Seeds not sprouting - going to use Jiffy pellets

[MarsBarz]

No issue that I saw aside from a light cooking process, perhaps 30 days. Also yes, you can almost always substitute EWC for compost. One of the big things we want from compost and EWC is the beneficial life it brings in. Both bring it in effectively.



I have a worm bin called the vermihut. Each drawer has a bottom that has a hash grid as seen here

That keeps all the materials in while letting the worms move from bin to bin. When one bin is done you place the next one on top. The worms will migrate into the next bin and you’ll be left with a bin full of castings. They reproduce so fast you can even throw worms into your containers for extra oomph. Here’s what it looks like

The thing I'm after from castings/compost is the microbes that enhance flavours/terpene profiles. Also thirty days is more than doable, I've got at least one or two grows worth of cheap dept. store potting mix to go through before I move onto bigger, better methods of growing. Lots of time to prepare.

That composting bin goes hard. I don't think I'd be able to supply it with enough food scraps to keep those wrigglers alive. I'm hella tempted to purchase it though!

 

[bluter]

I've considered coco. Nutes could get kind of expensive?

i run a similar style to coco and would hard pressed to spend $5 a grow with my nutes and media choice. up front cost is greater, but most things last grow after grow, and i haven't bought nutes for 6 - 7 yrs. just some perlite.

edit : check out either grow journal link. top is current.

 

[bluter]

The thing I'm after from castings/compost is the microbes that enhance flavours/terpene profiles. Also thirty days is more than doable, I've got at least one or two grows worth of cheap dept. store potting mix to go through before I move onto bigger, better methods of growing. Lots of time to prepare.

the mantra is - fill jars first - fuck around later..

no one is all that successful at first. doesn't matter the grow style or media. the best thing is to learn the plant. all the experience is then transferrable to other styes and media.

i always recommend easier media and grow styles to new growers. cheap access is always good too. folk keep at it if they experience some early success.

edit : you can make some better and easier choices on yourself at this point.

 

[bluter]

The thing I'm after from castings/compost is the microbes that enhance flavours/terpene profiles.

neglible at best and you're no where near there yet. walk before run.

 

[SmokingWings]

I'd presume you wouldn't be able to use a shovel without risk of injuring/slicing the worm in half

If you slice on in half then you will have two earthworms. They are a basic life form and as long as the two pieces can stay cool and moist dirt they will heal up. It is not like slicing a snake into two pieces.

I'm interested in the following soil recipe (recipe 2 specifically). Can I get away with using sphagnum instead of coco? And instead of compost, can I do earthworm castings instead? Or is compost a must for this? Perhaps maybe, half compost, half earthworm castings?

Something to keep in mind. As soon as you use sphagnum peat moss instead of coco you are no longer following the recipe. It will become the first step towards creating your own "frankenmix" that @bluter mentioned back in msg #10. Then you make another substitution and the frankenmix is on its way to being out of control.

My way of looking at it the compost has a lot of plant material that has not yet decomposed. As the micro-organisms eat and breakdown the organics or plant material they release the nutrients that the plant will use. The worm castings are basically worm manure from the plant material the worms ate. While going through their digestive system the castings pick up the micro-organisms. Applying worm castings is a way to provide a bumper crop of soil organisms but it provides very little in the way of nutrients for the plant. I would rather be using the compost which already has worms and their castings mixed in.

 

[SmokingWings]

I can get free compost from the city where I live, but I'm not sure if it's 'organic' and I don't know if they have any left.

I have gotten free compost from the city I lived in before moving here. It is organic in that it is made from all kinds of yard waste from grass clippings to the leaves that fall off the trees in the fall to weeds that were pulled in gardens to the trimmings from shrubs. Springtime is here and the local cities or the refuse companies that service them are going to be overloaded with all kinds of organic materials. The compost farms will be working overtime until fall and all the leaves have been picked up. If you are interested in more compost check to see if your city has gotten more.

My current city does not do the free compost but I went to local landscape and gardening shops which have areas set aside for bulk materials from sand to top soil and >>> fresh compost from the compost farms.

