recipe and it had stuff like Youngevity(multivitamin), azomite, beet juice, and sea salt for minerals. I also started adding greensand with a touch of Mn sulfate. I started adding my own trace minerals based on the soil tests that I have been getting.
View attachment 4334947

I've been trying to keep a lower N# because it is supposed to help with K intake. K needs to be 2x the recommended amount for cannabis. I can usually get my iron levels up easy with kelp and rock dust, but Mn has always been a problem. Before, I never really considered it a problem but Dr. Steve Solomon talks about it on one of those podcasts. He said that it would take a ton of rock dust to just get a cup full of Mn and Zn. I understood that it was time to find Mn inputs. I'm looking into growing companion plants like comfrey and borage, then I got into KNF and JADAM.

I don't mean to rant, but I wish that I didn't turn my back to bokashi/grokashi several years ago.
I will look into it some more, just don't have a ton of room and my growing supplies/equipment are already taking up too much space lol

What is KNF and JADAM? I was going to grow alfalfa as a cover crop, not sure I'll have much room for a companion plant like comfrey though. I'm going to be using a 32"x18" pot for 4 plants (65 gallons) indoors.
 

Groat21

Active Member
I hear that you can use any of them, but rye has too much phosphorus. What you should do next is find Wheat/Rice Bran and start making bokashi bran. Wheat bran has Mn, one thing that I am always low on. Plus, bokashi bran is a good compost accelerator that the worms LOVE, it makes a good topdressing with barley, and I've been using it to "Cook" my soil. I've been adding about 1/2gal of bokashi bran to 2cu.ft of soil and it cooks in about a week. My plants really respond to this too! Some don't want to hear me about it, but my plants are super happy after getting soil aged with bokashi bran. Here is what Grokashi does in my Earthbox. I get a good mycelium mat and then add compost. That's the shower cap around the plant, it covers the pot.
View attachment 4334843

The leaves have been composting for a full year before I added them to the worm bin and you can see that the leaves are still red. Using my homemade Grokashi(5gal bucket) really helped to speed things up.
View attachment 4334846

Here is a close-up of the leaves... This was before the grokashi. I noticed that I really didn't have a healthy worm population going into December, so I gave them 5gal of grokashi and covered them for the winter. I actually had a healthier worm population over the winter than I ever did. The 'kashi helped keep the bin warm.
View attachment 4334850
https://www.homehardware.ca/en/1kg-culture-mix-for-pet-waste-composter/p/4435649

Is this what you make in it? The Bokashi bran, and then you add that to the soil/compost/worm bin?

$10 for a kg already made doesn’t seem to bad, but I’m wondering, do you use the fermented waste from your Bokashi bin, or do you just use your bin to make the bran?

I think the Bokashi idea is actually pretty neat, getting rid of nearly all food scraps sounds great. Worst case I guess I just add to my compost pile after it’s done.
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
I will look into it some more, just don't have a ton of room and my growing supplies/equipment are already taking up too much space lol

What is KNF and JADAM? I was going to grow alfalfa as a cover crop, not sure I'll have much room for a companion plant like comfrey though. I'm going to be using a 32"x18" pot for 4 plants (65 gallons) indoors.
Comfrey is not a god companion plant you for sure dont want it growing with your MJ. It is a great bio accumulator but it grows big and fast. Should be planted in a well thought out place in a yard roots will reach down about 15 feet and bring minerals and nutrients up into the leaves. Be sure to get Blocking 14 comfrey which means it doesn't produce viable seeds so it wont take over your yard. Once established you just keep cutting it down once it grows about 16 inches tall , then shred the cuttings and use those to top dress the cannabis plants. Some folks also make a comfrey tea and use it as a foliar spray. Clover makes a good cover crop and the seeds are quite a bit cheaper then alfalfa seeds. But yeah you will have problems trying to grow comfrey with cannabis in the same container unless it is a really big ass container.
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
For it to be truely Organic you would also want to use a organic 2 row barley. Problem with regular wheat and barley is some of the farmers up north use round up on the crops 1 to 2 weeks before harvest, it is called desiccating. Helps them harvest earlier and it is easier on the harvest machinery when the plants are close to dead. Really it is a small percentage of farmers doing it but there is no way to know if your barley has been sprayed unless you go the certified organic route.
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
https://www.homehardware.ca/en/1kg-culture-mix-for-pet-waste-composter/p/4435649

Is this what you make in it? The Bokashi bran, and then you add that to the soil/compost/worm bin?

$10 for a kg already made doesn’t seem to bad, but I’m wondering, do you use the fermented waste from your Bokashi bin, or do you just use your bin to make the bran?

I think the Bokashi idea is actually pretty neat, getting rid of nearly all food scraps sounds great. Worst case I guess I just add to my compost pile after it’s done.
I'm just using the bran right now, but I have made bokashi compost and I'm using it on my outdoor garden. Also, I'm not sure how much soil you are running because that will determine if making your own 'kashi is worth it or not. I usually have to mix up 250gal at a time, so I make my 'kashi 10gal at a time. For making the bran, I found this old bucket that pool chemicals came in. It's a nice sturdy bucket and it's been empty for a few years before I found it, so no chem smell at all.

Anyways, here is a link to my homemade grokashi. I was about to make more, so I can update this thread.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/my-first-run-at-making-grokashi-labs-and-fpj.979359/
 

Groat21

Active Member
I'm just using the bran right now, but I have made bokashi compost and I'm using it on my outdoor garden. Also, I'm not sure how much soil you are running because that will determine if making your own 'kashi is worth it or not. I usually have to mix up 250gal at a time, so I make my 'kashi 10gal at a time. For making the bran, I found this old bucket that pool chemicals came in. It's a nice sturdy bucket and it's been empty for a few years before I found it, so no chem smell at all.

Anyways, here is a link to my homemade grokashi. I was about to make more, so I can update this thread.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/my-first-run-at-making-grokashi-labs-and-fpj.979359/
Thanks! I’ve definitely have a lot more reading to do on this subject!
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Mke sure to freeze the barley before using it. The majority of barley grains have moth eggs. You want to kill them. Especially if you're top dressing barley. You don't want to see moth flying out of your soil. They don't do any damage. They're just a nuisance.
 

Groat21

Active Member
Just picked up a 5lb bag for $10 of some malted barley.

I’m wondering if I should further grind this for topdress, and leave as is to mix with soil?

Also, looking for some input on how much malted barley to add to my new batch of living soil.

Thanks guys, here’s a pic of the malted barley
9C908C60-2493-47C6-90FD-5553BCDE6F3A.jpeg
Mke sure to freeze the barley before using it. The majority of barley grains have moth eggs. You want to kill them. Especially if you're top dressing barley. You don't want to see moth flying out of your soil. They don't do any damage. They're just a nuisance.
How long should I freeze it for? I already threw some in the worm bin as is, only about a cup or so...
 
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