How much compost is enough/too much

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Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

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So I've been following this channel on YouTube called Cali green, his one soil mix from the 50 minute video growing organic cannabis at home is pretty different from most I've seen, he uses roughly 20% wormgold plus castings, 30% Malibu biodynamic compost, 50% coco/perlite mix and amends with oyster shell and a 484 dry amendment then waters with liquid kelp and mollases and gets great results, this lead me to wonder why most soil mixes like Coots call for less compost/ewc, I think I understand that most cheaply available compost isn't that great and is unbalanced most of the time so using less is generally better, but I think i also understand that using a variety of composts generally makes for better balance and better balance means you can add more, also wormgold plus ewc and malibu biodynamic compost looks to be almost entirely humus, I wondered wether this might make it better to use in higher amounts as well, obviously it's more concentrated but doesnt the higher cec compensate? I highly recommend caligreens videos for anyone interested, if anyone could confirm my thinking/explain where my understanding is wrong or just give a basic explanation for what determins the amount of organic matter that should be used in a mix then that would be great.
Also not quite grasping the concept of cec too well so any info on that would be appreciated.
Just don't understand why more people don't use more compost, best plant I ever grew was in a 100% diverse compost mix from stuff in my garden
 
Grapefruitroop

Grapefruitroop

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I never go over 10% of fresh EWC (thinking to go 5 next)
IMO There are many types of composts and its quality of course depends alot from the starting material...
The texture of it varies , and this plays an important role...but also the variety of biology varies...
The big benefit of compost is to add life to the mix but for some types of compost you will sacrifice aereation and oxigen retention if added too much in the potting soil...
EWC is the richest in life, others have less variety but the texture is very important and determines how much u can add...
The revolution its ACT because allows you to use small amount of compost in the mix or none and still get all the benefit of havin it!!
Also in outdoor i feel you can be much more generous with the amounts cause the plant will follow a much natural and slow paste of growth compared to the high performance requirement of indoor and i think here plays important factor the oxigen retention ability of the mix.....
I feel like....why bother adding too much compost if u can pour it with the ACT without sacrifice the areation of the mix?
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

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Yeah definitely depends on the compost. Composted bark/woodchips drains well, hold nutrients and water well etc, so it can be used as a base. Worm castings are much higher in nutrition, and don't have the same retention/drainage properties, so it is used as more of a fertilizer and inoculant. Composted cow manures like the bu's blend are somewhere in the middle.
 
Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

13
3
I never go over 10% of fresh EWC (thinking to go 5 next)
IMO There are many types of composts and its quality of course depends alot from the starting material...
The texture of it varies , and this plays an important role...but also the variety of biology varies...
The big benefit of compost is to add life to the mix but for some types of compost you will sacrifice aereation and oxigen retention if added too much in the potting soil...
EWC is the richest in life, others have less variety but the texture is very important and determines how much u can add...
The revolution its ACT because allows you to use small amount of compost in the mix or none and still get all the benefit of havin it!!
Also in outdoor i feel you can be much more generous with the amounts cause the plant will follow a much natural and slow paste of growth compared to the high performance requirement of indoor and i think here plays important factor the oxigen retention ability of the mix.....
I feel like....why bother adding too much compost if u can pour it with the ACT without sacrifice the areation of the mix?
Thanks, that does make sense... You must have some super nutrient dense castings then. I'm more interested in no till though and I don't think that'd work in the long run, can't say for sure though, its just so contrary to what I've learnt and seen, I've never made a mix with less than 25% compost and even then I felt I needed more. Would you have any advice as to what would allow me to add more compost? I'm not too keen on the idea of ACT, for reasons that are probably quite controversial
 
Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

13
3
Thanks, that does make sense... You must have some super nutrient dense castings then. I'm more interested in no till though and I don't think that'd work in the long run, can't say for sure though, its just so contrary to what I've learnt and seen, I've never made a mix with less than 25% compost and even then I felt I needed more. Would you have any advice as to what would allow me to add more compost? I'm not too keen on the idea of ACT, for reasons that are probably quite controversial
The plant in 100% compost isn't something I've been able to replicate, it was just a seed that sprouted in the pile and I'd attribute its success to biology entirely, this was also early days for me so the compost was directly on the ground and id imagine the roots were able to stretch out away from it
 
oldskol4evr

oldskol4evr

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438
no one even mention why you use compost in the first place.
compost is food for the little fellows we wont living in are soil,that food makes them happy when they happy the decompose the compost into organic matter.
if your ratio right you dont need other additves,that soil alone is alive,that what the whole picture is all about,even in the hottest climate that plant can survive while you drink coffe in the house,if you spot is alive,it will continue its course on it on and more times than not,we disrupt the soil food web with bull shit.
one thing was mentioned that is the key to healthy soil,WORMS lots of them,they keep that soil alive and moist,even there saliva is important and potent,feed the soil not the plant is key, the out come feeds the plant.
want great living soil,take a pile of ideal greens and browns,then take a mess of worms and tuck them under some cardboard in that pile,moisten the pile a little bit,cover that pile with something dark like a old pc's of carpet and walk away,come back in around 3 months ,lift that carpet and plant a tree there if you want ,one tablespoon of that soil will have so many microbes in it you couldnt count them in your life span.
i cant remeber which mix it was,but a few years back i tried a recipe that i also seen on you tube,it was a complete compost mix with peat moss and perlite,expensive shit,you had to use 5 difrent type of compost to complete it,this is what i believe you buddy on you tube is using,it does work,i wouldnt say it is all that,but it did work pretty good ,but once i got into summer weather it petered out,so all together it lasted around 3 months as per say a water alone soil.
if it is that one ,good luck finding 5 difrent types of soil hahaah,the hardest one for me to find was mushrom compost
 
tomatoesarecooltoo

tomatoesarecooltoo

1,122
263
no one even mention why you use compost in the first place.
compost is food for the little fellows we wont living in are soil,that food makes them happy when they happy the decompose the compost into organic matter.
if your ratio right you dont need other additves,that soil alone is alive,that what the whole picture is all about,even in the hottest climate that plant can survive while you drink coffe in the house,if you spot is alive,it will continue its course on it on and more times than not,we disrupt the soil food web with bull shit.
one thing was mentioned that is the key to healthy soil,WORMS lots of them,they keep that soil alive and moist,even there saliva is important and potent,feed the soil not the plant is key, the out come feeds the plant.
want great living soil,take a pile of ideal greens and browns,then take a mess of worms and tuck them under some cardboard in that pile,moisten the pile a little bit,cover that pile with something dark like a old pc's of carpet and walk away,come back in around 3 months ,lift that carpet and plant a tree there if you want ,one tablespoon of that soil will have so many microbes in it you couldnt count them in your life span.
i cant remeber which mix it was,but a few years back i tried a recipe that i also seen on you tube,it was a complete compost mix with peat moss and perlite,expensive shit,you had to use 5 difrent type of compost to complete it,this is what i believe you buddy on you tube is using,it does work,i wouldnt say it is all that,but it did work pretty good ,but once i got into summer weather it petered out,so all together it lasted around 3 months as per say a water alone soil.
if it is that one ,good luck finding 5 difrent types of soil hahaah,the hardest one for me to find was mushrom compost

Can't agree more with this.
I compost all my food scraps and garden waste in a thermal pile first and then take that compost and feed it to my worms. Then I apply the worm compost unsifted to the veggie garden / outdoor garden. Its much more effective than any store bought compost, when it is fresh, living, and full of worms and other critters.

My homemade compost has bugs though so I don't bring it inside.
 
oldskol4evr

oldskol4evr

12,306
438
Can't agree more with this.
I compost all my food scraps and garden waste in a thermal pile first and then take that compost and feed it to my worms. Then I apply the worm compost unsifted to the veggie garden / outdoor garden. Its much more effective than any store bought compost, when it is fresh, living, and full of worms and other critters.

