So I'm trying to build my water only super soil and I have liquid kelp tea on hand but if if I have to I can buy kelp meal, I'd like to save $20 if I can. So I'll give you a run down on what I have. - Pro mix bx - EWC - Hen manure pellets - Crab shell meal - Tomato tone like Dr. Earth's mix - Kelp meal or hopefully liquid kelp. - Lime - Perlite And now here are some maybies. - Gypsum pellets - 25 pound bag or compost from crappie tire. - And maybe a few bags of black earth Tell me what you think.. im still trying to figure out the amounts that I should add.
Maybe is jerry111 sees this can you answer this for me. I cant get rock dusk so can I use kelp meal or seaweed meal instead? I've read your post about rock dust but still not sure about this.
Kelp or seaweed meal is not an "instead" for rock dust. Rock dust, simply put, acts as an anchor for microbes/bacteria/fungi to bind to. Kelp meal or seaweed will actually add beneficial nutrients and other good sciency things to your soil. Get the kelp meal dude, it is worth it IMO.
From a nutritional standpoint.... liquid kelp (seaweed extract reconstituted) is the same as kelp meal. The difference comes in the secondary metabolites.... the compounds that make kelp so special, like mannitol, alginic acid, IBA, IAA, gibberellins, etc. These things are all destroyed during the process of making seaweed extract. Kelp meal is the only way to get them. Here's my read on Seaweed extracts vs. Kelp meal - when Kelp is processed (converted) to a powder, Potassium Hydroxide is the caustic chemical used. Same chemical sometimes used for cremating human and animal remains leaving only the bones and a powder that contains the Elements (minerals or whatever term one chooses) - the other benefits are long gone. Think about it this way - almost all of the compounds are a molecular formula of Carbon, Hydrogen & Oxygen - same as THC so what would be the effect of taking a few pounds of fresh harvested medicine, tossing it into a tank and dumping Potassium Hydroxide on it and collecting the powder for use as medicine or recreation? Probably very few people would want to give that one a shot and who could blame them? Were it not for these Primary & Secondary Metabolites in plants, then there would be no reason to choose Kelp over Alfalfa or for that matter, simply buy synthetic fertilizers - the ol' NPK and related myths. Having said that, the product you linked to is from Acadian Seaplants which is the same company that packs the Kelp meal you have on hand. The only other big manufacturer of powdered seaweed extract is the original one from Maxicrop. Both companies harvest from the same general area (North Atlantic) and there are some big differences in the actual processing (hot vs. cold extraction) making the Acadian product a better one, IMHO. It's also about 40% less expensive - price Maxicrop Powdered Seaweed Extract in the 10.75 oz. pack sometime. The KIS product is the best of the best when it comes to these powdered extracts. They have their place but it is not a situation where kelp meal and seaweed extract are interchangeable - they are not for all the reasons I tried to explain. HTH LD
You need ROCK DUST!! Regardless of what you have on hand....& what do you mean you can't get it? I'm about as remote as you can get & I can get ROCK DUST!!?? I have it sent in......& if it's $$$ that is keeping you back on the Rock Dust issue, I found the best & cheapest here: http://www.fertilizeronline.com/best-buy-combo-agrowinn-rock-dust-mineral-fertilizer-10-lbs-and-agrowinn-worm-castings-10-lbs-usps-shipping-included .....shipping is included! ~Sundance is dancin' in the Forest~ LOL BrassNwood turned me onto the Rock Dust issue, then turned me onto the above site.....Piff....rock dust....gotta have it.......
Getting products like that are hard in Canada but living where I live is even harder in Canada. And it will take 3 weeks to get here from the States. Im looking for substitutes for it now. I've read somewhere that you can use rock dust from grave stone heads. I'm not sure if its true but ill have to look into this a little more.
You know.... Gaia Green is based in Canada, and has several stores all over the place..... they are the best known glacial rock dust company.... I'd at least try locating one of their distributors: http://www.gaiagreen.com/stores.html But yeah, you can go to stone cutters, but make sure they don't use some sort of synthetic lubricant or cutting agent.....
The closest store that holds it is 2 hours away in the city.. and will not ship. I got exhausted looking for a store to ship it
Rock dust is also called "granite slurry" by most countertop cutting folks. Or try finding "decomposed granite" if you're at a landscape supply place.
It will most definitely work. Slurry from a counter top place was the first kind of rock dust I ever used in my soil mixes. You'll need to dry it out in the sun and then run it through a small sized classifier (small mesh sifting screen, the small sizes used for gold prospecting work very well) in order to remove larger sized stone chips and shop floor "litter". You'll love this stuff because the majority of it is SUPER fine. Be prepared to work! While all places that I've dealt with will allow you to muck their drains out for free, keep in mind that rock dust slurry is VERY heavy. Bring lots of buckets, 'cause you're not going to fill them up all the way. Maybe you can/will, but it's a lot easier on the back if you don't. Just to be clear, rock dust is just as important to have as kelp is in a healthy living soil. They are separate ingredients, each important in its own way. One will not "replace" the other. And as has been pointed out, kelp meal is superior to kelp extract because it retains the beneficial compounds that are lost in the processing of kelp extracts.
Man im happy you answered here.. I was giving up on this.. it was becoming a big task and would cost to much to buy and ship to me.. but we have lots of places here that deal with granite. Hopefully they will be willing to give or sell it to me.
i havent used rock dust,, just some sandy loom in the mix in that i have in my back yard... ass loads of kelp lol. i think im going to add another cup to my compost bin right now actually.
I added seaweed to my vegetable garden I've added seaweed to my compost pile I use seaweed I collect anywhere I can.