Can I "cook" my organic soil like this ????

[ssteely71]

Ok. Here's my dilemma. First off I grow in a super high density urban area. My outside space is limited to 3x5 balcony. Secondly the property I live on is infested with fungus gnats. They are a constant nuisance even when they can't populate my soil.

My problem is in being able to "cook" my organic soil mix with an ACCT before the gnats can establish a population in my soil. If I cook it in my grow area. The gnats I have lurking in there will infest it. If I cook it on my balcony the gnats will be swarming in it in a week.

So..... My solution is a physical barrier to keep the gnats off the soil ,but one with airflow. I have my soil in 15 gallon Rubbermaid bins that have holes cut for air flow so I just wrapped the whole bin in an old sheet and tied it closed. Do you think it will work ? I will still stir and flip the soil every two days and add ACCT teas as directed. Or do you experienced farmers think the sheets will stagnate the air in the bins ? Or will the gnats just go through it ??Helpful opinions appreciated. Thanks !

Bad idea ???

 

[Garden of Dreams]

Whats in that soil? When soil cooks it kills all the fungas gnats and larvae, Cooking soil reaches temps in the 150 range.
Im not so sure your little batch is "cooking'? I suggest you add Bokashi to it and use a much bigger tub, Also this ALL depends on your mix, ACT on Potting soil will NOT cook, Now if you add compost, worm casting, humic, azomite, all the meals and then add the em1-Bokashi mix your soil will come alive. HtH's!!

 

[ssteely71]

Whats in that soil? When soil cooks it kills all the fungas gnats and larvae, Cooking soil reaches temps in the 150 range.
Im not so sure your little batch is "cooking'? I suggest you add Bokashi to it and use a much bigger tub, Also this ALL depends on your mix, ACT on Potting soil will NOT cook, Now if you add compost, worm casting, humic, azomite, all the meals and then add the em1-Bokashi mix your soil will come alive. HtH's!!

It's is vermifire soil amended with
Perlite
Earthworm castings
Dolomite lime
Caps bennies
Black gold
Blood meal
Bone meal
Kelp meal
Greensand
Feather meal
Actinovate

It's been sprayed with liquid karma at 3.5ml gal and earthjuice catalyst at 2.5ml gal.

Pretty sure it's cooking. Lol
Will the sheet hurt or help??

 

[ssteely71]

FYI. My last batch got a gnat infestation while cooking.

 

[Garden of Dreams]

soil mix sounds fine, should cook but its way easier f the piles bigger, And cooking proper should kill all fungas gnats and larvae, once its on the cool down its ready to go. You got a temp gauge? I cant imagine getting a proper cook in that small amount, we use a 3 yd Super Sak and a temp probe, and hit it with a FPE, within a couple days its at 130ish.

 

[ssteely71]

Yeah it is small amounts for sure lol but my space is so limited that 3 cubic feet is all I can really do. I have a temp gauge and those small bins get pretty hot inside when it's cooking. But I never thought to measure it. Thanks for your help GoD I will get a plastic 55gallon trash can to cook in next time and I'll track temps . I like not having to do anything except water from seed to harvest. Here's what's in my tent now. Bogs lifesaver day 50.

 

[Garden of Dreams]

Nice Bro she looks Greasy! Maybe cook a bigger batch and save some sealed up for next time, Just gets better with age!!
Id look into EM-1 and Bokashi bro, Probiotic Organic Farming! :D

 

[Dunge]

Cooking a soil is "not a thing" other than in the minds of many.
I can imagine a freshly mixed batch of super soil needing a moment or two to work out some population issues between the caps, worm, and compost microbes, but that will happen no matter what you are doing.
Compost is the result of "cooking".
It's a microbial wild fire that boosts the temps to levels that kill many pathogens and results in rapid digestion of compost into composted material.
Tending and turning is used to control the process.

As to the cloth, it looks like a great idea. Or you could put soil back in the plastic sacks it came in and fold the top over.

Nice flower.

 

[Garden of Dreams]

Compost is the result of cooking, but IMHO when you add in Perlite, Peat Moss, Green Compost, Poultry Compost, EW Casting's, Feather Meal, Blood Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Soybean Meal, Fish Meal, Kelp Meal, Limestone, azomite etc "cooking off" will synchronize the soil, I achieve this with a FPE spray hi in enzymes, Its like marinading your soil,
Sure you could BBQ Chicken and then put sauce on it at the table or you can marinade it overnight and its just so much better!!!!

 

[NaturalTherapy]

You could add neem seed meal to your soil mix. It's a great addition for boosting soil/plant health and has a component that works as a natural pesticide. I don't have my books in front of me, but it's something like 2 cups per 20 gallons of media I think.

 

[ssteely71]

Great input , very helpful. Thank you. This is only my second batch of organic soil so it is all still a learning experience. Each grow gives me an opportunity to work on new and better methods. Ive read all the soil threads but my constant war on fungus gnats makes me wary those lil bastards will hit me like they did a few grows ago. I'll stir the soil daily. Keep it covered and keep it moist with liquid karma. It should be ready pretty soon. Peace

 

[ssteely71]

You could add neem seed meal to your soil mix. It's a great addition for boosting soil/plant health and has a component that works as a natural pesticide. I don't have my books in front of me, but it's something like 2 cups per 20 gallons of media I think.

