We pay around $65 for kelp meal here in Maine from Fedco - your $68 kelp shipped price is a good one AW. I've also found it for a little less from a horse feed place but it just isn't quite as convenient to me. Pokesmot, you're right - there isn't a single item out there; at all, whatsoever that is a "must-have" to grow good cannabis - nothing. There's ALWAYS an alternative. You can always grow good anything without kelp. In my opinion, after doing this a few times the work it takes to find some of these items is far outweighed by their massive benefits - which makes it a must-have for ME at the end of the day. Kinda like organic cold pressed neem from India... But that's just me. Again with the "different strokes" thing... J
I think the main problem where ai live is that everyones backwards. Kelp is like hippy shit to these farmer ranchers. These guys still talk about nixon and reagan lol
I'm surprised the horse ranchers/horse feed stores aren't carrying it. Those folks are nuts with those animals. Good luck. Btw you'll enjoy the kelp when you do end up with it. Peas J
I appreciate your sincerety jerry. You just summed up my thoughts exactly. I actually didnt mean to stir the pot. This whole discussion came about from me asking if I could use some oatmeal in some "act" Kelp was recommended. Not gonna lie, i almost spent the 70-100 bucks buying kelp meal a few months ago. I became EXTREMELY frustrated when I couldnt find any locally, since this is like the holy mecca of farm everything. Hell, wehave afarm show here evy year that draws tens of thousands of people. I even almost spent 20 for a 5lb box like augest mentioned, but as a farmer who has toiled in this dirt for many years Ive always been aware there was another way. I even considered making a trip to the beach to get some fresh stuff. Sound desperate? I was. Trying to build a "perfect" soil can be expensive and im not trying to say i know better or take shortcuts, i just dont want to get bent over a barrel willingly, if i dont have to... Someday ill find some kelp at a decent price, fill up my truck, stick that stuff in my c train storage and then youll see me here sayin, well, back in my day......:lol: When i finally run out.....
Well, the cool thing is that a 50 pound sack will last a couple of years, even when you're making up quite a bit of soil; same with that fancy-dan imported neem cake lol - so if I spend, what, $200 to $300 every couple of years, (and that's all I spend) then I'm very much fine with that. Almost every thing else in my soil comes right from my property - compost, (leaf mold based), vermicompost, horse and chicken manures, (local) lobster shells, loads of comfrey, etc. Especially when, with the high end soils such as we make, we can continue to freshen it up a little bit here and there and re-use it virtually forever... And REALLY especially when I think back to the days when I was using bottled nutrients from the hydro stores - egads did I spend a ton back then... So this isn't shit if I remember those days lol There are SO many ways to skin a cat with this organic thing we do. J
Well said jerry. Definitely something to think about from an investment standpoint. Not sure what you pay for neem cake but i ordered some neem trees, oil, and cake from florida (neem tree farms). Been a few years. Would you recommend mixing the neem cake in with the soil thats cooking or should i add it To the pots after? Stuff is expensive so ive always added some during transplant and as a top dressing. Appreciate your input.
Jerry (aka Mr. Awesome) The price at the main organic farm store for northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington for kelp meal is $58.00 and you have two choices - Acadian Seaplants, Ltd. and Tidal Organics which is also processed in Nova Scotia using the same methods as ASL - solar dried, ground to a specific size and bagged. Minimal processing. The only difference between these two products is the size of the material. Tidal Organics is about 1/4 - 1/3 the size of ASL. This makes it a very good candidate for using in a 'tea' - i.e. more exposed surface area and all of that. As soon as you add it to water the water turns that beautiful color we're looking for when we use kelp meal. It's also easier to 'cap' for our old Yellow Lab because she is dealing with arthritis and general joint pain. I mix powdered aloe vera with the kelp meal before making the caps. I stick a cap in a bit of raw hamburger meat and she makes quick work on that one! LOL CC
Might be stupid question but can i use kelp meal and aloe for my arthritis? Its crippling pain and anything to help it would be worth it, might be the tipping point on whether to order or not. Im hurtin man.
