Organic Growers: Please remember the vibe

[bushdktr]

Hi guys, been using my own compost for years in my orchard, beautiful results always, now... I'm new to brewing compost tea, and this has been my 3 attempts at it, so I think I need some counseling:
I followed the proportions in the link www.microbeorganics.com, so 2.38% compost in water (I use my own recovered rain water, pH 6.5) and 0.5% molasses. So I fill a 5L bucket with that water, add the compost (125 g) and the molasses (25 mL). I hope the maths is correct haha, so these were my results:
1. First time I didn't have molasses, just added some fungi (trichoderma harzianum), after 36 hs. the tea smelled earthy and fungal and its pH was 7.4
2. Second round added some molasses (maybe I overdosed, around1%) and next day it was pungent, acid, pH=1.8 !! so I threw it in my pond that was somewhat alkaline at the time, it loved it BTW!
3. This time I followed strictly the proportion and added just 25 mL of molasses (0.5%) and...same result! pH went down, starting from 6.8 and finishing at 2.4 this morning!, Dumped it again and will start a new brew now, this time adding just 0.25% molasses.

Temps along the brew could have ranged from 18 to 30C (summer here), especially during the second attempt, so I kept it stable at 20-25C during my third attempt.

Any input from the experts around?

Thanks!

 

[robbio]

Excellent post...I also can't resist and must chime,

When growing with a living medium it must remembered, that you are not feeding the plant...your feeding the soil.
There is insane amount of microbes in just one table spoon of living soil..
These little guys eat and digest whichever amendments and teas you might use in your regimen,they even eat each other,after digestion these microbes release exudates (microbe manure) ,it's these exudates that your the plants use and convert into energy.

This is also why JM said it can take sometimes up to 7 days to see your tea starting to work...

Chem ferts act much faster,it is advised to take into account the delay when using organic's..if you don't see result in the first few days...BE PATIENT..
It's is harder to overfeed using organics...but it is still possible...patience is virtue.

we wouldn't want anyone going gungho and overfeeding the ladies....organics can be very simple or over complicated it all depends on your approach.

I suggest anyone interested in organics should read Jeff Lowenfels Teaming with Microbes...an excellent read.

There's is a whole other world out there....and it's right under our feet.

Great info dirt i,m beginning to to understand organics a little better,as a farmer you tend to see ferts.as the only way to grow,boy was i wrong.Our soil here is not very good ,needs a lot of help.All the things you say about organics is just good farming.a lot of the older guys use a lot of ferts to increase their yields .Growing wheat is a lot different than growing pot.You can teach an old fart new tricks.Hey man keep the info flowing.Peace.

 

[Farmerlion]

Hello all, great thread!
Please remember the microbial sweet spot in your soil. Is something your soil achieves, not starts with. Start your soil microbial life now. I'm a northern grower near Canadian border. The lake I use for water is still froze over.

Today I added fish emulsions, ground Icelandic kelp, leonardite and worm castings. I will add worms into my soil mix in the end of April. I will continue to water the soil and watch my grow bags come to life. By mid May, my seedlings will be in a ph balanced soil mix. My plants that need the best conditions possible to flourish. Will have everything they need. I will be maximizing my greenhouse grow environment. At this time you can access your genetics actual capabilities. Once you've made the best environment. You can search genetics that grow best in your environment.

Please, don't get caught up in names of the latest, greatest hyped genetics. If you continually chase names. You will never have the optimal environment for any strain!!! While you can end up with some nice plants. You're not going to have the quality first and yields second. For new growers, I can't stress this simple truth enough.
I hope you all have a fantastic and safe grow season.
Peace. farmerlion

 

[Farmerlion]

So farmerlion, were does one start with genetics? Good question.

Ask yourself some questions.
1. What type of high or medical effect do I want most?
2. Am I going to grow indoors or outdoors?
3. How much space do I have? L x W x H.
4.What is my outdoor environment like on average?
5. What's my natural light cycle in my environment? Outdoors

For me my greenhouse environment has a beautiful vegetative cycle. My natural flowering cycle is very short. Ruderalis and auto flowering genetics do very well. Stepping outside of these genetics is a slippery slope.

Semi auto flowering genetics opens up some incredible possibilities.
Landrace genetics like Lebanese, Nepalese and Mazar I Sharif. Will do very well at 50 degrees North. There is a hundred strains using these genetics as part of their genetic foundation.

Say your in the 0 to 25 degrees North or South of the equator. You're going to have a slough of sativa genetics available to you. 20+ week flowering genetics are in your wheelhouse. Any shorter flowering strains will also work very well. If breeding keep in mind you will have genetic drift in your Indica plants as they acclimate to your region.

So I recommend to study the genetics you are interested in. What are the parental lineages? Do you have or can you make this environment?

These questions will help you from spending a decade of having the learning curve magnified in your grows. Please remember you can't smoke pride. Don't be your own worst enemy. I hope this will save some of you with the learning curve of trying different genetics.
One final thought, you need to know.
*Flowering Onset* A 9 or 10 week strain that starts flowering in July is a whole different animal from one that starts flowering in September. The flowering onset date is rarely given by breeders. Most often it's just the flowering time of the hybrid. Many if not most strains are developed indoors. Parental plants are kept under 20 hours of lighting per day. Understanding the parental genetics is critical to understanding your environmental needs.
Peace

Peace. farmerlion

 

[JaPinkman]

:thumbs: I concur!


And that said... Organics nutes tend to take a little longer to take effect... so pre-planning is neccesary... i find even with a well bubbled guano tea it takes 7 days or so for the resultant growth spurt to begin...

A few basics for good canna (MY Opinion)
Earth worm castings! indisposable!
peruvian sea bird guano (great veg / stem strength fert)
Mexican bat guano (to help balance NPK ratios on peruvian as its a hair high in the P dept...)
sea salt (yes from the store) many many trace nutrients in this stuff... the tiniest pinch is all thats really needed each watering or every other...
Epsom salts (magnesium)
molasses (calcium / magnesium as well as essential carbs for good bud building)

just a lil start... couldnt resist chiming in on one of my favorite topics!

I'm a first time grower and I have to ask if you are saying to get the medium going early with those things in your soil or into a tea....or both?

 

[1337timmay]

I'm a first time grower and I have to ask if you are saying to get the medium going early with those things in your soil or into a tea....or both?

earthworm casting and guannos can be tea or soil, the salts are soil and the molasses is dilated in water to feed the microbes

 

[Jraven]

Yes by all means get your medium mixed up and going early.

I'm a first time grower and I have to ask if you are saying to get the medium going early with those things in your soil or into a tea....or both?

 

[hecno]

@JaPinkman I have my soil at 3 months old before I plant in it , The more time you can give it the better it will be .

 

[mdabber]

You can even reuse soil and plant in to it and top dress with dry amendments or teas to add anything the soil is missing. dry your fan leaves out top dress them back into the soil. Try to recycle whatever you can from your plants feed to the microbes in soil. Dry amendments are generally cheaper than liquid and you can make teas with them. Look into Korean natural farming. http://www.cgnfindia.com that website has info on knf and making your own nutrients. You also might want to look into bokashi it's a way of fermenting food scraps and using the liquid that drains out as nutrients. You can top dress the bokashi food scraps also or bury them and plant there tons of good bacteria being adding when you do that.