Getting into organics

Hey guys n gals, Ive been thinking about trying organics but havent been able to find/make sence of any decent information. Im thinking about starting this springs (next month here in NZ) patio vegie crops organically, then moving onto my dope. Where should I start? Im pretty strapped for cash and my city lacks any big brand nutes.

Sounds like you are going to want to start making some soil now for the future. I personally believe that good organics starts with good healthy soil. Being in NZ and being ready to plant next month is a bit of a problem as it takes months to really get your compost ready and healthy for plants. I just Googled composting and there are thousands of articles there that will help you get started and many many ways that you can do this cheaply. I make all my soil this, refuse to pay for anything, and raise very nice plants from medicine and for all my veggies. I have been doing this since Grandpa would drag me around the farm teaching. You don't need much space, you don't need to buy things once you read up on composting and you start thinking of other ways to do these things a whole new world will open up.
Here is on link for organic teas started by Ohsogreen, it is very long but worth reading from beginning to end
https://www.rollitup.org/organics/93913-making-tea-ez-cheap.html
I would be happy to help you any way possible, more reading materials, suggestions whatever you need. Welcome to the world of organics, been growing this way close to 45 years now. Best of Luck and Happy Growing

Buy the best garden soil you can, get some coco fiber, composted sheep shit, the stuff you buy at the garden store not fresh off the field or pile stuff. That's called a hot fertilizer and will burn your plants. Bone meal and blood meal and a sea compost.

Mix 50% soil + 25% coco + 10% sheep + 10% sea, the rest as directed on the bag or box.

If you can find worm castings cut soil to 30% and 20% castings.

Mix and use just water or tea as needed.

I use tea as crack for my plants they love it. I make the tea out of the same stuff in the mix, sheep, sea, worm and molasses, always molasses. (use at a rate of 15 ml per ltr. Mix with warm water to dissolve then pour in. No HOT water.

Peace

plus rep for both of ya's! luckily worm castings seem relatively cheap here. How can I tell what a good soil mix consists of? Also any good tips on making tea? I cant find molasses in any of the hydro stores here, is it likely to be at gardening stores?

get molasses at the grocery store or an organic food shop. Worm castings are worth there weight in gold.

For tea I use 1 1/2 cups of worm, sheep, sea and add molasses (1tablespoon per gallon) put it in a nylon and hang in the water so the bubbles agitate the hanging mix. The key is to have air while brewing, so add a aquarium air pump and stone let the bubbling water agitates the hanging bag. This makes 45 gallons. If your need only a pail full use about 1/4 cup. Lots of instructions in the forum, make sure you use air or it won't really work.

Peace

read this thread, make supersoil
https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/338384-2010-revised-super-soil-recipe.html

Im not interested in the super soil recipe, way too much soil there for me. So how often would you feed you plants tea can i use it every time or should i wait a few weeks then start? how long do the original nutrients stay in the soil? can the soil be reused? and would i need to change tea recipies come flower/fruiting? OOOH! what about root stimulants? and last but not least, how would i add sillica and michrozzori (terrible spelling!!!)

If i make the shift from chem to organic, want want to know i cant still use my same overal technique sorta thing, and if not i need to know how ill adjust it
Cheers guys,
Already learning heaps!

Making the switch to organics from chem ferts is really pretty easy, but you are starting from scratch basically with the soil. The chems are harmful to the microbeasties in the original soil. Saying that by using a compost/manure type tea you are reintroducing them to the soil, it won't happen overnight though. 2nd question, can I reuse soil? The short answer to this is yes with caution. Personally I put my old soil into the new batch of compost that would be for the next crop. I believe this gives it a chance to rest be mixed in with the new and get all the little microbes mixed around. If you have had a problem with a plant and want to reuse the dirt either bake the old soil to kill any pathageons (sorry no coffee yet this morning excuse my spelling), or spread it out on a trap and let the sun and rain do their stuff to the soil. 3rd question the nutes will stay in the soil until used by the plant or leeched aways by waterings and rain. The length of time your soil is going to hold up is dependent on how rich your soil is in the beginning, watch your leaves to look for deficiencies to tell. Changing teas for flower? well I personally think this is more a matter of choice and personal feelings, I use the same tea throughout along with the molasses. Don't know if I am right or wrong but just the way I do it, try different ways on a few plants until you are happy with your result.
Growing techniques are not going to change much from chems to organic other than your plants are going to probably be more stable, meaning not having a huge dose of nutes and then nothing until the next feeding. You are going to be feeding your plants everyday through a good soil making nutes available to them as they need and want them.
these are just my feelings and methods, it will give you something to think about. There are many ways and methods that will get you to the place you want to go. Hope this helps Happy Growing.

