Organic no till, probiotic, knf, jadam, vermicomposting, soil mixes, sips etc... Q & A

Avant_Gardener

Active Member
I used 20gal totes but im Switching to multi plant sip beds .


The totes work good, its just a peat wick . But the plastic degrades and breaks . Its just not ideal long term for this living soil .

I suggest getting some cheap ply wood and angle brackets . And wheels if you want to get fancy.

Line with 6ml vapor barriar from hardware store. Lay down pumice. Not perlite.

Perlite breaks down and floats. And makes alot of dust .. Im just not a fan And im guessing by the end if your first run youll have a layer of perlite dust at the bottom of your res.

After your pumice layer, put a layer of cheap landscape fabric . From the hardware store, then put your clackamas coots mix with 50% aeration and 25%castings/compost and 25% peat/coco - this is adjusted for sub irrigated soil, for better drainage
- but you can decide your own soil mix

And the rest of the coots mix./hyroots mix at the start of the thread .

Then 4-6 inches of dead leaves , straw, hay, grass, dead brown meterials .

The more greens you put in, the more hot composting will happen .... And the more bad guys get in


The more browns you use the more fungal your mulch layer will get and fungi breaks down much like a boss forming a beautiful mycelium mat and a fast humis layer .. Not to mention the boatload of other benfits the fungi offer From breakingdown cellulose in the brown meterials, to transporting water and nutrients to your plants , they aerate your soil and form complex intellegent networks with your plants .

With the sip make sure you put a good size fill tube, and drain .. It makes a vent to prevent stale air in your res, also no light in the res youll get slime. Go get a thru hull fitting from a boat shop. That way yoy can add a proper drain. Google thru hull fitting. Tthey screw tight and have a gasket on each side with a barb fitting to add a hose if you like.

And honestly i gave up keeping the res soaked/full all the time . Instead , learn to move your pots every day and get a feel for when they feel lighter,. Not dry by any means Ok.... But lighter like you know the res is empy for a day or two . And the pot isnt mega heavy any more might even be handy to have a dipstick for the res to make sure their drinking what theyve for befor you drown them again. If their not drinking, somethings wrong. Just wait befor doing anyrhing or change your environtment check for pests.

The way i do it , is in full bloom when their drinking heavy il give them a 2 liters of water with a splash of em1 or labs or aem

Then the next day the mulch layers getting dry so i might grab the sprayer and give a couple passes on the mulch. Also a good time to add things to be watered in like boksshi, malted barley, kelp, molasis, knf ferments, castings, compost. Not all at once. Just whenever you need at the time ok.

Next day the mulch is pretty wet i wont do anything .

Next day im kind of moving things around feeling how heavy ..

If the pots still heavy and the mulch is dry il wet the mulch a bit more to slow down water evaporation and this is the sweet spot ...

Where you can slow down the soil from evaporating for a few days i notice the most growth . Not soggy But not light either more aeration might help this.

When i tried keeping the res full with 2 inches of water all the time i got problems with slime and anaerobic smells its a touchy game playing the soggy soil game . The trick is if your keeping the res full all the time, overflow the res with new water every 2-3 days and plastic mulch or a thick mulch

But i suggest just monitering your water usage and switch between letting the res go dry and spraying your mulch while adding good castings and bokashi weekly/by weekly to keep your mulch colonized.
Thanks for the excellent explanation of growing system..With the KNF ferments, FPJ, FFJ, and Flower Power are you adding to the rezi or applying it on top?
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the excellent explanation of growing system..With the KNF ferments, FPJ, FFJ, and Flower Power are you adding to the rezi or applying it on top?
ive been applying on top and watering in with a sprayer... for me just labs , em1,aem goes in the res.

hyroots been putting flower power in the res im pretty sure
 
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MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the excellent explanation of growing system..With the KNF ferments, FPJ, FFJ, and Flower Power are you adding to the rezi or applying it on top?
This is a great thread and it deserves to be read from the beginning. It would answer a lot of questions and everyone will be on the same page. Not trying to be rude. It's just a lot more fun when everyone is on the same page. I've been trying to convert over to KNF and SIP, but it has taken me a little while.

When I started following this thread, I thought that everyone was using boakshi compost and not just the bokashi bran. None of it made sense! Anyways, I made my first FPJ and it really worked so I'm diving deeper into it now. I have my first EarthBoxes that I just started and if it works out, then I'll probably convert the rest of my room.
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
This is a great thread and it deserves to be read from the beginning. It would answer a lot of questions and everyone will be on the same page. Not trying to be rude. It's just a lot more fun when everyone is on the same page. I've been trying to convert over to KNF and SIP, but it has taken me a little while.

