Organic Forum

[Steve Green]

Hi organic crew. I'm wanting to move to organic growing and was wondering if I could post what I was planning to mix up soil wise here, see if you see any issues?

[AussieBogan]

Hi organic crew. I'm wanting to move to organic growing and was wondering if I could post what I was planning to mix up soil wise here, see if you see any issues?

Post away!

 

 

 

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[Steve Green]

Post away!

Posted from the OZ Stoners mobile app

Thanks mate!

 

Base

 

6L aged cow manure compost

6L mushroom compost 

6L aged chicken manure compost 

6L worm castings

24L organic potting soil/coco

24L aeration - zeolite, scoria, pumice & a little vermiculite

 

Amendments - I know probably not all necessary but I have them on hand and they all seem to bring something to the table

 

Neem meal 1.5 cups 

Kelp meal 1 cup

Soy meal 1/4 cup

Feather meal 1/4 cup

Alfalfa meal 1/2 cup

Bentonite clay 1.5 cups

Rock dust (munash) 1.5 cups - seen a lot of varying measurements recommended of this stuff

Crushed & ground seashell 1.5-2 cups

 

Mix it up in a 100L tub and compost for about 2-3 months, use in air pots and recycle.

 

Thoughts?

[Skogsra]

Thanks mate!

 

Base

 

6L aged cow manure compost

6L mushroom compost

6L aged chicken manure compost

6L worm castings

24L organic potting soil/coco

24L aeration - zeolite, scoria, pumice & a little vermiculite

 

Amendments - I know probably not all necessary but I have them on hand and they all seem to bring something to the table

 

Neem meal 1.5 cups

Kelp meal 1 cup

Soy meal 1/4 cup

Feather meal 1/4 cup

Alfalfa meal 1/2 cup

Bentonite clay 1.5 cups

Rock dust (munash) 1.5 cups - seen a lot of varying measurements recommended of this stuff

Crushed & ground seashell 1.5-2 cups

 

Mix it up in a 100L tub and compost for about 2-3 months, use in air pots and recycle.

 

Thoughts?

Hey Steve, have something similar to your top recipe ingredients. I'm curious about the bottom list and what you have found beneficial from them.

 

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[Steve Green]

Nice, how is working out for you?

 

Below is what I think I know about them, basically they all do something for the life in the soil

 

Neem cake/meal - this looks like awesome stuff, full slow release nutrient profile with added pest control benefits

Crushed & ground seashell - slow release calcium, haven for bacteria

Kelp meal - so many benefits. Great profile of micro and macro nutrients

Soy meal - quickly available nitrogen, boost the composting process, other than that probably doesn't do as much as alfalfa though

Feather meal - slow release nitrogen

Alfalfa meal - 3-1-2 ratio, full of vitamins, minerals and growth stimulant triacontanol. I'll top dress this too.

Rock dust - this particular brand is a blend of basalt and granite. Rock dust table - 5% calcium, 2.5% potassium, 6% iron, 2% magnesium, 0.65% manganese, 0.45% carbon, 0.16% phosphorus, 600ppm sulphur, 270ppm zinc, 70ppm copper, 31ppm boron, 24ppm cobalt, 7ppm molybdenum.

Bentonite clay - Increases cation exchange. Provide soluble nutrients including calcium, magnesium and potassium. Used to bind sandy soils so might take it easy on this.

 

Hey Steve, have something similar to your top recipe ingredients. I'm curious about the bottom list and what you have found beneficial from them.

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[cardrona]

It will work better in the ground

[Steve Green]

It will work better in the ground

No doubt, I just don't have any land to work with at the moment

[itchybromusic]

Nice, how is working out for you?

 

Below is what I think I know about them, basically they all do something for the life in the soil

 

Neem cake/meal - this looks like awesome stuff, full slow release nutrient profile with added pest control benefits

Crushed & ground seashell - slow release calcium, haven for bacteria

Kelp meal - so many benefits. Great profile of micro and macro nutrients

Soy meal - quickly available nitrogen, boost the composting process, other than that probably doesn't do as much as alfalfa though

Feather meal - slow release nitrogen

Alfalfa meal - 3-1-2 ratio, full of vitamins, minerals and growth stimulant triacontanol. I'll top dress this too.

Rock dust - this particular brand is a blend of basalt and granite. Rock dust table - 5% calcium, 2.5% potassium, 6% iron, 2% magnesium, 0.65% manganese, 0.45% carbon, 0.16% phosphorus, 600ppm sulphur, 270ppm zinc, 70ppm copper, 31ppm boron, 24ppm cobalt, 7ppm molybdenum.

