The Whole Earth in a Container- Organic Soil and Nutrient Strategies

[GanjaGardener]

A cannabis plant that lives it's entire life in a container has specific needs that don't apply to it's relatives who are growing in an H2O substrate or have found their homes directly rooted into Mother Earth. From a container plant's POV, the Whole Earth is composed of the materials that an mmj grower puts into it's pot and it isn't overly particular about how it's organic nutrient sources are applied, as long as they are available, abundant enough and balanced to it's needs.

Wouldn't it be worthwhile to have an open minded discussion about organic growing strategies and the specific techniques we are currently using to build our soil mixes, manage our microherds and formulate our solutions for indoor and outdoor container growing?

I'd enjoy participating in such a thread, however, I am not it's leader. I'm retired and have already passed that torch along. There are many members who have the chops, balance and passion to help facilitate an intelligent discussion based in mutual respect. So....??

 

[crom]

Great idea GG. I had an idea like this with the "best breeding techniques", and most said cool I'm here to learn. I was like I was hoping everyone would start posting like crazy. Nope. I ended up totally forgetting and closing the thread lol. Though I am interested in this discussion. Sub'd and I will participate when I can. Maybe post what you have experience with and your findings with them. I am using soilless mix so I can't add much to an organic soil thread, but I'm never against trying something new.

I'm at the point with growing now that I want to dial in the basics good. I have the train of thought that I could start with straight coco, either loose or brick, add my drainage be it perlite or whatever, then my benes like Great White, then my additives/nutrients. What would you say in your opinion would be a better approach? Start with an inert medium and add to it, organically of course, OR getting a good quality bag of "hydro store" soil, and amend it?

My issue with bags of soil at the store is I don't really know what is in it. Seems that starting with nothing and adding only what you want including humus, and earthworm castings or whatever meals you like, greensand, cal and mag, or whatever you prefer. I'm thinking this route or using bagged coco mix and teas, or organic bottle nutes in conjunction with amended medium.

If I sound like a football bat I'm sorry I'm pretty stoned right now lol. I am just bored of my Sunshine Advanced #4 mix straight out the bag. I have used FFOF with added perlite in the past, long ago. I didn't use organic nutes though so no help there. I don't even apply my experience with that medium. Thanks for any help, and for the thread GG!

Cheers,
Crom

 

[GanjaGardener]

:rofl
I knew the folks around here were going to make this discussion happen.

crom, you are the thread, mybrother.

Here's a pic that my brotherman, BuddyHemphill said was helpful to him. I like to visualize what's being discussed and for the people who don't, the visualizers will type out what they see for you. LOL

Unless I'm hot to trot on something, I'll hang out and let whomever or whoever wishes to break it down have at it and hopefully the smart kids, (kewl kids, FFers, tweeners, hybrids and outcasts welcome too) will all get here soon. I'm mostly here right now to get it rollin'. (so i'll have a place to kick it while you guys run around and do all the work.)

That's basically what I'm using at this point in my evolution. I'll show some other items when less stoned. only item i no longer use is baled? block of? whatever? of coir. excellent texture for coir (coir texture being a mini subject in itself), but flushes out like half the salt from the Indian Ocean came packaged with it.
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[crom]

but flushes out like half the salt from the Indian Ocean came packaged with it.

Too funny! I would enjoy working with that supply room lol. I want to get to the point where I can just mix raw stuff like that into a mix and only have to water throughout the cycle with pHed RO. Why are you no longer using the Indian Ocean filled coco? Salt content? I need to get a bag of SAM#4(sunshine advanced mix#4) for some transplants today. What do you think I should get to try? I have used the Roots Organic coco mix with good results, and this SAM#4 for inert mixes. I'm using PBP plus additives and benes. I still have to pick a bloom booster for this regimen too. Organic is what I want, but don't know what to go with. Thoughts on this?

