A perfect example is that I have not watered since last weekend. My large pot,no till soil and moderate temps will do it. Small,well draining soil,no biochar,no RD and hotter climates will require water much more often.
Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Dirt Makes You Happy Came across this doing a lil Sunday morning reading. Enjoy! RD
Is there any issues using MBP as a tea like we use Neem/kelp for top dressing? My large pot has a thick straw mulch and a nice carpet cover crop. I also notice the lower mulch layer is a bit stiff and crusty,should I be breaking this up or just leave it?
I read that no, there is no issue using it for tea, but that it does the same thing + is faster to just top dress it. Making tea is adding extra steps, unless you need it liquefied for certain purposes. I'm about to start germing more seeds and toss a few of these seedlings/lose faith in them at least. Mistakes were made. What's a good starter mix for no-till? something I could toss in a solo cup
My seedling soil mix is: 2 parts peat moss 2 parts perlite 1/2 part VC 1tbs oyster flour or lime per gallon
How long do you let em go before you start feeding? Or just let them go a cpl weeks then transplant into your pots before that? I'm thinking of doing light fish hydrolysate foliars here and there and then alf/kelp tea in veg, not sure yet what ill use mainly in flower
Seems like I remember Coot saying something about mbp teas possibly causing problems if they were bubbled too long, or didn't have enough aertion. Personally, I don't like a crusty top layer. I would break it up a little. Here's an article on limestone, calcium and pH. I can see why Coot likes oyster shell. Peace! P-
I transplant out of red cups into 3g pots as soon as they have enough roots. I'm water only these days throughout the entire grow. Alfalfa/kelp or a fish hydrolyslate/kelp soil drench are a great way to go if needed. RD
Yea I remember OS saying he did a 24hr. Bubble of kelp then added MBP for the last 2hrs. He said more than a few hours and alcohol was produced which killed some peoples plants. I went with a full cup per in my mixes of OS. Edit;File
When using rapid rooters for cloning is it preferred to squeeze out some or most of the kelp/alfalfa solution or leave them full of solution?
Turns out my seedlings were all stunted/stopped growing...because they're rootbound already. Spent the past week wondering if I was over or under-feeding, over-watering, why the heck they went from super healthy to stagnated, all I had to do was transplant lol. I'm thinking since I started 3 in backyard soil with no other amendments, no aeration... And the roots made it from seed to the bottom, that in lieu of having mix to transplant into for a few weeks, I will just carry on w/ the backyard soil for now.. It grew hella tomatoes with just water this summer, and those were all volunteer tomato plants... in a no-till (just cause they never touched it) bed that was overgrown w/ 4ft tall red clover when I got here. Mucho nitrogen. Pulled all the clover and left the productive plants and they all just went wild. I bet I can finish these plants in that dirt w/ no aeration and just a few teas.
How I understand it is all of the super-soil-no-till-indoor-mixes are really just trying to replicate actual outside live soil. Every time I've grown weed (the clue is in the word) outside somewhere that had grown other healthy plants it's been the easiest and best stuff, how nature intended. Teas won't even be necessary if you have some good compost/mulch.
I agree, the soil back there is super good.. I just transplanted them all and its really dark, nice loam, really fluffy texture when worked but somewhat dense and does compact a bit. Actually full of worms and beetles etc too and some went in the pots. Just grabbed where the tomato leaves have mostly fallen and composted already, I think if they aren't crippled (from over-feeding and other poor conditions, thinking that was the reason for stunting when really it was lack of space) that they'll do well in this soil. I almost should have just got a bit of peat, aeration, and thats it. Skip the rock dust etc, skip the mix amendments. Shoulda mixed aeration + peat w/ backyard and then just bought stuff for topdressing/teas. We are in a valley here that is known for its soil fertility.. If I really thought about it, you're right, all I've done is spent $200 basically replicating whats in my yard bahaha. Oh well!
Well.. I'd mix in OSF, neem and crab meal still. But I think if you have quality soil in your yard you can bypass rock dusts, gypsum at the very least, maybe skip kelp + alf meal as well and save for teas etc.
Just want to thank those who helped me in my cloning! It's been many years and I have had very mixed results,this time they look great! Failure from my experience was right at 24 hrs,limp slips which never recovered.
I've got a question for our outdoor crowd; My #200 is about 4 foot round,what would be a good way to add support for later in flower? My SP is on wheels. Was thinking about a 6' high concrete 12" wire wrapped and tied around the pot(2'=pot/4'=above pot). This would give full access to the middle and fully support any growth,if needed I could always add a little higher.
There are several ways to slay this beast. You could use pvc and build a frame. Netting. Or some 4x4, cinder blocks, and concrete wire.
It floats like a butterfly! Lot more work building any frame wood or pvc,hose clamp banded concrete wire is looking good after another month or so. I'll flower and after the stretch I'll band the whole lot up 5'-6',whatever is needed.