When I started following this thread, I thought that everyone was using boakshi compost and not just the bokashi bran. None of it made sense! Anyways, I made my first FPJ and it really worked so I'm diving deeper into it now. I have my first EarthBoxes that I just started and if it works out, then I'll probably convert the rest of my room.
Almost done my first run in the sips.

Im making beds after this run for sure Their great.

Hows yours going now ?
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
Some pics of my new EarthBox. Buying the Earthbox was kind of unexpected, so I used the last 2 clones that I had. They were shitty looking clones and they were the worst of the bunch, I already transplanted the better looking ones.
DSC01174.JPG

Just one week in the EarthBox and these plants are starting to recover. I thought that these would really prove if the EarthBox was everything that Alan Adkisson said that they were. He claimed that he was able to transplant a tomato plant that had mosaic virus and the plant recovered. Anyways, these are Mn deficient. I corrected the soil and foliar sprayed and they are starting to recover. Keep in mind, these were the worst plants that I had and they are starting to recover very well. This is more of an experiment I suppose. If it works, I'm going all in on this method.
DSC01176.JPG
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
Some pics of my new EarthBox. Buying the Earthbox was kind of unexpected, so I used the last 2 clones that I had. They were shitty looking clones and they were the worst of the bunch, I already transplanted the better looking ones.
View attachment 4304031

Just one week in the EarthBox and these plants are starting to recover. I thought that these would really prove if the EarthBox was everything that Alan Adkisson said that they were. He claimed that he was able to transplant a tomato plant that had mosaic virus and the plant recovered. Anyways, these are Mn deficient. I corrected the soil and foliar sprayed and they are starting to recover. Keep in mind, these were the worst plants that I had and they are starting to recover very well. This is more of an experiment I suppose. If it works, I'm going all in on this method.
View attachment 4304033
your going to like the earthbox , are you following their regime for dolomite and bokashi ?

topdressing anything elese?

em1 or bokashi steeped tea in the res?

any foliar sprays so far?

good luck
 

pollen205

Well-Known Member
It was hard for me to find information about it, but I finally found what makes this product different. Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Rhodospirillum rubrum. It also has mycorrhizae fungi. I have not been able to use it yet, but I'm probably going to make some Bokashi with it.
https://www.microbelifehydro.com/our-technology/faqs/
On my bottle there is nor rubrum just Rhodopseudomonas palustris ...I really want to know why they eliminate rubrum :confused::confused:
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
your going to like the earthbox , are you following their regime for dolomite and bokashi ?

topdressing anything elese?

em1 or bokashi steeped tea in the res?

any foliar sprays so far?

good luck
I don't like dolomite because Ca and Mg in excess will lock out K and our plants are K hungry. I've been very careful about how much Mg and Ca I used this round.

I have been making my own bokashi, but I thought that I would try everything exactly like Alan Adkisson suggested so that I don't make mistakes and blame it on the method.
EM1&FPJ in the rez. Name brand Grokashi that I let age for about 5 days, then I covered it with Malibu compost. I forgot the barley, but I have it on hand.
DSC01178.JPG

For these 2 earthboxes I used EM1 straight out of the bottle and I am expanding the rest of it in gallon carboy jugs. The expanded EM1 should be ready tomorrow and I'll start making flower power(Roberto's Brew) with it.

I didn't exactly have everything on hand that Hyroot uses for foliar sprays, so I cheated and bought BioMin Booster 153 because I follow Dr. Steve Solomon and he suggested it. It's trace minerals because my soil tests always show at least one trace mineral being low.
https://www.kisorganics.com/products/biomin-booster-153

Here is my soil test results. I didn't re-test it after adding Mn, Zn, and Fe sulfate. Anyways, I'm trying to get my K at 2x the recommended level because the creator of this test said that cannabis needs it. Also, I'm trying to keep N at a low level in efforts to raise my brix levels.
DSC01165.JPG
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
On my bottle there is nor rubrum just Rhodopseudomonas palustris ...I really want to know why they eliminate rubrum :confused::confused:
It was hard for me to find anything at all about this product. It does look like it has several different types of Myco fungi. I know that it is harder to get fungi than bacteria.
 

pollen205

Well-Known Member
Some pics of my new EarthBox. Buying the Earthbox was kind of unexpected, so I used the last 2 clones that I had. They were shitty looking clones and they were the worst of the bunch, I already transplanted the better looking ones.
View attachment 4304031

