He keeps the local herion users out of my house, but he's actually scared of his own shadow, if a cat fronts him out he shits himself lolGreat looking retort ! Great looking dog!
He keeps the local herion users out of my house, but he's actually scared of his own shadow, if a cat fronts him out he shits himself lol
Big +1 on the light part I add neem to my mix, top dress with it and add it to the worm bin. 1cup/cf is max added to the mix and 1/2cup/cf is plenty. A light 1/4cup for the top dress is more than enough. I'll sprinkle a bit on the surface of the worm bin every 2-3 weeks.I'd start light and adjust from there. 1/4 cup tops IMO.
I personally don't use neem seed cake in my worm bin. I jacked a few plants up with it so I'm a lil gun shy to be honest.
A question for you st0wandgrow. Do you use any type of leaves? Is there a more beneficial leaf?I started my pile in the fall of 2014. I was using my neighbors in the interim. Mine is ready, and I've used it in the last couple batches of soil that I've made. No unwanted critters, or ill effects of any kind that I've noticed. I chose to add a good amount of N (alfalfa meal) to my pile to both speed the process up, and attract thermophilic bacteria to the pile to destroy any pathogens that may be present. So far so good!
I just take a leaf blower and blow all of my leaves in to one corner of my yard. I then run over the leaves with my lawn mower to increase surface area and break them down a bit. Wet it down, project some alfalfa meal over the pile, turn, then leave it be. 12 months later and you're left with a dark, crumbly material that makes the best medium I have ever worked with. Good water retention, but also very porous. I used to water my 10 gal containers once every 3-4 days. Now I have to water every 36-48 hours. Absent an automated watering device (like blu mats) it makes for a bit more work, but the growth and overall health of my plants has improved drastically. I'm assuming this is due to the increased oxygen to the root zone, and perhaps fungi/bacteria that colonize the leaf mold.
It's free, easy to make, and is the most environmentally friendly medium that I'm aware of. I urge everyone to try it!
I only have maple trees in my yard, so I don't have any first hand experience with other leaves, but from the reading I've done there is only subtle differences between various types of trees leaves. Oak for example is higher in lignin, so they take longer to break down.A question for you st0wandgrow. Do you use any type of leaves? Is there a more beneficial leaf?
Hey guys, first off if this question has already been asked/answered, I apologize now,
I have been reading this thread for the last two days (whenever I have an extra 5 minutes).....
So I have ran a couple of my pots through a few grows now. They are FULL.
I was thinking about trying to cut the top off my pots, like sod farmers would do, pull dirt out of the bottom of the pot and replace the "sod" back in the pot.
So my question to you guys is, A) Is this something you guys do? B) How do you go about this?
I was thinking of letting it dry out a little so I could pull the whole "plug" of dirt up enough to cut underneath the roots and separate it.
The other thought I had was to cut down through the dirt and roots and divide it up like pizza slices and then try to dig out each "slice" roots and all, and then patch the "sod slices" back on top after removing some dirt.
Any advise or a good direction to go in would be much appreciated!
Thanks guys!
Thanks for replying back.No. We just topdress castings and watered with seed sprout teas or coconut water. Which will break down all the old roots within a couple weeks. Increasing the microbial population. Then you can replant after or before that happens.
No. When my pots have reached their limit. I have removed a couple inches of soil so I can topdress. That's after harvest of course. Then just throw that removed soil into a bin of other soil.Thanks for replying back.
I have no more room to top dress anymore!!
So you are saying the SST and more castings will break down the soil enough for it to drop 3", so I can start top dressing again?
Again thanks for the reply.No. When my pots have reached their limit. I have removed a couple inches of soil so I can topdress. That's after harvest of course. Then just throw that removed soil into a bin of other soil.
The enzymes break down the roots. At the same time the microbes feed on the roots.
If you can't topdress. Then water with a compost tea.
If you are in mid flower. Removing the roots will only be detrimental to the plant.
The clover will break down roots while they're growing too. They facilitate microbes and exute enzymes from their roots. So you will be fine there. Just don't let them dry out.Again thanks for the reply.
The pots in question have been run through 3x time. They are harvested and sitting back in my veg room. They still have clover growing in them.
I was thinking it would be better to keep the living manure alive, with all beneficials intact with the roots.
But you say to go ahead and just rip the top 3-4 inches out of each pot and through it on the compost and start a new manure crop in my pots?