k so I am using Bat guano for the first time, just picked up green gold Bat guano Bloom 0-12-4 high phos fert. Im wondering if anyone has experience with this stuff? it says 3 tsp per 1000ml 1Lt of water for Tea. It seems a little dark when mixed with only 1000ml and I am thinking it might be too strong and burn my outdoor plant. I have read other articles of guys saying 1 tbsp to a gallon. can anyone possibly help me out so i don't possibly burn it?
First off, real Bat Guano doesn't just dissolve in water. It needs to be either made into a tea or mixed into the soil. Once the solids are removed from the tea, it will look much lighter in color. Standard tea-making instructions for most Bat Guanos is 2TBS/gal. This shouldn't harm any mature plants. Using less than 1.5TBS/gal would be a waste of time imho. For high-yielding plants in full flower, up to 4TBS/gal can be used.
2tblsp ill try, and making the tea what do you do to get rid of the solids? im thinking a strainer? any other ways of making the tea?
Once the tea has steeped for many hours, the liquid can be poured through a filter to remove solids. Old sheets, especially high-threadcount ones, can make excellent filters and are washable. Always wet the fabric before straining to minimize how much fertilizer solution is soaked up. Alternatively, the solution can be allowed to sit undisturbed for an hour and the solids will fall to the bottom. If handled very gently, the solids can remain at the bottom while the liquid is decanted. The last little bit of mud left at the bottom can be given to yard plants.
A portion of bat guano's is usually soluble, so it's not all or nothing. I have added guano three ways, one in a soil mix, two in a tea of sorts, I simply took a gallon jug added the guano and shook it up and then poured in on, and third was to top dress it dry and water it in. Being it's sort of soluble, the rates are slow release, I take that as a good thing. I never used anything but sun leaf brands grow and flower types, so I'm no expert on guano's, but I top dress a quarter cup per 7 gallon pot once in late veg, once in early/mid flower, that's it. The reason I still use guano's with so many choices out there is I like the flavor they seem to bring to the buds. Hope this helps.....MIW
Guano's typically take 4 months or more to break down and become available and are better used in a tea starting at 1TBS/gal of water.
From the importer of Archipelago Bat Guano which is one of the largest brokers in the USA: Is “0-20-0” phosphate bat guano 3 times better than “0-7-0” bat guano? So much for N•P•K numbers on label. And remember that this company is in the business of selling guanos. Not exactly an uninformed critic, eh?? LD
Not that I doubt you at all, but could you point me in a direction on guano break down rates? A quick search takes me to more mj sites rather than science types. Thanks.....MIW
I have the ABG (I got it when I was down in Tucson, out of the back of the guys car!) and I have continually top dressed with it when I use it. I put it down the same as MI mentioned with regards to his grows. Gonerooty, as Chunk said, thanks for that site. I had seen that in the past and I was looking all over creation for it the other day. I was calculating the breakdown times of my amendments for my next grow and trying to determine to the best of my ability(Haha!!)if everything I was adding was actually going to add to the growing potential of my plants in a 12 week period.
On my first legal indoor grow a scant few years ago I bought and used Mexican bat guano. I mixed it in the soil. The guano smelled like scented perfumy soap, in a good way. When I smoked the buds a faint taste came through that was just like the guano smell, but when I vaped some buds the taste was exactly like the guano smell. Naturally my friends were all trying to source the Mex guano, and since I was heading to the grow shop soon anyway I gave my bag away. The next bag, (bigger) that I'm still using BTW smelled nothing like the original bag did. Same brand and everything. This stuff I 'm using now adds a earthy taste in my opinion, so I still use a little.....MIW
Gone Rooty, looking at the charts in your link make me think I should use the guano in the soil mix, every other cycle in the soil. It also confirms that reamending used soil fully is not a good idea. I had to learn that lesson the hard way......MIW
MIW The link I posted in #7 explains breakdown and availability times for this amendment. The local organic farm store that services Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington sells bat guano for $.50 per lb. (N) and $.60 per lb. (P) and there it sits. Slow movement for a number of reasons not all of which have to do with its effectiveness. I bought a bag a couple of years ago and 90% of it ended up in compost piles - probably the best way to implement it into a garden's soil according to Tim W., et al. I won't be purchasing it again. There are far, far better sources of Phosphorus than bat guano, IMHO LD
Ya, the evidence is building up. Funny it seems like all my old original ways are changing every year. When does it stop? No input, perfect soil? Then what happens when the microbes would not need me anymore, scary......MIW
MIW Be afraid - very afraid. Here's an example of what can happen to a large collection of plants without human intervention of any kind other than making a path through the forest floor. Where's FatBoy Mike in all of this? LD
Beautiful pic LD. Also may I ask you what you suggest a better form of phosphorus is. Or I guess can you tell me please. BeZ...V
Why he's a cuttin' raw materials 200-1000:1 and bottling it up with tap water and pretty labels as his loyal lemmings race to the bank to cash their paychecks to hand over their hard earned money to him and his ilk you silly guy
BeZtoken You could/should go with thermal compost, worm castings, fish bone meal, fish meal, bone meal, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, sunflower meal, canola seed meal, flax seed meal, oyster shell powder, crab meal, kelp meal, neem seed meal and on and on. I may be misreading your question but what I took from it is that everyone starts out with a huge range of problems that must be addressed with a quiver of amendments, cures, fixes, etc. But if one is really concerned about some mythical phosphorus deficiency (after conquering the horrid Boron deal) then you could go with a product like this which is packed by at least 30 companies under their own label - it's all the same product from 3 manufacturers in the USA. LD