I figure you and i know enough to chat it up for awhile till others show up! Plus the more we chat it up the more it's on the "new post" board.:hi

Cheers,
Crom

 

[SanctuSensi]

organevo

i like to call myself the orgardeneer. (organic gardening engineer)
because i too like to fiddle with my own organic mixes and concoctions. My favorite tea (and the fams least favorite) is to let egg shells sit in some water ina bucket for 3-4 weeks, then add double the original volume of RO water, then bubble it out with some epsom and sugar and you'll have an orghanic cal-mag complete with benes and microbes.

charging your medium with this diluted 1:1 with RO water can get you set for at least an 8 wk flower cycle. coffe is also an excellent mixing element for soil-less media

another favorite of mine is to take all the veggie destined for the compost pile and just throw it in 3-4 gals RO and bubble it for 24-36 hours adding a little sugar( granular or liquid)

the best general purpose organic tea/plant health enhancer ive come across is something made by cuting edge solutions called humtea, which consist of kelp, molasses, humic acids derived from leonardite and earthworm castings. the package comes as a mixed poweder pouch and you mix in water and bubble for 72 hours. this is not hard to make from raw materials such as are pictured above in Ganjagardeners post. btw GG, those ingredients look like a killer combo. you are ready for wnything your grow throws at you there.

the best plus to earthworn castings is there is a little nitrogen from the worms liquid excrement. since the worms have no wee-wee, they do both at the same time and you get some worm urine in with the castings. this also works well as a spray for rotection against bug infestation. bugs don't like the smell or taste or worm piss, and you can just wash it off anytime you like. ii IS a little better suited to veggie gardening, but you cn use it in veg w/o problems.

 

[SanctuSensi]

recipe fo humtea

this cam from the cnnabis .com boards and i think they got it from somwhere els as well

Here's a recipe from Dr. Ingham of Soil Food Web Labs (www.soilfoodweb.com

5 gal brewer
1 lb. compost
½ cup of humic acid
1 to 3 T. of kelp
1 tsp. of non-sulfured, blackstrap molasses
In our brewer, we use:
1 heaping cup of compost (approx. 1 ¼ cups)
½ cup of our foods (proprietary blend comprised of sulfate of potashmagnesia, feather meal, soymeal, cottonseed meal, mycorrhizal, kelp, and alfalfa meal)
1 T. of Tera Vita SP-85 Humic acid (optional for increased fungal growth)

 

[GanjaGardener]

Hi cron- when I first went indoors, my soil "experimentation" consisted of trying out bagged soil mixes that I cut w/ coarse, #3 perlite. The perlite:soil ratio slowly increased until it constituted 90%-95% of my mix and my so-called "hydro-soil" phase began. (hydro at the beginning-> soil (created by tea/slurry feeding residue over time) during flower. Like you, I wanted to grow in coir, my "guru" had been steering me that way but making the jump seemed too extreme for "mid-stream" and besides, I thought I was onto something hot w/ my perlite dominant substrate. ho-ho, he-he!

Long story short, the attributes of coir as a base for a grow medium are even better than I thought, jumping from perlite -> rice hulls is like no jump at all, and my current run of seedlings, (I'm dark in the flowering rm, ATM) is the most uniformly, healthy and vigorous that I've produced, to date. (I'll show pics- waiting on camera, ATM) That doesn't mean that my grow or grow style is the best. I spent most of my life in an environment where seeing, working w/ and talking to bigger, better, faster, smarter, richer was an everyday occurance. Success, for me, means that I've made it to the ballpark in one piece.

You've inspired me to distill my methodology down into a condensed form. I'll have something for you as soon as I finish my homework.

yes, the coir you see had a high sodium chloride/sea salt content and had to be flushed twice w/ RO waste water and a third time w/ RO'd. Coir that comes from a producer that flushes out most of the salt before packaging and/or harvests from an inland grove where there is less salt content is better for me than doing my own flushes. Alas, sometimes the premium brands aren't always flushed as well as they should be. Lots of inconsistency in the coir industry, and bag to bag at present.