I started off buying a bushel basket of compost from these places and the two years ago, almost to the day, I decided to get a larger bulk amount and move on. So I got a cubic yard. Some photos and explanation here: https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/grow-medium-review.515551/post-5554851

 

[Keffka]

I started off buying a bushel basket of compost from these places and the two years ago, almost to the day, I decided to get a larger bulk amount and move on. So I got a cubic yard. Some photos and explanation here: https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/grow-medium-review.515551/post-5554851

Where do you go for this?

 

[SmokingWings]

Where do you go for this?

I will send a 'conversation' message shortly. I will have the location and name of the closest place to you.

Also where to go to get free bulk wood chips--gotta load the truck yourself for those.

 

[Keffka]

That composting bin goes hard. I don't think I'd be able to supply it with enough food scraps to keep those wrigglers alive. I'm hella tempted to purchase it though!

I have a family of 4 so between our scraps it’s not a problem. Produce is fairly inexpensive here as well so I could buy it if I really need too. You also add plenty of carbon based bedding they consume so they won’t go hungry if you miss a feeding or two. They won’t be happy and will slow reproduction but it’s not a bin killer.

However, feeding them food scraps is secondary. The reason my castings go beyond what @SmokingWings was talking about with just a bumper crop is because I add my minerals and amendments directly to the bin. As the worms process the bin these amendments also get processed and really amp up what the castings become.

Feeding my food waste is a happy by product, but if I only gave them a handful of food every week, they’d still process the rest of my bin. It would probably take longer but in organics you gotta get used to taking your time.

 

[SmokingWings]

Msg sent. Forgot to mention that you can look at what is available in the bulk yard but you have to go across the street to the office and indoor store area to pay first and get the reciept. They will let the yard know what you want and that you paid.

I always check to see what is available first. I like to see that the compost already has a certain amount of half-way decomposed wood chips. Wood chips rule if looking to make your own "aged forest products". If the pile is small or I do not like what it looks like I ask one of the end-loader drivers when the next load is coming in.

 

[Keffka]

neglible at best and you're no where near there yet. walk before run.

I forgot I wanted to mention this as well. @bluter is correct about negligible and crawl, walk, run.

This is another area where more reading would be useful as a lot of new information has come into proof over the last decade.

The quantity of microbe is much less important than the quality and type. All of us have microbes, even synthetic growers.

To obtain the better flavors and terpenes you’re searching for, you want better growing practices. Longer veg, straight to soil germinating, proper watering, good aeration, balanced soil and a clean water source. Add in a bit of gypsum or an organic sulfur and you’ll have the best cannabis you’ve ever smoked.

Any amount of microbes you’re adding in with commercial products like commercial castings, composts, amendments, aren’t going to give the flavors and terpenes as much as proper soil balance and micronutrients will. Those microbes will help smooth out your grow stresses more than anything else.

Now, most of what I just covered was referring to your average grows. Those that start with a new soil every grow, or those who use bottled nutrients, or those who use salts. There is a way to obtain microbes that will increase everything from resilience and health to quality and yield.

These microbes will have massive impacts but they take a long time to cultivate. You have to run similar or the same strains in the same soils over and over. As the soil gets recycled and the microbes populate according to their environment, you will steadily increase the amount of beneficial microbes specially adapted to your environment and plants. This isn’t something you can cook up in a tea or build into a super soil or deliver through commercial products. It takes months to see results and years to seriously benefit.

But it’s worth it. It’s so worth it I started a whole new paragraph and sentence with the word but. You will gain an intimate connection to your plants, your soil, and your environment. You will see your grows go faster, healthier, and bigger. You’ll know what your yard is telling you, you’ll be able to read the signs Mother Nature gives us when she’s wanting. It’s honestly a poetic experience if you have the patience for it.

 

[MarsBarz]

the mantra is - fill jars first - fuck around later..

no one is all that successful at first. doesn't matter the grow style or media. the best thing is to learn the plant. all the experience is then transferrable to other styes and media.

i always recommend easier media and grow styles to new growers. cheap access is always good too. folk keep at it if they experience some early success.

edit : you can make some better and easier choices on yourself at this point.

when you say "learn the plant" what do you mean by this specifically? Someone else advised me to do this as well, which is why they recommended the golfgreen soil I'm using.

