Notes from The Science of Gardening with Linda Chalker-Scott PhD

[HydroponicFireman]

OK, I'm not sure if I should post this here but it didnt seem to fit in any other of the categories in the grow room. That and I dont have sufficient priviliges to post in "How to grow" section.

Anyway, here it goes...these are my notes of a lecture course from The Teaching Company which I found on Amazon prime video for free (not a plug or anything, but I feel that its essential to put my sources for this info and give proper credit where its due). I have no affiliation with TTC or Amazon but if you find this info useful, I suggest purchasing a video or the whole course. The course is 24 lectures in video format which I will be covering a good portion of. Lectures that have little or no value to cannabis, and mostly indoor growing, are completely skipped over, here are a few I wont cover:

• Plant selection [cannabis, next question...]
• Truth about mulch [dont use it indoors lol]
• Water-wise landscaping [no indoor waterfalls, please]
• What to do about herbivores [heh-heh, get it??]
• Planting for survival [were only dealing with cannabis here]
• Pruning [mostly deals with trees/shrubs anyway]

I personally found this info valuable because I have apparently been doing a few things wrong that I thought were great to do (mostly the DIY stuff you find online and grow techniques) but are apparently not backed by science or evidence...and in some cases are harmful.

OK, so here it goes, the following posts are the notes I took from the lecture series, if you have questions feel free to ask. These are very condensed notes, seeing as each video is 30+ minutes. These lectures benefited me so hopefully I can pass on some useful info that can benefit some members here without having to go through all that content.

[My comments are in brackets]

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 1
Garden science and weeding out the myths

About the lecturer:

Linda Chalker-Scott PhD. (Assoc prof. of Horticulture @ WSU)

Books she wrote:
The informed gardener
How plants work

she also blogs at @ gardenprofessors [dot] com



Why care?

• Save moeny, time , resources
• reduce pesticides and fertilizers which means less polution
• understand applied plant soil science
• become healthier phsyically, mentally, spiritually by building a healthier connection to our gardens

She talks about how she approached gardening before her PhD (like the rest of us, using handed-down folk knoledge, DIY tips online, etc):

1. Used Household chemicals, etc can be used for the garden: Dish soap, Epsom salts, vinegar, baking soda, etc for solving various problems and nourishing/boosting the plants.
2. She did "common sense" things like never disturbing the root ball of shrubs and trees she planted in her yard.

She warns "The folk wisdom from grandma seems good and can have great names like "lasagna mulching" or "compost tea" that provoke warm-and-fuzzy feelings and little else."

She goes on discussing the difference between what science vs laymen know about gardening and horticulture. A lot of common knowledge is scientifically wrong or has no evidence backing it up.

Be careful of pseudoscience "scientific sounding terminology that has no scientific backing or evidence"

"Unverified methods and advice often end in disappointing results"
"Unverified methods can be a waste of time, money and resources"
"Unverified methods may result in danger to people, pets or wild animals"

She advises that household chemicals often have tons of other unlisted additives and chemicals and will have to end up somewhere...and they are not natrually from that environment so where ever it ends up will have to deal with this foreign additive.

She also discusses Garening (production agriculture) vs managed agricutlure sites (apartment building landscaping, public parks, ecological restoration sites, etc) and why you shouldnt confuse the two. Gardens will be consumed but corporate office landscaping will not. They can be managed very differently (pesticides and nutrients) and that should be taken into consideration.

What to consider:
1) Plant life cycle
2) Whats happening to the soil
3) The use of fertilizers and pesticides (not for long term)

Permaculture Practices:
1) are a marriage of some science and philosophy (not testable like science)
2) often outdated info from the 60's (its golden era) and science has changed a lot since then

Other permaculture practices like 'lasagna mulching' or 'hugelkultur' are NOT based on scientific principles.

Such as lasagna mulching - putting compost down with cardboard on top and layering it up with alertnating rows of mulch and cardboard. She reminds what cardboard is for - to repel water while shipping products. She also adds that the bottom layers will have very low oxygen which damages the roots. At the same time, water will have trouble findings its way down and dry spots will form which will limit growth and damage roots. The cardboard also is made to not disintigrate rapidly, so it will last in the garden for much longer than expected.

She also advises how to assess gardening info you may come across:

Evaluating Sources:

• use scientific journals that are peer reviewed by scientists (and offeres a list)
• use progessional journals that are uses by professionals in the field (yet not peer-reviewed)
• books and magazines
• university web sites (.edu), government web sites (.gov) such as EPA fact sheets (for pesticides, etc) These are the best web sites to get info from as they are likely peer-reviewed (at least at one point) and are from professionals in the field.
• open access scientific journals
• ask these questions: is it peer-reviewed or is it pay-to-play (publish anything as long as you pay)?