Bentonite clay - Increases cation exchange. Provide soluble nutrients including calcium, magnesium and potassium. Used to bind sandy soils so might take it easy on this.

 

just be a lill careful with using manure , in most cases it comes from commercial meat producers 

there game is , for every day a animal is on the farm , it cost the farmer X dollars , the quicker 

he can get the beef up the quicker he takes to market = less daily cost for food , vet , ect ect 

 

chicken is the same as above except you have chicken piss in your chicken shit , which can be a prob in a soil mix 

 

commercial mushroom growers pesticide spray quite heavily & the mushroom compost works well as a sponge 

 

soy bean meal = fantastic source of all the L amino acids however soy is one of the biggest GMO crops in the world 

 

rock dust is a hard one to find that is not some proprietary mix = not just rock dust , i like to use basalt rock dust 

the only source i could find of unadulterated basalt was weatherworks.com.au in WA 

 

Alfalfa can be quite hot in a mix & can be much more forgiving used as a top dress as most amendments are

 

crushed oyster shell ground up in a coffee grinder is a great PH adjuster , calcium carbonate

 

haven't seen any mention of Bio-char , very handy soil amendment

 

neem , kelp all good stuff & another is gypsum 

 

Agree with cardrona , except , many benefits to going in the ground , the main one being IMHO

is sheer soil volume , very hard to keep soil life alive & kicking in a small pot , the larger the pot the 

more consistent soil temps & more importantly moisture for the soil life , 10gal minimum , 15gal better 

 

& learn top dressing cos it's much more forgiving than bottle feeding & keeps the soil life fed & happy 

 

cover cropping , companion planting all add to life & nutrients in your soil ,

 

just for the record i have no animal manures in my soil mix apart from worm poo 

[pedro de pacas]

Cannabis like a lot of other plants made its way around the world falling out the arse of birds, and giving them a nice fertalized spot to get a start in life

 

nothing wrong with a bit of poo as long as its not from meat eating animals and you know what's in it, all the poo I use comes from my place

I wouldn't use shit from any commercial production, fuck knows what garbage they put in them

I normally use dirt out of my outdoor plot for me indoor pots, never had a problem, they grow almost as quick as areoponics

[Steve Green]

just be a lill careful with using manure , in most cases it comes from commercial meat producers 

there game is , for every day a animal is on the farm , it cost the farmer X dollars , the quicker 

he can get the beef up the quicker he takes to market = less daily cost for food , vet , ect ect 

 

chicken is the same as above except you have chicken piss in your chicken shit , which can be a prob in a soil mix 

 

commercial mushroom growers pesticide spray quite heavily & the mushroom compost works well as a sponge 

 

soy bean meal = fantastic source of all the L amino acids however soy is one of the biggest GMO crops in the world 

 

rock dust is a hard one to find that is not some proprietary mix = not just rock dust , i like to use basalt rock dust 

the only source i could find of unadulterated basalt was weatherworks.com.au in WA 

 

Alfalfa can be quite hot in a mix & can be much more forgiving used as a top dress as most amendments are

 

crushed oyster shell ground up in a coffee grinder is a great PH adjuster , calcium carbonate

 

haven't seen any mention of Bio-char , very handy soil amendment

 

neem , kelp all good stuff & another is gypsum 

 

Agree with cardrona , except , many benefits to going in the ground , the main one being IMHO

is sheer soil volume , very hard to keep soil life alive & kicking in a small pot , the larger the pot the 

more consistent soil temps & more importantly moisture for the soil life , 10gal minimum , 15gal better 

 

& learn top dressing cos it's much more forgiving than bottle feeding & keeps the soil life fed & happy 

 

cover cropping , companion planting all add to life & nutrients in your soil ,

 

just for the record i have no animal manures in my soil mix apart from worm poo

 

Thanks for the detailed response mate. I'm confident in the source of the manures but definitely see your point around chicken piss and will rethink that. Might just crank up worm castings in its place.

 

Damn shame about the soy, I didn't realise it was a gmo crop in Aus. I'll cut down on alfalfa in the mix and definitely going to using it in my top dressing as I see this and the use of teas being key to trying to maintain some soil life in smaller pots unti I have a more permanent residence to run a bigger pot/bed.

 

Thanks for the tip on bio char, it's pretty easy to source so I'll get some in. I'll get my hands on a coffee grinder for the seashells. Haven't been able to find oyster shell specifically but I'd the seashell will do the trick.

 

Other than your suggestions, do you think the amounts I'm proposing are reasonable to the total volume of soil?