Building A Better Soil: Demonstrations & Discussions Of Organic Soil Recipes

Oh hey there SS - for your "somwhat" yellowing plants you have going you can do a Alfalfa (meal) tea. I was just doing some reading. The Alfalfa tea and foiler is a good one. I almost forgot about it... been using it in my soil mixes and our composting.

I was reading about some statistics on yields with Alfalfa tea added... its not subtle.

I almost forgot about this... the below was a study on rhododendron at Virginia Tech... if it works for rhododendron...

The treatment was a foiler spray of alfalfa meal tea (triacontanol)

TYPE OF MEASUREMENT CONTROL PLANTS PLANTS TREATED 5 TIMES INCREASE
Total Weight (minus soil)............30.2 g....................83.1 g.........................275%
Diameter of trunk at base..........4.0 mm..................8.0mm........................100%
Number of branches..................4...........................10..............................150%
Number of leaves.....................62..........................167............................269%
Number of flower buds...............4...........................8...............................100%
 
Radogast said:
I recently picked up a dehydrator at auction. Should I dehydrate my comfrey leaves after the next frost, or just cut them up and add them to the worm bin?

I won't be doing homemade folair tea before summer - I'm drinking the Doc Bud koolaid for the next several months. :)
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Hmmmm..... It's always good to have some dried root and leaf around in case of emergencies. Your family's already been through one bad break. I'd make sure I had at least some root set aside. The rest I'd feed to the worms. They'll love you for it and the resulting vermicompost will be excellent for your outdoor gardens.
 
im doing a roots organic grow setup next to my los mix but since the mix i have i cant do my clones or babies in im using the rest of the roots organic bag soil i have:cheertwo: and since i still have sum of there nutes left i figured id do a roots organic grow next to my los setup and see which does better i guess but mainly so i dnt waste my money so what im wondering is do i need to ph the bottle nutes from roots organics or do i not need to??
 
Community alert: a chance to lend a helping hand

jamesleemc, one of our family here, recently returned home to find that sanctuary violated by thieves. They cleaned him out, including all 14 plants, lights, equipment..... Every one of us reading that shuddered.

He's started a thread asking for any used equipment and supplies that might be able to find their way to him. I'm posting the link, but know that there are no directives other than a desire to help a member hurting in any way you feel compelled to respond. A kind word of encouragement can be every bit as valuable as a ballast when you've been slighted like this in life.

If nothing else, stop and let him know your positive intentions are bolstering him as he waits to see what wonder the universe holds in store for him next. Shall we surprise him? :battingeyelashes: :Love:

support and help
 
Radogast said:
I recently picked up a dehydrator at auction. Should I dehydrate my comfrey leaves after the next frost, or just cut them up and add them to the worm bin?

I won't be doing homemade folair tea before summer - I'm drinking the Doc Bud koolaid for the next several months. :)
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Cut them up and add to the worm bin, no need to dehydrate it. I don't know much about dehydration, but I know heat can destroy and basically eliminate many things we want. Cold processing / fermenting / vermicomposting retain more as far as I know.
 
Blazinjones said:
im doing a roots organic grow setup next to my los mix but since the mix i have i cant do my clones or babies in im using the rest of the roots organic bag soil i have:cheertwo: and since i still have sum of there nutes left i figured id do a roots organic grow next to my los setup and see which does better i guess but mainly so i dnt waste my money so what im wondering is do i need to ph the bottle nutes from roots organics or do i not need to??
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The instructions on the bottles or companies website should tell you if you need to ph or not.

What LOS mix are you using that you can't put young plants into?
 
36Gr0w said:
The instructions on the bottles or companies website should tell you if you need to ph or not.

What LOS mix are you using that you can't put young plants into?
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When I was using the BuildAsoil Clackamos Coot mix, I made a seedling mix out of 1 part CC mix soil to 2 parts peat and 1 part perlite and started in under 1 qt containers.

Uncut I lost both seeds and clones. By the time it was transplant time they were ready for the full strength CC mix. The issue may also have been partly because my water PH was 6.8 ish. o it might have been a combo of the soil and water PH.
 
Whew! I made it! I read the whole thread! What a great resource you all have put together here. So much positivity. The great thing about the 'whole thread' is that the same messages are reinforced again and again. It makes it a little easier to learn that way.

Obviously, from my post count I am a noob here. I am only in the planning stage now. I want to do a 'simple' patio grow with some autos to start. I am a ways off yet (probably won't plant until mid-June) so I have time to get my soil ready. I am starting to assemble the pieces. I have a question about aloe. Does anyone think that agave would be a decent substitute? I have a big one in front of my place and I am always trimming it because it reaches out onto the sidewalk with its pointy-stabby parts. So I figured, I could go out and take a cutting every so often and either juice it or blend it into tea or add into a top dressing. What say ye?

Thanks everyone for making this thread incredible. Blessings.

J-
(deep So. Cal.)
 
I have a question about aloe. Does anyone think that agave would be a decent substitute?
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not sure as a substitute for aloe. Agave does have a lot of sugar if i recall, the blue agave being used in tequila making.
Pretty sure it would not hurt using the fresh liquid from the leaves in a tea, they should be juicy succulent leaves.

But, not sure if the saponin in the agave provide the same as the aloe to help mix oil and water together. Good luck! :surf:
 
Re: Building a Better Soil - Demonstrations & Discussions of Organic Soil Recipes

Okay, so I went and cut off a hunk of the variegated agave and trimmed off all of the sharp barbs. Those things are nasty! It was maybe 10" x 5" tapered, but a disappointing 1/4" thick. There was definitely more fiber than juice, so I am thinking no way on substituting for aloe. I threw it in the blender with some cocoanut water and fed it to the worms. They ought to like that smoothie.

sent from my mind using my fingers
 
32 30 gallon pot mix

Girls scout cookies fematized
Fluxing all plants
30 gallon smart pots

Base mix:
30 CF peats moss
30 CF rice hulls
32 CF worm castings
10 gallons aloe vera juice

Agriculture Tumbler peats moss and aloe vera overnight to completely hydrate peats moss...Add remaining base mix...

Amendments:
150 lbs rabbit manure
20 lbs afalpha
100 lbs 6 malt barley
20 lbs kelp meal
30 lbs crab meal
40 lbs neem meal
50 lbs basalt powder
50 lbs glacier rock powder

What do you all think???
 
MaxHeadroom said:
I've been following along with great interest and would love to mix up a good soil, but here in the UK crab and lobster compost are unheard of. Do any of soil experts know if there are alternatives that would be almost as good?

Thanks for all the great information so far. I'm just a little stuck trying to source or replace the crustacean component.
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Hi Maxheadroom.
I will pm you the details of a supplier in the uk that I've been very kindly directed to by some fantastic people... you know who you are .

...


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App
 
ginganinja30 said:
Hi Maxheadroom.
I will pm you the details of a supplier in the uk that I've been very kindly directed to by some fantastic people... you know who you are .

...


Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine Mobile App
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I also have a good reliable uk supplier of good quality crab meal. PM me for further info... :passitleft:
 
What's a good way to measure soil?

I have access to the 5g buckets from Home Depot and also to the 27g black rectangular storage bins with yellow lids from Costco. The latter is where I usually mix my soil in.

Obviously I also have access to the usual range of pots (1g, 3g, 5g, 7g, etc).

What can I use to measure 1 cubic foot so I can start using Coot's mix?

Thanks
 
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