Did you add all those into your grow at once or did you bring in a few things at a time and just noticed that those had the biggest contributions?
I picked up a 2 ft T5 light a few weeks ago so that I could get my veggie starts going inside and give them a bit of a head start. When I did this, I used the last of some HF soil I picked up a while ago. This soil has given me a pretfy good bit of fungus gnats. So that was awesome. I grabbed a small bottle of neem oil from amazon. I just dripped a little of that into my small spray bottle and topped it off with water. I shook the living hell out of it and sprayed the seedlings. I did that twice a day on the first day. The next day there was only a few gnats flying sround. I kept it up for a couple days and they are gone. Neem oil is awesome! I've picked up some neem and karanja meal from BAS. I'm hoping the meal will have as big of an affect as the oil did. Either way, neem is awesome
hi! you can emulsify the neem oil with any silica product. i use coots recipe: 1tbs neem and 2tsp protekt silica per gallon, mix those together to emulsify then add water. i have to +1 on using SST's. ive never seen plants happier then the day after i water them with sprout tea.
As awesome as the oil is for pests, I hate using it and don't reckon I'll ever have to again because using the meal in the mix is just that awesome. Still stinky though. I'm warming up to it.
Thats good to hear. I've got it mixed up in my next batch of soil and have sprinkled some into my worm bin as well. I can't wait to see how big of a difference my own EWC will make.
It took me a couple different types/sources of popcorn kernels. But I was finally able to get a corn sst made up. I'm waiting right now for lights to come back on before I dilute it and water the ladies. But I plan on posting a little "before and after" to see if I can show the difference the sst will make. Hopefully it's another addition to my grow that makes a big difference. I've heard amazing things, plus it's super cheap and easy to make up. So it sounds like it'll be win win
If I could pinpoint one thing that took my bud to the top shelf level it would definitely be switching to hempy style grows. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I tried two different kinds originally. One was organic jolly brand and the other was a bulk bin popcorn. Neither of these had any sprouts after a few days. Not to say that they wouldn't work, just didn't work for me. I plan on trying them both again at some point but the multi colored popcorn I get from new seasons works beautifully
What other kinds of additional have really helped uo your guys game? We've heard a lot about soil/plant addivtives, but not a whole lot about equipment upgrades.
My primary source for this post is the academic book centered on neem trees and related topics, Neem: A Treatise Distrex You want to use both neem (or karanja) oil as well as meals. As you've already seen the oil will keep your plants healthy and free from herbivore insects and pathogenic fungi both of which are the biggest challenge growing in enclosed areas. The neem meal (aka cake) retains about 5% of the original level of neem kernel oil which would include the same array of secondary metabolites totals about 360. About 23 of this group provide the insecticide and fungicide compounds we want to see. The big benefit from adding neem or karanja meal to your soils is that the neem tree is a bio-nutrient accumulator like alfalfa, brown kelp, stinging nettles, aloe vera, dandelions, and almost every fruit. What makes one material different than another is not the accumulation of elements because a potassium ion in a banana is the same thing as an ion from a mineral compound like K-MAG or Sulfate of Potash. So besides the IPM compounds in the meal you're also using a very capable fertilizer on par with the best. Besides the compounds which have been identified, cataloged and studied (only about 115 out of 360) is another 245 compounds that add to the health of the soil and therefore healthier garden plants. You don't need to hi-dose the meal. Go with the suggested application rates provided by either BAS or The Ahimsa Foundation CC
So far my equipment upgrade is just using lava rocks instead of perlite. I sorta have a love hate relationship with them lol, it was hard at first because I wasn't adding enough and had drainage problems, but now that I have it down I love them. My babies seem to love the teas I've been giving them this year as well as the crab meal
Thanks, CC for dropping by. I was hoping you would swing by. I'm headed up to the library as soon as I get this post sent out to see if they have any good books on genetics and plant breeding. I may just have to check and see if they have something like that book there as well. I have already started to use the neem meal/cake in my soil. I bought the karanja/neem combo from BAS. I have tossed a couple handfulls into the last couple teas that I have given the ladies. I have also started mixing in small handfuls into my worm bin. I have also mixed up a new soil that will contain some of the neem/karanja as well. I just can't speak on how well it works yet, as I haven't done a grow with it in the soil. Thankfully you could come along and provide some fantastic info on it. From everything I've seen, once people start using it, they can't speak highly enough about it. What kind of lava rock are you using? Did you start with the bigger chunks and break it down yourself, or did you spring for getting the smaller stuff right off the bat? I've been tossing in a little crab meal in my teas as well. Apparently it's the chitin in the crab meal that provides a good boost of growth.
I will try to take a picture tomorrow. But the normal big chunks of lava rock from Home Depot, there was some smaller ones in the bag too. So really it's a mixture. Black lava rocks though