Hi SanctuSensi- welcome aboard friend. I was hoping that a good orgardeneer would show up to help out. great info!

I have recently come to realize that the purist line of DIY, organic growing that I had been toeing had made me more judgmental and intolerant of the practices of a larger % of organic growers than I realized. No more. No more. I can't speak to humtea other than to say it's made up of excellent ingredients, I assume the company has figured out a good ratio, and you have suggested it, which, based upon the general line of info in your post, makes it a good nute, IMHO..

Do you think that it might work into the new program that cron's developing? (finally figured out how to say what I meant to say)

Note: Balancing soil mix properties, growth stage needs and nute formulas is a given objective that I assume we all agree upon.

I sense an Asian influence in some of what you're doing. Are you familiar w/ Han Kyu Cho?

 

[claudacio]

I'm very interested in this thread, at the moment I'm using mainly botanicare nutes which arent bad but what bothers me is how fast it goes and in turn, I have to buy more. Nothing like purchasing $30 liters of liquid karma.....But for the most part I think crom is a little more of an advanced gardener than I but I aim to go in the same direction sort of. I know the botanicare nute line is a "complete" nutrient regiment for my plants, so what I figure on doing is little by little I'll try to find substitutes for each product, I do however wish I started with a 100% organic line but I'm still too new, and before pot I hadnt grown anything, never had a garden, a house plant that was mine, nada.....so I have a lot to learn.

As far as soil I am stuck with fox farms ocean forest/light warrior which isnt bad, or pro mix if I want to hunt it down locally but everyone looks at me funny in a non MMJ state when I'm loading up on medium in September, I dont live in a small town but I do try to get a little ways away from my stomping grounds... But even doing that the feed stores dont seem to have much, a lot of the local places here have nothing but miracle grow, and I wont be using that. Believe it or not I have been growing for almost a year and I literally just saw a place that had peat separately not mixed with anything, I want to start with peat, coir, and perlite and then go from there but I just need to source more of the basic amendments and the problem where I live is once the growing season is over, garden centers turn into "X-mas" mega stores and carry nothing grow related except the almighty miracle grow fortified products....

I just started growing over the past year and used FF ocean forest for my last grow with only perlite mixed in. This grow I was going to use a bag to bag ratio of light warrior and ocean forest mixed with some worm castings but the "organic" grow shop had no worm castings and werent going to for at least another month, I had seedlings needing to be transplanted so I had to skip the castings but I ended up going with equal parts light warrior, ocean forest, coir, half a "part" of chunky perlite that I broke up a little more (I can only get #4 or perlite fortified with MG so #4 it was) and a small amount of vermiculite. Seeing that these are the ingredients I'm kinda stuck with for soil, now I figured I'd try to learn a bit more about soils and starting with what I have, I'll start adding things to it as I get them as well as learn a bit more. I had a few packages of 9-3-1 guano I got as samples from the "organic" grow shop (I "organic" because I think those samples of guano were about the only things organic in that shop) that I've started to use a little bit but I have yet to harvest any buds that I used it on yet. I've also started using a product called "Quantum 1" which is a liquid humic acid product, I forgot to mention that. I have powdered humic acid on my list as well, 70% of the bottle of quantum 1 is h2o.

Anyhow, if you much more experienced guys feel like chatting about teas some more (especially) I'll definitely be here to read it....thanks for starting the thread GG, I dont have a whole lot of experience to offer but I will be more than happy to soak up what you guys are willing to share, thats for sure. Its definitely appreciated.

 

[SanctuSensi]

not me

hey ganjagardener,

i haven't ever actually used the humtea product from cutting edge solutions, but i have made my own version and still experienced stellar results.

