Living Soil rockin Fire Alien Romulan, Goji OG and Fruity Pebbles

[Elbow]

very nice Mogrow, what's in that pile?

 

[Seamaiden]

it's up man! added to the pile today, that will be the last time i add anything, hope to have finished product in under a year. bonus could be a good harvest of worms under leaves...
u grow worms SM??

View attachment 302525

Oh yeah, we've got plenty occurring naturally, always coming out when it rains and under composting areas, everywhere I go to plant stuff. I like to have my granddaughter rescue the worms we find on the driveway and in the garage. Can't wait til I can let the chickies out to eat the grubs, too, and add some chook poop to the mix.

 

[Mogrow]

very nice Mogrow, what's in that pile?

hey elbow, welcome to the grow brother/// pile is 95% oak, maple, elm leaves, 5% grass clippings, well really wild clover. that is my leaf litter pile. i have 2 other compost piles in the yard also.

Oh yeah, we've got plenty occurring naturally, always coming out when it rains and under composting areas, everywhere I go to plant stuff. I like to have my granddaughter rescue the worms we find on the driveway and in the garage. Can't wait til I can let the chickies out to eat the grubs, too, and add some chook poop to the mix.

love the chickens, you will not have a tick in your yard, you have ticks in the Sierra's?? bet they might eat the worms too :eek:

 

[Seamaiden]

LOTS of ticks! I think Lyme disease is present here, would have to double-check the health department release. We have NO fleas, though, none whatsoever. In fact, I haven't seen a live flea since I moved from SoCal to South Lake Tahoe.

I don't use pesticides on our property, have lots of 'beneficial' plants planted, let a lot of stuff go to flower and seed, and so we've got bugloads of bugs here. They'll probably eat as many worms as they can find, I'm sure.

And while I was typing that, Olivia, once again, is the first to find her way out of the box. Thank goodness she lets me catch her!

 

[Smoking Gun]

I do not grow worms per se, but I always have them in my compost bin. They really aid in the process. Plus I try and keep healthy populations in my soils as well. Any that I find around my yard in the off season finds its way into the compost bin.

Are you considering doing any worm farming?

 

[Mogrow]

LOTS of ticks! I think Lyme disease is present here, would have to double-check the health department release. We have NO fleas, though, none whatsoever. In fact, I haven't seen a live flea since I moved from SoCal to South Lake Tahoe.

I don't use pesticides on our property, have lots of 'beneficial' plants planted, let a lot of stuff go to flower and seed, and so we've got bugloads of bugs here. They'll probably eat as many worms as they can find, I'm sure.

And while I was typing that, Olivia, once again, is the first to find her way out of the box. Thank goodness she lets me catch her!

don't be eating Olivia:eek:
whoa no fleas, we can't get rid of them around here. really need to lookk into something more natural for flea treatments for the animals rather than that advantage crap. i tried the cedar oil but the cats flipped out.

I do not grow worms per se, but I always have them in my compost bin. They really aid in the process. Plus I try and keep healthy populations in my soils as well. Any that I find around my yard in the off season finds its way into the compost bin.

Are you considering doing any worm farming?

yes i bought some but they died off, had them in the basement through the winter, had them in a kiddie pool with some dirt i had used earlier in the grow, added some plant roots some veg from the outside garden and some coffee grinds and egg shells. the dirt was cool to the touch, maybe that did it, i'm not sure. i had the pool raised off the concrete floor. i'm gonna try again. my god my outside garden is full of worms, big, fast, thick wigglers:happy:

 

[Seamaiden]

No eating Olivia. Yet. But I will if I have to. <insert devilish grin here>

Mogrow, what you experienced is the exact reason why I won't do a worm bin with purchased worms. I'd have to keep them in my house to keep them alive and I don't want that, I far prefer the deck behind the kitchen, the garage or basement. Problem? Those areas get far too cold to keep a bin going year-round. But I observe a qualified metric shit-ton (which is 3,300lbs, or what will fit into a Bagster) of worms all over the property, especially after a rain. Just lift some leaves or duff somewhere, and I'll find worms. Turn over a few scant inches of earth, and I'll find worms. So, I don't have their power harnessed specifically for my use, but I think (read: hope) the land and plants I work with do gain some benefit, even if I can't give 'em a shot o' worm juice, which is I hear is super-good schtuff.

