yankeetoker
Well-Known Member
I modeled my mixes after what Dennise uses (per PeeJay).....a baby soil for seedlings, a veg soil, and a bloom soil to finish up. If you look back a few pages, you will see the components of each.
YT
Building A Better Soil: Demonstrations & Discussions Of Organic Soil Recipes
- Thread starter SweetSue
- Start date
I modeled my mixes after what Dennise uses (per PeeJay).....a baby soil for seedlings, a veg soil, and a bloom soil to finish up. If you look back a few pages, you will see the components of each.
YT
I start all my seeds(veggies and cannabis) in the same mix that the canna flowers in. I make changes and try different things with different batches, I topdress and mulch and feed different strengths throughout the plants growth and flowering stages. Use the best compost/ewc you can find, make your own if you can. The amendments are such a small part of the grow if you have you 1/3 1/3 1/3 peat, aeration, and high quality compost/ewc.
Use the biggest pots you can fit for veg and flower. You can stunt plant growth(if wanted) by getting them rootbound in veg. If you use smart pots, you can put it in a bigger pot surrounded by soil so roots aren't disturbed. After harvest, a clone or transplant can be put back in the smaller smartpot, assuming watering has been done correctly(it doesn't dry out) and it has proper aeration.
Use the biggest pots you can fit for veg and flower. You can stunt plant growth(if wanted) by getting them rootbound in veg. If you use smart pots, you can put it in a bigger pot surrounded by soil so roots aren't disturbed. After harvest, a clone or transplant can be put back in the smaller smartpot, assuming watering has been done correctly(it doesn't dry out) and it has proper aeration.
That depends on pot size, other inputs, and the feel/texture of the two. You don't want your worm bin to be a muddy mess or heat up too much.
I feed each 1 gallons of soil and worms a dusting of rock dust once a month and 1 egg sized ball of food and a sprinkling of water about 3 times per month. I check once per week, and if the last meal isn't gone or almost gone, I wait another week. For soil, I started with about 1 qt / 1 liter of coco coir or peat moss, a scattering of potting soil and rock dust to give it texture, and an egg sized ball of food.
Since I started with so little soil, by the time I get over a gallon, I know it is almost pure worm castings. Since I feed my worms organic bananna peels and homegrown cannabis leaves, I know the worm castings contain nutrients that plants love.
messing up.... wait a sec
Comfrey (my go to), yarrow, stinging nettle, mint, lemmon balm, bee balm, sage, cardoon... wow I could go on for a while on this!
My earthworm bins are started on 3/4 homemade compost 1/4 lava rock/pumice/ perlite. I amend with kelp meal, crab shell powder, neem/karanja meal, glacial rock dust, then mulch with stinging nettles and cannabis trim/fillings. I used to mulch with straw, that's all been worked through by the worms.
My bins are different shapes and sizes.
My bins are different shapes and sizes.
Do you plant these together with cannabis?
Aloe is an incredibly beneficial plant, and borage is great too.
I broke my pitchfork this evening, so I threw it at a tree. Had just started screening my first of four 3 yard piles of compost!
This is what my compost came from. This has been worked through by worms for a long time. I'll get pictures tomorrow of some screened compost.
my compost which included kelp, alfalfa, neem/Karanja meal, veggies and plants from last years garden, stinging nettle, dandelions, glacial rock dust, 10 or 12 ocean fish, lots of crushed crab shells, straw chicken bedding, my chickens crap, the top soil from last summers chicken pen, grass(more like dandelion and weeds) clippings, and culled cannabis plants.
my compost which included kelp, alfalfa, neem/Karanja meal, veggies and plants from last years garden, stinging nettle, dandelions, glacial rock dust, 10 or 12 ocean fish, lots of crushed crab shells, straw chicken bedding, my chickens crap, the top soil from last summers chicken pen, grass(more like dandelion and weeds) clippings, and culled cannabis plants.
