getting ready to mix up

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by califlower, Mar 24, 2015.

  1. Firstly, thank you for the plethora of information goin 'round here. As always, there is much sifting that is needed to get past biases, but nonetheless, there is even more to be learned. I have been growing veggies for a few years now but this will be my first organic grow. I haven't needed to do much posting as many questions are already answered, but before I mix everything up I want to be sure I have it right so here goes.
     
    My base mix is going in 25g geo-pots and will be:
    ~25% top soil (purchased locally in bulk and is an excellent quality 80/20 top soil/compost)
    ~10% coco coir
    ~30% pumice
    ~5% biochar
    ~15% compost (from same place as top soil which is aguinaga green in irvine, ca)
    ~15% worm castings (purchased locally from mccrawls red worms)
     
    My nutrient mix is based on Steve Solomon's books which is where I've gotten my info for veggie gardening and consists of:
     
    2 qt Organic Soybean Meal
    1 qt Organic Kelp Meal
    1 pt Feather Meal
    1 pt Fish Meal
    1 qt Soft Rock Phosphate
    1 qt Azomite
     
    I mix my nutrients together before adding to soil and will be adding 3 cups for c.f., however many people I've read just add the nutrients straight to soil without pre-mixing so are these proportions good? I've seen some people like to go heavy on the rock dusts. Also, is it worth incorporating alfalfa meal as well, or do I pretty much have it covered? And anything else that would be worth adding? I've chosen to forego liming and gypsum for the time being but should I consider adding that as well?
     
     

     
  2. Why the "forego liming and gypsum"?

    Not only are you giving up the pH buffering, but also a very important source of Ca. Some consider Ca as only second to N AFA plant uptake.

    I'd be interested in your reasoning behind this omission.

    Wet
     
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  3. From what I understand, the biochar acts as a pH buffer, and in case my topsoil was calcium deficient, I though I was getting calcium from the rock phosphate. If I am wrong, the lime and gypsum would be the easiest ingredients to obtain so that could quickly be fixed. Would you recommend?
     
  4.  
    Compared to coco coir, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss is a much better option for building a living organic soil.  It has a higher CEC, lower C:N ratio, and a more diverse and bioavailable nutrient content.  Coco coir is basically inert.  Its cell walls are comprised mostly of lignin and cellulose, which are carbon compounds that are highly resistant to microbial degradation.  Until the cell wall is broken down, any and all nutrient content contained within is unavailable.
     
    If you're going to use soybean meal in your mix, make absolutely sure that it's certified organic.  Something like 96% of the soy grown in the U.S. is GMO (thanks bio-tech companies!), which has been treated with copious amounts of the herbicide glyphosate (Round-Up).
     
    Feather meal?  I wouldn't touch the stuff unless it came from the chicken coop in my backyard.  Modern day industrialized food production is full of heavy metals, arsenic being only one of many.  Feather meal is also EXTREEMLY high in nitrogen content.  You have N covered with the soy and fish meals.  On the arsenic...
     
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969711014306?np=y
     
     
     
    Calcium contained in rock phosphate is going to be extremely slow release, and will do nothing to buffer the pH of the soil solution.  You need carbonate forms of calcium (ag lime, oyster shell flour, crab/crustacean meal, dolomite) in order to neutralize free hydrogen ions in the soil solute.  Liming agents should be added at 1c/cubic foot of soil base.
     
    Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is an awesome soil amendment due to it's sulfur content (and calcium of course).  Sulfur is a necessary nutrient ion in the development of terpenes/terpenoids, which lend flavor and aroma to fruits, vegetables, and of course, cannabis.  Mix in at 1/2c per cubic foot of soil base. 
     
    And being the stickler that I am, I would want to know exactly what materials where used in the building of the compost, and how the worm castings were produced...
     
    Does Steve Solomon touch upon the phytochemical benefits of using other types of soil amendments in his books?  Like the systemic acquired resistance provided by neem, or crab shell meal?  Or the naturally occurring growth hormones provided by kelp and alfalfa?  Do you know anything about the benefits realized from the use of aloe, coconut, or sprouted seed teas?
     
