Does anyone know where to source worm power other than directly from them? Do they sell to nurseries or someplace in bulk that rebag it in smaller bags for local sales?
I tried that and the only place that shows is ace hardware and when I called them they said they don't have it anymore. I bought the small bag directly from them for top dress for this grow of 2 5 gallon pots but would like to find it closer and not get hosed on shipping.
Start a worm bin and have fresh VC right in the house. My very first organic run I skipped EWC entirely and used the $$$ it would have cost to buy and ship to start a worm bin. The first run came out fine using only blood, bone and kelp and by the next run there was enough VC to add at least some and now, there is 30 - 40 gallons available whenever it's needed. Buying and shipping stuff that is so easy to DIY just doesn't make any sense. Wet
PINE BARK FINES for J Usually in the outside garden section of any place with a garden center. Mulch is the smallest and is mostly fines. This is what I use. Then, there are mini nuggets and nuggets, each progressively larger. We have so much in the SE because of the paper mills and the hundreds of sq miles of pulp wood tree farms. These are in N.Fl, S.Ga, and some in Al, where the soil is too poor to grow much of anything but pine trees. Paper companies are the largest landowners in Fl. I'm sure lumber operations play a role also, but nothing like pulp wood operations. With all the lumbering and huge forests in Maine, I'm sure they should have similar. Just like your bark pile from splitting firewood, the bark usually isn't used for pulp or lumber. What's the major type of conifer trees harvested up there? Some sort of bark should be available and usually for cheap, like $2.50 for a 2cf bag. Check it out. Wet
I replied to you on that other thread but figured I'm best off asking you here, I have access to a ton of redwood fines (Northern California ya know haha) and I bought 3 cubic feet to top dress my fruit trees but would love to use them on my other trees haha. Do you just mulch with these? Add them as an amendment or in tandem with your peat? And typically how much do you add?
I've never used redwood, does it have a heavy bark like pine? I do have a 'Bud' that uses rotted redwood quite a bit, living in a redwood forest he just collects it. Anyway, I use the fines as part of my humus content, with my own (very dense), VC as the other part. For very rough measurements I use 3 - 5gallon buckets to mix 2cf at a pop, which also fills a big wheelbarrow. 5gal fluffed peat moss, 5gal perlite, and for the humus, 2gal of the VC and 3gal of the pine bark fines to make 5gal. I'll adjust everything by eyeball till it looks and feels good to me and usually end up with 18 or 19 gallons instead of the 15 I started with. I sorta mulch with it, as the Black Kow manure is composted with bark fines in it and gets used quite a bit as a top dress. I don't mulch indoor containers at all. Outdoors is a different story. HTH Wet
Interesting, thank you! I don't know if I would say it's very dense, it is thick but kinda more fiberous almost shredded like. The garden center has fir bark fines which I think can be used how you're using it, but here is the description on the redwood- says redwood peat.. "Redwood Peat can be used to supplement Peat Moss or Coconut Coir or as a direct replacement in propagation or hydroponic growing applications. Redwood Peat can be incorporated into the soil and provide long lasting organic matter. Made from 100% Redwood products. Redwood has long been used in growing applications because of its natural resistance to decomposition, providing beneficial organic matter, longer. Any application where water retention and air space is desired Redwood Peat will give your plants what they need. Can also be used as a fine Redwood ground cover giving you a forest floor look." Where the fir fines say to use as mulch.
I found this companies, colloidal humic liquid 32 oz for 7 dollars. they also have a dry bagged material. roots hang out of my pot. Green Products
These guys have fantastic products. They sell to organic veg and fruit gardeners in Ireland (not the kind of people who like to spend a lot of money on.... anything really lol) Seafeed Chitin Enriched Compost "Compost made in a 3 year process using crab and lobster shell and ground bark. A very fine seed compost rich in chitin which feeds plants and controls fungal diseases." They also sell "Envirogrind" compost which they are extremely proud of. Here a video of the owner getting a bit too excited about compost "this is best product we sell." , "if you get in to veg growing you'll find yourself going a bit mad about soil and how amazing it is" When I heard him saying that I was sold Compost - Envirogrind Soil Improver 60 Litre Bags One other recommendation is this seaweed product. Produced by a family that have harvested seaweed by hand from the west coast of Ireland for 3 generations. Organic Irish Seaweed Soil Conditioner and Plant Tonic 25 Litre Every time I spray with this (I use 5ml/ litre) I get an huge response. The next day everything is greener. Flat rate shipping to France is 15 euro. A lot if just getting the shell compost but I bet when you visit the site you'll see a bunch of stuff you'd like ( confrey pellets, certified organic EWC,certified organic horse manue, basalt rock dust etc) quickcrop.ie I've no connection with these guys at all. (Dont tell them you're grow weed or anything like that). This is my first time growing soil. I made a coots style mix with their products and every seed ( from chillis to lettuce to carrots and weed obviously) I drop into it grows like crazy. Infact it gave me my very best moment in growing so far. I made some seed by accident in my very first grow. I tried every method I could to get them to sprout and got nothing. I had one seed left, the worst looking one, tiny , dry and cracked. I dropped it in the soil and forgot about it. 3 days later I had a seedling. I couldn't believe it, I thought I was going to cry lol. Have you looked for companies in France that sell to organic veg gardeners? Stay away from anything that markets to weed growers imo.
Oh man don't say no more i'm gonna try out the chitin compost and some other stuffs. the website looks very friendly i'll check it deeply. We don't have that much products except industrial so i'm staying away and most of my products i use are from eu. Can't find other than horse manure around my town tho, btw i tried to compost some crab meal with EWC but it's been only a month so... Thank you for your time
Looking to source Comfrey and clover locally here in So CAL or ship it in? I don't have the room to grow it myself, any help is appreciated. Also trying to source gypsum and some different meals locally. You guys posted a bunch of spots, just trying to find a place closer to LA.
boy am i glad i found this thread,,, i been researching. on making a '' no till soil '' growing medium. but the more i research it... it seems i been doing the no till method all along, but just didnt realize it,, im a strictlly soil grower, and ive made some wild mixes,, of which im still using the same soil,,, but in it that i know of is, peanut shells bat guano blood / bone meal mushroom compost sawdust perlite peat moss dolomite gypsum agricultural grade lime 3-3-3- organic chicken manure pellets to this i ben adding '' fresh'' potting soil. and adding perlite.. and am gonna add some worm castings, and granite dust to it, and start my next run.. at which time im gonna really stock up on some additives, so around april i'l be updating the soil mix. to the best it can be, i look forward to reading and researching this whole thread,
after reading this thread i see some are having issues with '' aeration''' products,, i must say my PEANUT HULLS. are doing a fine job at fluffing up my soil,i aqquired them from a place that bags peanut seed, and has a mountain of crushed shells, ive had them outdoors in a big pile getting rAINED ON and decomposing. sorry for the weird typing.. but i got a ansy bulldog running between my legs, and disrupting the flow.