- Thread starter
- #750
Wow 36, that's some serious compost. You guys are on fire here tonight.
Makes me want to start raising worms again. I hope to relocate this year, so I'm not going to, but I'm certainly taking notes for future projects.
Anyone have a photo of cooked soil with some nice white stuff growing on top?
JimmieJ on his first grow had some white stuff on his cooked soil (based on one of PeeJay's recipes) and could use advise/assurance on whether this is good stuff. JimmieJ's First Grow - Closet - Soil - Bag Seed - CFLs
JimmieJ on his first grow had some white stuff on his cooked soil (based on one of PeeJay's recipes) and could use advise/assurance on whether this is good stuff. JimmieJ's First Grow - Closet - Soil - Bag Seed - CFLs
Do any of you guys know where to get rock dust in Canada? Without having put much effort yet into understanding what goes into a good soil mix, it seems to be the one thing that I keep finding on the list that I can't find in my front yard. I haven't read through this whole thread. A quick search didn't turn up anything. Of course - buying from the US may be an option, but the one place I did contact wanted to charge extremely high shipping.
I grow in sunshine mix and produce a small pile of used stuff every year. I usually randomly mix it in the garden or compost piles, but am thinking I should start putting a bit more thought into turning it from sunshine mix into real soil. I also have endless miles of peat and sphagnum moss here. I'm on the ocean so have access to infinite amounts of seafood waste and seaweed.
I grow in sunshine mix and produce a small pile of used stuff every year. I usually randomly mix it in the garden or compost piles, but am thinking I should start putting a bit more thought into turning it from sunshine mix into real soil. I also have endless miles of peat and sphagnum moss here. I'm on the ocean so have access to infinite amounts of seafood waste and seaweed.
iwltfum
New Member
Hey WC!
Gaia green products is out of grand forks, BC. I hear great stuff about all their products, but mostly about their glacial rock dust. That's probably where I would get mine if I didn't have a big mining industry near by.
ADDITION: If you click on the "stores" link on their web page, it takes you to some huge distributor lists for the different provinces in Canada.
If you live near the border you can save a lot on shipping with a USA post office box. My daughter putside Toronto keeps a PO Box in Niagara Falls. Not that this helps much
Shipping from USA to Canada is actually costly, (a large flat rate box is $60 US) so you can't really blame the company.
Thanks very much for the replies guys. Yeah I have to assume it's going to be costly shipping rock around. If you sensed a little annoyance over the shipping rates, it's actually because the company was very lame in the public relations department. Also- it kind of goes against the grain to pay twice as much for shipping as the actual product- especially, somehow, when it's rock dust... 
Anyway- that's neither here not there.
I'm close to the Alaskan border but that probably won't help me much because there isn't much of a road system here - I'm close yet far.
I didn't know that Gaia Green is Canadian, Iwltfum. That sounds like a great option. I had a bag of their fertilizer once that I was very happy with.
Anyway- that's neither here not there.
I'm close to the Alaskan border but that probably won't help me much because there isn't much of a road system here - I'm close yet far.
I didn't know that Gaia Green is Canadian, Iwltfum. That sounds like a great option. I had a bag of their fertilizer once that I was very happy with.
Robert Celt
New Member
Morning Weasel
Are there any rock quarries near you? If so, go there and ask for "crusher dust", it is the fines that get screened out when they are grading gravel, 1/4" and smaller. For all you would require, they may even give it to you for free.
RC
Are there any rock quarries near you? If so, go there and ask for "crusher dust", it is the fines that get screened out when they are grading gravel, 1/4" and smaller. For all you would require, they may even give it to you for free.
RC
Morning Weasel
Are there any rock quarries near you? If so, go there and ask for "crusher dust", it is the fines that get screened out when they are grading gravel, 1/4" and smaller. For all you would require, they may even give it to you for free.
