Layer and spikes.

It was layer and spikes day. I amended my 6 gallon planters. Dumped the soil into a tote and broke up the root ball then put it in my worm bin. Removed 3 gallons of the soil.
Then I added:
1 gallon fresh compost
1 gallon perlite
2 tbsp Gaia alfalfa meal 3-0-3
2 tbsp Gaia kelp meal 1-0-3
2 tbsp gypsum
2 tbsp Gaia power bloom 2-8-4
2 tbsp Gaia neem meal 4-3-2
2 tbsp Gaia 4-4-4
Added some water and mixed it up.

Layer and spike mix is:
1 1/2 gallons fresh compost
1 gallon fresh ewc
1 1/2 gallons perlite
1 gallon composted steer manure
2 tbsp Gaia power bloom 2-8-4
2 tbsp Natura fishbone meal 6-12-0
2 tbsp Gaia kelp meal 1-0-3
1 tbsp gypsum
Added some water and mixed it up.

Then I put a 3” layer of the L&S mix into the bottom of the 6 gallon planter. Filled it up and made 6 spike holes using my garden trowel handle. Filled those up with the L&S mix. Then I put the monster cropped Jacks into their new homes and gave them a good water.

kkt3 said:

It was layer and spikes day. I amended my 6 gallon planters. Dumped the soil into a tote and broke up the root ball then put it in my worm bin. Removed 3 gallons of the soil.
Then I added:
1 gallon fresh compost
1 gallon perlite
2 tbsp Gaia alfalfa meal 3-0-3
2 tbsp Gaia kelp meal 1-0-3
2 tbsp gypsum
2 tbsp Gaia power bloom 2-8-4
2 tbsp Gaia neem meal 4-3-2
2 tbsp Gaia 4-4-4
Added some water and mixed it up.

Layer and spike mix is:
1 1/2 gallons fresh compost
1 gallon fresh ewc
1 1/2 gallons perlite
1 gallon composted steer manure
2 tbsp Gaia power bloom 2-8-4
2 tbsp Natura fishbone meal 6-12-0
2 tbsp Gaia kelp meal 1-0-3
1 tbsp gypsum
Added some water and mixed it up.

Then I put a 3” layer of the L&S mix into the bottom of the 6 gallon planter. Filled it up and made 6 spike holes using my garden trowel handle. Filled those up with the L&S mix. Then I put the monster cropped Jacks into their new homes and gave them a good water.


View attachment 4480518View attachment 4480519View attachment 4480520

Click to expand...

HI!
Is this two different mixes? One with steer manure and the other without?

Yes the mix with the steer manure was used in the layer and spikes.

Nice worm you got there! I'm not much of a fan of spikes and layers but I don't use such small pots. Did you find it is required to make it through flowering?

Yes I have a lot of worms in my planters. What size do you grow with? Are you growing in a tent?
No, they do fine. The girls really do like the extra nutrient boost.

kkt3 said:

Yes the mix with the steer manure was used in the layer and spikes.

Click to expand...

Cool!
I have been upping the compost in my mix and trying steer manure recently.
I am thinking the steer manure that I get has a nasty salt level and when I used it the runoff would be a dark yellow or orange color.
I actually put some steer manure in a pot to test it and the original run off was off the charts the meter could not read it.
I brought this up recently to @Richard Drysift and @Go go n chill who did not have the dark runoff I get.
I am curious if they use steer or cow manure in their mix.
I would be interested in your run off.
Are they different colors and different E/C or ppms.
I suspect the steer manure pot will be darker and higher ppms than the other pot from what I have experienced.
Happy Growing!

kkt3 said:

Yes I have a lot of worms in my planters. What size do you grow with? Are you growing in a tent?
No, they do fine. The girls really do like the extra nutrient boost.

Click to expand...

I used to grow in 35 gallon soil beds. Now I have a single 150 gallon soil bed that fits tight in a 4x4 tent.

I absolutely love worms in my pots. My favorite hobby is sneaking into the tent before lights on and watching the nightcrawlers when the lights hit, straight back into the burrows they go. Do you just have a healthy population of redworms? Nightcrawers create natural spikes in your pots so it may be worth giving them a try.

Have you found any advantage of spikes over topdressing?

Kushash said:

Cool!
I have been upping the compost in my mix and trying steer manure recently.
I am thinking the steer manure that I get has a nasty salt level and when I used it the runoff would be a dark yellow or orange color.
I actually put some steer manure in a pot to test it and the original run off was off the charts the meter could not read it.
I brought this up recently to @Richard Drysift and @Go go n chill who did not have the dark runoff I get.
I am curious if they use steer or cow manure in their mix.
I would be interested in your run off.
Are they different colors and different E/C or ppms.
I suspect the steer manure pot will be darker and higher ppms than the other pot from what I have experienced.
Happy Growing!

Click to expand...

I haven’t checked my ph since I went organic. Being organic helps to naturally buffer the ph.
When I water, it’s until I get a bit showing up in the trays then I stop. A few minutes later all the water from the trays goes back up into the soil. So I can’t answer the question about colour or the run off.

4ftRoots said:

I used to grow in 35 gallon soil beds. Now I have a single 150 gallon soil bed that fits tight in a 4x4 tent.

I absolutely love worms in my pots. My favorite hobby is sneaking into the tent before lights on and watching the nightcrawlers when the lights hit, straight back into the burrows they go. Do you just have a healthy population of redworms? Nightcrawers create natural spikes in your pots so it may be worth giving them a try.

Have you found any advantage of spikes over topdressing?

Click to expand...

WOW that’s a huge bed. You must fill your tent right up to the ceiling!!
Yes I have an abundance of worms in my bins. They all started from my compost outside.
I use both layers and spikes, and I topdress my girls at 2 and 4 weeks of flower with a 3/4” layer of fresh ewc. They love it!!

You know what the ladies say... Bigger is always better

Yes I did a couple 200 gallon organic soil beds last year and grew a Maui Waui in one and RHB in the other. Ended up with 3+ pounds from each plant. There’s pics on here somewhere.