brazel
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True that! It's funny when you hear this bottle is amazing!... really! It's just imitating my soil!
brazel
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My bad I didn't mean to step on anyone's toes, he'll be more than happy to answer!
Cheers bro
Organikz
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A solid no till bed can be brought up for pennies on the dollar. There's no comparison. My soil mix cost me 2.5 hours and $100 to mix 200g of soil. I think thats equal to 22.5g of fox farms. That's not anymore upfront cost IMO. That's a bottled feed line. That would last 2 grows if you're lucky in a bottle.
I still have 3/4 of a #50 kelp and a #44 neem cake...why does buying in bulk make sense? i watch these items on Amazon...they go on sale and that's when i buy my next bag...i also frequently call local brew stores to ask if they have ripped bags of grain.
Some guys are very crafty. I've heard of guys rounding up everything except neem free. You can go harvest algae out of a pond for kelp meal replacement. Thats extreme for me even lol.
I've yet to scratch the surface...
I think RD will agree and that's why I don't mind answering in his place.
My #44 neem $100
It will last 5 years.
My #55 kelp $75
Will last 6 years
#50 MBP $80
3 years
And when the bags are done your soil has more than it needs...you don't need anymore.
8 years down the road you might have to add SPM to your soil...now everything's free except SPM.
I still have 3/4 of a #50 kelp and a #44 neem cake...why does buying in bulk make sense? i watch these items on Amazon...they go on sale and that's when i buy my next bag...i also frequently call local brew stores to ask if they have ripped bags of grain.
Some guys are very crafty. I've heard of guys rounding up everything except neem free. You can go harvest algae out of a pond for kelp meal replacement. Thats extreme for me even lol.
I've yet to scratch the surface...
I think RD will agree and that's why I don't mind answering in his place.
My #44 neem $100
It will last 5 years.
My #55 kelp $75
Will last 6 years
#50 MBP $80
3 years
And when the bags are done your soil has more than it needs...you don't need anymore.
8 years down the road you might have to add SPM to your soil...now everything's free except SPM.
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brazel
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Haha love it! And please tell me you're gonna release it soon! Best name ever
CaliRooted
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Your passion shows in your work. Nicely done.
R
RanchoDeluxe
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It sure would. I ran a 4x4 bed in a 4x7 area for a long time.
R
RanchoDeluxe
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Thanks man. Pat is harvesting right now. Never looked into Moringa...might have to add it to my smoothie.
R
RanchoDeluxe
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Honestly, I don't understand the question. The building, lights, HVAC, painting, ductwork, etc. are all up front costs too.
R
RanchoDeluxe
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I would love to do a grow from nothing but locally harvested wild materials. Perhaps down the road I'll make this happen for a small grow.
The cost effectiveness of building your own soil and growing in a raised bed cannot be emphasized enough. My time and labor are worth money too. Having to remove or remix soil after every run is labor intensive at best or a combo of pissing away money and labor if you dispose of soil after every run.
Take a look at Planet Natural for neem and karanja meal. Probably the cheapest out there. Coot finally got Concentrates NW on board w neem from what I hear.
RD
brazel
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Yo, my next mix I'm going with
Thirds of cspm, ewc and pumice
1c each kelp & neem
4c basalt & 5c bio char.
My ewc still has 6 to 8 months left before I'll use it.
It's basically just homemade compost, a bag of Malibu compost, bio char, kelp, neem, basalt, gypsum, crustacean meal, pumice and rice hulls... and worms and other bugs
I threw some amendments in I had sitting around from previous mixes that I don't use. Now that I think about I can lower my amendments and pumice in the mix I'll be using since the ewc has them.
I'm gonna pop some of bluejays work and do 12/12 from start till they sex and then switch to veg. he said he hasn't had an issue with it.
I still have my original coot mix soil, it's going on three or four years, I forget what year it was but I made it about a month after LOS.org started. I don't know if you remember but I was gonna get soil from Jeremy and you said nah you gonna make it, that's what this is about! I have 6 or 7 cycles in it now!
Here's my ewc. The bottom of the tub is cut then I put a bunch emt pipe going across with cardboard on top of the emt.
4'x2' seedling heat mat.
Thirds of cspm, ewc and pumice
1c each kelp & neem
4c basalt & 5c bio char.
My ewc still has 6 to 8 months left before I'll use it.
It's basically just homemade compost, a bag of Malibu compost, bio char, kelp, neem, basalt, gypsum, crustacean meal, pumice and rice hulls... and worms and other bugs
I threw some amendments in I had sitting around from previous mixes that I don't use. Now that I think about I can lower my amendments and pumice in the mix I'll be using since the ewc has them.
I'm gonna pop some of bluejays work and do 12/12 from start till they sex and then switch to veg. he said he hasn't had an issue with it.
I still have my original coot mix soil, it's going on three or four years, I forget what year it was but I made it about a month after LOS.org started. I don't know if you remember but I was gonna get soil from Jeremy and you said nah you gonna make it, that's what this is about! I have 6 or 7 cycles in it now!