I suppose my methods could be interpreted as asian influenced, however i hadn't heard of Han Kyu cho until you mentioned hi to me. I was invovled in South Korean Martial Arts called Tae-Kwon-Do. it was through these studies that i came to understand the interconnectedness of our environment and all living things around besides us. Tae-Kwon-DO was developed by farmers using farming tools to defend their farms and families from invading armies of foreigners. needless to say you don't want to surprise me while i am scything the wheat in my backyard, but i also learned discipline which teaches you when it is necessary to get out the big guns and dance.

if you can blance your soil organism population, then you can hit your plants with enough of what they need to thrive like no other

claudacio: if you just use this in your soils with your regular nutrient regimen, and they will yield two to three times what you gotten without using humtea

yes, this would also work in croms system if he were t decide to implement it. bacteria love to colonize coco! the humtea basically works to help make what is already in the soil more availiable.

One thing to keep in mind when using beneficial.microbial inoculates is that you have to be careful how much phosphorous and nitrogen you use. some pH up and pH down use things like phosphoric acid or potash solution. some of these will kill your colonies so try to stick to natural alternatives such as citrus juice, and or soda water for acid or wood ash solution for pH up.


lemon juice has a pH of 2.4-2.5 and wood ash soaked in water yields a pH of 10.5

i gotta go garden today but will back to let you guys know how to make a soil inoculant that can be applied on a large scale for a cheap price, might even be doable out in your neck of the woods claudacio:banana1sv6:

 

[claudacio]

Thanks SS, at the moment I do my best to avoid PH up and down by adding a little more of the nutes I'm using. Most times I'm able to get the PH in the acceptable range (6 to 6.5 is what I was taught) before feeding/watering without adding any PH up or down, however occasionally I do have to use it but I will definitely be getting rid of the GH orange and blue bottles I have and use something along the lines of what you mentioned.

Right now all my plants are in veg on the brink of being flipped, I had a PH lockout issue a few weeks back that wreaked havoc on my girls. The first bag of light warrior I opened and had my plants in 1.7 gallon pots awaiting sex ID after their transplant out of the red keg party kups had something going on with it, I think it was an "end of the pile" bag because there was very little perlite in it. I finally figured it out when I was putting LW in pots and that bag ran out so I opened a new bag of LW and was looking at it next to the stuff I already poured out and it looked like a totally different soil altogether. But say I poured in 6.5 phed water, 4.5 and lower was coming out in the run off, which I could have adjusted had I figured it out but it was the last thing I thought of checking. I thought it was transplant shock at first even though my transplants have all gone pretty stress free, but a watering came and went, they didnt get better, so I kept watering thinking I was going to flush out whatever it was and I was only making it worse. I finally figured out as I said above but its now going on 3-4 weeks of getting them back into shape. They are just getting back to the point of vigorous growth, well some are just starting back and looking like they are supposed to but had I figured it out sooner I'd be well into bloom at the moment but it caused me to make some good changes so whatever, its all a learning experience. Now I check run off whenever I water/feed.

I'm definitely interested in seeing what you put in your teas, I was looking at a tea kit from boutea ( http://www.bountea.com/product.php?proid=54&sub_catid=&page=Bountea Garden Tea Brew Kit ) I dont know if its worth it but I was all about switching to the veganics until I started reading some arguments so I decided to just do my own thing with the help of people like you guys.

At the moment I am trying to get my soil inoculated with a few products I have, bushmaster (fox farms) microbe brew and kanga-roots, as well as botanicares aqua shield which is a compost product, also the quantum 1 has a few types of beni-somethings in it besides the humic acid (28.6% humic acid). But I am well aware that there is much better products out there like great white along with tarantula and all that but I collected the products above except the botanicare stuff over the past year or so. I figured I may as well try and use it up as its only going to go bad. I also have a bottle of "vegan" compost tea from GH or GO whatever it is but I am thinking its not as vegan as I would like to think as I"m not even sure if theres an OMRI tag on it.

But what you guys are using is where its at, and thats what I want to work up to using, at the moment $ is tight but I cant wait to not have to buy bottled nutes anymore. Or at least whole lines of nutrients. The only one I would consider buying the future I think would be canna bio or EJ, but local sounds better to me, But that may have to wait until next planting season for me to be able to do that entirely due to how things are with the stores around here as well as me needing to learn what and how everything works. I say there isnt much around but there is, I have to look a little harder, sometimes its easier to say ahh feck it....and just spend the $ I dont have on bottled stuff.

