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Dry Sandy Soil with Termites.. Advice Please


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Hey all, been a bit quiet here for a while.... life seems takes you in different directions at the snap of a twig sometimes :P

 

Anyways... got a new plan, Guerrilla style in FNQ Tablelands region.... The soil around the area im looking in is very light and sandy with rocks.... IMO its great for the drainage but how do we ammend it? Native trees growing great are Gums, Iron Barks, Accacias etc (Classic Aussie bush trees) and alot of small Pines... Some are infested with Termites, most are not. There are massive termite mounds in the area but at least 50m from the site we are looking at.

 

We had a trial run in a pot with some nice, trusted and proven organic potting mix... started with clones about 4 weeks after rooting. 

 

The trial run went well for about 3 weeks, then we lifted the pot and BOOM! a termites nest had started under the pot and they were in the bottom inch of soil inside the pot... Moved the pot about 20m the other way, they dissapeard for about 3 weeks then BOOM! same thing... moved the pot 7 times to be able to grow and harvest the gorgeous Caramel Kush a few weeks ago.

 

Now.. Its that time of year up here to start preparing soil etc.. Found a great site, good water supply and will get maximum sunlight! Now I figured that the termites like the wood and bark chips in the Searles Potting Mix and 5 in 1, and thats why it turned into an attractant for termites since its very dry around here... Drought is possible in this area, but the water supply is not a prob ;)

 

We had another option... Ammending the sandy soil... Now we know its winter and our girls dont grow big, but we need to do some trial and error. So we planted 4 female clones into the ground, about 50m apart from each other, which was ammended with only Dynamic Lifter, Dolomite Lime and Gypsum. At 4 weeks of Bloom, we literally used only ash from a fire, harvested at 10 weeks... Only 1 went well.. 1 got termites and died at about 2 weeks flower, the other 2 had massive nutrient lock out problems.

 

So what do we do? we want to put in at least 10 big girls for the summer season in this area, but want to make sure we dont get bloody termites and no nutrient deficiency problems..

 

Ideas?? 

 

Cover cropping aswell???

 

Cheers  :egyptdance:  :twiddle:

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sounds like you need to do lots of reading on termites & how they work 

i know ants & termites don't get along & ants don't like to eat plants

 

cover cropping is def a good idea & finding plants that are native to the area

that attract local beneficials , especially bene's that like termites 

 

there also might be plants that termites don't like , again you need to look local

for what grows well , as you say not all plants in the area have termite probs 

so why is that ?

 

soil that is already alive is a good place to start , you have to work local though so finding

some good healthy soil in the area for a compost tea of local bene's would be good

for activating plot with lots of locals  

 

maybe starting a compost pile in holes you plan to plant in , that will get all the local 

composters in the soil , i would avoid most bottled nutes & stick with top dressing 

even sprouting seeds under your plant , like alfalfa for veg or swiss chard aka silverbeet = lots of calcium 

& perfect for transition to flower , just through down some seeds under your plant , when 

they get 100 - 200mm high pull them out & lay them down on the bed , next seed ect ect

 

Jagged could be right though , you might be entering a battle you cant win , how ever there

are plants there winning everyday , you up for the fight ? Termite Info is power ! 

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I would be looking for another spot, ur just asking for trouble.

 

Haha we have been laughing at this thought for a couple weeks now, but this is the area and this is what we have to grow around... Big learning curves to be had here and some nice info for our community will come along with that, well hopefully its "nice" info lol

We know that there are large scale/commercial style growers in this area, but... the old saying, you dont sh*t where you sleep comes into play, so we dont want to ask for information from strangers :P

 

sounds like you need to do lots of reading on termites & how they work 

i know ants & termites don't get along & ants don't like to eat plants

 

cover cropping is def a good idea & finding plants that are native to the area

that attract local beneficials , especially bene's that like termites 

 

there also might be plants that termites don't like , again you need to look local

for what grows well , as you say not all plants in the area have termite probs 

so why is that ?

 

soil that is already alive is a good place to start , you have to work local though so finding

some good healthy soil in the area for a compost tea of local bene's would be good

for activating plot with lots of locals  

 

maybe starting a compost pile in holes you plan to plant in , that will get all the local 

composters in the soil , i would avoid most bottled nutes & stick with top dressing 

even sprouting seeds under your plant , like alfalfa for veg or swiss chard aka silverbeet = lots of calcium 

& perfect for transition to flower , just through down some seeds under your plant , when 

they get 100 - 200mm high pull them out & lay them down on the bed , next seed ect ect

 

Jagged could be right though , you might be entering a battle you cant win , how ever there

are plants there winning everyday , you up for the fight ? Termite Info is power ! 

 

I think so Itchy, research is the key as usual... was just trying to dig up a quick solution lol

 

I like the idea of cover cropping and we have found out that an old trick around here is dropping a few hard boiled lollies at the bottom of the hole or pot brings the ants in and drives the termites away... another thing is doing it in poly bags, digging holes big enough for them and 2-4 weeks before putting the bags in, put newspaper drenched in termite spray in the hole and cover with a few cm's of dirt.....? sounds legit i guess??? what you think mate?

 

we also considered starting compost in holes, but time is running out and things need to be planted soon ;)

 

Pots and Tin painted in Matt colours ( Camouflage style) that blend in to your surrounds

 

No reflection.

 

Tin only needs to be a little bigger than the base of the pot.

 

If any one was close enough to see your pot ,then they'd have already seen your plant

 

Cheers

We did think of this too... maybe an option ;)

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