From what I understand if you build super soil with all the additives you generally layer the bottom with the super soil and then fill in the rest with a quality mix of peat/perilite/ewc. My question is could I just build the quality mix and constantly water with ACT to supply the needed elements? Or perhaps top dress with higher N during vege and then high P during flower? While still using the ACT.
The layering thing is just a gimmick at best. Any sort if layering or "spiking" just gets mixed in the soil after some time and provides absolutely no benefit. Mix a soil, fill the pot, lay some mulch. I suggest you read and follow the techniques described in the no-till thread: No-Till Gardening: Revisited
The Old Soap BoxYou don't need all the additives, you can make a good living organic soil with minimal additives, and once your soil food web is established, feed it, keep it watered, you can grow any plant in it.
Like Scoob said, all that layering, spikes, and such is just mainly Hoo Doo Voo Doo and causes more problems than it ever solves. Mix a quality soil and call it good. For the ACT, the only time it's really needed is when you first construct the mix with the initial wetting. Once the micro herd is established they're there for good. They don't wash out or die off (they might go dormant under extreme conditions, but come right back when conditions improve), and excessive ACT's can actually mess with the balance of the micro herd. They haven't survived millions of years by being delicate. Wet
Thank you everyone for the info! Wish I asked the question before I purchase all the ingredients for a super soil haha. In regards to ACT, I have read alot of different reports on the frequency of use for ACT. From every watering, once a week, once a month, etc. Also in the use of ACT as a foliar spray. I understand there will be a few factors at play in regards to this such as concentration, frequency, strain tolerance. I'm hoping a few others will chime in so I can get a feel for what the organic community like to do. But do you just use ACT once? Do you use it frequently? Do you foliar spray with it, and if so how often?
ACT used to be very popular but since most of us have come to the conclusion that it is actually redundant and unnecessary in container gardening with rich organic soil. You get the same benefit from just top dressing and/or from using top quality compost/castings to make your soil with, without the hassle or risks involved in brewing a tea.
Lol seems like I’m always late to the info. After I just ordered the air pump to make ACT haha. Thank you for the info. I read over the first 20pages of no till and the last 5. Has the mix changed any from the original design?
the original mix had a cup of lime per cubic foot, which was omitted in the revisited version. IMO its better to leave it in. No-Till Gardening
Interesting, Never really thought of it that way. sometimes im just toonlazy/ dont have time to brew an ACT and will water with plain water or a molasses or kelp solution hoping to invigorate the microbes that are already present. Always believed u could never do too many teas, but your logic makes sense probably best to keep the microbes that are already present and acclimated to your rhizosphere happy as they are already working with your roots. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
FWIW, I haven't used teas of any sorts for 6 or 7 years now, not since my worm bins really got cooking. That "quality" that keeps getting mentioned doesn't really relate to expensive so much, but more to the quality of 'homegrown. stuff like compost and worm castings, not costly bagged stuff. I know my VC is better than anything I could buy, no matter the cost, because I control what the worms are fed (coffee grounds and fresh comfrey, mainly). I also use no thermal compost in my mix. I can't make it due to physical limitations and bagged stuff just don't cut it for me (so many seem to have problems with the bagged stuff they use). I do do a cold compost of leaf mold on my soil gardens, but that's just piling it up and leaving it with some alfalfa or such for a kickstart. The following spring I'll move enough aside to plant and that's about it. It's also loaded with worms. Worm castings will provide a huge variety of microbes, plus humic and fulvic acid just for starters. Starting a worm bin is about the most significant thing you can do AFA organic gardening/growing, it just brings so much to the table. Adding to fresh mix puts everything in there from the git go, way beyond anything an ACT can provide. One is good, the other, Grrrate! Wet
I still love all kinds of teas and use them regularly. On new soils, or soils that are having issues, I don't have a problem using an ACT once or twice a week. I add other dry amendments to my ACT's to beef them up, and recently I've really been enjoying an anaerobic LAB/insect frass tea. Where I think teas really shine is when you are pushing your plants size/soil volume ratio. If my plants start getting too big for the soil - tea time! Peace! P-
Can I ask what kind of pump you ordered? If it's not a little aquarium pump - something more like a comm 3, then I can show you how to build an airlift brewer with some pvc and a couple fittings - no cone tank required. Peace! P-
It was an Elemental 952gph pump. I saw the video of the airlift and figured out all the pieces I needed but then saw I could also purchase the pdf of the plans from the original designer to help support the cause. Clever design and I like he has a shopping list in the pdf so just makes my life easier! I just wish it wasn’t so loud haha But definitely appreciate the offer!