 

[mrbong73]

5 gal brewer
1 lb. compost
½ cup of humic acid
1 to 3 T. of kelp
1 tsp. of non-sulfured, blackstrap molasses


In our brewer, we use:
1 heaping cup of compost (approx. 1 ¼ cups)
½ cup of our foods (proprietary blend comprised of sulfate of potashmagnesia, feather meal, soymeal, cottonseed meal, mycorrhizal, kelp, and alfalfa meal)
1 T. of Tera Vita SP-85 Humic acid (optional for increased fungal growth)

This is actually two different recipes. One from soilfoodweb and one from KIS.
The second one is better according to recent microscope testing.
They are not adding humic acid or mycos to the teas anymore however.

For what it's worth,
The research on ACT is still in its infancy and things are changing and evolving constantly.
Tim Wilson and the folks at KIS are on the cutting edge of ACT research using direct microscopy and are advising people not only on some of the cannabis boards but also real ACT professionals who are using this tool for organic landcare and organic farming and other crop production.
I try and follow their recommendations as much as possible when considering ingredients and brewer design and function.

I'll have more on the thread topic in a bit.

Cheers.

Edit:
Originally Posted by Microbeman
1 gallon = 16 cups = 256 tablespoons

2.38% by volume compost or vermicompost (EWC) per gallon = .38 cups or around half a cup max or about 2 cups in 5 gallons max.

0.5 to 0.75% molasses by volume per gallon = 1.28 to 1.92 tablespoons per gallon. 0.75% is the maximum I use. It is a good bacterial and fungal food.

0.063% fish hydrolysate by volume per gallon = 0.16 tablespoon = 0.479 teaspoons or half a teaspoon

0.25% (max) kelpmeal by volume per gallon = 0.64 tablespoon or half a tablespoon

 

[GanjaGardener]

For what it's worth,
The research on ACT is still in its infancy and things are changing and evolving constantly.
Tim Wilson and the folks at KIS are on the cutting edge of ACT research using direct microscopy and are advising people not only on some of the cannabis boards but also real ACT professionals who are using this tool for organic landcare and organic farming and other crop production.
I try and follow their recommendations as much as possible when considering ingredients and brewer design and function.

I'll have more on the thread topic in a bit.

Cheers.

I agree mrbong. If you want in depth info about ACT production, microscopy or virtually any topic that comes up and is related to organic growing strategy and the supporting techniques, go to a specialist. I envisioned this thread as being a place where growers can help each other out and analyze different ways of putting the parts and pieces together. That's what my hope is, anyways.

Here's a hypothetical example of one of the ways I might approach a subject:

This my ACT recipe. I formulated it based upon info and practices that I learned @ KIS. For those of you who are unfamiliar w/ ACT (aerated compost tea), it is a process used to create an optimum environment for the multiplication of beneficial microbes and fungi (usually separate applications.) In my recipe, I've taken such and such and done this because my soil mix already has that covered, the dry compost I'm adding is high N so I'll be holding off on N at my next feeding etc, etc, etc

ACT's are not the best example because they primarily serve a single function, albeit a very important one. When you start talking soil mix for seedlings, veg or flower cycles and the nute mix that you are applying at a given stage in the plant's development, it becomes more complicated.

Links to info are OK, but posts where the author has taken the time to distill and condense his findings and show us the mental process he used to get there are more interesting and stimulating to me than being sent to a link that supports an assertion. I can find do a search and challenge or confirm someones findings and present my own perspective w/o necessarily using a link to confirm my opinion. I'm trying to see if this angle which, admittedly, is a little bit different, will open up some new doors. (The author will also gets extra points (and +rep), in my book.)

Interrelatedness. The Whole Earth. The container as a microcosm.