Yes. I've looked into this also. As I do use neem as a foliar in early veg. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Garden of Dreams]

Neem meal, or cake is better then neem oil in a soil mix, same with Karanja. you guys should be adding Bokashi to EVERYTHING.

 

[Schwoop]

Bokashi
has two useful features: One is fertilization. Another is that microorganism propagated
through fermentation process enhances activities of plant roots. Microorganisms involved in fermentation include
Rhyzopus, Koji mold (Asperllus orizae), Bacillus natto, Bacillus subtilis, Lacticacid bacilli, Yeast, Actinomycetes, etc. They generate organic acids, amino acids, vitamins, plant hormones; and activate enzymes and minerals. These actions are believed to enhance healthy crop growth. Microorganisms propagated in bokashi discourage activities of pathogenic fungi, bacteria and nematodes.

 

[Seamaiden]

Compost is the result of cooking, but IMHO when you add in Perlite, Peat Moss, Green Compost, Poultry Compost, EW Casting's, Feather Meal, Blood Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Soybean Meal, Fish Meal, Kelp Meal, Limestone, azomite etc "cooking off" will synchronize the soil, I achieve this with a FPE spray hi in enzymes, Its like marinading your soil,
Sure you could BBQ Chicken and then put sauce on it at the table or you can marinade it overnight and its just so much better!!!!

What I do is brine the chicken, a half hour to 45 mins is all it needs.

I LOVE the mention of the FPEs, which for those who aren't familiar stands for Fermented Plant Extract (or Juice, aka FPJ).

Another fantastic addition to what you and @NaturalTherapy have discussed here is biochar. Also wood ash can be used, very sparingly, in a good quality soil if on hand. I've made small amounts biochar using rice hulls in open air (I wish I could find the video) on a burn day. But one could go and use something like, say... spent carbon from their filters, and use that at a rate of about 10% of the total mix (or surface area if we're talking about outdoor cultivation) and that will become home for microbes as well as adsorbing and absorbing many nutrients and minerals.

Another one that I've really gotten to love is Sea-90, used at very low rates, has corrected chronic blossom end rot on my Solanaceous and Cucurbit veggies with TWO applications in a season, that was it. I'd been going through so much Ca trying to correct it, screwing with the watering, a qualified metric shit-ton of bullshit, then one day I used some that I was spraying on my cannabis on the tomatoes, peppers and squash and the results were, to me, astounding, and stopped that BER in its tracks! Day 1 results, no shit.

Milk, especially raw milk, used at 10% is being used to bring back pastures by fomenting even more microbial life. I think it can be used sparingly here when wetting down the soil, too.

Russian kvass is another microbial culture that can be helpful. I don't think it *must* be any one thing, simply that you're creating an environment conducive to culturing as many microbes as possible.

OP, you're very restricted because of the space you can work with, so maybe you should consider using products that don't have to be 'cooked' into the soil, but simply made bio-available. Most rock dusts can be considered to be that type of amendment. Many plant meals and parts, like alfalfa, are fine left to break down while the plant is in the media in my experience.

Drop the perlite, get rice hulls or something similar (think ag waste product, peanut shells, walnut hulls, whatever).

 

[ssteely71]

Lots of great info. I can see I have a whole shitload of new studying to do now. Bokashi , neem cakes , rice hulls, carbon and the list grows!!
But Im glad I threw away all the chemical fertilizers. My meds taste and feel better.
Positive vibes to you all for your wisdom.
Peace

 

[slap14]

I hate those fungas gnats. I would go with something like burlap as it breaths a little better than cloth. The other thing I use is pantyhose. I get the single knee high ones and set my whole pot in it an use a twist tie at the base of the plant, nothing but air gets in and out and I can water through it. I'm sure you could find a way to attach the pantyhose to the tub.

Now as long as you give it air a couple times a day and are stirring it everyday I don't see a problem just keeping it covered the rest of the time. I cook mine in a 44 gallon trash can and keep it covered most of the time with no worries. I just dump it out every 4 or 5 days for the first three weeks and stir it up and back in the can. I would only water with R/O water with a little molasses. There is everything in the soil that your microorganism need without adding extra stuff, (in my opinion) no need to add extra salts or acids.

The other thing I would throw in is a couple cups of organic rice. It will feed the heard and you will develop a nice web of fungi.

Good luck

Slap

 

[Garden of Dreams]

Good Info Seamaiden :D, BTW you can make Bokashi Kvass as well!

 

[Dunge]

I'm having a gnat discussion with a farmer who topped with mosquito bits (BTi on a corn carrier perhaps?). A nice web of fungus quickly covered the tops forming what looks like a nice fly barrier.

 

[ssteely71]

@Dunge. Lol. Ok. Here's what it looks like.

This is from using mosquito bits on top of soil on fresh cut clones in a humidity dome for 24 hours. I assumed it was active BTi. But seems I was wrong. It's most likely a fungus from the corn cob carrier. It has not affected the clones as far as I can tell. Day 4 of cloning and the clones are doing fine.