Lamper uses half cup of neem and half cup kelp but his worms are fed various amendments so they are already broken down I will ask him whats what and let you guys no
Yeah lumper is the onewho said add it at about a tablezpoon per gallon of zoil to see benefitz so moreisnot bad. I do half cup per cubicfoot myself. Neem cake is wht I am talking about just so I dont confuse anyone.
LumperDawgz said, "So I'm new here and perhaps this isn't the correct sub-forum to post this but I would like to share the organic soil mix that I use for my MMJ garden. It's based on the 'LC Mix' that appears all over the web. I start of with Sunshine Organic Growers Mix which consists of 40% organic peat moss, 30% organic coir (washed and inoculated with trichoderma spores), 10% perlite, 10% vermiculite and 10% pumice (medium size). The reasons that all 3 are added by the manufacturer has to do with the CEC (cation exchange capacity) of these 3 aeration amendments. The soil is ph adjusted with dolomite lime and is treated with organic yucca extract as a wetting agent. This is a professional 'soilless mix' for the nursery plant industry. All of the products used are the best available. BTW - Sunshine Mix is manufactured by Sun Gro Horticulture which also manufactures Black Gold products (their consumer line) and some other products that appear at Home Depot and Loews, etc. Sunshine Mixes are generally available in the Western US and ProMix is manufactured and distributed in the Eastern US. There is no difference between the 2 products if you're comparing apples to apples. To the soil I add 25% organic compost, 1 cf. of pumice or rice hulls and that's the basic soil To that I add 1 cup (per 1 cf.) seed meal (equal parts of canola, cottonseed, flaxseed and alfalfa) to replace the bloodmeal ('N') and organic fish bone meal (4-20-0) to replace the bonemeal in the original LC Mix. About 1/4 cup of kelp meal and 1 tablespoon of mycorrhizal fungus to each 5 gallon pot and I sprinkle about 1/4 cup of neem seed meal as a top dressing. That's it other than applying aerated compost teas at the beginning of the veg cycle and then again at the beginning of the flower cycle (a high-fungai tea facilitates the take-up of phosphorous). Just water and I hit them with a foiliar spray of fish enzyme and seaweed extract 1x a week and neem seed oil 2x times a week through veg and the first couple of weeks in the flower cycle to prevent mites and powdery mildew. It works without any burning, stunted growth, whatever. Just add water. HTH This soil costs me less than $6.00 per cf. to put together. LumperDawgz" I was not making it up guys there is no need to ask him. That post is from Feb 2009 the day he joined GC for the first time. It may have changed as time went on. I apologize for not actually quoting him the first time so the accuracy of my answer to the OP did not come into question. My point was not about what LD did and did not do. My point was top dressing is another viable method and I was using LD as a reference. MGB
Thanks! The topdressing idea would work great with the plants I already have in their final pots. I appreciate the well thought out response. I may try different amounts of neem in each of my 3 raised beds and see what works best for my mix and my conditions. I suspect with my history of spider mite problems that it will be the more the better.
Sorry I get and forget I post stuff. I'm here in Washington State so I've been taking advantage of the collectives. It's not that I'm against using Manure/Guano's I just don't like to use them directly in my soil mix. If I use any type of guano(I use a little leftover from my urban farm) I add it to the compost pile and let it decompose. I have had problems with deer before (they like to eat big nugs) so I try to keep everything that might attract them out. I may just be paranoid.