Wanted something simple for mulch - 'set and forget' - seems to work well for the aloe! It's growing in the same soil as the notills though. BO x NLH - much better end product harvested closer to 11 weeks than what was taken closer to 9 weeks. Last run with the strain. This pheno very much NL dominant.
Man....I think it's so cool that some of you have been using the same no tills for such a long time. I want bigger pots so bad....but i gotta get a bigger space first! Loving your work here Blue!
Hey thanks for all the kind words everyone! Here's a during and after picture from yesterday's foliar. Full coverage leaves behind droopy plants. Make it a good one everyone!
I haven't yet, I'm guessing I really should huh? I'll have to make a point to stop by the home-brew store next time I go down the hill.
Blue Jay If it's available you want 6-row malted barley grain = higher enzyme profile but 2-row will give you spectacular results as well. At far less than $.10 a gallon it's more than worth your time, effort and money to use malted barley grain. You can have an enzyme tea ready in 4 hours or less. CC
I know a 5gal bucket full of barley seed that's destined for cover cropping now LOL - I'll have to make that trip to the Riverside home brew store this week! On another note - I started watering in the powdered biochar with excellent results. I figured for the existing no-tills I'll do one monthly application for about a year plus mixing some biochar into the once per cycle vermicompost top dress. Then that'll be that - this soil will be Rockin and Rollin for years to come! The soil is amazing as is - I look at the biochar as an extended insurance plan.
LF Can you find a local home brew store in your area? The price per lb. should be no more than $1.20 per lb. which will make 16 gallons of enzyme tea. Regardless whatever you had to pay the benefit and more importantly the results will make it some of the cheapest 'nutes' you could come up with. CC
I've just started trying to learn how to maintain a healthy living soil, and many things still confuse me. Enzyme teas being one of them. Is barley going to be better than corn or alpha alpha? How often to you feed this to the soil?
case22 Good questions and hopefully I can answer at least a few of them for you - or not! LOL Enzymes are catalysts the effect specific biological functions in humans, animals and plants. You can toss in fungi, bacteria, et al. in this discussion. For example vermicompost is a function of the enzymes in composting worms. The bacterial slime that worms ingest are converted to worm castings in the worm's digestive tract. Worms also exude specific enzymes into the food stock to trigger specific responses from microbes. A partnership if you will. Almost every seed contains a range of shared enzymes - Amylase, Urease, Phosphatase, Chitinase, Protease, et al. Seed germination is 100% a function of enzymes having absolutely nothing to do with NPK or any other element. Seeds are encoded with these enzymes from the mother plant. When we germinate a seed these enzymes are activated and other enzymes are altered by the seed itself from germination-inhibitors to ones that will insure the viability of the seedlings. Where the differences come are the levels of specific enzymes and I'll use barley seeds as an example because there is a plethora of information from beer brewers, distillers (barley is what makes Scotch whiskey for example). Barley seeds contain a-amylase and b-amalyse which are enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of starch into sugars. Enzymes are specific to a given function, in other words Urease has no effect on Chitin, Protein or Phosphorus which need Chitinase, Protease and Phosphatase for that function. Corn is a good example as well because what you get from this grass seed are cytokinins. See if this helps answer your question about corn specifically... Nature of Cytokinins Cytokinins are compounds with a structure resembling adenine which promote cell division and have other similar functions to kinetin. Kinetin was the first cytokinin discovered and so named because of the compounds ability to promote cytokinesis (cell division). Though it is a natural compound, It is not made in plants, and is therefore usually considered a "synthetic" cytokinin (meaning that the hormone is synthesized somewhere other than in a plant). The most common form of naturally occurring cytokinin in plants today is called zeatin which was isolated from corn (Zea mays). Cytokinins have been found in almost all higher plants as well as mosses, fungi, bacteria, and also in tRNA of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Today there are more than 200 natural and synthetic cytokinins combined. Cytokinin concentrations are highest in meristematic regions and areas of continuous growth potential such as roots, young leaves, developing fruits, and seeds (Arteca, 1996; Mauseth, 1991; Raven, 1992; Salisbury and Ross, 1992). History of Cytokinins In 1913, Gottlieb Haberlandt discovered that a compound found in phloem had the ability to stimulate cell division (Haberlandt, 1913). In 1941, Johannes van Overbeek discovered that the milky endosperm from coconut also had this ability. He also showed that various other plant species had compounds which stimulated cell division (van Overbeek, 1941). In 1954, Jablonski and Skoog extended the work of Haberlandt showing that vascular tissues contained compounds which promote cell division (Jablonski and Skoog, 1954). The first cytokinin was isolated from herring sperm in 1955 by Miller and his associates (Miller et al., 1955). This compound was named kinetin because of its ability to promote cytokinesis. Hall and deRopp reported that kinetin could be formed from DNA degradation products in 1955 (Hall and deRopp, 1955). The first naturally occurring cytokinin was isolated from corn in 1961 by Miller (Miller, 1961). It was later called zeatin. Almost simultaneous with Miller Letham published a report on zeatin as a factor inducing cell division and later described its chemical properties (Letham, 1963). It is Miller and Letham that are credited with the simultaneous discovery of zeatin. Since that time, many more naturally occurring cytokinins have been isolated and the compound is ubiquitous to all plant species in one form or another (Arteca, 1996; Salisbury and Ross, 1992). Biosynthesis and Metabolism of Cytokinins Cytokinin is generally found in higher concentrations in meristematic regions and growing tissues. They are believed to be synthesized in the roots and translocated via the xylem to shoots. Cytokinin biosynthesis happens through the biochemical modification of adenine. The process by which they are synthesized is as follows (McGaw, 1995; Salisbury and Ross, 1992): A product of the mevalonate pathway called isopentyl pyrophosphate is isomerized. This isomer can then react with adenosine monophosphate with the aid of an enzyme called isopentenyl AMP synthase. The result is isopentenyl adenosine-5'-phosphate (isopentenyl AMP). This product can then be converted to isopentenyl adenosine by removal of the phosphate by a phosphatase and further converted to isopentenyl adenine by removal of the ribose group. Isopentenyl adenine can be converted to the three major forms of naturally occurring cytokinins. Other pathways or slight alterations of this one probably lead to the other forms. Degradation of cytokinins occurs largely due to the enzyme cytokinin oxidase. This enzyme removes the side chain and releases adenine. Derivitives can also be made but the pathways are more complex and poorly understood. Cytokinin Functions A list of some of the known physiological effects caused by cytokinins are listed below. The response will vary depending on the type of cytokinin and plant species (Davies, 1995; Mauseth, 1991; Raven, 1992; Salisbury and Ross, 1992). Stimulates cell division. Stimulates morphogenesis (shoot initiation/bud formation) in tissue culture. Stimulates the growth of lateral buds-release of apical dominance. Stimulates leaf expansion resulting from cell enlargement. May enhance stomatal opening in some species. Promotes the conversion of etioplasts into chloroplasts via stimulation of chlorophyll synthesis. That's a start anyway...at least now you can understand that a bottle of 'enzymes' from Hydro-Heaven is absolutely and completely useless without knowing what enzymes are used - if any. CC
Took a few times reading through but thanks for the response! So since different seeds contain varying levels of different enzymes, are certain seeds better to use during different stages of growth? Or possibly a mixture of various seeds? Or are the differences minimal enough to not really worry about aside from availability?