Jonny5
Well-Known Member
Who said plants
Mel Can't Dance
- Thread starter Melville Hobbes
- Start date
Who said bacteria
what kind?
The kind that supports plant growth. That's the topic of the article I linked!
I didn't see the article sorry. I'm also bouncing from one journal to the next so sometimes I lose the thread temporarily.
No worries!
The one about salts and microbes? I just opened that up.
Most of the more decent mixes typically will have myco in them like you said. I’m unfamiliar with granules of myco but the powdered stuff goes a long way. I bought a 15$ jar of great white and am wondering how I’ll use it before it expires. Between the starter charge of myco in the seedling mix, and rolling my seeds in myco I could really get away with just that if I’m careful. I add a little to my first transplant hole just for some extra oomph but likely don’t even need that, and even still am like “wow this stuff is gonna last”.
I purchased it after reading Jeff Lowenfels recommendation of rolling the seeds in myco. I had heard it somewhere reputable before but can’t remember, however when I read it in the book that’s when I decided “alright I’ll try it”. It makes logical sense to me that having it on the seed to make contact with the tap root instantly is beneficial. Everything beyond that seems like it may be unnecessary but like I said, if I only roll my seeds I’ll never make it through the jar before expiration lol. So we’ll see what happens.
I really need to get my control plant going so I can do actual observations, I’m hoping one of my new batch will be the lucky one. Until that happens everything is really just subjective at best.
Lol originally was gonna say it depends on the “salt” we’re talking about then read the article. Spot on. I know Im guilty of saying salt when I mean sodium.
Jonny5
Well-Known Member
Google:chemical fertilizer and the effects on soil...
It expires?
I've still got the jar of Great White I bought in summer of 2017. 
I don't usually add it until I move out of solo cups but now I'm thinking I should put some in the hole in the peat pucks!
Thanks Jonny, I did. Google's summary entry said this:
"Chemical fertiliser overuse can contribute to soil acidification and soil crust, thereby reducing the content of organic matter, humus content, beneficial species, stunting plant growth, altering the pH of the soil, growing pests, and even leading to the release of greenhouse gases."
And the headline on the linked article is:
Excessive and Disproportionate Use of Chemicals Cause Soil Contamination and Nutritional Stress
Do you think that applies to someone using Prescription Blend nutes in their pots?
Yes they’re bad but it’s not really the “salts” that are causing the damage. It’s more the various acids and heavy metals that are the problem, and that’s just in containers. In nature/farms/earth it’s the entire process and all of the acids, heavy metals, and toxic reactions.
It expires?
I don't usually add it until I move out of solo cups but now I'm thinking I should put some in the hole in the peat pucks!
Who knows? Probably another marketing thing now that I think about it. Technically the spores can stay dormant in soils for a long period of time. I can see the possibility of the processed stuff maybe breaking down but I still would use it until the end. I assume you’d see possibly less efficacy in colonizations after some time since it’s in a processed state but with the myco already in our mixes it would probably still hold value.I replied to Jonny as you can obviously see lol. If you’re using a soil food web system then the synthetic chelation is stealing work from the food web and bypassing the microbes. The acids used in a lot of the fertilizers would upset the balance as well. I would have to read what’s in the product before making any sort of call on it. What’s in the package is more important than what’s on the package.. So many people instantly think good or bad based on the words on the bag versus the ingredients in it. I have a product I use that in bold letters says “not for organic crops” simply because it’s a derivative and isn’t OMRI. The actual ingredients in the bottle are just Hydrolyzed fish and kelp.
I want to point out that a very tiny percentage of synthetic nutes are chelated (iron, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, molybdenum, and nickel), but all the elements in synthetic nutes bypass the microbes.
Lol I was just correcting myself when I saw the heads up about a new message.
But, yep.. It basically comes down to whether you want to feed the plant or feed the soil. You can do both “organically” technically, but synthetically you’re always feeding the plant. I prefer to just use some EWC and a few organic inputs here and there. The end goal is to have my own EWC that’s already had the inputs processed through the worm bin.
I had to convince my wife the space I’m already taking up is worth it.. Now I’m using the money savings and quality angle to convince her the worm bin is worth it
she’s coming around though.. That first organic grow was all she needed to realize this is a good idea lol
True about the different types of myco as far as we know. We can only replicate/create a handful of the myco strains, fortunately the ones we can seem to have a vast number of possible associations. We’re still learning so much about all of this stuff I won’t be surprised if we find a 3rd type or a hybrid.
That’s smart.. you’ve gotta separate yourself somehow, and that’s a pretty clever angle.
Pot size has a big effect on this. I can’t remember the exact size (15 gallon maybe?) but there’s a specific size pot you need to be able to maintain a soil food web like that consistently without having to apply things like compost teas and top dressings to maintain. I’ll have to look it up
Correct.. Endo has a special relationship within the cells and if I remember correctly a special pathway is formed for them to get what they need from the plant directly. I’m gonna have to reread a few things, after these conversations I’m realizing I’ve forgotten some stuff.
That may have been related to whichever study the myco was on. I know in Teaming with Fungi it states the process is initiated when phosphorus levels are low, thus, if they’re high, the signal won’t be sent from the plant.
Jonny5
Well-Known Member
Perhaps he word “kill” was to harsh.. maybe Counterproductive would fit better
How about less necessary?
How about less necessary?
I would argue depending on pot size, less necessary can become counterproductive. However, now I’m just being annoyingly semantical
Doesn't have to be a lot of space or money. My worm "farm" is a series of stacked 7 gallon storage containers in my basement. Footprint is about 12"x18". Cost was 4 containers and a few plumbing fittings.I had to convince my wife the space I’m already taking up is worth it.. Now I’m using the money savings and quality angle to convince her the worm bin is worth it
We live in a bungalow so space is limited to begin with between her and I and 2 kids. What I really need to do is get rid of all these synthetic nutrients I have that I will never use that were given to me when I bought the setup. They take up an absurd amount of space and I have zero use for them, but I don’t want to just throw them out.
I’m getting to the point I may just put them on the curb. They’re 6-10 gallon containers of AN micro grow bloom, sensi perfect coco a and b, canna coco jugs, finishers, boosters, etc. I’ve tried reaching out to a couple people on here that are near me to see if they want them but they don’t grow synthetically lol.