TLO: For dummies, from a dummy.

[DABaracuss]

Got to love the discount for the good guys and for what is going to be used for lol So mushroom compost isn't really mushrooms?

 

[swampman]

Has any of u experienced ...using Fresh Vermi compost tea as a base ..
I know alot of recipes are Powdered EWC ..but for a Vermicompost and fresh tea mad from rain ..
Today I was looking at it as I was watering some of the Plant out side and I could see micrscopic worms ...very small but could see them ..
Is tha baby WORMS maybe ...

I dunno It was in a Tomatoe container outside ..
I'm thinking i just innoculated ma 20 gal container with worms ...

 

[X]

I'm thinking i just innoculated ma 20 gal container with worms ...

I'd keep an eye on that until they get a big enough to be sure they are earth worms.

 

[DABaracuss]

Yea with rain water you need to filter good cuz of pest ..i learned the hard way..Might be bug larva mix some Dunks in and water, should kill them in 24hrs.

 

[X]

So mushroom compost isn't really mushrooms?

It is a by-product of the mushroom growers. After they use it, they sell it, because it still has an excellent microbe population and nutrients. The demand has been steadily increasing, so if demand exceeds supply, they'll be selling something similar instead of recycled mushroom compost, which may already be the case in some instances.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

So mushroom compost isn't really mushrooms?

It is actually known as Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) with the focus being on the word 'spent'. This is not to say it does not bring some good qualities to the table, but..........
Be aware of the origin of your SMS as most large commercial mushroom operations rely heavily on chemicals.

I have always run any SMS that I have used through my compost heap first.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Here is a link to gain some more insight on SMS.

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/veg...s/mushroom-substrate/spent-mushroom-substrate

 

[Iheartmj]

Based on my life experiences, I have learned that smart people do dumb stuff and, sometimes, dummies do smart stuff... If you figure that out, let me know... I don't even try.

One thing a dummy can do right, is recognize great results, and try to replicate those results by doing the same things... rather than trying to figure out some new, enlightened, different way...

I don't like to waste energy (physical or mental) and have a limited income, so making a mix that would produce stellar results (based on what I saw in DIRT's and L3K's results), that could be used over and over with very minor amending necessary, and relieve me of trying to figure out which nute regimen to use, or how much at a time, or even when to start them, seemed like the thing for me.

So, I started out simple. I started out with LEVER 3K's recipe which include the following ingredients:

Compost - (I used flushed, used OF)
Peat moss (or promix bx works fine) - (I used flushed, used OF)
Mexican bat guano - (grow shop or web)
Indoesian bat guano - (grow shop or web)
Jamacian bat quano (optional) - (grow shop or web)
Peruvian seabird quano - - (grow shop or web)
Kelp meal - (grow shop or web)
epsom salts - (drug store)
Earthworm castings - (almost any garden center)
Greensand (optional) - (sometimes sold in Garden Centers... always in grow shops, or the web)
Rock posphate (optional) - (grow shop or web)
Crushed oyster shells - (feed store - it's sold to mix with chicken feed)
dolomite lime (optional) - (almost any Garden Center... sold as garden lime to make hydrangeas purple)

I had a bunch of used OF that I flushed a couple times to use for compost and in place of the peat moss/Pro-Mix. The rest of the stuff runs about $100. Unfortunately, there is this initial investment, but I would have spent $40 for a couple bags of OF and at least another $10 minimum on misc stuff... per grow. Over a year later, I've gone through 3+ grows, and I'm still using the original amendments when I re-compost the mix.

I let the mix cook for about 45 days while I had another grow going and started using it on the next grow. Trust me, I was nervous. I was anxiously watching for pH issues, nute burn, all the stuff I had run into, from time to time, on my previous grows... but, nothing bad happened. Not only that, the herb was prettier and the buds were noticeably heavier. When harvest time arrived, I tasted tastes I hadn't been tasting, and this herb was not making me cough... hmmm... I thought that was one of the signs of potent herb... not necessarily, I found out.

I listed sources I used to get the listed amendments... On the web: kelp4less.com is an excellent source for just about any organic amendment you could desire, at very reasonable price points.

That's enough for now. We know the ingredients... next, we'll head to the kitchen.

Good info X, I'm going to try this because I am the epitome of a lazy dummy. I will prove the dummy part with this question. What do you mean by cook? I'm assuming you mean letting the mixture sit for 45-50 days? Should it be covered? I was going to keep it in a outside metal shed, it gets pretty hot in there, will that be a problem?

 

[X]

What do you mean by cook? I'm assuming you mean letting the mixture sit for 45-50 days?

Exactly.

Should it be covered?

If it's outside, cover it when it rains but otherwise, leave it uncovered.

I was going to keep it in a outside metal shed, it gets pretty hot in there, will that be a problem?

I did my first batch the same way. I would make sure you have some ventilation and don't wet it down... just moist. You should be good to go!

 

[Jim Dandy]

Like was said above mushroom compost isn't compost its the materials mushrooms were grown on. Along the lines of selling your used mj soil as marijuana compost. The product depends on the input and growing.

Using vermi compost run off . . I seen a grower on reefermans site before the sudden shut down use it all the time. But pest in the beds are also a worry so I don't know. It was an indoors (garage) worm farm who's juice was used on indoor plants. . . .