Adding worm casting post supersoil composting. Is it okay?

DabberDan

DabberDan

Member
I'm new to growing and I was wondering, is there any drawback's to adding in a fertilizer like worm castings into an organic medium after it has all been composting before hand? I'm going to be composting a simplified version of subcool's recipe of supersoil but I wont be receiving my worm castings bag for another 2 weeks. I'm impatient and I want to begin the composting sooner then later so again, is there any reason not to compost first and add worm castings later?
 
st0wandgrow

st0wandgrow

Well-Known Member
DabberDan said:
I'm new to growing and I was wondering, is there any drawback's to adding in a fertilizer like worm castings into an organic medium after it has all been composting before hand? I'm going to be composting a simplified version of subcool's recipe of supersoil but I wont be receiving my worm castings bag for another 2 weeks. I'm impatient and I want to begin the composting sooner then later so again, is there any reason not to compost first and add worm castings later?
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Composting can only happen via microbes. The vast majority of the microbes you're reliant on will come on board the worm poop. What you're proposing wont necessarily hurt, but it's largely a waste of time IMO
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
DabberDan said:
I'm new to growing and I was wondering, is there any drawback's to adding in a fertilizer like worm castings into an organic medium after it has all been composting before hand? I'm going to be composting a simplified version of subcool's recipe of supersoil but I wont be receiving my worm castings bag for another 2 weeks. I'm impatient and I want to begin the composting sooner then later so again, is there any reason not to compost first and add worm castings later?
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if you were to do it that way you'd need more of a thermo-compost, and that's a long procedure, not to mention you'd need a good amount of "greens" to get the heat from anyways.
If you have access to any compost, or any leaf pile for that matter, the older the better, and the blacker the better, you'll have a good amount of microbial activity in that, so i'd go look for some old leaf piles or maybe forest soil.
Ideally, you want your aged soil to be complete, before aging, I like to age my soil in my smartpots with clover growing as a cover. Get a step up on the soil-web production, before even introducing any cannabis.
That's the advantage of re-using your soil, it's always ready, and more often than not, it's better the second, third and fourth time around.
 
DabberDan

DabberDan

Member
Greasemon
greasemonkeymann said:
if you were to do it that way you'd need more of a thermo-compost, and that's a long procedure, not to mention you'd need a good amount of "greens" to get the heat from anyways.
If you have access to any compost, or any leaf pile for that matter, the older the better, and the blacker the better, you'll have a good amount of microbial activity in that, so i'd go look for some old leaf piles or maybe forest soil.
Ideally, you want your aged soil to be complete, before aging, I like to age my soil in my smartpots with clover growing as a cover. Get a step up on the soil-web production, before even introducing any cannabis.
That's the advantage of re-using your soil, it's always ready, and more often than not, it's better the second, third and fourth time around.
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So are you saying that using old dried leaves could serve as a buffer for microbes until the worm castings can be added? or do you side with st0wandgrow saying that it's more of waste of time to begin without it? Thanks for your reply by the way Greasemonkey!
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
DabberDan said:
Greasemon

So are you saying that using old dried leaves could serve as a buffer for microbes until the worm castings can be added? or do you side with st0wandgrow saying that it's more of waste of time to begin without it? Thanks for your reply by the way Greasemonkey!
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well, yes and no,it's not a buffer, it's a source of microbes. And composted leaves need to be VERY composted in order to sub for worm castings, like the leaves need to be black and unidentifiable, if you are still seeing leaf material, it'll rob your soil when it finishes composting (may not be bad if your soil is rich in nutrients)
But, short answer is yes, a quality leaf compost can have tons of microbes in there.
I use a 50/50 mix of homemade worm castings and compost for my 33%
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
DabberDan said:
And I have been entertaining the idea of reusing the compost in a ROLS system
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if you are planning on a ROLS, it's crucial to get the good stuff to start.
I LOVE rice hulls, and vermiculite, but for a ROLS they won't last long, so I prefer biochar, pumice, volcanic rock in that regard.
also would want greensand for at least a third of your minerals.
slow release nutes, crab meal, neem meal, kelp meal, etc
 
DabberDan

DabberDan

Member
greasemonkeymann said:
if you are planning on a ROLS, it's crucial to get the good stuff to start.
I LOVE rice hulls, and vermiculite, but for a ROLS they won't last long, so I prefer biochar, pumice, volcanic rock in that regard.
also would want greensand for at least a third of your minerals.
slow release nutes, crab meal, neem meal, kelp meal, etc
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This is my mix i calculated the other day for about 14lbs of supersoil, lightly based off of subcool's mix as well as some other sources I've been reading from(High Times, RollItUp, GrowWeedEasy). I'm planning on giving the clones 1 week to take root and 1 week to veg then straight into blooming so I can perpetually harvest every 3 - 4 weeks, I feel that focusing on the bloom fertilizers might be beneficial on account that that plant won't be in veg long(that's why I got the bat guano not high in nitrogen). Heres a list of my ingredients and what i have now and what is on the way:
  • 2 bags Kellogg's(11.7 lbs)

  • .75 Bag Worm Casting(5.5 lbs) [incoming]

  • ¾ Bag Bone Meal(2 lbs)

  • ¼ cup dolomite lime

  • 1.6 lbs blood meal

  • 1.3 lbs SeaBat Guano [incoming]

  • ¼ Epsom Salt [incoming]

  • ¼ cup Azomite [incoming]

  • 1/4th part Pearlite
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
DabberDan said:
This is my mix i calculated the other day for about 14lbs of supersoil, lightly based off of subcool's mix as well as some other sources I've been reading from(High Times, RollItUp, GrowWeedEasy). I'm planning on giving the clones 1 week to take root and 1 week to veg then straight into blooming so I can perpetually harvest every 3 - 4 weeks, I feel that focusing on the bloom fertilizers might be beneficial on account that that plant won't be in veg long(that's why I got the bat guano not high in nitrogen). Heres a list of my ingredients and what i have now and what is on the way:
  • 2 bags Kellogg's(11.7 lbs)

  • .75 Bag Worm Casting(5.5 lbs) [incoming]

  • ¾ Bag Bone Meal(2 lbs)

  • ¼ cup dolomite lime

  • 1.6 lbs blood meal

  • 1.3 lbs SeaBat Guano [incoming]

  • ¼ Epsom Salt [incoming]

  • ¼ cup Azomite [incoming]

  • 1/4th part Pearlite
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well, i'd change some stuff for that recipe, but that's just me. You'll need MUCH more minerals, 1/4 cup is not enough, hardly enough for one container, let alone a mix. Add greensand, oyster meal, more azomite, basalt, etc.
I'd leave the blood meal, bone meal, and the guano out. Sub in neem meal, kelp meal, crab meal instead.
That's a lot of water soluble nutrients.
you need some compost in there or worm castings, but we've discussed that.
If you are re-using the soil, ditch the perlite for either pumice or volcanic rock.
You may have an issue with fungus gnats in that recipe, maybe get some mosquito dunks in there if you aren't going to use neem and crab meal
----remember this is what I would do, doesn't mean it's the only way-----
 
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