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IME rice hulls take at least 3yrs to decompose and become unrecognizable. That's about the same time it takes for soft rock phosphate to become biologically available. In the meantime, though, the hulls are a fraction of the cost of perlite, are renewable and sustainable as an agricultural waste product and did I mention they're stupid cheap? When they decompose they give up potassium silicate (or something like that, I've just drawn a huge blank on the expression, but they give up primarily K and Si).I let my mix cook between 4 and 6 weeks. I recycle my mix and don't plain on using any perlite or vermic for a long long time, with that said how i'm I wasting money? it was a one time deal. The next time I need aeration I plain on using pumice. Never used rice hulls so I don't know how the aeration will be effected when it starts to biodegrade.
Its all cool,no hard feelings. Perlite has been the standard for so long some of us don't even look for a better alternative. :)Don't get bent out of shape.
Just giving you alternatives for when you put that outdoor plot in and your mix calls for $1,000 worth of perlite.
I can't even begin to count how much money I 'wasted' on all sorts of shit. We all spend money, but we also let eachother know about money saving opportunities...because as time goes on...a penny saved is a penny earned, in a big way.
Just give it time, it will make sense.
IME rice hulls take at least 3yrs to decompose and become unrecognizable. That's about the same time it takes for soft rock phosphate to become biologically available. In the meantime, though, the hulls are a fraction of the cost of perlite, are renewable and sustainable as an agricultural waste product and did I mention they're stupid cheap? When they decompose they give up potassium silicate (or something like that, I've just drawn a huge blank on the expression, but they give up primarily K and Si).
Pumice, and really pretty much all rock dusts, are also very good to use because they do give up minerals as microbes 'access' them. However, after having used pumice, I can say that it does add weight to a mix that my back doesn't care for. Good soil should be well mineralized as well as having good organic matter levels.
I was writing up a chunk for a grow log I started and thought this might be a good place to drop it.
I intend to reuse these texts with my next update to:
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/six-super-soil-variants-run-side-by-side.63549/
Supporting formulations for this demonstration are based off of reading done at ThcFarmer which started me in the direction of "Super Soil". The promise is a media from which a plant can draw all nutrient requirements, leaving the farmer to water only and attend to other environmental issues. This has been working well for over three years.
So why don't I know more about how it works?
Knowing things "for sure" is a slow process for me. I keep messing with things.
ie. "microbial tea"
Having six like cuttings ready to go, and an early spring in interior Alaska forced me to do the heavy lifting required to formulate my soil in small batches. I can now mix 5 gallon batches. So I made six variants of the base.
soil 1:
local pit peat - one five gallon bucket
Compost - 6 pounds 7.5 quarts
worm castings - 3.8 pounds 2.75 quarts
blood meal - 136g 210 ml.
bone meal - 136g 220 ml.
bat guano - 384 ml.
Perlite - make to 20% of volume
soil 2:
ProMix replaces local peat
no additional perlite
soil 3:
Coco replaces local peat
no additional perlite
soil 4:
refurbishment of used soil with addition of 140 ml "Peace of Mind" starter.(3-4-3)
soil 5:
refurbished with additions from the original formulation but at one third quantities.
soil 6:
original soil #1 with half the blood meal
So the outline is a head to head grow off between three base media, two soil refurbs, and a stab at the question, "why all the blood?".
Original full batch quantities are based off of three pound bags of Miracle Grow blood & bone.
The five pound box of guano, sixty pound bag of compost, and a 38 pound bag of worm castings are all from Down to Earth.
Science is hard.
Thank you for sharing that mix. It is indeed pretty simple. I know I say this a lot, but if you're able to, consider replacing the perlite with rice hulls.
Sea, is there an online source for rice hulls you can direct me to?
Or what type of local businesses should I look to that may use rice hulls?
Thanks.
Mass I'm assuming u are also in Massachusetts as I am. I contacted a couple one brewing places in my area(Worcester) and found them no problem. There is also a place in Mitford that has them. So wherever u are just check the yellow pages for a home brew place and they should have them. I paid a dollar a pound.Sea, is there an online source for rice hulls you can direct me to?
Or what type of local businesses should I look to that may use rice hulls?
Thanks.
Home brew emporium has them in bulk in West Boylston MA and strange brew has them in one pound bags or bulk in Marlboro MA. Hope this helps.Sea, is there an online source for rice hulls you can direct me to?
Or what type of local businesses should I look to that may use rice hulls?
Thanks.
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