"bed" gardening

[sopappy]

Thanks to sage advice here (Jeff Lowenfell's books), I am going back to soil. I couldn't put them down. Gotta get a microscope ha! fascinating stuff

Now I have 4 useless 2x4 foot tubs, 2 about a foot deep and the other two, half that.
I'm thrilled that I can re-use the earth but I'm going overboard again and want to use the 2 larger tubs instead of pots. A no till thing, I'm thinking Jeff's web would take over the whole tub and I plant and remove plants as necessary.... even chopping males won't be so painful as the roots stay. maybe a mulch? still reading.
I'd have to cut more drainage holes (which hacks their hydro use but I doubt I could sell them)

I also thought I could use some hydroton along the bottom and perhaps a screen (landscape cloth?) then the soil. Seems too simple.

 

[pcduck]

Just drains, no hydroton at the bottom.

I did some what of a no-till in my pots. I would chainsaw my plant down, let sit till needed. Then pull the stump, replant and re-spike. I would do this about three times in the same pot before dumping the soil for later use.

 

[sopappy]

Just drains, no hydroton at the bottom.

I did some what of a no-till in my pots. I would chainsaw my plant down, let sit till needed. Then pull the stump, replant and re-spike. I would do this about three times in the same pot before dumping the soil for later use.

no hydroton :-( damn, I hate waste, I have totes full of it.
anybody wants some, pay the shipping and it's yours, it's beat up real good too, better than new

hey duck! I thought you gave up on me 'cause I wasn't listening.. Well, I am now and BORN AGAIN!
Thanks for the Jeff tip! (read 2 of 3)
BUT I'm stuck with these hydro tubs now.... here's the question... keeping in mind the no-till so as not to fu the web... I'm thinking with two 2x4 full tubs, I would never disturb it except to pull males or harvest. I don't plan on pulling the stump, just cutting off below grade and I'll just transplant right next to it.

What does "re-spike" mean? tea? myco?

I'm thinking that tub should be some sweet web after a few grows... but is it worth the effort?
4 separate cloth potted (3 gal) plants vs 4 in to one full tray (est. 24 gal)... double the earth, bigger web, way less soil disturbance than fabric pots.

or am I just trying to use the tubs?
(I hate waste)

 

[pcduck]

Re-spike is when I make about a 1/2" hole from top to almost to the bottom in the soil. Then fill with an organic mixture, one is a bloom mix and 1 is a veg mix. "The Rev" explains it quite well in a book called "True Living Organics"(TLO). I do something very similar .

 

[sopappy]

hahahaha, I can't get a BOOK on Amazon.ca
isn't that how Amazon started? ******* joke of a country...
I can get original but not the 2nd edition.

 

[St_Nick]

Essentially what he means, (I think, ) is even a 2 x 4 bed has to be amended after each grow. I tend to grow like that now, although I remove the stalk and root mass after each harvest . Just the core, not all the roots.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Sopappy, it is not Canada. Don't know how to do a screenshot, but "True Living Organics 2nd Edition" is not available for purchase on Kindle in the US either.

 

[sopappy]

Sopappy, it is not Canada. Don't know how to do a screenshot, but "True Living Organics 2nd Edition" is not available for purchase on Kindle in the US either.

I over-reacted. My apologies, I'm getting so ticked with procurement that I have no patience left, not good for growing. I'm always in rant mode trying to find stuff, I can't find compost for pete's sake, everything has **** in it.

 

[sopappy]

Essentially what he means, (I think, ) is even a 2 x 4 bed has to be amended after each grow. I tend to grow like that now, although I remove the stalk and root mass after each harvest . Just the core, not all the roots.

You'd do that making room for the new plants roots anyways, and you're not disturbing the web much. That's another reason to like that spike idea, I wonder if there's a tool for that
But I haven't given up on the tubs, I can see top dressing for that with the extra area, still fuzzy on nutrition, best spring for that book.

 

[sopappy]

Here's the gang, big ones I'm thinking of putting in the tubs, 4 each. Medium ones are struggling but I think they're coming around. Only 4 of 8 came up in the dirt which is discouraging. I got all 8 of 8, the last crop and the crop before so back to the plugs and hydroton for the seeds next batch.

Still toying with the tubs, nice pattern under the 4 x 4 light but two tubs makes for the barrier right in the middle but I like all the extra room for roots and web world. The only negative I'm seeing is plant height dictated by the tallest plant.

 

[sopappy]

I'm having a tough time coming up with a soil mixture.
If you look at the oldest 8 up there, they are sitting in Lambert all purpose organic that has been microbed (probably with dead microbes) and watered with tbl per gal molasses ONCE. They don't look hungry to me at all.

The other crop in plastic pots have (the simplest) soil recipe I could find, DutchMasterZ's method:
6 gallons promix BX.... using all purpose organic Lambert)
4 gallons wormcasts
1-cup bonemeal
1/2cup bloodmeal
and a bunch more perlite
They seem much more sluggish compared to the bigger ones on only molasses.
I tried the baby oatmeal, heat pad, santa beard test and nothing so my Lambert is missing, sokay, i'll use it in backyard.

