Hi Jerry, Thank you for responding. I have read a lot of your comments here and they have been very helpful, especially your contributions on rock dust. I used Serenade indoors for years and it did very well in eliminating PM outbreaks if used from first signs of roots to when the flowers said no more spray. I rarely had issues with Botrytis and credited that more to a dialed in climate control than the Serenade, but I don't know for certain. My understanding is weekly spraying colonizes the plant with Sub B and prevents PM expression. If Sub B is competitive with Botrytis as well, then this would be a familiar process for me. I would love to not use a dry fert, but I figured I should stick to the basic recipe and gain experience before getting too smart. I've burned myself in the past over-reaching. What additions would I make to compensate for pulling the dry fert? One thing that worried me a little bit about this recipe is there doesn't seem to be much P and I thought the fert would fill in.
One thing that worried me a little bit about this recipe is there doesn't seem to be much P and I thought the fert would fill in. Which recipe are you referring to Morning Bird? j
It's best if you regard that recipe as a guideline, not something set in stone. Myself, *I* prefer bone meal as a P source and normally add 1cup/cf to the initial mix. If you need more, bump it up to 1 1/2cups/cf. I know Jerry doesn't use bone meal and there are other sources of P, so whatever works best for you. Wet
I'm basically at the guideline phase of my education. If I wanted to go without the dry fert, would you suggest just bumping the other ingredients up a bit? I like your suggestion for adding a separate P source. For this run I would rather do a good job than risk doing a poor job trying for a great job. I don't want to over-do anything here, just stay on track. I don't want to build the soil too hot which is why I've been following that recipe, and I figure I will know what I else I may need to do after an initial trial.
Great thread FT. I use several of their products that I can't buy locally. I trust them more than any other internet source I've dealt with for these items, and so far everything works as advertised. I'll keep going back, especially for some of the Bio-Ag products.
I'll post up pics of my girls here once in a while, if you don't mind Frankie, since I'm almost all BAS. Drop by my paradise! http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1351737-fresh-ronins-paradise.html
Bone Meal is considered a "hot" amendment. Also, soil tests show that a microbial rich soil is lower in P than is considered normal and the plants do just fine. High P hurts the micro herd. With organics we're more concerned with total plant nutriention vs feeding veg/flower nutes. I'll post up my soil mix here: 1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss 1/3 EWC/Vermicompost (homemade is best.) 1/3 Aeration (small sized Lava Rocks or Growstones) Bio Char 5-10% of Total soil mix. I usually go with 5-6% to be safe, because bio char lasts for hundreds of years. I use food grade 5gal buckets to measure with and aerate water/brew teas. Just about any restaurant that serves pickles has these and you should be able to get all you need for free. 1.5 buckets equals 7.5gals (1 cubic ft) These measurements don't need to super precise with the bucket. Just try to make it as equal as you can. Your Sphagnum Peat Moss should be fully hydrated before measuring because it expands and throw your ratio off. Amendments Breakdown Per Cubic ft of Vermicompost. (I'm using the amount of Vermicompost only for my measurements because it's the only living part of the soil mix in the beginning. There is no need to amend aeration which is inert.) Nutritional Amendments: 1 cup Alfalfa meal. 1 cup Neem Cake 1 cup Kelp Meal 1 cup Crustacean Meal (I use 2 cups OMRI Chicken manure and 1 cup Kelp Meal to charge the bio-char and are added to soil mix with the bio-char.) Sulfur: Gypsum Flour 1/2 cup per cubic ft Liming: Oyster Shell Flour 1/2 cup per cubic ft. (If not able to source Gypsum Flour, then use 1 cup per cubic ft.) Mineral Amendment: Rock Dust 4 cups per cubic ft. I use a 50/50 mix of; Glacial Rock Dust Premium Basalt Rock Dust Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
I can make this soil fresh and plant/transplant into it same day without any issues. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
Awesome! Thank you. It's hard to change the way the mind thinks - - using bottles for so long and indoors, using stuff that has a 44 P rating and then adding up the amendments and seeing it at 3 or 4. It might be something like when the first automatic cars came out. "You mean you don't shift?!" I appreciate it Also, good on the gypsum. I have lime and oyster shell flour and gypsum - - was going to use at 1-1-.5 - - could I bump the gypsum up to 1?
1 cup of gypsum per cu.ft. Should work just fine. People play with these ratios all the time. Personally I would never go below a 1/2 cup or above 2 cups per cu.ft. of any of these amendments. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
I just started the thread. It's everyone's to do as they please. Post what you want. I just started this off of people's suggestions to have a thread for users of BAS products. I need to post no children please. Leave all bitterness out of this thread. Lol. We will see how this goes. Fun times I hope everyone engages in good conversation and act like adults. But we will see. Lol
Above 2 cups total or 2 cups each per cubic foot? If I used a cup each of OSF, Lime and Gypsum, would that be leaning towards the too much range? Would it be better maybe to go half cup OSF & Lime and one cup Gypsum?
That's per cubic foot. I wouldn't go over one cup. One cup oyster she'll flour one cup gypsum. No lime.
Oyster Shell Flour is your liming agent, along with any of Amendments that contain Cal in them. Gypsum is not considered a liming agent even though it does contain Cal. It's added for Sulfer. I wouldn't go above 2 cups per cubic foot of each soil amendment for every cubic foot of vermicompost/EWC in your soil mix. Check out my grow! Mars II LED & Organic No-Till Soil. http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
To anyone who has used the clackamas coots mineral kit, or made your own similar mix... How long did you let it sit for after mixing? I've heard two weeks and up to two months so I wanna double check
Hey guys I just found the BAS website, I was already trying to follow Lumperdawgz recipe because it made the most sense to me. I have some questions. Will the crab/crustacean attract predators and animals? Also I started my girls if happy frog cus thats what I had lying around the house, any issues I need to be aware of when I transplant into the Living Soil? One last thing I have food grade diatomaceous earth (10 unused lbs after a scabies scare last year) mines is white but will it be ok to use around my outdoor grows? I saw they had red lake variety on BAS Im just curious if there is any difference in the two other than color. Thanks I know this isnt their support but I figured I would ask experienced growers first.