If you've only got a limited amount of neem cake then I'd have to say sure - a dusting at transplant and an occasional tea would be the way to go for sure. We are also kind of limited on supply houses out here in the sticks but the last time I bough some from Fedco (who sells the good stuff - Ahimsa from neemresource) I split a #44 pound sack with another gardener and it cost me around 35 dollars for the 22 pounds. A little pricey but I stretched it over the last year and a half. I do need to get some more soon. Not sure if you happen to keep a "specialty bin" of vermicompost for your favorite flowers but my worms love the occasional dusting of neem. J
Every old Mexican lady I know uses trim or shake soaked in isopropyl alcohol for arthritis... Sent from my SPH-L720 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Haha, weird that i DO in fact have one bin i prefer over the other! I got 20lbs but i cant say how much I paid, cant remember, got CRS (cant remember shit). Got about 13lbs left, had it for five or so years. Seriously peaked my interest with the aloe and kelp. I have 40 or so aloe vera plants (one of my favorite plants) in my garden. My valley fever lung disease i got from gardening has now manifested itself as arthritis and its so bad i cant open or close my hands some days. They give me ibuprofen but i hear it causes ulcers and only helps with swelling for a few hours....
pokesmot247 Yes and I would highly recommend both of them - VOE I would recommend the organic, human food-grade version of aloe vera powder - 200XX Aloe Vera Extract which is freeze-dried vs. spray dried. This product is from Australia whereas the spray-dried is usually from either Mexico or China. I have a lot more confidence in the manufacturing standards in Australia vs. the other two but that's just me. 200XX means that 1 gram of powder mixed with 199 grams of water gives you 200 grams of juice that you might extract from the leaves (fillets). Let me know if you need a source because by using this powder you can reduce the price of a gallon by 80% (meaning products like Lily of the Desert and others). CC
Coot, I'm sure that you remember that we feed both kelp meal and comfrey to my wife's horse as a supplement. For any that probably don't know, when we got this animal 8? years ago she had been diagnosed with a degenerative foot bone disease called Navicular. Her grain gets a dusting of kelp daily, and she also gets several fresh comfrey (Knitbone) leaves each day from April to October, and then dried comfrey throughout the winter. The horse is now "sound"; with no noticeable lameness - as a matter of fact my wife has her at a show this weekend riding her in various English showmanship contests over the last 4 days. Kelp and comfrey to the rescue? I don't know but they sure aren't hurting anything. Mr. Awesome.
Mr. Awesome Thank you for sharing that with everyone! Remember when you used neem oil to give her protection against horse flies? CC
Man, i cannot believe what im reading!!! Yes, please, a source if you would be so kind. I didnt know kelp was medicianl. Im going to get my medicinal herb book out right now. It tells ya how to make extracts, lotions, cremes, gels, powders (for capsules) etc, out of most well known herbs. http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Herbal-Medicine-Definitive-Reference/dp/0789467836 Got it free from some free app thingy
How could I forget? We keep a jug mixed up out in the barn and my wife sprays it each morning before turning her out into the pasture. It's not 100% but it sure helps a lot. I haven't found anything that's 100% against flies and farm animals... Lol But yes - the very same recipe is used on both the horse and my plants. J
Jerry We add neem oil to our homemade dog shampoo (stupid easy and cheap) especially during the summer - skin mites, fleas and ticks. Works like a charm! Now compare 'organic neem dog shampoo' prices at PetSmart or online sources - they must be taking lessons from grow stores for their pricing. ROFLMAO
Pokesmot, do you have access to comfrey? I don't want to be the one to tell you to ingest it because the stupid USDA has written up some idiotic papers on comfrey and liver ailments in a negative way but do some reading on comfrey poultices - comfrey has also been known as "knitbone" for a thousand + years; being used for broken bones, bone disease and yes - rheumatism and arthritis. It's worth some reading if you have access to this plant. FYI - the negativity stemming from the USDA papers came from concentrating one of the compounds in comfrey and injecting it in large doses directly into rats if I remember... Morons... J Ps good luck
Jerry And it was comfrey roots that were used for the extraction and not the leaves. I wonder who paid for this pseudo-science research...
Dont get me started on the usda. Another time and another thread lol If i dont have comfrey in the garden i can grow some for sure!