When evaluating resources, she advises to use her C.R.A.P. test:
Credability - how credible is your resource?
Relevance - Is this relevant to you and your situation?
Accuracy - It it accurate or outdated?
Purpose - What is its purpose? to give out info? to push advertisements? to sell a product?


Assessment categories:
1. Science doesnt support the info (she mentions the Vitamin B1 transplant starters that you can find on store shelves and how plants make their own B1, making the product useless and a waste of money) This is the biggest category.

2. Misapplied science (she mentions foliar fertilizers/fertilization, which are great for testing nutrient deficiency but is not a way to feed plants. spray foliar fert onto leaf, if color changes then youve found a deficiency)

3. Over-extrapolated info (ie study in a greenhouse of something that works but then you take it to the field and it doesnt work. (she mentions the harpin protein which turns on plant defenses but only works when you can get it into the plant cell. works well in lab, not in practice)

4. Scientific errors. unqualified researchers, research bias and peer review failure. It happens. Watch out....if you can even identify it as a laymen (which is where peer-reviewing helps). Science must clear a high bar.

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 2
Site analysis

[This one is a little less helpful, shes talking about location for a garden and is mostly talking about outside weather conditions. This is of little help as most of the growing here is indoors but I did take some notes that are useful for us here...]

Site analysis should include the location of the plant and its [the locations'] effect on temperature and water (the 2 most limiting growth factors).

Microclimate: hydrology, wind, topology

USDA Zones - where certain plants can survive [outdoors] based on geolocation

• based on things like yearly average of rainfall
• temp and water in an environment dictate the type of soil in region

She discusses a few tests for soil, again as indoor growers this can be provided info so google it if you want to learn more:

• Percolation Test (measureing the movement of water through a medium/soil)
• Compaction Test (measures bulk density of medium)

She talks about water sources (outdoors) and mentions water collection from roof into rain barrel but consider bird poop, age of roof, type of construction, debris and so on. Collecting rain water is OK to collect for garden use and can also be filtered.

Abundance of heat radiating near plants can damage them.

Light changes seasonally, the solar angle changes over time and changes the amount of light plants get due to location, blocking plants/buildings, etc
[This is useful as it can change the amount of light available when using windows or when outdoors obviously]

Moonlight has no effect on plants its too dark. It can affect insects, etc but not plants with its light. Light pollution can have effect on plants. [street lights are like 2K watt light bulbs each]

Plants use photoperiod to find which season it is and when to change and get ready for winter (internal chemistry of the plant often changes)
[like when you flip your lights to a different on/off schedule]

Wind can strip water out of leaves quickly. [keep in mind when having constant wind blowing on plants that are under hot lights that you will need to water more]

Cold + Wind = plant desiccation and death

Consider the salt in the wind when outdoors. It has a huge effect on the plant growth and can kill plants.

"Know your local insects and plant diseases"
[great advise for indoors and outdoors]

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 3
Soil analysis, what makes soil great

[a lot of this again has to do with outdoors, our soil is typically from a bag or is made with various components that are often listed]

suburban and urban soil is rarely, if ever, "native soil"...construction has flattened, fill is often added ("designed soil") and various people and pollution can affect soils. Construction and human activity often drives out insects and animals which can also hurt the quality of soil...she gives an example of moles aerating soil so show how what we consider pests are often useful for plants.

Soil is organic and inorganic components that together impart nutritional, chemical physical characteristics.

• Organic material enhances soil moisture, improves drainage/aeration, provides nutrients.
• Mostly made of sand, silt and clay - the ratio of which determines the type of soil.

Clay particals are flat not round, more plate shaped. Clay is essential for holding nutrients.

The more sandy the soil the better drainage you have.

Particle sizes:

• Sand *largest particles, for comparison the size of a wiffle ball
• Silt *size of a golf ball
• Clay *size of a penny and flat like one instead of round

Nutrient availability is typically the reverse of the above chart, sand and silt particles are negatively charged so they are poor for attracting nutrients and holding them in place for the plant to use.


2-way, 3-way or 5-way top soils: (best tends to be 2 and 3-way)

• 2-way: (1/2 loam, 1/2 compost (which disappears over time due to decomposition)
• 3-way: (1/3 each of loam, peat, compost)
• 5-way: (20% each of compost, garden mulch, peat, sawdust, loam)

Native soil can be bought and is VERY EXPENSIVE!
You will rarely encounter native soil.