 

[mrbong73]

Well I'm not sure if I can be a productive contributor or not but I'll give it a go. Or at least I can explain my materials, methods and procedures.

I'll start with my soil mix.

Base mix is peat moss, coco coir, compost, ewc and pumice/perlite.

Amendments/dry ferts are neem seed meal, fish meal, fish bone meal, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, soft rock phosphate, kelp meal, crab meal, k mag, oyster shell powder, gypsum, dolomite lime, and a hefty dose of glacial rock dust.
My compost component is made up of homemade compost, malibu bu's blend and marwest.

I have most of the amendments and dry ferts in 50lb bags that I have gathered from several sources. I feel as I have close to a lifetime supply especially as my homemade compost will provide most of the required nutrients needed by my med garden and outdoor landscaping.

Along with the above inputs I also grow my own yarrow, comfrey, dandelions (well they just grow regardless) and will have some stinging nettle coming along soon also.
These plants are all known as dynamic accumulators and are an excellent source of most major and minor nutrients. I use these to make fermented plant extracts as well as for compost inputs and as soon as my worm trays are up and running I will use it for worm food as well.

Next up is my indoor growing set up.
I recently decided to try an indoor deep soil bed using a 150 gallon smart pot and utilizing the no till method. I will be harvesting the plants by cutting them off flush leaving the rootball intact and planting new clones next to the old.

Here's a pic of the bed.

More later...

 

[SanctuSensi]

natures advice

thanks mr bong for pointing that out because i can see how it seemed a bit misleading. I am no expert, but i know that my plants are healthier when i use these methods rather than trying chemicals and additives. proof is in the pudding and i know that my pudding is way tastier than the lucas formula plus boosters hydro pudding you see all over LA and so cal. strength is definitely comparable as well

I have also been using this stuff on my veggie garden as a change over the last 2-3 years and have never been happier with another way. even mixing tons ov compost before the season doesn't do what a basic inoculant tea will do.

the UNited States Agribusiness industry hasn't allowed much room for the development of HONESTLY organic methods for large scale production. good thing because such large scale production as we have today isn't feasible by any means let alone something (compost teas) designed for locality and biodiversity within an already existing ecology. they can't enforce the organic regulations they have in pace and have a bad definition of "ORGANIC" to go on in the first place Agriculture destroys nature, and so do things like of urea fertilizers on lawns for a golf course in Palm Springs. My point is...regardless of the lack of research and cite-able articles involving what you are doing, it is still possible to gain some serious perspective and experience as to how ineffective and unnecessary modern conventional farming methods are. Universities are not trying to feed the world, farmers are taking care of that as well as any other demand for high quality grown plants. experienced growers tend to take heed in tradition rather than technology. though technology can be simply defined as using knowledge of nature to manipulate one own outcome, i refer to the tractors replacing farm hands and assembly lines that are supposedly inspected by the same FDA which sometimes later fines them for violating well known industry codes of conduct.

anyhow i rant when i am well medicted.

to all those dedicated scientists who are busier today than their counterparts of the past just to make a dollar,

" enjoy the great outdoors for once, and see what it tells you about itself. there is much to be learned by simply observing"

pease, SS

 

[SanctuSensi]

Well I'm not sure if I can be a productive contributor or not but I'll give it a go. Or at least I can explain my materials, methods and procedures.

I'll start with my soil mix.

Base mix is peat moss, coco coir, compost, ewc and pumice/perlite.

Amendments/dry ferts are neem seed meal, fish meal, fish bone meal, alfalfa meal, soybean meal, soft rock phosphate, kelp meal, crab meal, k mag, oyster shell powder, gypsum, dolomite lime, and a hefty dose of glacial rock dust.
My compost component is made up of homemade compost, malibu bu's blend and marwest.

I have most of the amendments and dry ferts in 50lb bags that I have gathered from several sources. I feel as I have close to a lifetime supply especially as my homemade compost will provide most of the required nutrients needed by my med garden and outdoor landscaping.