 

[Smoking Gun]

Mo, I would definitely be under the impression that the cold soil would be the issue. If you could, it may help to start the worms going in a bit of compost and composting material. The decomposing material should keep the temperatures up which in turn should help keep the worms alive.
But with all this talk about worms I must share a bit of information, worms appear to be more detrimental to trees, grasses and perennial plants than we may have assumed. A fair amount of the worms we see every day, especially in previously glaciated areas, are imported from Europe and Asia. These worms do create good aeration rates in our garden beds, but an over abundance of them can actually lead to total decompaction of the soil loosening the root systems from the soils around them and weakening the support of the plants. Their activity also changes the natural pH of the soil, which is adversely effecting the plants and grasses. This come from the paper "Invasive earthworm species and nitrogen cycling in remnant forest patches" by Szlavecz, Placella, Pouyat, Groffman, Csuzdi, and Yesilonis. I was given the paper in class but it can be found at sciencedirect.com also. I was actually quite shocked by a lot of this info.

 

[Seamaiden]

Yeah, that's a hell of an assault on our annelid paradigm, ain't it? Fortunately, this heavy-ass clay won't be getting too friable any time soon. It does emit radon, though.

Savanna habitats, is that what was being discussed, SG? There are those who will state unequivocally that savannas are the most productive ecosystems on earth, not rain forests, for various reasons, but it starts with all that grass.

 

[Animal Chin]

Keep up the great work Mogrow :)

 

[Mogrow]

Mo, I would definitely be under the impression that the cold soil would be the issue. If you could, it may help to start the worms going in a bit of compost and composting material. The decomposing material should keep the temperatures up which in turn should help keep the worms alive.
But with all this talk about worms I must share a bit of information, worms appear to be more detrimental to trees, grasses and perennial plants than we may have assumed. A fair amount of the worms we see every day, especially in previously glaciated areas, are imported from Europe and Asia. These worms do create good aeration rates in our garden beds, but an over abundance of them can actually lead to total decompaction of the soil loosening the root systems from the soils around them and weakening the support of the plants. Their activity also changes the natural pH of the soil, which is adversely effecting the plants and grasses. This come from the paper "Invasive earthworm species and nitrogen cycling in remnant forest patches" by Szlavecz, Placella, Pouyat, Groffman, Csuzdi, and Yesilonis. I was given the paper in class but it can be found at sciencedirect.com also. I was actually quite shocked by a lot of this info.

i don't see alot of red wigglers in the wild, hope it stays in check.

No eating Olivia. Yet. But I will if I have to. <insert devilish grin here>

Mogrow, what you experienced is the exact reason why I won't do a worm bin with purchased worms. I'd have to keep them in my house to keep them alive and I don't want that, I far prefer the deck behind the kitchen, the garage or basement. Problem? Those areas get far too cold to keep a bin going year-round. But I observe a qualified metric shit-ton (which is 3,300lbs, or what will fit into a Bagster) of worms all over the property, especially after a rain. Just lift some leaves or duff somewhere, and I'll find worms. Turn over a few scant inches of earth, and I'll find worms. So, I don't have their power harnessed specifically for my use, but I think (read: hope) the land and plants I work with do gain some benefit, even if I can't give 'em a shot o' worm juice, which is I hear is super-good schtuff.

i may go on a local worm harvest.... hmmmmm.

Keep up the great work Mogrow :)

Dan, welcome to the show..

ok, here's the boys and girls getting it on under the 600 MH and the T5. Temps and RH are ok, alot of adjusting this and that. I have 4 different relative humidity measuring devices, they all say way different readings from 30 to 65. I'm thinking its higher than 30, I mean it's in a basement in the wet springtime, c'mon, 30% RH... the plants got a nice cilantro foilar the other day, was seeing to many gnats, not any more, seems to have taken care off things, plus the plants liked the aloe and pro teck i put in with the foilar.