She also highlights a soil test (put soil in jar, add water to top, shake and let sit 24 hrs so it can seporate with sand on bottom and organics on top) in order to find out which type or mix of soil you have.

In addtition, she shows you how to do a pH test on soil. [google it]
You can also send soil samples into various labs for testing

Lab soil tests:

• will tell you if nutrients and micro-nutes presence are low or high in soil
• pH of soil
• CEC - how easily plants can take up nurtients in soil
• other various things like acidity of soil, etc

Know what nutrients are in your soil so you dont over-nutriate (which can lock out other nutrients) [this is useful when buying pre-mixed or when you make your own with various components]

• if nutrient is low = add some media that includes the needed nutrient
• if nutrient is high = dilute the soil [vermiculite, perlite, sand, peat moss, etc, etc, etc]

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 4
Living soils, bacteria and fungi

biological components of soil - microbes, bacteria and fungi

Plant roots have their own probiotics, beneficial fungi and bacteria grow in and around plant roots.

Bacterial sheeths and fungal hyphae form an underground network that nutrients are transfered in.

beneficial microbe = microbes that form a symbiotic relationship with plant roots

symbiotic relationship = both parties benefit with no detrement to either; "mutualism"
the plant doesnt use peptides to get rid of symbiotic microbes, fungi, etc

PGPB (Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria)

• symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria (Cyanobacteria, Rhizobium)
• Free-living nitrogen fixers (not attached to plant roots but in soil) (Klebsiella
• Free Living soil bacteria (which dont fix nitrogen) (Bacillus, Pseudomonas)

Some can be toxic to humans, be careful, read labels, etc
see "pathogenic relationship"

various spores of fungi/bacteria often found in soil, will germinate when 'invited' (conditions become favorable)

bacteria must have an oxygen-free area in ordre to fix nitrogen
see "Leghemoglobin" in root nodules

root nodules contain bacteria > plant supplies carbon do bacteria > bacteria supplies nitrogen to plant

Mycorrhizae "Fungus root" - most roots have Mycorrhizae assocaiated with them

EctoMycorrhizae = Mycorrhizae on outside of root

EndoMycorrhizae Mycorrhizae that goes inside of root/cell walls

Arbuscular "small tree" EndoMycorrhizae looks like a tree inside the cell of the root, it usues root network like the plant to trade nutrients inside the cells of the plants root

Fungal network

• Hyphae explore pockets in soil that plant roots cant effectively get at
• hyphae increases soil aggregates
• improve soil stability
• enhance organic matter decomposition
• Mycorrhizae acidify root zone

Plant benefits of Mycorrhizae and PGPB

• increase soil organic matter
• solubilize and increase the uptake of phosphate
• increase uptake of other nutrients
• engage in nitrogen-fixing activity
• produce stimulatory plant hormones

Soil benefits of Mycorrhizae and PGPB

• improve soil structure
• improve competition for nutrients and water
• increase resistance to stresses

Growth inhibitors of beneficial bacteria and fungi

• excessive fertilizers, especially phosphates
• bone meal (8% phosphate)
• excessive irigation, poorly drained soil (lack of oxygen in soil)
• destorying the soil structure (topsoil removal, breaking up soil excessively/when not needed)

Encouraging growth of beneficial bacteria and fungi

• wood chips/mulch (fungi can live on decomposing wood as well as roots)
• conservative amounts of nitrogen fertilizer
• blood meal
• warm temps
• mild drought/nute deficiency - plant puts out signal for fungi/bacteria to colonize its roots
• increase diversity of plants [dont plant 5 plants in one pot]

She advises to transplant existing mycorrihizal materal from one area to another in order to innoculate it rather than starting from scratch each time

some starter plant food has NPK fertilizers plus Mycorrhizae and beneficial bacterias

adding microbes to unhealthy soil is not likely to work, the soil is the problem so the microbes will die too - fix your soil first

lactobacillus (in yogurt and your gut, not likely to be beneficial to plants)
vs
bacillus (beneficial to plants)





Lectures 5-7 will not be covered for reasons listed in the OP.

more coming soon...

 

[HydroponicFireman]

more coming soon...

