Stubborn Compost Pile :-(

Bubbles in my tea


Went out this morning, added 2 more cups of bone meal (EDIT for clarity's purpose: added the the bone meal to my compost tumbler, not to the tea) as Ernst recommended.


I checked on the brewing tea and noticed there are white bubbles at the top of it. For a second I worried that the store had put some kinda soap product in the bucket, but I had rinsed it lightly before I put my tea to brew in it. They're very bubbly, kindly like a bubble bath or something. But they don't smell like soap, and they lack the obvious visible oils in the surface of the bubbles like soap. It smells like, well, alfalfa and kelp. The water is still a murky brown.


Are these bubbles normal, or do I need to throw this tea out and start over?

 

I really recommend the green sand at this point. But I am not demanding just wanting this to turn out cool for us both


I didn't know you are making Tea.. I a proper Tea is something I am yet to learn :alienwink: I will watch your efforts.. Glad to be of help. I'd love to know how the temps go so I can determine nitrogen levels.

 

Lets talk soil. I can post grow picks for weeks.


That soil would be year three. The Golden year of soil usage.


You see how the plants are squat? I have little problem with hitting seedlings with 1k hps at 3.5 feet above soil surface.


I composted my base mix and then grew. Used Fish emulsion and was rather green at both the soil and the growing.


So I recommend composting the soil with new materials for the first three years once a year after each grow and toss in all the plant matter just chop up the roots and stems small and recycle. After all those materials contain the nutrients we paid for.


Okay.. Yeah.. I am the willing fool for sure.. Politics is my current whoredom Check out rollitup politics forum to get a peak at my latest insanity.


I'll be around for you.. Email me here or there.. My own site is california2012.org but it's a ghost town. I have other domains but it's not time for them yet.


I have 12 years in on cannabis growing and medical use so I hope I can return the favors.

 

Regarding Organic Soil I'm Using


Alright Ernst maybe you can help me with this one. I'm currently using what was my first attempt at an organic soil for 4-5 bubblicious plants I'm growing. I actually modeled it after your post on how to make your own soil. In that post you recommended 60% compost and 40% peat, for the soil structure. However, at that point I didn't realize that all compost wasn't created equal, and I bought the cheap $1.50 / bag compost at Walmart.


It was extremely heavy compost, and I ended up mixing 1 bag (50 lbs, about 1-1.5 cubic feet I think) with about 2 cubic feet of peat moss. I then added 1-1.5 cubic feet of course perlite. I also tossed in a small amount of worm castings (maybe a few cups).


I think I got the soil fertility part of the recipe right, because I transplanted my bubblicious into this soil and they're doing great. My only concern is, when I first transplanted and watered them in the soil was ridiculously heavy, and held a lot of water (compared to Fox Farms Ocean Forest). My plants didn't seem to mind and did well.


Where I ran into trouble was yesterday when I went to water them, and water in some myc inoculant I bought. The soil was very hard and crusty, and in 4 out of 5 of the pots the soil had begun peeling away from the sides. When I started water, it just ran down the sides and out the pots. I had to put several gallons of water in each pot to get the water to soak in. A few of the plants noticeably wilted a touch (at least I don't think they were wilted til I watered, but hadn't really paid attention at first), but not too severely.


What I'm wondering is, what caused this watering issue? The crustiness, peeling, and resistance to soaking in water of this soil reminds me of Fox Farms Light Warrior, which from what I understand is nearly 100% peat moss. So that would lead me to guess I used too much peat moss. How heavy the soil is, and how much water it holds (once thoroughly soaked) would lead me to believe I have too much compost in there lol. So which is it?


What should I do to avoid this problem with future soils? I want it to be light and fluffy, easily absorb water, and drain quickly of course. Throw me a bone here people!

 

Well Res you've never led me astray so far so I'd love to give your soil structure recipe a shot. But to which "couple" do you refer? The only soil recipe of yours I know of is at http://www.growkind.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41271&highlight=easy+organic+soil Should I try promix as well, or is there a mix you use that I'm missing?

 

Gosh ResinRubber.. How do I live up to the hype.


The peat is a brown. Has some acidic issues and in the terms of long term carbon it is better to be a fibre than a soil in my opinion.


Now the way I see organic soil is not that it is good for a grow but that it is going to decay and make room for more materials.


Now If you have a shrunken medium you have two choices and I think I will just skip that and suggest that top dressing into the free room and then set the container in some water so that the peat can wick up the water.


Now I mix rice flour and fresh coffee with other things but the idea is to feed a feast of green and brown.. So rice flour and alfalfa would be a green a brown and with that you can add whatever you think you want..


