Biodynamic Compost in SEQ area

[Smokeyandtheblunt]

hiya Pug, Thanks mate, sure lifts the spirits seeing the plants doing well. I got to get the vege garden going also rest of the rainforest revegetation along the creek.

I used the Searles Organic Potting Mix the last few grows. Back on the first soil i used Searles Advanced Premium potting mix ( bunnnings only made by Searles in 65L bags) That sounds nice organic soil ( ROLS)

Even if i left the soil in the bins in the sun, you mean it could still harbour bad bacterias etc and new is best. The Americans are lucky, ive seen some lovely bagged soils they can get. Yes i should have used some neem meal and kelp to get the pests, bit diffcult once in flowering to do much.

I'd love and may even grow the spring summer photos in the ground within the greenhouse ( i will leave open to the sun and covred at night)

 

[pug]

you look to have some pretty big colas on those plants mate.

i haven't grown anything outdoors (or in a greenhouse) for a long time and even then, it was mainly hydro in greenhouses - that was a long time ago. there are many good growers here that grow in soil and grow in greenhouses and outdoors. as to the pathogens in your soil ... itchy is your man - he has written great info about how to get around this problem and nearly every other notill issue. as to doing something about the bad bugs during flower ... might want to talk to carb or another grower who has used beneficial bugs ... could be effective in your case.

i reckon there are quite a few green thumbs that reuse/recycle their soil successfully. unfortunately, i'm not one of them ... lol ... so i used to cut my losses and start fresh - the soil could still be used elsewhere in the garden though. these days ... for me, a good organic, living notill soil mix is the way to go. one that i know where each component comes from and the quantities of the components. that way, it makes it easier for me to focus on my watering and ipm.

if i get it right, the soil continues to improve ... it becomes the most important thing in growing for me. these days, i don't have any hassles cutting down a plant if i have to move, but i make sure my soil comes with me ... hehehe.

 

[itchybro]

if you have the thinking , bugs are natures cleaners , this is a good mind set = your plant has bugs cos it was stressed & unhealthy

bugs travel round looking for plant signals , when plants are stressed they call for organisms to help repair & increase there immune system , along with beneficial organisms , bugs are tuned into those signals & see those plants as carrying faulty genetics so they attempt & generally succeed in removing that plant from the gene pool , leaving these plants to breed will only decrease the quality of the gene pool of future generations , enter natures garbage collectors

we should concentrate our efforts on soil health & fertility not on plants & food because the intended consequences of increased soil health is plant health & protection

so in saying that growing plants in pots is not beneficial although bigger the pot the less that statement holds water , see what i did there , pots hold less water

so far doing gardening , i reckon the number one thing to get right is watering , even cheap bagged soil will preform better if the moisture is consistent , the old thinking of having wet & dry periods might work for some plants maybe but not with a annual cannabis plant imho , don't get me wrong . you can def grow canna plants with a wet dry ethos , it's in my opinion though , using that ethos will increase plant stress & leave it more susceptible to pest & disease aka the garbage collectors

the downside here is soil life needs moisture to thrive & it's difficult to teach how to water , so many factors to take into account , day to day environment , plant size , are you in pots , are they big/small pots , is mulch in place , ect ect , it's a long list , once you get the hang of it in your backyard which could be diff in my backyard , you can do petty well , you can trail & error it like most of us do , you can also have a helping hand these days with moisture meters like he blumat one or a complete watering system , get this watering thing right & your 70% the way there to a happy healthy harvest

for the record indoor is different again especially if the indoor environment is well maintained & consistent

 

[frankreynolds]

Serious question for you guys, first two posts from pug and billy in regards to this mix seems to indicate consistancy issues, does that not concern you guys when planning to use it as a potting mix?

 

[pug]

hey frank

definitely differences with the notill soil between our experiences. if i had to hazard a hopeful guess ... he might be improving on his soil blend.

from what i can gather ... it's a bit unusual for a biodynamic farmer to actually sell a soil mix. they do follow set guidelines very closely and making a notill soil mix, would require him to go out on a limb a bit. another possible variable, might be the use of an existing soil as a base (rather than peat), which would in itself lead to some inconsistencies - not sure if this has changed since billy tried it. the notill blend i'm trying has a red soil base with a bit of clay in it.

i'm also not sure if billy also used the compost. that would be interesting and more of an issue for me. a good biodynamic farmer should have no worries making a consistent compost.