Anybody still reading... i'm sick to death of these youtube videos showing folks making soil with amendment after ammen..after ammmend... I LOST COUNT with one guy before I left. Bag after bag after bag after sprinkle after sprinkle...

That's absurd, does anybody have a simple recipe for stuff you can actually source in this godforsaken country I use to fondly refer to as the Great White North.

Just call us North. angry but privileged white Man over and out.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

What do you want your soil to do? If you are wanting a super soil that is going to feed the plants, it will, out of necessity be fairly complex with a lot of ingredients. You need some ingredients that release nutrients fast, some that release them slowly. I am still a novice at organics, so let books like the "Teaming With" books and True Living Organics guide me. If you want something simple, the Soil Mix thread has some real simple recipes--you don't necessarily have to go with the one with 17 products/amendments unless you want your soil to do all your feeding for you.

This is the recipe I generally use: https://www.marijuanapassion.com/threads/nouvellechefs-super-soil-faq.72551/

 

[sopappy]

I could make my own easily enough if I could find yard waste compost without manure in it. Everything I’ve found has some manner of crap in it, horse, cow, chicken. I had no compost for my tea recipe. I was hoping the all purpose mixture might cut it but nope, fails the santa’s beard test in the first Microbes book

The idea is to start the fungi in the compost before dumping it in the tea. To me, that would prove my “earth” was good enough. I use that mixture described up there and no beard, no life. So that gets me on the quest for compost (worm castings aren’t enough) or I try it all again with the Pro Mix instead of the Lambert all purpose.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I really don't worry about using manure in my compost and soil mixtures. Most of the recipes in TLO (which I use a lot) contain manures. I add the chicken poo and wood chips from coop cleaning to my compost pile. I use steer manure in my soil mixtures and when my daughter kept rabbits, I used that, too. I never use any manure from any meat eating creatures, but feel quite comfortable using manure from horses, chickens, cows, rabbits.

What do you mean that worm castings are "not enough"? Not enough what?

 

[sopappy]

meat eating creatures, ahah, that is helpful. Maybe I'm making too much of a fuss about this and cow manure seems common.... meat eating cows, god help us all, they travel in herds!
Thanks, another hurdle jumped, I bet with the compost mixed in, I'll get that beard.

Soil mixes call for compost, a test for good compost (to me) is that beard. I figured it meaningful I couldn't grow one on my mix (of org all purp, castings, but no compost)

 

[sopappy]

good ol' canadian tire... considering I'm re-using the soil, I don't mind spending more to save on the complication of some of these mixes.
How about equal parts of any or all 3 of these with peat moss, perlite, small amounts of bone/bloodmeal?
all 17 elements there?

 

[St_Nick]

By the way. No matter where ya live (unless you live in a desert) there should be some sort of a feed/hardware store around. They can give you a handle on where to get manure or guano for fertilizer. My wife and I used to raise Holland lop bunnies and sold the crap through the local tractor supply. Awesome fertilizer and its amazing how much crap they generate! If you wanna be self-sufficient just buy yer kid a pet rabbit. Problem solved.

 

[sopappy]

By the way. No matter where ya live (unless you live in a desert) there should be some sort of a feed/hardware store around. They can give you a handle on where to get manure or guano for fertilizer. My wife and I used to raise Holland lop bunnies and sold the crap through the local tractor supply. Awesome fertilizer and its amazing how much crap they generate! If you wanna be self-sufficient just buy yer kid a pet rabbit. Problem solved.

all manner of manure compost available, I wanted just lawn and garden waste compost, not ****. But I'm hearing if the animal doesn't eat meat, it's alright. I still think there's crap in ****.

 

[pcduck]

@sopappy

The only thing to watch with manure, besides no meat eaters, is if the animal is getting certain shots or dewormed and/or ect.

If you don't want to use manure's that's your perogative. They are just a real easy source for Nitrogen and others elements that are needed.
You can do a compost with just lawn and garden waste, but it would be missing some key ingredients. If you have weeds on your property you could cross-reference these to find what kind of soil they thrive in and most likely whatever that is, will be abundant in the weed and when composted will add this to it. Example bananas - potassium, egg shells - calcium, I believe Canadian Thistle is magnesium.
When composting weeds you need to maintain a higher temp to kill the weed seeds.

Edit: research holistic gardening

 

[sopappy]

@sopappy

The only thing to watch with manure, besides no meat eaters, is if the animal is getting certain shots or dewormed and/or ect.

If you don't want to use manure's that's your perogative. They are just a real easy source for Nitrogen and others elements that are needed.
You can do a compost with just lawn and garden waste, but it would be missing some key ingredients. If you have weeds on your property you could cross-reference these to find what kind of soil they thrive in and most likely whatever that is, will be abundant in the weed and when composted will add this to it. Example bananas - potassium, egg shells - calcium, I believe Canadian Thistle is magnesium.
When composting weeds you need to maintain a higher temp to kill the weed seeds.

Edit: research holistic gardening

That is a neat trick with the weeds. I won't get away with composting here, I only have a bullpen back there.
I may settle for less, I'm quite stunned by how well they are doing just in peatmoss, molasses and failed teas.

I'm not comfortable at all with any **** in the compost but there's nothing else out there. I'm stymied again. Bears shit in the woods and the trees are doing alright. i'll console myself with that.