Just one week in the EarthBox and these plants are starting to recover. I thought that these would really prove if the EarthBox was everything that Alan Adkisson said that they were. He claimed that he was able to transplant a tomato plant that had mosaic virus and the plant recovered. Anyways, these are Mn deficient. I corrected the soil and foliar sprayed and they are starting to recover. Keep in mind, these were the worst plants that I had and they are starting to recover very well. This is more of an experiment I suppose. If it works, I'm going all in on this method.
View attachment 4304033
OMG what couse all that mycelium on top of the soil...loking sooo good
This is soil porn...Can I get this mycelium on top of the soil if I dont habe that earth box and cover like earthbox have
 

MustangStudFarm

Well-Known Member
OMG what couse all that mycelium on top of the soil...loking sooo good
This is soil porn...Can I get this mycelium on top of the soil if I dont habe that earth box and cover like earthbox have
It's Grokashi and I've seen people use straw for a cover, but I think that I have been getting spider mites off of my straw. I don't know how else I would get spider mites in the middle of winter?
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
It's Grokashi and I've seen people use straw for a cover, but I think that I have been getting spider mites off of my straw. I don't know how else I would get spider mites in the middle of winter?
hmm yeah thats odd I would bet you are right about that... maybe cover the straw with some dimacetous earth to kill off the mites? Or.. I mean it really looks like what you are doing is working GREAT!!! I just applied my first application of grokashi last night hoping I get some great results like this! I am going to be making some of my own as well but I figured I would start with some base stuff since it is not the much cost wise... soooo much cheaper to make in bulk though.

Question on your soil test as i think maybe I should try that out. Is there a specific one that you used and was it based on recomendations? Can you point me in the direction?
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
It's Grokashi and I've seen people use straw for a cover, but I think that I have been getting spider mites off of my straw. I don't know how else I would get spider mites in the middle of winter?
spider mites can hangout in your floor cracks , come in off your c02 bottle when you get it changed, your fan if theres no pre filter on the intake , your clothes, hair, your friends .. lots of ways .

looks like the grokashi methods working out for ya ,.

i made my own labs , made kashi out of it and robertos brew and its all working just as fast as em1 . im making my own imputs from here out.
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
hmm yeah thats odd I would bet you are right about that... maybe cover the straw with some dimacetous earth to kill off the mites? Or.. I mean it really looks like what you are doing is working GREAT!!! I just applied my first application of grokashi last night hoping I get some great results like this! I am going to be making some of my own as well but I figured I would start with some base stuff since it is not the much cost wise... soooo much cheaper to make in bulk though.

Question on your soil test as i think maybe I should try that out. Is there a specific one that you used and was it based on recomendations? Can you point me in the direction?
ive given up on diatomacious earth , its dusty and very toxic to breath in, and even worse if the dust blows around and lands on your buds.

if youve got spider mites , call a preditory mite company and release some bugs.

and if your in veg , while you wait , dose them with an essential oil mix
or if youve made your citrus ferment yet try that .

theres soaps as well like yucca, soap nuts and many others.
alot of the time you can spray the spider mites off the plants with water ,.

you could also plant some bean plants and use them as a sacrifice, pests will aim for bean plants first , then you can keep populations in check by throwing away the bean plant and starting over.

hot pepper extract, just boil down some hot peppers , and the dilution ratio is on this thread somewhere ,
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
Your plants looked fine in the other thread... I have Amazon Prime, but they have a $5 cheaper option if you don't mind waiting a week. Everything is in the kit like the postage, lab fees, container, soil scoop, and bar# that you will use to look up your results online.

https://www.amazon.com/Soil-Savvy-Understand-Fertilizer-Recommendation/dp/B079GMTHFD/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=soil+savvy&qid=1553204878&s=gateway&sr=8-2
yah next run il be making a bed like joshua steensland except itll be a sip.

coots soil, straw , diverse cover crop while the rooms fills with vegitation , then when its full and blocks out the light , you knock down the cover crop and flip and it breaks down into food for flower .

it seems like minimum input is best
and hes got it figured out
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
spider mites can hangout in your floor cracks , come in off your c02 bottle when you get it changed, your fan if theres no pre filter on the intake , your clothes, hair, your friends .. lots of ways .

looks like the grokashi methods working out for ya ,.

i made my own labs , made kashi out of it and robertos brew and its all working just as fast as em1 . im making my own imputs from here out.
very interested in how to make my own EM 1 or something like it.. do you have a link?
 
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