Here's my ewc. The bottom of the tub is cut then I put a bunch emt pipe going across with cardboard on top of the emt.
4'x2' seedling heat mat.
brazel
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I don't so much now but then again I haven't reapplied it!
Question is if I been roiling like that for a couple months I don't think the dry will go further than the 1/8" it's at.
Would you let it roll or switch up so that 1/8" isn't dry. BTW it's an 1/8" in the thickest part, 1/16" is most of it cause i do have a lid that's ventilated by using that black sun screen stuff
R
RanchoDeluxe
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What is the purpose of the heat mat? Thought you lived in SoCal? Unless there is some danger that bin will freeze solid... don't waste $ on it.
Where the hell are the worms? The material in the bin doesn't look like it's even close to being wet enough. Most worm activity should be occurring in the top 2-4" with a vertical flow through. Keep in mind temps in the 50's will cause the worms to reproduce faster. Temps in the 70's will cause the worms to eat faster. Hopefully I will have time to talk about our lil friends later today.
RD
R
RanchoDeluxe
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Screw it! Puffing on some Gorrilla Glue x Dragons blood hashplant.
I'm running 40 yards of soil without a single worm! I will be adding worms shortly!
I definitely have a different take on this than most. Once worms do become established in my raised beds my efforts will be focused on making the best compost I can. This is what I will add after every run...more or less.
Our beds after enough time turn into nothing but castings and aeration. The plants continue to do quite well, but I'd prefer to slow this process down. Pure EWC is a tough point to achieve, however it's actually toxic to the worms themselves.
I will say a bed made with some quality vermicompost will be easier to run than a bed made with compost initially. Also if you run into any problems a good 2-3" of vermicompost applied under the mulch layer is a quick fix.
I'll mention a couple of problems we can run into w our beds and how to avoid them in my next post.
RD
I'm running 40 yards of soil without a single worm! I will be adding worms shortly!
I definitely have a different take on this than most. Once worms do become established in my raised beds my efforts will be focused on making the best compost I can. This is what I will add after every run...more or less.
Our beds after enough time turn into nothing but castings and aeration. The plants continue to do quite well, but I'd prefer to slow this process down. Pure EWC is a tough point to achieve, however it's actually toxic to the worms themselves.
I will say a bed made with some quality vermicompost will be easier to run than a bed made with compost initially. Also if you run into any problems a good 2-3" of vermicompost applied under the mulch layer is a quick fix.
I'll mention a couple of problems we can run into w our beds and how to avoid them in my next post.
RD
Dunge
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Would you agree that watering method is made more important when top dressing?
I'm thinking that the roots are relying on nutrients leached from the dressing space, so watering needs to travel through this space.
I share your appreciation of the worm.
I like to think of them as microbial regulators.
Once they fully occupy a space, diversity seems to narrow to what the worms like.
Love the "no till" idea, as much as I loath humping "soil" about.
I'm thinking that the roots are relying on nutrients leached from the dressing space, so watering needs to travel through this space.
I share your appreciation of the worm.
I like to think of them as microbial regulators.
Once they fully occupy a space, diversity seems to narrow to what the worms like.
Love the "no till" idea, as much as I loath humping "soil" about.
brazel
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Where I'm at it usually stays between 50°- 80° year round, but I'm by the ocean so the breeze keeps us a lil warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. North county San Diego. I have the mat set on 72°.
When I had my smaller farm, in kept in my room so I never worried about temps.
This one is a lot bigger so I left it outside.
I was the mat to keep even temp for better activity. I didn't know they reproduce faster in lower temps.
I have wriggglers and nightcrawlers in there.
When I used kitchen scraps in my old one there was way more moisture. Sometimes I would throw a banana in there just cut the tip of the tail off and later it would be solid worms like a banana shaped in worms.
When I got the new one I dumped the old vermi into the new mixture. I didn't add any more worms. I was letting them reproduce.
I did notice between using kitchen scraps i could see worms on the top, in this style i rarely see worms on the top even before I put the mat in it.
I'm gonna take the mat out and spray a lil water.
brazel
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Here's a pic of my old ewc and new ewc.
That mat is drying it out a lot more than I thought. I went in for a handful and it wasn't wet as I thought. Worms are in there but not like I want!
I'm Stoked I hit you up otherwise I wouldn't have even checked it!
Thanks bro!
That mat is drying it out a lot more than I thought. I went in for a handful and it wasn't wet as I thought. Worms are in there but not like I want!
I'm Stoked I hit you up otherwise I wouldn't have even checked it!
Thanks bro!
K
kansabis
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I'm gunna start a worm bin this spring but I think instead of buying worms im just gunna find them in the ground locally and add them to the bins,should help reduce emissions and price of delivery. New age hippy power lol
K
kansabis
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If I do have my worm bin outside and temps get real cold,lets say below freezing,should I worry about worms or will they survive?
brazel
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Another thing... in the other style castings would be ready within three months.
This style a year would give you the best results
This style a year would give you the best results
brazel
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Ha we're doing opposite things!
I'm warmer using a heat mat, you're colder not using one! Haha
Edit.. just read you're getting ready to start one.
Whoops
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