RC
^^^Yeah that. And I was going to suggest looking around you for areas where glaciers USED to be, or still are back up in the mountains. I think I once heard it called glacial mud.... or something like that. I think I heard of an Alaskan member just going out and getting buckets of the stuff at the alluvial fan of some rivers.
Thanks again. My first thought was - no quarries, since hardly anyone lives here. But yes there actually is a quarry! Maybe even two, owned by that guy with the fancy house who simply digs his money out of the ground every year They crush rock for roadwork and I'm not sure if they produce 'fancier' grades, but they might, and there must be dust produced, regardless.
I've been in lots of areas where I had access to glacier valleys but unfortunately this isn't one of them. This area was glaciated historically but there aren't any active glaciers to be found now- everything is covered in nearly impenetrable rainforest and brush, and to get up into some alpine country where I might find exposed rock would be an epic struggle.
About the only exposed rock is in the tidal zone or in very cliffy areas.
However, in the tidal zone there is a lot of sedimentary rock- the consistency of hardened clay, with plenty of fossils of sea creature shells in it.
Looks like I have some reading to do (well, I already knew that I'm just procrastinating) to understand more about this- and what elements I am trying to get from the rock dust, and whether some rock is better than other rock, etc.
Thanks again for the great replies.
Edit- Oh yeah - creek and river mouths. That is an option- and probably would give me a great mix of mineralized muck if I start digging around.
The thing that slows me down with the organic cannabis gardening recipes is the 'pinch of this, and a peck of that, and a dash of that for good luck' sort of approach. Easy maybe once you get your feet wet, but slightly confusing before that.
They crush rock for roadwork and I'm not sure if they produce 'fancier' grades, but they might, and there must be dust produced, regardless. I've been in lots of areas where I had access to glacier valleys but unfortunately this isn't one of them. This area was glaciated historically but there aren't any active glaciers to be found now- everything is covered in nearly impenetrable rainforest and brush, and to get up into some alpine country where I might find exposed rock would be an epic struggle.
About the only exposed rock is in the tidal zone or in very cliffy areas.
However, in the tidal zone there is a lot of sedimentary rock- the consistency of hardened clay, with plenty of fossils of sea creature shells in it.
Looks like I have some reading to do (well, I already knew that I'm just procrastinating) to understand more about this- and what elements I am trying to get from the rock dust, and whether some rock is better than other rock, etc.
Thanks again for the great replies.
Edit- Oh yeah - creek and river mouths. That is an option- and probably would give me a great mix of mineralized muck if I start digging around.
The thing that slows me down with the organic cannabis gardening recipes is the 'pinch of this, and a peck of that, and a dash of that for good luck' sort of approach. Easy maybe once you get your feet wet, but slightly confusing before that.
Ok this is freakin hilarious. I went to town today and stopped at the corner store for a snack. There aren't many stores here and this one sells a bit of everything, besides the usual junk food. Sometimes they sell a bag or two of potting soil. Anyway, what's the first thing I see beside the door when I walk in? I asked the dude at the counter -why do you have this here ?!! He was like 'uhhh I dunno man that's like totally weird- rock dust? Wtf. That's, like, totally stupid.'
'Yeah that's weird. I want it!!'
It wasn't there yesterday. Freight came in I guess. Just the one bag, lol.
'Yeah that's weird. I want it!!'
It wasn't there yesterday. Freight came in I guess. Just the one bag, lol.
- Thread starter
- #760
Ok this is freakin hilarious. I went to town today and stopped at the corner store for a snack. There aren't many stores here and this one sells a bit of everything, besides the usual junk food. Sometimes they sell a bag or two of potting soil. Anyway, what's the first thing I see beside the door when I walk in? I asked the dude at the counter why do you have this here ?!! He was like 'uhhh I dunno man that's like totally weird- rock dust? Wtf. That's stupid.
'Yeah that's weird. I want it!!'
Look at that Weaselcracker, the universe smiled on you. Didn't see that coming did you?