If you slice on in half then you will have two earthworms. They are a basic life form and as long as the two pieces can stay cool and moist dirt they will heal up. It is not like slicing a snake into two pieces.


Something to keep in mind. As soon as you use sphagnum peat moss instead of coco you are no longer following the recipe. It will become the first step towards creating your own "frankenmix" that @bluter mentioned back in msg #10. Then you make another substitution and the frankenmix is on its way to being out of control.

My way of looking at it the compost has a lot of plant material that has not yet decomposed. As the micro-organisms eat and breakdown the organics or plant material they release the nutrients that the plant will use. The worm castings are basically worm manure from the plant material the worms ate. While going through their digestive system the castings pick up the micro-organisms. Applying worm castings is a way to provide a bumper crop of soil organisms but it provides very little in the way of nutrients for the plant. I would rather be using the compost which already has worms and their castings mixed in.

I intend to use sphagnum instead of coco, so perhaps I'll find a recipe similar to the one I linked that incorporates peat moss instead of coco.

I have a family of 4 so between our scraps it’s not a problem. Produce is fairly inexpensive here as well so I could buy it if I really need too. You also add plenty of carbon based bedding they consume so they won’t go hungry if you miss a feeding or two. They won’t be happy and will slow reproduction but it’s not a bin killer.

However, feeding them food scraps is secondary. The reason my castings go beyond what @SmokingWings was talking about with just a bumper crop is because I add my minerals and amendments directly to the bin. As the worms process the bin these amendments also get processed and really amp up what the castings become.

Feeding my food waste is a happy by product, but if I only gave them a handful of food every week, they’d still process the rest of my bin. It would probably take longer but in organics you gotta get used to taking your time.

what minerals and amendments do you add?

I forgot I wanted to mention this as well. @bluter is correct about negligible and crawl, walk, run.

This is another area where more reading would be useful as a lot of new information has come into proof over the last decade.

The quantity of microbe is much less important than the quality and type. All of us have microbes, even synthetic growers.

To obtain the better flavors and terpenes you’re searching for, you want better growing practices. Longer veg, straight to soil germinating, proper watering, good aeration, balanced soil and a clean water source. Add in a bit of gypsum or an organic sulfur and you’ll have the best cannabis you’ve ever smoked.

Any amount of microbes you’re adding in with commercial products like commercial castings, composts, amendments, aren’t going to give the flavors and terpenes as much as proper soil balance and micronutrients will. Those microbes will help smooth out your grow stresses more than anything else.

Now, most of what I just covered was referring to your average grows. Those that start with a new soil every grow, or those who use bottled nutrients, or those who use salts. There is a way to obtain microbes that will increase everything from resilience and health to quality and yield.

These microbes will have massive impacts but they take a long time to cultivate. You have to run similar or the same strains in the same soils over and over. As the soil gets recycled and the microbes populate according to their environment, you will steadily increase the amount of beneficial microbes specially adapted to your environment and plants. This isn’t something you can cook up in a tea or build into a super soil or deliver through commercial products. It takes months to see results and years to seriously benefit.

But it’s worth it. It’s so worth it I started a whole new paragraph and sentence with the word but. You will gain an intimate connection to your plants, your soil, and your environment. You will see your grows go faster, healthier, and bigger. You’ll know what your yard is telling you, you’ll be able to read the signs Mother Nature gives us when she’s wanting. It’s honestly a poetic experience if you have the patience for it.

Someone mentioned on another forum I visited that the reason Clackamas Coots is so successful with his soil recipe is because of the long drawn out time and attention he pays to his compost and castings.

So I can recycle the soil I'm using, is what you're saying? Even this bagged soil from the dept. store? Or would I be better pressed to make my own soil and recycle that?

 

[SmokingWings]

So I can recycle the soil I'm using,

Yes.

Or would I be better pressed to make my own soil and recycle that?

In the end it should be even better to mix you own. But first, learn what a store bought potting soil will do. Then try different store bought soils. While growing with those soils read up on what can be used in a soil mix and why.

Just jumping in and mixing a potting soil without knowing what an ingredient will do often ends up with a soil that does not work as intended just about every time.

 

[bluter]

starting with a lawn care product is a recipe for disaster.