My homemade compost has bugs though so I don't bring it inside.
bugs are a sign you did it right mate,all part of the soil food web,i have found that them bugs are a indicator of great compost,because if the compost and soil click the plant warrant off the bad bugs,how the hell they do it i cant explain,but a unhealthy plant first sign is bugs,that the tell of a issue coming on,most issues we have with soil dont even show face for 3 to 4 weeks after ,so the sign of bad bugs means there something wrong.
i tell ya one thing if you could mimic that pheromone that a plant lets off when it sick and attract bugs,a sure cure is just a step away to happiness and you would be a rich feller indeed
 
Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

13
3
no one even mention why you use compost in the first place.
compost is food for the little fellows we wont living in are soil,that food makes them happy when they happy the decompose the compost into organic matter.
if your ratio right you dont need other additves,that soil alone is alive,that what the whole picture is all about,even in the hottest climate that plant can survive while you drink coffe in the house,if you spot is alive,it will continue its course on it on and more times than not,we disrupt the soil food web with bull shit.
one thing was mentioned that is the key to healthy soil,WORMS lots of them,they keep that soil alive and moist,even there saliva is important and potent,feed the soil not the plant is key, the out come feeds the plant.
want great living soil,take a pile of ideal greens and browns,then take a mess of worms and tuck them under some cardboard in that pile,moisten the pile a little bit,cover that pile with something dark like a old pc's of carpet and walk away,come back in around 3 months ,lift that carpet and plant a tree there if you want ,one tablespoon of that soil will have so many microbes in it you couldnt count them in your life span.
i cant remeber which mix it was,but a few years back i tried a recipe that i also seen on you tube,it was a complete compost mix with peat moss and perlite,expensive shit,you had to use 5 difrent type of compost to complete it,this is what i believe you buddy on you tube is using,it does work,i wouldnt say it is all that,but it did work pretty good ,but once i got into summer weather it petered out,so all together it lasted around 3 months as per say a water alone soil.
if it is that one ,good luck finding 5 difrent types of soil hahaah,the hardest one for me to find was mushrom compost
Yeah I agree with you on amendments, I find they generally do more harm than good by throwing off the nutrient ratios, and worms are definitely key to success, I use 2 types of castings, one from plant material the other from horse manure, I stay in a farming area so I'm not limited when it comes to compost varieties, there's actually so much available that it's hard for me to make a choice, my current mixes have vegan castings, horse manure castings, cow manure/sawdust humus, mushroom compost, leaf mold, sand and coco in roughly equal amounts
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From the 21 September to 2 days ago, spring started 1 September here in south africa so because of the early planting they've all shown their gender already, just waiting for them to get back to veging, but that's what I intended, I'm using my own second gen regular seeds from sour d genes shipped here 13 years ago, didnt want to waste my time growing males, all the plants got soil that was at least 80% different composts
 
Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

13
3
Yeah I agree with you on amendments, I find they generally do more harm than good by throwing off the nutrient ratios, and worms are definitely key to success, I use 2 types of castings, one from plant material the other from horse manure, I stay in a farming area so I'm not limited when it comes to compost varieties, there's actually so much available that it's hard for me to make a choice, my current mixes have vegan castings, horse manure castings, cow manure/sawdust humus, mushroom compost, leaf mold, sand and coco in roughly equal amounts
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From the 21 September to 2 days ago, spring started 1 September here in south africa so because of the early planting they've all shown their gender already, just waiting for them to get back to veging, but that's what I intended, I'm using my own second gen regular seeds from sour d genes shipped here 13 years ago, didnt want to waste my time growing males, all the plants got soil that was at least 80% different composts
The ones still in pots definitely need to go into the ground sometime soon, just been lazy recently, think I'll do it tomorrow if the weathers good
 
Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

13
3
bugs are a sign you did it right mate,all part of the soil food web,i have found that them bugs are a indicator of great compost,because if the compost and soil click the plant warrant off the bad bugs,how the hell they do it i cant explain,but a unhealthy plant first sign is bugs,that the tell of a issue coming on,most issues we have with soil dont even show face for 3 to 4 weeks after ,so the sign of bad bugs means there something wrong.
i tell ya one thing if you could mimic that pheromone that a plant lets off when it sick and attract bugs,a sure cure is just a step away to happiness and you would be a rich feller indeed
Bugs are great, I keep millipedes for their castings, it's like earthworms but for fungi instead of bacteria
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Bitispolylepis

Bitispolylepis

13
3
I would immagine an outdoor location, plant direct ina hole, big hole, arid climate, mulch and a very thick layer of compost (on top of whats already in the mix) with live red wigglers moving around?!? 😋
Why an arid climate?
 
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