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 8
Soil preparation and protection


"Dig a $5 hole for a 50 cent plant"
Great soil makes great plants

If you have a veggie garden [or consume your grow] you should test for heavy metals in the soil

Its better to add soil on top than to till/work into the soil, helps soil structure, nutes will leach downwards with water drainage into older, depleted soil
[shes talking about outdoor gardens, assuming she isnt saying dont mix potted soil]

Acidic soil loving plants may not be the best idea to grow in alkaline soil that you change to be acidic.
Potted plants are easier to change the pH of the soil - for specific sitatuions you can use pots to make it easier to grow certain plants in a landscape/garden

Mulches can address soil drainage & compaction issues without disturbing the soil
"French drains" wick water away from landscape

Its hard to change texter/composition of soil, biochar may help though

Biochar - inorganic byproduct of biofuel prodction, made through pryolysis (and doesnt break down)

• biochar can help add structure to soil and stay there by not breaking down like organics
• little research done on gardens/landscapes, much resarch done on crops

nutrient toxicity - hard to change in soil, very hard to take things away from soil
heavy metal contamination - hard to get rid of

soil amendments (am anything your working into soil profile)
vs
top dressings (anything that you lay on top)

She shows a display of different types of mediums and rate of flow with drainage with each, starting with uniform textured soils (sand, clay, clay loam, gravel). It shows how water drains through them which is interesting to see. Obviously the gravel basically drains right away. She then shows mixed mediums (ie clay loam on top with gravel on bottom which shows that you shouldnt have 2 different soil textures touching eachother or gravel on the bottom because it slows down water and air movement and roots wont grow through that part)
Rate of movement of water through the medium is dictated by whats on top, the gravel didnt drain immediately like when alone because of the clay loam on top.

Another display on how various percentages of organic matter in a soil medium (which will eventually decay) affect the soil structure of a medium.

Subsidence = amount of natrually displaced organic matter in a soil
can be responsible for nutrient run-off and contamination

Know that most resaerch in this field is done with annual crops and in agricultural production

Top-dressings or mulches are best for gardens

tilling damages soil structure, roots and beneficial microbes. also causes erosion (and thereby loss of nutrients)

coarse organic mulch can suppress weeds

"you cant change a soil from clay to loam but you can improve drainage, aeration and nutrition based on science-based practices"

 

[bobrown14]

she does a lot of myth busting if you look at WSU site she's got a bunch of useful info.

I learned a few things from her but and this was a big BUT.

She's been a life long horticulturalist and just started gardening like 5 years ago. I found that a little odd since she's around my age (61).

But yeah I like a lot of what she writes but have a few issues with some others that I've found practical knowledge is as good as book knowledge sometimes, if we are paying attention. If that makes any sense.

Nice write ups - I might go check that out since its free as is her website on WSU.

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Thanks! I'll be finishing soon. I did find her gardening material lacking and was thinking about asking her to consider making a cannabis edition.

 

[bobrown14]

She will do the debunk on cannabis but I saw her in a youtube show and she said since she works at a state university that receives federal funding that she cant use the term "cannabis" so she is more general about her answers to questions.

Since cannabis is a plant you can ask a question specific to what you are wondering about without mentioned the actual plant name specifically.

Something like .... I have a friend that says I need to "flush" my container plant growing in a soil based mix. Is that true? Then she might debunk that bro-science for those that keep thinking its a thing.

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 11
Aftercare for New Plants

"Now that healthy plants are in the ground, lets talk aftercare:"

Why many transplants fail:

• improperly managed soil

• too much organic matter
• improper use of fertilizer
• soil-destroying activities

• poor quality woody roots

• circling roots from improper potting

• improperly prepared roots

• remove all barriers
• remove foreign media
• correct root problems (break up root ball)

plants transplanted too deeply will die or have disesases/pest problems down the road
fall is best (for most plants)

as long as plant is still alive you can always re-transplant to fix problems

• this will shock plant, do as little as possible and wait in between as long as possible

all plants need to be watered when establishing roots, then they can become drought-tolerant


roots grow towards:

• water
• oxygen
• nutrients

(all of these help establish plant)


be careful of dark, wet environment near surface of soil surrounding the trunk of the plant, this can invite pests, disesases, fungus

fertilizers

• put fertilizer on top (better than mixing in which can burn roots) and let it drip down as water filters through medium
• putting at bottom of hole, fert will drip down further before roots and will be longer before accessed.
• how much to add while transplanting: can vary, know your plants
• phosphates - the more you have in soil the harder plants uptake iron and manganese (causes "intervenal chlorosis", green veins and yellow leaves)