So how often would you feed you plants tea can i use it every time or should i wait a few weeks then start?

Use it every other watering. If you use my mix you don't need to add anything. Yes you can add stuff like bat shit when flowering, but you don't need to.

how long do the original nutrients stay in the soil?

Worm castings are good for 2 years, but I always toss some in about 10% in the remix. The rest last about 3 months than when you reuse you remix and add the same
amounts when you first mixed it WITHOUT the soil, coco.


can the soil be reused? YES

and would i need to change tea recipes come flower/fruiting? NO but you could add some bat shit in the tea.

OOOH! what about root stimulants?

Don't need them the organics and the molasses and teas produce more beneficial organisms and microbes than any bag or bottle you could buy.

and last but not least, how would i add sillica and michrozzori (terrible spelling!!!) If you feel you have to add sollica folow the directions. You don't need micro whater the fuck, covered above.

If i make the shift from chem to organic, want want to know i cant still use my same overal technique sorta thing.

No you can't forget most of what you did before and take up a hobbie your going to have lots of time on you hands to do real shit, like get outside.

Rule number one is slow way down. It is very hard to mess this up, all you do is water, no shit just water. Now from there you can do some things to tweak because that's what chem guys are use to doing, get them some monster this and some humunges grow wonder shit in a bottle. Anyway I was on chems for years but had no time and shit was always going wrong, Now I water every 6 to 8 days, grow more than I ever have, great taste, no flushing, less plants = same amount, take my dogs out all the time now, got my life back.

so relax do lots of real reading and research, and than tweak if you want.

Peace and positave vibes your way

dude im in NZ too, you in Auckland ??

Im doing an auto grow soon and its goin to be organic.

Go to switched on gardener or kings plant barn !

they got suff like this :



"Organic Compost" - Soil Conditioner in a Super-Big Bag
premium quality composted organic material, the complete soil conditioner and plant food source for every garden. It increases worm populations in the soil, promotes water retention in the soil by increasing soil humus, and also helps to break down clay.


and:

"Pelletised Sheep Manure" - Pelletised Fertiliser and Soil Conditioner
This sterilised, organic fertiliser is for all trees and shrubs in your garden. It increases worm populations in the soil, promotes water retention in the soil by increasing soil humus, and also helps to break down clay. Easily the best all-round boost for your garden.
N.P.K. 4 / 2 / 6 plus trace elements and minerals

woodsmaneh! said:

OOOH! what about root stimulants?

Don't need them the organics and the molasses and teas produce more beneficial organisms and microbes than any bag or bottle you could buy.

and last but not least, how would i add sillica and michrozzori (terrible spelling!!!) If you feel you have to add sollica folow the directions. You don't need micro whater the fuck, covered above.

Click to expand...

Mycorrhizae is what he is referring to, and I would highly recommend it. These fungi species form a symbiotic relationship with the plant roots and do a hell of a job acquiring nutrients and water for the plant; including making locked up nutrients available to plant roots, protecting roots from unfriendly microbes and even turning them into fertilizer. This is already found in some premium organic soil mixes. Kitchen compost may have varying amounts and species of microorganisms and worm castings certainly contain beneficial microbes (protozoa, bacteria and fungi) that will appreciate the molasses...you can check to see if your roots are encompassed in a white fuzz (a good sign), but you wont know for sure if your soil is inoculated with the optimum species of endomycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi.

When you supplement your microherd with microbes from a bag, you know exactly which species you are adding and can be positive they are present. As far as that goes: I add Espoma Bio-Tone Starter Plus (4-3-3) to my organic soil mixes. It is a good organic fertilizer and it contains eight species of beneficial bacteria, eight species of ectomycorrhizal fungi and two species of endomycorrhizal fungi. The four pound bag costs less than $8 in the USA.

been using earth juice nutes on my ladies and they love their all organic treatment