"supercharging" Ewc Before Brew

[herbmonger]

https://www.thenutrientcompany.com/horticulture-blog/supercharge-worm-castings-get-vermicompost/

I'm a firm believer in learning and growing together. The purpose of this thread is to see if I'm on the right track and also possibly bring a couple of the experts in for some knowledge (and possibly some experimentation)

Anyway, I have a local source of fresh castings that I've been using. My teas have been giving me amazing results

I believe (no scope on hand) that my bacteria game is strong in the rhizosphere. So, now I'm curious about building up the fungi. I understand that fungi is more important during flower but I know that it can't hurt to have an established/balanced food web beforehand.

Just moistened my castings/oatmeal powder with 500:1 molasses water and covered with plastic, then poked a bunch of holes with a safety pin before placing in a cigar box in my grow tent.

My children will be ready for another tea next watering. (2-3 days) Let's see if I can grow anything before then. If not I will wait until the next tea and by then it should be flourishing with nematodes anyway.

Check out my longwinded grow journal:

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community...ors-drunkenmacgyver.87684/page-2#post-1899914

 

[herbmonger]

http://themodern.farm/intro/

too many bookmarks just gonna leave this here for now

 

[leadsled]

Good idea to add some composted woody material to help encourage fungal growth. Can do 1 cup ewc to 1/2 cup compost. Have gotten good results with California gold and biologic humus both.

Adding some fish hydrolysate will really help with the pre-treatment and getting a fungal beard going.

Do not make the compost wet just moist works best.

more info here:
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/compost-extract.81617/

Happy Growing.

 

[SpiderK]

$75.00 - 50LB's

...... The organic matter and soil conditioning properties in Acadian Kelp Meal are important in maintaining fertility and productivity of agricultural soils. Organic matter in the soil, and associated soil microflora, bacteria, and fungi, play an important role in soil fertility by making nutrients available for plant uptake. Acadian Kelp Meal acts as a soil conditioner by stimulating microbial activity, a process often disrupted by modern agricultural practices. The minerals released and humus colloids formed during the decomposition of Kelp Meal, result in the aggregation of soil particles and the retention of nutrients which might otherwise be leached from the soil.

• 
  
  
  • is an excellent source of organic matter composed primarily of carbohydrates such as alginic acid and mannitol; and contains alginic acid and mannitol which also act as effective chelating agents for micro-nutrients and contribute to building soil structure.

......

http://www.acadianseaplants.com/plant-growth-development-products/soil

:D

 

[SpiderK]

Fungi groups

There are three functional groups of fungi.

Decomposers

Decomposers or saprophytic fungi convert dead organic matter into fungal biomass (ie their own bodies), carbon dioxide and organic acids. They are essential for the decomposition of hard woody organic matter. By consuming the nutrients in the organic matter they play an important role in immobilising and retaining nutrients in the soil. The organic acids they produce as by products help create organic matter that is resistant to degradation. Fungi are capable of degrading cellulose, proteins and lignin, some of which are highly resistant to breakdown.

Mutualists

These fungi develop mutually beneficial relationships with plants. They colonise plant roots where they help the plant to obtain nutrients such as phosphorus from the soil. Their mass hides roots from pests and pathogens, and provides a greater root area through which the plant can obtain nutrients.

Mycorrhizal fungi

Mycorrhizal fungi are perhaps the best known of the mutualists. Mycorrhiza means fungus root, and mycorrhizal fungi grow inside plant roots. Up to 5m of living hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi can be extracted from 1g of soil. The four groups of mycorrhizal fungi are arbuscular, ectomycorrhizal, ericoid and orchid. Arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) are the most common form of mycorrhiza, especially in agricultural plant associations. This fungi has arbuscles which are growths formed inside the plant root that have many small projections going into the cells. About 150 arbuscular mycorrhiza species are known. Most plants (90%) have some sort of association with these fungi except for groups such as the Cruciferae family (eg mustard, canola, broccoli), Chenopodiaceae (eg spinach, beets, saltbush) and Proteaceae (banksia, macadamia).

Pathogens

This group includes the well known fungi such as Verticillium, Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia and Pythium. These organisms penetrate the plant and decompose the living tissue, creating a weakened, nutrient deficient plant, or death. The pathogenic fungi is usually the dominant organism in the soil. Soils with high biodiversity have been shown to suppress soil-borne fungal diseases. Suppression mechanisms include the suite of native organisms out-competing the pathogenic organisms, physically protecting roots and providing better nutrition to the plant.

What do fungi do?

Fungi perform important functions within the soil in relation to nutrient cycling, disease suppression and water dynamics, all of which help plants become healthier and more vigorous.

Decompose woody organic matter

Along with bacteria, fungi are important decomposers of hard to digest organic matter. They use nitrogen in the soil to decompose woody carbon rich residues low in nitrogen and convert the nutrients in the residues to forms that are more accessible for other organisms.

Increase nutrient uptake

Mycorrhizal fungi are well known for their role in assisting plants in the uptake of phosphorus. Ectomycorrhizal fungi can benefit plants by promoting root branching and increasing nitrogen, phosphorus and water uptake due to their large surface area and internal cellular mechanisms. .

Improve plant resilience

The sheer size and mass of fungal hyphae help decrease plant susceptibility to pests, diseases and drought.

Improve soil structure

Fungal hyphae bind the soil particles together to create water-stable aggregates which in turn create the pore spaces in the soil that enhance water retention and drainage.

 

[herbmonger]

Thank you @SpiderK and @leadsled immensely.

I harvested some soil that is very rich in mycelium, composted woody materials, and red earth worms + castings.

I took about 3.5 gal and added in an an appropriate amount of powdered oats and moistened with molasses water. After that I added a bit of kelp meal and azomite make sure there is a diverse food source.

I was going to let it sit and colonize in a tub but I'm getting antsy getting a bunch of Green Crack seedlings from solo cups to 1 gal fab pots.

For shits and giggles I am incubating a brew's worth of castings from a local worm farm with powdered oats + molasses water. I did not see any mycelium/myco in the castings but it is a fun experiment while anticipating my next drench.

I do not want to buy any more worm castings after my next bucket. I'm thinking about harvesting some worms from soil and throwing them in a makeshift bin

 

[SpiderK]

leadsled is the soil guy ...... he will help you out along the way :)