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  5.  
    -damn ya'll are good. ok so, I will use peat moss instead of coco coir. However, I've been using the coco in my vermicompost bin, is this ok since the worms are digesting or is peat moss better for this as well?
    -as far as the soybean meal, its labelled organic from modesto mills, unfortunately nowadays I'm always skeptical of any organic labeling, but as far as I know it is organic.
    -for the feather meal, is it that much of a concern that I should discard the majority of a 50lb bag? I see in your link it says arsenic was detected in all samples of feather meal. Is it worth me requesting some type of data sheet or would that not be of any help? perhaps in my food garden it would be more of a concern than something that will end up just being smoked? here is the MSDS from groworganic.com where it was purchased http://www.groworganic.com/media/pdfs/f940-m.pdf
    -ok then I will make a stop and get some lime and gypsum. steve recommends a mix of ag lime and dolomite lime. would you also recommend this or will 1 suffice?
    -I made a couple calls. regarding the worm castings, the worms were fed a mix of shredded newspaper, rabbit pellets, and chicken feed which consisted of corn and soy. I forgot to ask whether it was organic but my guess would be probably not. as far as the compost, they said it consisted of peat moss, natural fir, green waste, fertilizer (he didn't know the exact recipe off the top of his head) and perlite. here is a link to their website http://aguinagagreen.com/Mulch,_Compost,_Top_Soil,_and_more/Home.html
    -steve himself acknowledges the brevity in his book and states there is much more detail to go into, so no, he does not discuss any phytochemical benefits, however I did forget to say that I have the 50/50 neem/karanja mix from BaS. I also have already ordered aloe and coconut from Jeremy, should be here any day, and will be using his 15 seed cover crop blend in addition to a wood mulch from aguinaga. for my SST I will be using a blend of alfalfa and red clover seeds. and while I'm at it I also have neem oil and agsil, and I will be using realgrowers recharge for my mycorrhizae inoculant.
     
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  8. While I was working in my worm bin, I had an idea, don't laugh at me if it doesn't make sense but I'm just trying to make lemonade here if ya know what I mean. Do you think it would be worth throwing the coco coir in my bokashi bins to allow them to ferment? Would it make it any easier for the microbes to break down by allowing a primary microbial breakdown? And also, how would I go about implementing my bokashi bran into my soil mix, just top dressing? or actually mixing into soil?
     
  9. I'm going to copy/paste, or this is going to get out of hand...
     
    damn, wish I would've known before I bought 3 huge coco bricks, but hey ya live and ya learn. I will start using my compost instead. Is there anything that the coco IS useful for? haha
     
    Return what is unused (if) for a refund.  I can't imagine coco being useful for anything other than bottled chemical grows.  Do you have cats?  Might be a useful addition to their litter box...
     
    In the future I will skip the feather meal. Is there anything that you would recommend replacing it with in my particular mix? Or just omitting it will suffice?
     
    Omit it.  You're covered with neem/karanja.
     
    ya I definitely wasn't expecting to hear fertilizer as an ingredient. perhaps I will do some more researching on bulk compost sources in the area. I'm trying to get my local farm supply store to stock some of the plan B organics worm castings, right now they have the agrowinn castings. are they pretty reliable? seems like the most important ingredient is the hardest to find.
     
    Can't comment on the agrowinn castings.  Never used them.  Once again, contact the company to see how/what they feed their worms.  Check Craigs'List for non-commercial sources for EWC.  But always ask about how they are produced...
     
     
    I was going to mix all my ingredients and then let them sit in the geopots outdoors while the cover crop was growing before planting and moving indoors, so instead I will just the cover crop in my veggie garden and just stick to my wood mulch indoors.
     
    No, no.  This is an excellent idea!  The cover crop will stimulate microbial action and get your whole soil system rocking when it comes time to plant canna' in it.  Do what you plan, bring the pots indoors, chop the cover crop and leave the plant material in the pots for mulch.  Use your wood mulch as well.
     
    I make sprouts for myself anyways, so it won't be much trouble to make extra, but I will use the malted barley as my main SST. does a coffee grinder work best for seed grindage? and do you weigh out the seeds or is it about a tablespoon or so?
     
    Yup.  A dedicated coffee grinder is your friend.  I've weighed, I've measured by volume.  It's just an enzyme application and should be applied sparingly, as in not all the time (maybe once a week).  I use a heaping tablespoon per gallon.  Less is more... 
     
  10. Alright, thank you sir, I think that should get me started. I shall report back when I've made some progress! Oh and I think I will just use my coco coir for growin my wheat grass.

    Sent from my LGL55C using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  11. This is a good thread verry helpful now im just as confused as ever !! First its add feather then dont then its ewc but make sure its done right.... im on over load do burnt brain cells help i think i just flickered out
     

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