New City Grower 2.0

sweet. I get hampton estates potting mix at $15 for 2 cu ft. my scotts premium potting soil is about to run out so I'm gonna get the hampton esates stuff :thumb:
 
Volcanic rock dust is a very valuable source of minerals, but they break down over a year, two or even more. However if you grow outdoor it's a great thing to hold onto. Indoor you need to recycle your soil to really benefit from it. I also use local sandstone which I crush and powder to make it easier absorbed by soil.
 
conradino23 said:
Volcanic rock dust is a very valuable source of minerals, but they break down over a year, two or even more. However if you grow outdoor it's a great thing to hold onto. Indoor you need to recycle your soil to really benefit from it. I also use local sandstone which I crush and powder to make it easier absorbed by soil.
Click to expand...

Lava sand and local sandstone are hard to come by for BAR.

We're doing this thing taking Reg's shopping availability, budget, and the amount of storage space in his dwelling into account.
 
conradino23 said:
Volcanic rock dust is a very valuable source of minerals, but they break down over a year, two or even more. However if you grow outdoor it's a great thing to hold onto. Indoor you need to recycle your soil to really benefit from it. I also use local sandstone which I crush and powder to make it easier absorbed by soil.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you are talking about, but lavasand does not break down. It provides no nutrients to plants or soil other than slight traces of iron depending on where it is mined. We get most of ours from New Mexico. It's everywhere there. They use it to deice the roads in winter. Or sand the road, not deice.

Here is another source for information. I know the person who wrote the article and J. Howard Garrett for over 20 years.
Soil Amendments - Lava Sand by Excerpts from Lazy Gardener - The Woodlands Texas Gardening Blogs on Woodlands Online - Page 2072
 
gardenfaerie said:
I'm not sure what you are talking about, but lavasand does not break down. It provides no nutrients to plants or soil other than slight traces of iron depending on where it is mined. We get most of ours from New Mexico. It's everywhere there. They use it to deice the roads in winter. Or sand the road, not deice.

Here is another source for information. I know the person who wrote the article and J. Howard Garrett for over 20 years.
Soil Amendments - Lava Sand by Excerpts from Lazy Gardener - The Woodlands Texas Gardening Blogs on Woodlands Online - Page 2072
Click to expand...

A yeah sorry, I forgot that minerals in these products can vary depending where they are sourced. Volcanic rock I use is produced in Italy and contains: SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Fe2O3, CaO, Na2O, TiO2, MgO and other minerals in trace quantities (1.2%). They break down over time like evry rock does, and they will eventually be absorbed by the plant's roots when light enough. But no, volcanic rock dust is not a NPK fertilizer if that's what you meant.
 
Just a little piece of eye-candy...








STREET GIRL #1 (Unknown Strain) Day 41




She was the first Hood-Rat rescued from under "Sakura, the Magic Tree" this year.


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As I said when she started I'll try to bush her out. I fimmed the main stalk then fimmed the two stems that grow out of it (red arrow).

Also fimmed the node right below that once each, on both sides (blue arrows).


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Conradino & Brooklyn, what do you all mean when you say "in trace quantities"?
 
Trace is usually used in place of a measure because there really is no measurable amount of the element in question.

So say you have trace minerals of iron, it means it is there, but in a very small amount. When a fertilizer says trace elements or minerals are also included, it means that bag contains enough to list the material as being there, but it does not measure even 1% if the volume.

Make sense?
 
Got it Brooklyn.
 
Ok folks. Here's what Coach PJ and I have been up to this afternoon. We've started my Organic Soil mix!

The base consist of:



1/2 part - Peat Moss
1/4 part - Vermiculite
1/4 part - Perlite

Which came to approximately 3 gallons. I may grab a bag of the LI compost tomorrow but Coach says we can go with or without it.


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Then we added the following:


1/2 dozen - Crushed & baked eggshells mixed with crushed dead cannabis leaves
3/4 cup - Yum Yum
3 Tablesp - Growology Step 1 (which is totally organic)
2 Tablesp - Extreme Mykos
2 Tablesp - Bone Meal
1 cup - NYC Compost/Mulch


We added a couple cups of water by stirring it into the mix just to moisten it up & get those beneficial organisms going. Now it feels like some super fluffy magic dirt. We'll let it sit for a couple of weeks checking it periodically to make sure it's moist.


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Interesting mix there Reg, looking forward to seeing how you do with it.

What is the reason for the dead cannabis leaves? Compost?

:thumb:
 
Yep, Canna, they compost nicely returning what was selected by them from the soil back into the dirt. One thing to remember is that nutrients do NOT get burned up as fuel by the plants. They are involved as enzymatic cofactors in chemical reactions. Obviously the stuff in the buds is gone forever, but if you have soil cooking in bins adding the leaves back into your bins is good practice. The high-brix crew and Doc Bud do this regularly.

For those who are curious, this is what is in Yum-Yum:

Alfalfa Meal: Nitrogen; Vitamins-A, B, E, carotene, thiamine, biotin, pantothenic acid, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, choline; 16 amino acids, co-enzymes, sugars, starches, protein fiber.

Cottonseed Meal: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium.

Kelp Meal: Nitrogen; Potassium; Vitamins-A, B, B2 , C, calcium, pantothenate, niacin, folic acid; minerals-barium, boron, calcium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, sodium, strontium, sulfur, zinc; 17 amino acids.

Greensand: Iron, Potassium, Silicate, Phosphorus, 30 trace elements.

Rock Dust: Calcium, Sulfur, Magnesium, Boron, Cobalt.

Rock Phosphate: Phosphorus, Calcium, Trace Elements.

Humate: Salts of Humic Acid - improve soil characteristics and aids in releasing other nutrients to plants in usable forms.

Dry Molasses: Carbohydrates, Sugars, Trace Elements - feeds and attracts beneficial soil organisms.

Guaranteed Analysis -Total Nitrogen (N) - 2.0% - Available Phosphate (P2O5) - 1.0%. Soluble Potash (K2O) - 1.0%.
 
I have only one concern about anything labeled compost/mulch. They are not the same thing, not interchangeable with one another and not both soil additives. Mulch goes on top of the soil. It is basically unfinished compost if you use nothing but organic matter, meaning shredded bark, wood, leaves, anything which was once alive in the ground is considered organic matter.

I don't know how much nitrogen is in your really nice looking soil mix, but be on the look out for any deficiency after the plant is going. If it shows N deficient, you will know why. The compost/mulch will take N from the soil to continue to decompose. But, you are not using a lot of it with your mix, so it may not even be a factor.

The only reason I said anything was for information, and not to correct anybody, but in addition to.
 
The eggshells & leaf mix was a tip I got from Conradino awhile back that PJ likes. Coach says the compost/mulch mix should have a few beneficial soil organisms in it. He made it clear not to use more than a cup of the NYC Compost/Mulch

I know you probably don't remember BKLYN, LOL.. But that's mostly compost as I had brushed away most of the mulch from the top when collecting it.
 
I initially told Reg not to add any of the composted mulch, GF, for the very reasons you mentioned. After thinking about it for a bit I decided it was probably decently bio-active and had him add 1 cup to a little over three gallons of mix. There isn't much of it in there.
 
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