Kgbgrowers No Till Living Organic Soil Perpetual Grow

[Ecompost]

Terrestrial plants are estimated to have annual production of 120 billion tons of biomass - 5% minerals = 6 billion tons of minerals mined from the soil each year.

 

[Bulldog11]

Hey KGB, this GranjeroDave guy thinks cover crops attract mold, what you think? Lets school this guy huh?

 

[Bulldog11]

On the topic of IPM, I brought home some clones from a friends warehouse and a couple weeks later he told me he thinks he's got broad mites. After thoroughly scaring the shit out of myself after reading about them I decided I'd release some amblyseuis swirskii predatory mites as a precaution. I'm wondering whether the mites will affect the flavor of the product if they're still present at harvest or will they just leave the plant after they run out of food? Is there anything that should be done to remove them before harvest or should I just leave them be? Thanks for any advice! You guys rock!

I would NEVER allow broad mites into my room, are you crazy! Took me a year to get rid of those buggers.

 

[Ecompost]

Right on. good to see folks growing with living organic soil.

Fungus gnats will not be present in a healthy balanced soil. You do not have the proper balance in the soil. Be it biology texture and or the balance of chemistry.

If the soil is healthy and balanced you will not have any fungus gnats.
@Ecompost if you have excess P and or a high ph of your soil can cause a zinc deficiency.

I see plants with yellow leaves.

The plants at end of flower or you having uptake problems?

How many days into flower are they?

You made the statement you are "feeding your plants" what are you feeding them?

yeah thanks dude, I brought the bag of compost, not sure how this helps me? The gnats came in the bag, you do know this happens right?

 

[Ecompost]

I am absolutely positive the gnats will not be present in a healthy balanced soil. Balanced in both chemical and biological properties.

I know from experience. The fungus gnats disappeared once I got the soil cations more in balance.

You have a soil test to prove this?
or
share the microbiology counts?

I read growers making assumptions and do not have any facts to back it up.

Do you own a microscope and monitor the biology in the soil?
How can you say the soil is healthy?
Do you have some proof to this or just a feeling you have????

Thanks for sharing more details.

Oi nice thread KGB!



Truuu finally someone else here to bust bubbles!

Something a lot of growers look over is the potential of quality castings, it's literally the foundation for living organic soil! Producing superior quality castings can save you in so many ways, castings can be chalked full of beneficials organisms, enzymes, and other things not completely digested by the worms it's quite amazing they can function as a major part of pest management if produced correctly.

Easy way to see if you have a active healthy soil system is worm counts(worms, Castings : Other), beneficial insect sightings (Hypoasis Mites Etc.), and hyphae/mycelium spotting. At least from a average Joe's point of view these are things I look for when wondering if my soil life is active enough from the human's point of view(Other then praying plants) and without any real data to go off of.

You can always give a nice life boost with a protozoa tea, it's quite the life/nutrient accelerator!

My soil is protected by the FBI is yours?
Fungus Bacteria Invertebrates

centipedes mate and the odd predator beetle help me daily.

 

[Ecompost]

I am absolutely positive the gnats will not be present in a healthy balanced soil. Balanced in both chemical and biological properties.

I know from experience. The fungus gnats disappeared once I got the soil cations more in balance.

You have a soil test to prove this?
or
share the microbiology counts?

I read growers making assumptions and do not have any facts to back it up.

Do you own a microscope and monitor the biology in the soil?
How can you say the soil is healthy?
Do you have some proof to this or just a feeling you have????

Thanks for sharing more details.

where is this soil? Fungus gnats eat fungus, anywhere there is fungus, there could be fungus gnats

 

[KaiserSoze]

I would NEVER allow broad mites into my room, are you crazy! Took me a year to get rid of those buggers.

I wasn't saying I would release broad mites but that I would release swarskii mites which are broad mite predators. They are supposed to be very effective for broad mites and can eat upwards of 10 per day. What I'm unsure of is whether the swirskii mites need to be washed off before harvest or if its acceptable to just leave them in place. I'm worried they may affect the final flavor. Has anyone used predatory mites before and if so did you notice a change in flavor?

 

[Bulldog11]

I am sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I would never accept a cut with a possibility of broad mites being present.

Swarskii mites are a control agent. If you did invite these pests in, at best, you will only be able to control them with organic or predatory mite actions. Believe me, this is probably coming off as hostile, but I know the battle too well. I dearly hope I am wrong.

I am sure you know, but you need a 100x scope to see the eggs.

To answer your question, the Swarskii mites will die if the food runs out. If the food doesn't run out then you have BM's on your harvest, so mites either way. With that said, if you hang your branches as appose to cut and net drying your nugs, the bugs should all migrate to the stem tops, and leave the buds for the most part. Good luck.

 

[KaiserSoze]

I am sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I would never accept a cut with a possibility of broad mites being present.

Swarskii mites are a control agent. If you did invite these pests in, at best, you will only be able to control them with organic or predatory mite actions. Believe me, this is probably coming off as hostile, but I know the battle too well. I dearly hope I am wrong.

I am sure you know, but you need a 100x scope to see the eggs.