I like dehydrated coconut meat to mix in since it's a sugar and smells great.


You are going to get into your own ideas and I can tell you to sue this or that but there are fish meals, Shrimp shell is also an excellent thing and always fresh compost.


Stuff like that. I am a big fan of kelp meal fresh stuff not the stuff at Home de Pot or similar..


So i would just fill in the space around the shrunken medium with a blend of microbe food and then set that container in a pot of water and let it wick.


The medium will shrink as water evaporates.


Now that I covered that let me get a little more scientific. There is an effect called soil structure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_structure. What the key issue is, is that calcium causes soil to clump and sodium causes soil to be loose.


Not that this is the same as peat moss shrinking because of water evaporation but this is how soil sticks together.


I use crushed oyster shell for my calcium but your dolomite has it too.


Anyway the crusty top is part this and part the effects of microbes. Top crust is a good sign in my opinion when it's a not a seedling. When I top dress I wet the soil and then apply the dry mix. Often the crust occurs within 12 hours as the microbes go to town on the easy carbons and nitrogen.


So from what I read simply fill in the gaps with new microbe food and then wick up water to get the microbes active eating it. Soon the peat will be ate and so on.


More information than a simple answer and not exactly well structured but wander on over to Wikipedia and follow the White Rabbit.


You will pick up visual cues and be ahead of the game in no time.


Do you have a coffee bean grinder or a good blender you can sacrifice? If so you can grind up some of these materials and the finer the materials the more surface area for microbes to get at and the faster the nutrients and materials get processed and the easier the plant can grow in my opinion.


In my opinion decomposition is happening all the time especially :mashed: to my body

 

Alright Ernst I know you said you don't do compost teas, but I'm a little stumped here so I'll throw it out there.


I've had four blueberries that I've been growing since Feb to use as mothers to get cuttings for summer outdoor season. I've had nothing but a cornucopia of problems with them thus far. Recently they started yellowing out down at the lower leaves, and up through the middle a bit. Looked to me like classic case of needing nitrogen.


So I brewed up the above mentioned compost tea and fed to them. That was over a week ago I think, but they don't look any better. Does it take a long time before something like brewed alfalfa and worm castings kick in?


I can't figure out what's wrong and I'm about to give up on these bastards.


EDIT (forgot to mention)


Oh yeah, and my compost tumbler has cooled off. It doesn't smell like mold anymore, but it also doesn't look finished. It's a dark black and has good soil aggregate structure, but there are still a lotta clumps of materials that haven't broken down yet. It felt dry the other day so I added some water and go it good and moist, and tumbled. Still cold.


In the first place it took a few days for me to get it going, so maybe I just need to hold my horses. I wouldn't think all the browns are gone because, again, there are still clumps. I don't wanna go throwing in random materials for fear I do something wrong.


Do the clumps indicate that there is still plenty available brown in there? It would seem to me that I've put in plenty of nitrogen, what with all the meals I've tossed in.


Dunno, but sure open to suggestions.

 

BlueBerry is a Sativa dominate strain? Never had them.


My experience with Sativa is they grow better when I am not watching them.


I find Sativas to be different growers than the indica strains I have experienced.


So far I question the need for Tea in active soils. Some have said that and abundance of microbes is better because of the diversity but the science is not clear to me.


So what I figure is liquid nutrients can penetrate into soils.


I wrote that each of us has our own ways? I have mine and it's related to my experiences as an organic soil guy. That is the source of my advice.


Generally organic soil is hard to mess up and from what I have read you haven't messed up anything.


With your compost mix. If you think it has finished or fizzled I wouldn't worry about it. The main thing is you gained experienced and you learned new things so your next try at it is going to start with experience.


Without pictures I am blind really but I would suggest a 1/4 inch hardware cloth screen and screen what you have and be ready to make mixes with it and test it on some plant.


I have a pepper plant that is supposed to live two years in a container actually making it's fifth effort to put on some green and grow another season of hot peppers.


It was my test plant for early mixes of fish emulsion an hot coffee plus molasses and honey at times.


I'd be happy to look at your compost.. It is not a contest and even if it fizzled there is still long term use and recycling to get the most out of your investment.


I just reread your post and it sounds like you are a bit stressed. If you can I'll look at the plants and soil.


I'd need to understand some of the basics of your garden and more than likely you will benefit from the advice of others as well.


I'm really weak on diagnosing plant problems because, truthfully, I never have problems.


Preventative measures are the best cure and I feel the soil is the place to start.


On that screen, Are you handy with wood and tools? Gardeners have been making and using screens a long time.


I have an 1/8th inch, a 1/4 inch and an 1/2 inch and I use all three from time to time.