Hey all, I'm not a true organic gardener (I use General 'Organics and microbes") mainly due to the lack of space in my apartment. Stealth isn't an issue, but the grow space is also my office/gaming room. That being said I'd like to start using compost tea with my next grow. Currently I'm only watering my four 7 gallon plants about 8 gallons between them so I don't think I'll need any 1 large amount of tea at the time. Is there a reputable brand of premade or is there a space conscious way to get everything I need to make it without converting my office into a grow groom?
save yourself the work and time involved in making tea and just top dress the compost instead for the same or better results.
Top dress. I used to make teas but get the same results with top dressing. Plus it's less of a mess and less work.
Ok, I haven't looked at compost. Is there a brand I need to look for or will anything labeled "compost" work? Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
check craiglist you might find someone local to you that sells organic compost or better yet some quality worm castings.
great advice scoobs, local compost is always the way to go if possible. then do a worm bin, and ur on the way to a good soil.
Can you give some examples of what you would top dress with.say during flowering?like a fish bone meal and kelp meal?or something along the lines of that?always curious what different people use.
i follow the regiment as described in the no-till thread. from start to finish, veg or flower i dont change my inputs. You want to get in the mindset of consistent inputs as materials take time to break down and become available in the soil. The two main things I do are Malted barely (sprouted seeds) and neem every week or two. usually alternating between the two. if i can get fresh coconut water ill add it to my routine as well.
Okay now I'm just doing an organic soil it's not a no-till. So will that make a difference? Sorry I'm new to this organic soil so just trying to learn everything I can. Now I have neem meal in my original soil mix there won't become an over abundance of it? I mean I only plan on top dressing if the plants look as though they need it.I'm assuming towards budding is when they will be asking for it more. Also one more question what do you feel about throwing some fresh aloe into the water every now and then? Or is that primarily just used as a seed inoculant? Thanks again anyone for all your input!
Unfortunately this doesn't really work too well with organic soil. by the time you see signs of deficiency it will be too late to properly amend the situation with top dressing. as mentioned before, materials need to break down before they become plant available, and this takes time. you might be able to put a "band aid" in some situations but you wont get the same results as when using a proper soil that has everything the plant needs for the whole cycle. Thats why my inputs are consistent, i am always adding everything and as it slowly decomposes the plants can choose and take from what they need at the time. The whole feed this in veg and that in flower is what you would do when growing hydroponically that use chelated chemical nutrients, so you're basically "spoon feeding", dictating, to the plant what it will eat. you can use the no-till recipe and re-amend between cycles. you can make a neem meal tea for a weekly or bi weekly drench even if you have it in your soil thats fine. fresh aloe is great you can add it to all your watering and foliars at 1/4cup per gallon.
Well this is my soil recipe is 1/3 organic compost 1/3 peat moss 1/3 perlite give or take. Then 2 cups or actually cup and 1/2 Granite dust per cubic foot. Then amendments are kelp meal, neem meal,crab meal, tomato tone,worm castings and alfalfa meal. And that's all to cups per cubic foot of all the Amendments mixed together not two cups of each. Will there be anything you would add to that mixture or do you think that would be sufficient? Oh and a cup of lime for pH per cubic foot.
recipe is fine just make sure to allow it to cycle for at least a month since you added alfalfa meal which can get hot if used too soon.
I've seen some growers who like Recharge. You can mix it up in small batches. I do 1/4 tsp for 2 quarts.
Recharge is a mix of beneficial bacteria and fungi, including trichoderma and mycorrhyzal strains, combined with kelp, humic and fulvic acids, amino acids, and molasses powder. It's primary use is simply as a top dressing. You can also use it as an additive to an AACT, or as the sole ingredient in a poor man's AACT if you're in a pinch. It is a powder, so it is really easy to use, and again it will mix up in small quantities. Certainly doesn't replace the variety of life you'd get with a true AACT, but it does guarantee you to have known beneficial strains, especially fungi which can be tricky to cultivate with a homemade tea. I would also add Boogie Brew as a recommended pre-packaged compost tea (). It won't help you in terms of brewing up small quantities, but the product is outstanding. I brew up 2 gallons of concentrate at a time, which stretches to 5-10 gallons depending on my needs. But I really only use it on veggies on my balcony and at a friend's house where I keep a garden. As @Sc00byD00bie and others said, indoors it is so much easier to just top dress. But it could be what you're looking for. The 3lb package is about the size of a bag of coffee and brews 50 gallons before being diluted. Their ingredients are public: Open Source Compost Tea I'm in a 1BR apartment, so I know it can be tough, you can't really do thermal composting or store large quantities of ingredients. That being said, you absolutely can keep a worm bin. I've been doing it for about 4 months now in a 3 gallon smart pot, never had any try to escape, and they are happy as fuck in there. That would be the best option for compost that doesn't take a lot of space. From what I have read on GC, it is the #1 thing you can do to improve your grow, hands down. For packaged compost to use as a top dress, if you live in the Northeast you might be able to find Coast of Maine compost. Even better than Malibu imho. You could also try to find an organic farmer at a farmer's market and ask where they get their compost. If they make their own they might even sell you some. sorry for rambling hth toaster
Thanks for the info.compost of maine is great except price.i grow in 30 and 40 gallon smart pots so would be to expensive.i need about a yard of compost.but know a few guys with some good organic compost.maybe ill trying adding that recharge to a tea.have a tea recipe a guy gave me.for veg 1/3 cup psg 1/3 cup bg mexican 1/3 cup ewc.that makes the dry mix.then add 1 cup of dry mix to 5 gallons water.and for flower 2/3 cups psg 2/3 cup bg jamican or indonesian 2/3 cup ewc.then to the 5 gallon mix 5 tbsp liguid seaweed 5 tbsp mollases.
Personally I never added any microbial or fungal product with the exception of mycorrhiza (which i only sprinkle on the roots of a rooted clone or during transplant, not in the soil as it needs contact with roots to thrive). IMO quality fresh compost or worm castings contain all the microbial life you will need for the soil.