Along with the above inputs I also grow my own yarrow, comfrey, dandelions (well they just grow regardless) and will have some stinging nettle coming along soon also.
These plants are all known as dynamic accumulators and are an excellent source of most major and minor nutrients. I use these to make fermented plant extracts as well as for compost inputs and as soon as my worm trays are up and running I will use it for worm food as well.

Next up is my indoor growing set up.
I recently decided to try an indoor deep soil bed using a 150 gallon smart pot and utilizing the no till method. I will be harvesting the plants by cutting them off flush leaving the rootball intact and planting new clones next to the old.

Here's a pic of the bed.

More later...

what a great contribution. you seem farther along oin your journey than i sir

 

[GanjaGardener]

i hope mrbong hangs around. i've learned that what you see is what you get w/ him and know that he is a tenacious and dedicated searcher of truth.

Keeping on track is important, but I don't want to hang out in a thread that makes me feel like I've got to tiptoe around so as not to break rules or get paranoid about taking a jaunt off topic once in awhile. Screw that. So, in that spirit....

Hey gang! Not a neem expert so can't say for sure, but I went shopping yesterday and think I bumped into a pretty good deal: 32 oz 100% cold pressed neem oil $25.75 + $7.75

BTW, feel free to comment, but no response necessary/expected on my shout-outs:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001SBNJVM

 

[mrbong73]

I've only used the Dyna Gro neem oil product which is similar price at Amazon.
My next purchase will be from Neem Resource.com
They have a sample pack with Neem and Karanja meal and oil. Top notch product from what I've heard.

I use the neem oil along with protekt for a preventative foliar. I also mix in spinosaid a couple of times during veg also.

I've been having good luck mixing the oil with the protekt in a shot glass and then pouring into warm water. I would then add the spinosaid and some aloe vera juice and spray away.

 

[Grow2BFree]

When the Agriculture industry is stuck in its same old ways, it will be up to the marijuana growers to figure out better ways, that may one day be used to feed the world, in a much better way than today.

 

[SanctuSensi]

question for aficionados and masters alike

I have a question i have pondering for a bit.

would it b terribly wrong to try to start your teas by dumping boiling water into the bucket over your solid additives and base ingredients in the bag, and then wait for it to cool before you start to aerate and add the sugar and other microbe growing things?

I ask because the theory would be that the hot water kills off the bad bacteria in the poop and other bad bacteria carrying hosts, and then you wait for it stabilize temp and aerate (which might cool as well) with sugar later when you are at you target temp ( say 68 deg. F) in order to only let the bacteria you are looking for to take a hold of the food source before the other bad guys have enhance to dominate and cause and unhealthy tea.

this idea would be in the spirit of trying to ensure health enhancing teas, rather than risk the chance of a bad bacteria bloom and having tto rely on the soil chemistry and plants immune response to fight it off.

It might sound crazy, but i have done a few teas where i have added leftover coffee to my bucket full of kitchen compost, then after steaming some vegetable for dinner, i dump the hot water into the bucket and add remaining kitchen compost. Then in the morning when i test the temp to be ideal, i aerate and add molasses or just carbo blast or table sugar and then i run the water through a strainer loaded with already broken down compost soil . 72 hours later i have something that will bring almost any plant back to life. i have saved my lawn with this and little thatching and i think its a good method

if i were to use this for my babies, id just stick to certain garden wastes, like bannana peels and strawberry crowns, and squash ends and things like that to keep it simpler. the only other thing id change is id always adda lil great white right before applying so as to help with the colonizing in the root media

yeah just an idea whaddyah 'll think?:sign0065:

 

[GanjaGardener]

Wow! That's a good question and I, for one, don't have a definitive answer but would like to learn more. I use a thermometer and warming cable (or room heat) to bring temp into the optimum range, but can't recall using boiling water or anything nearing 200 degrees F/100 C in the grow room. I'm all ears, though.