To answer your question, the Swarskii mites will die if the food runs out. If the food doesn't run out then you have BM's on your harvest, so mites either way. With that said, if you hang your branches as appose to cut and net drying your nugs, the bugs should all migrate to the stem tops, and leave the buds for the most part. Good luck.

Awesome, thanks for the advice @Bulldog11! I definitely would never have taken those cuts either but by the time he realized he had broad mites I'd already had them in my room for a couple weeks. Luckily I don't see anything under a scope but don't want to take any chances since I've heard they are super resilient. The swirskii's were to make sure I get every last one of them. Thanks again!

 

[shemshemet]

@KaiserSoze

You don't prevent an infestation by finding out you have mites after the fact!

Always alwsays always be 100% positive the cut is pest free.

Somebody else's word is NEVER 100%. Got to check for yourself BEFORE putting the cut in your grow.

 

[KaiserSoze]

@KaiserSoze

You don't prevent an infestation by finding out you have mites after the fact!

Always alwsays always be 100% positive the cut is pest free.

Somebody else's word is NEVER 100%. Got to check for yourself BEFORE putting the cut in your grow.

@KaiserSoze

You don't prevent an infestation by finding out you have mites after the fact!

Always alwsays always be 100% positive the cut is pest free.

Somebody else's word is NEVER 100%. Got to check for yourself BEFORE putting the cut in your grow.

Yeah definitely an important lesson learned. I will definitely be more proactive in the future.

 

[shemshemet]

My advice is to use a quarantine type set-up if receiving clones from outside your grow.

Check out "male isolation chamber" the member here @SeaF0ur has a tutorial on making a male isolation chamber.

Use that to grow your cuts for a few weeks to make sure you are pest free. Keep it in a separate location if possible. If not, keep it as far away from your grow as possible. Even contained in a chamber, I would not grow a quarantined cut under the same lights as your other plants. At least a different room.

 

[Seamaiden]

With regard to fungus gnats--I've had a problem with them for a while. I've begun putting bleach and hot water down my drains, I have some traps set up and for watering I'm using Spinosad. It's working *very* well. I don't know why I never though to use Spinosad before, it's labeled for FGs. :p

 

[Ecompost]

With regard to fungus gnats--I've had a problem with them for a while. I've begun putting bleach and hot water down my drains, I have some traps set up and for watering I'm using Spinosad. It's working *very* well. I don't know why I never though to use Spinosad before, it's labeled for FGs. :p

yeah its good stuff for them pesky gnats. Glad to hear you got it covered

 

[Shantij]

Top dressing a good vermicompost should the introduce beneficial nematodes into the soil. They will help out with the fungus gnats. You could add beneficial nematodes and hypoasis miles if you want to wipe them out immediatly.

Will also help your soil better cycle nutrients and WILL get rid of the fungus gnats.

Hi, can I make a tea that will grow the right beneficial nematodes? Or is it better to buy the right ones. If so do you know of a good source? I am on my very first no till organic round in veg and I have gnats and I'm still battling russet or broad mites. I seem to have the mites at bay. Still I see some here and there. I can't afford to through it all out and start over. Some of my plants look healthy and some look a little yellow. I think it's from gnats and or russets. Not sure of anything since I'm just learning. What is hypoasis miles? Thanks

 

[Ecompost]

Hi, can I make a tea that will grow the right beneficial nematodes? Or is it better to buy the right ones. If so do you know of a good source? I am on my very first no till organic round in veg and I have gnats and I'm still battling russet or broad mites. I seem to have the mites at bay. Still I see some here and there. I can't afford to through it all out and start over. Some of my plants look healthy and some look a little yellow. I think it's from gnats and or russets. Not sure of anything since I'm just learning. What is hypoasis miles? Thanks

I make and sell microbes mate, but to be honest, if you are growing outside in the ground directly, not making your own soil blends etc, then you already have microbes.
Whether or not you have the right ones, that rather depends on the state of your soil, its level of pH, its total compaction, the amount of Oxygen to water etc are visual ways on which to base a guess, but the only way to know is to have media, inputs etc scoped for microflora.
Making a tea with microbes requires you to have a series of inputs that contain the right levels and types. So if your base compost is not rich in bacteria, fungus, protozoa, nematodes, then your tea wont be either, or if its rich in bad actors, then bye bye cruel world to your crops.
In which case buying some good bacteria and fungal additives like the ones we sell would work well for you buddy so long as you brewed them properly using a base min of 6ppm DO2 and adequate but not too much organic matter to water volume.
But know this, a healthy field (1acre) of corn for example has about 1million different types of bacteria living in it. We dont even know all the names, let alone what they do. If you grow corn, it is suggested that over 75,000 different types of bacteria collude to get a healthy crop. I dont know about you, but I would not know where to begin trying to deliver 75,000 inoculates.
All people like me can do for you mate, is make sure you aint introducing bad actors, and this itself is extremely valuable, but what I cant do, nor anyone else for that matter, is grow the sum total of life involved in the process of life itself.
For this you need the full backing of mother nature. :-)

Good base rule for making tea, vol of water x 2.38% = your total volume of compost/ dry material. Using a min flow rate of 0.05cfm to maintain a base DO2 rate of 6PPMs. under this is no bueno buddy
If you want to add a liquid like Fish Hydrolsyate, then add at vol h20 x0.50% =

Good luck