 

[frankreynolds]

Yeh fair enough, as itchy mentioned watering practices are so integral and if one day your getting hydrophobic mix like billy did then another you are getting good quality red clay based stuff it's hard to get consistent watering practices, hopefully he is improving his mix they just seem so vastly different.

Also you know blended and notill are kinda mutually exclusive things (just being cheeky)

Also worth noting itchy is plants need air as much as water, air filled porosity for potting mixes is just as important, a lot of organic amendments can bog mixes down in my opinion, which starts getting worse as it breaks down. Even coco after a few runs is noticeably finer and requires more perlite added to it in my opinion.

 

[itchybro]

really not the end of the world if you find yourself with a bagged soil that's on the dry side , to be honest sounds allot like bags you buy from bunnings , but from a living soil point of view , dry isn't good , still workable , but still not great , i don't know the guy or company but kudos to him for trying to do the right thing by removing plastic soil bags in favor of using hessian sacks , unfortunately , for every action ( plastic removal ) there's a reaction ( less moisture retention ) & obviously a reaction he didn't foresee , ahhh he's a young bloke by the look of his vids , his heart seems to be in the right place he'll get there

you've moved to a different subject of soil building / mixing / making , absolutely air filled porosity is very important when designing soil mixes , the hand watering skill as i mentioned is a hard one to get right because of the different media you could find yourself hand watering , from peat based mixes to running hydro in coco to the backyard vegge patch , wish they all were the same but they are not , making learning to hand water a valuable skill

keeping in mind you could have a perfect air to water media mix , what happens if you over water it = No Air = learn to water

 

[frankreynolds]

Certainly easier to get your watering practices down if the bagged product you are buying is consistent

 

[Defsnotacop]

Me and my wife are trying to get this hand watering down on the easy as soil. Getting there.

It's hard to get past the "Oh, it looks a bit dry, I'll chuck a cup of water on it", to I'll let it dry out a bit and see how they go.

I have blue mats for when they are in bigger pots, and hopefully that takes some of the guess work out.

 

[itchybro]

dnac , if you can get those bigger pots with blumats system up & running now , it will get your soil life up & happening , add some mulch , iron out any kinks in the system b4 you need it to perform , pot will be alive ready & waiting for a transplant to be plugged in , she'll be a bull at a gate once in her final home

do you have another pot the same size as the pot you'll be transplanting cos you could fill the main pot & add the second pot with soil in & back fill round it so you just have to pull that pot out leaving you a perfect size hole to slip the transplant in without having to dig out any soil like you normally would when transplanting , did that make sense

 

[Defsnotacop]

Yeah man. Makes sense. I was going to setup a pot with the blue mats and do exactly as you suggest. The pot in the pot of dirt is a great idea too, will definately do that. Thanks mate.

 

[Porky]

Just order this for me next run. Fuckin cheap and i didn't get charged for delivery to NSW.
See if it arrives.

 

[Porky]

Ill be adding all 3 to this pile.
The plant i chopped 2 days ago returning to the pile.

 

[Billygoat]

No chance.

 

[Porky]

No chance.

Hahaha ya reckon. Hope ya wrong cunt.
Fuckin good deal if i get it.

 

[itchybro]

good luck with it porky

maybe just a little extra air added might be handy in that mix
7-10mm scoria , or to keep weight down rice hulls , or perlite
but wait till you get it & have a look at what you'll be mixing together

how much used soil do you have there ? ( looks a little dry )
are you planing a water only grow with this mix ?

 

[Porky]

good luck with it porky

maybe just a little extra air added might be handy in that mix
7-10mm scoria , or to keep weight down rice hulls , or perlite
but wait till you get it & have a look at what you'll be mixing together

how much used soil do you have there ? ( looks a little dry )
are you planing a water only grow with this mix ?

The mix in the pics is probably only about 150kg but ive been using it for 4 years now.
Yeah ill look at it when it arrives as to weather ill add perlite or not.
Not water only but very little external nutes used hopefully.
Instead of 2 waters and a feed maybe get it to 5 waters and a feed.
Just keen to grow as natural as my lazy arse can and this seems quite an inexpensive way to do it.

 

[itchybro]

1kg = 1 liter ?

so your getting 75 liters of soil delivered for nuffin

 

[Porky]

1kg = 1 liter ?

so your getting 75 liters of soil delivered for nuffin

No im not.
Thought it was to good to be true.
Old mate emailed me today to say hes refunding my money as he doesn't deliver.

 

[Billygoat]

No im not.
Thought it was to good to be true.
Old mate emailed me today to say hes refunding my money as he doesn't deliver.

Lol... seriously as dumb as pedro to think he would.