here's another crazy hillbilly brainstorm...algae jugs. I'd originally had the idea years ago of using algae(cyanobacteria) water on the plants...I had heard so much about how runoff from agriculture is causing massive algae blooms, and figured that since algae is great fertilizer itself.... so today I filled 28 1 gal.water jugs(clear plastic) with water, and a splash of b.d. compost mud mixed with azomite, and e.j.grow(nitrogen). I'll let it go green like a neglected swimmin' pool,and water the plants once a week or so, depending on how fast it grows...some of my older jugs are alredy green from straight water, so the algae's in there....we'll see how it goes.

Interesting. random thoughs; I would think that the stuff you're growing algae in might make a tea that would be nutrient rich. If you're pouring algae onto your soil, I imagine it would compete with your plants for nutrients and CO2. That is until it died, unless you over-water enough to kept it going. Like having moss on top of the soil, it would just suck up nutrients, not providing much benefit. I can't see where that would do any good.

Pouring dead algae onto your plants would probably be good, but you're pouring plant matter that has processed that nutrient rich tea to grow itself, consuming a lot of the nutrient to grow the plant matter including cellulose which isn't very easy to break back down into nutrient. My guess is you could do better using a kelp based fert, which is already been broken down to a degree. Algae is nothing more than a small single cell or multicellular plant that lives in water. If i tried it, I think i'd kill off the algae by boiling, then bubbling air through the solution for a day or two to let it degrade for a while. I could also see it rich in some beneficial chemicals/hormones that would promote/help aid photosynthesis. Sort of like pre-chewed nutrient for your ganj. Might do something good if the algae you use is right. I would think that single cell algae, or small fine algae like you probably have in your jugs, would be better than the fiberious matted type that you'd collect from a pond. Too much cellose development in that stuff. You probably want a higher ratio of green goodness from the inside of the cell. Bubbling air in your jugs will help grow the stuff faster and just like a hydro grow, you should make sure there's enough nutrient. Maybe go with a more rounded version of what you're using.

People have done weirder things and gotten surprising results. I wish you luck and hope you find something to accelerate our hobby.

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yeah... I'll try almost anything once if I think it might help...I wish we had a bass pond(except for the mosquitos, of which there are about 5 or six all summer!)...I'd have crappie guts and seaweed for my compost pile! there's kelp down at the ocean, but it'd take a hell of a lot of water to wash out the salt. if I'm not mistaken, dried algae comes back to life in water...is that why you'd cook it?...I have noticed where I dump the varmint water buckets(slime green), the plants love it.

yeah...I think I'm gonna let some get fully slimed, and feed the compost pile with it.I have a feeling it probably adds a lot of ready nitrogen...maybe better than clover. anyway; we'll see how it goes.

Yeah,.. keep us posted. One thing though,.. watch out for harmful bacteria in those jugs, since the water is probably stagnant. Once the algae gets going and keeps the water oxygenated, you probably won't have a problem. But if the water starts to get rancid, add some peroxide. Algae can stand a lot more than bacteria can. Trust me, i've tried to kill it with peroxide, and it doesn't work so well. You have to use a lot and keep the concentration high for week or more before the algae has issues.

You might also want to sprinkle a pinch of rock phosphate in the jugs,... that's what causes the blooms. Phosphate runoff.

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I put azomite in it...algae needs co2 to live.. right? I'm thinkin' maybe some soda water splashed in might not hurt...I'll experiment with a couple jugs...I was also thinkin' it might be good to infect the jugs with some health food store stuff; like spirulina, or dried algae supplements....who knows how viable those would be. I just see it as being ultra- 'green manure' as the old farmers call it. this'll be a long slow thread until I actually have full on swamp water...if it doesn't work well on the plants, I'm sure it'll be dynamite cooked in the compost pile.

The runoff from agriculture that causes those algae blooms you spoke of has a lot more phosphorus than you're azomite will add, unless you put too much in the jugs. You can grow algae well in 50 ppm of phosphoric acid. If you don't have rock phosphate handy, try any nutrient that is high in phosphorus and add a smidge.

I like the soda water idea. If you have an aquarium air pump handy, you may try that in a jug. Bubbling air and with enough phosphorus you could probably get a pound out of a jug. You're right, they need as much CO2 as they can get. The water will exchange enough with the air to grow quite a bit of algae, but you can get more if you can supplement it.

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RB26DETT
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yeah...a fish tank!...anyone whose ever run a fish tank knows how easy it is to grow your own swamp!

I always have algae growing in my aquarium as well as my turtle tank
Algae is pretty much the easiest thing to grow, any kind of aeration will help greatly, and of course tons of sunlight
Also, put as many flat surfaced rocks and such as possible in the jugs, the more surface area you have in there the more algae you will grow

Edit: Ive also noticed that algae seem to enjoy SPT quite a bit, Ive been using it with my bamboo, along with airstones in the water, and I have to clean the algae off the glass daily

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actually you can grow buds in an aquarium. i have a friend who has net pots hanging to just touch the surface of the water in his fish tank. the practice has been used for years in asia. the fish waste in the water fertilizes the buds like crazy and the buds remove the waste and filter the water.

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