 

[Seamaiden]

Are you repurposing the old stalks as supports? At first I thought, Man! his bamboo poles are kinda chewed up! Then I looked closer. They are really rockin'.

 

[Mogrow]

Are you repurposing the old stalks as supports? At first I thought, Man! his bamboo poles are kinda chewed up! Then I looked closer. They are really rockin'.

those are old sunflower stalks, i'm using them to mark the different mixes i used. think i got them out of the worm bin.

 

[Elbow]

"hey elbow, welcome to the grow brother/// pile is 95% oak, maple, elm leaves, 5% grass clippings, well really wild clover. that is my leaf litter pile. i have 2 other compost piles in the yard also."

thanks for the kind welcome Mogrow... I use leaf litter/mold in my soil mix too. I've noticed if I do a 50/50 leaf mold / sphagnum peat moss I don't need as much aeration/drainage amendments...

those plants look happy, looks like you've got this on lock... peace.

 

[Mogrow]

"hey elbow, welcome to the grow brother/// pile is 95% oak, maple, elm leaves, 5% grass clippings, well really wild clover. that is my leaf litter pile. i have 2 other compost piles in the yard also."

thanks for the kind welcome Mogrow... I use leaf litter/mold in my soil mix too. I've noticed if I do a 50/50 leaf mold / sphagnum peat moss I don't need as much aeration/drainage amendments...

those plants look happy, looks like you've got this on lock... peace.

i have plans to feed the plants and the worms with the litter, got more this weekend.
plants aren't on lock yet, but maybe after the get their dandelion extract they will be bwaahhhhhhh..
fort dank looking good too. with the cover on the other day it was 100 degres in there, glad i got there to take the lid off, it wasn't but 65 degrees out, the fort really heats up quick, will have to cover never couple nights, gonna hit freezing, plants would take it but would slow them down.

 

[Smoking Gun]

Mo what is that in the jar, Dandelion wine?

Sea, the study was done on forested areas of the north east, specifically Baltimore area.

 

[catdaddy]

very nice setup, Mo. plants are looking very healthy too, especially the seedlings.
i always thought one must start them inside until they're well established and harden off to handle direct sunlight. from the looks of it, i guess i was wrong.

 

[420alldaze]

lookin good brother, fort dank will be blowin up real soon
420

 

[Seamaiden]

very nice setup, Mo. plants are looking very healthy too, especially the seedlings.
i always thought one must start them inside until they're well established and harden off to handle direct sunlight. from the looks of it, i guess i was wrong.

Nope. Usually I start everything outside, often in March. I think I've mentioned they can take snow, but can't find my pix to prove it. Anything started indoors must be hardened off to sunlight, but anything started outdoors is already doing its thang. The thing with starting indoors over outdoors is that if it's too cool they just won't really grow.

Which brings me to mention that even when started outside under sunlight, seedlings stretch to the point of falling over. They ALWAYS straighten themselves out. No burying deeply required, no staking or toothpicks, just leave 'em be and they'll find their way back up.

 

[Mogrow]

Mo what is that in the jar, Dandelion wine?

Sea, the study was done on forested areas of the north east, specifically Baltimore area.

Sgun/// dendelion extract, fermented about 4 or 5 days. smelled like death, but when i sprayed it on the plants it had a organic fertilizer smell to it, it was stout but i found it pleasant.

very nice setup, Mo. plants are looking very healthy too, especially the seedlings.
i always thought one must start them inside until they're well established and harden off to handle direct sunlight. from the looks of it, i guess i was wrong.

catdaddy, welcome to the show brother.
as Sea said, plant them right into natural light.

lookin good brother, fort dank will be blowin up real soon
420

old basement brother, come on down or outside or wherever, it's everywhere:eek: