What is the preferred method for top dressing ? Do you apply the earthworm castings and let them sit or do you apply the earthworm castings right before a watering and soak them ?
Hi BioD. Welcome to the organics forum. A great way to apply castings as a top dressing and to get immediate benefits is to make a slurry. Simply take the castings you are too going to use and barely cover them with water in a covered container. Shake vigorously for a minute or two and apply. This works almost like an "instant compost tea" - breaking the microbes free from the castings into the suspension. I like to add a few inches of homemade vermicompost - "mostly finished castings that still have fine compost mixed in" as a topdressing/slash mulch. It seems to work excellent for me. Kelp meal also makes a wonderful top dressing, and works fantastic when soaked in water for a few days to a few weeks. Add a few handfuls of alfalfa meal into this botanical tea for a slew of additional benefits. Best, J
Jerry, if one needed to top dress like 15 plants, would putting the castings in a 5 gallon bucket and barely covering with water, then stirring like a mad man also work? I assume it will, just being anal I guess...
And then to follow that up, what about instead of using h2o to cover the castingz, would a kelp/alfalfa tea instead be ok to use in its place?
My favorite top dressing is a mix of kelp, alfalfa, and worm castings. Ill mix 5 cups castings with 1 cup kelp, and one cup alfalfa, and just casually sprinkle that around my plants. They loved it. I usually make a tea though, and use the dregs to top dress with. Either way works great.
BioD, for me, at least, organics is not what to feed during veg or flower. That was my old hydro mentality - you know, nitrogen for veg, P for flower, blah blah blah. I have since learned that this mentality is a total crock of shit and done away with that thinking. I forced myself to "relearn" gardening. We make "complete" soils - soils that contain absolutely everything needed for our plants to totally thrive. Everything is already in the mix - and then some. Our soils are alive, in the form of bacteria and fungus that works symbiotically with our plants, helping to feed them, fight off pathogens, etc. The soil life and the plants decide what they need out of this complete soil that we have constructed, and when they need it. I do not take control and feed my plants like I used to when I gardened with hydroponics - they feed themselves. When I top dress these days, it is only to put back what gets used up during the grow - not to feed them. Again, they take care of that themselves, with the assistance of the soil life. Do they gain benefits directly from top dressing? I have no doubt that they do, but that's because they decided to take those benefits. If they didn't need it at the time, then I have no doubt that the benefit would sit quietly until they do need it, at which point they'll take it and make use of it. When I make a tea these days, or top dress with anything, ALL plants in all stages get it - not just the vegging plants or the flowering plants, but all of them. I'm feeding the soil - not neccessarily the plants. Feed your soil, and it will take care of everything for you. You no longer need to make those decisions. J
Well most of the research I have done was in regards to soil or hydroponic gardening with much emphasis on nutrients. I wasn't really aware of organic growing. Luckily I caught on before the adding of any nutrients was given to my plant. This is my first grow and intend on my future grows being organic. Thanks for the advice. I will carry the mentality that these plants are living creatures and will take what they need and when they need it. And with a little tlc from me I can encourage healthy grows.
BioD Two words of wisdom that has saved my ass:VIABLE (VERMI)COMPOST. The rest is a stroll in the park. Disregard that "nute" business and mentality. EZ! Good luck and looking forward to your organic success.
Went to buy some ewc today and noticed some other amendments. They were lava sand, expanded shale, and cornmeal. Two things also caught my eye were organic cow manure and organic mushroom compost. Does anyone use these and how?