• kills fish in aquaponic systems, makes great environment for bacteria which grows and kills fish eventually

soil tests can help troubleshooting many issues

mulch instead of adding fertilizer [Im assuming mostly outdoors, doesnt mention potted plants specficially but she goes on to mention how soggy mulch around plants will also invite fungus and bacteria to grow so if you use indoors i would assume be careful of pest problems and keeping the mulch dry enough. I personally have used mulch with great success with outdoor potted plants which helped get rid of a lot of pests]

dont make a mulch volcano (mulch travels up the trunk of the plant) instead use a mulch 'bagel' around the roots, flat around the trunk

pull out weeds that grow out of mulch - mulch helps greatly because the plants end up spending most energy getting thru mulch layer to reach sun in order to grow larter roots (sun must come first) so its very easy to pull up weeds as they grow through mulch as they have no significan root structure yet


when pruning, remove:

• dead limbs
• damaged limbs, leaves

wait for shaping, etc pruning until later when plant is established
drains resources of plants

pruning crown will stimulate new shoot growth - much more stress on plant, not only focused on roots but now on shoot growth

breaking up root ball when transplanting can help you use less staking to keep the plant from moving or falling over
staking should be exception, not the rule

be mindful of movement in wind for staking
[she mentions this in regards to trees]

"plants put resources to where they are needed to survive...if they are supported they wont spend much energy in becoming stable enough without the support and when removed the plant can be flimsy, fall over or be too rigid and break."

when to remove stakes:
wiggle test (grasp tree and gently shake weekly or monthly with hand so you can feel tension, notice weekly, etc how harder it is to wiggle, remove when sufficiently established
remove stakes as soon as possible, it shouldnt take a year or longer to establish roots

the flow of phloem, underneath bark, in the plant can be cut off by over-grown ties or staking wires

hydrogels can suck water out of roots

Vitamin B1 suppliment is useless in plants, it just feeds microbes dont use when transplanting

anti-transpirants (keep leaves from losing water) are not to be used since they can stop the correct flow of water through the plant, they need to transpire.

root snorkels - dont use, no scientific reason to use them

 

[HydroponicFireman]

Lecture 12
Plant Nutrition: Evidence-Based Fertilizing

match soil and plant needs with what is already in the soil (soil test to know what you are working with)

• you may not need to even add most fertilizers
• soil test is only accurate way to know what is in your soil (bagged soil typically has test info on bag)

Macronutrients: (macro = needed in large amounts)

• carbon C
• hydrogen H
• oxygen O
• nitrogen N
• phosphorus P
• potassium K
• calcium Ca
• magnesium Mg
• sulfur S

Micronutrients: (needed in small amounts)

• boron B
• copper Cu
• Iron Fe
• manganese Mn
• molybdenum Mo
• Nnckel Ni
• zinc Zn
• chlorine Cl

Nitrogen fixers - need Cobalt (Co)
selenium collectors -need selenium (Se)
grasses - need silicon (Si)
Succulent species - need Sodium (Na)
accumulators - mostly heavy metals

Cell wall strenghteners

• Silicon
• boron
• calcium

cell water management

• chlorine
• potassium
• sodium

enzyme cofactors

• cobalt
• copper
• iron
• magnesium
• manganese
• molybdenum
• nickel
• selenium
• zinc

dont add fertilizer unless you are sure its what is needed, not a deficiency

Theres no Nitrogen level in soil test report, a measurement is just a snapshot in time and has little to do with N levels in the morning, afternoon or evening, they can all be different levels.

soil deficiency - lack of nutrient in soil

plant deficiency - lack of nutirent in plant but can be plentiful in soil (ie soil too alkaline for iron uptake, so plant shows iron deficiency even through plenty of iron in soil)

nute toxicities can generate 2nd-ary issues (this is not much studied)

a lot of studies on nute deficiencies are based on hydropinics, where they have everything but deprive of the studied elements to observe what it looks like

NPK (measurement by weight = 10-0-0 means that 10% of weight is Nitrogen)

• plants grow and use nutrients, you must replace the nutrients after they are used
• gardneing is very different than agriculture, mostly just worry about Nitrogen with gardening
• again, soil tests go a long way

NPK - listed on all fertilizers


if it breaks down quickly, the nutes are available quickly
slow food vs fast food


organic fertilizers

• increase organic content in soil
• improves drainage
• imnproves soil structure
• improves water-holding capacity

inorganic fertilizers

• pollution run-off an issue
• slower release

biosolids (human poo out of sewage treatment)- can be used just fine, be careful of heavy metals, etc and is a local resources [lol careful when using indoors]

bat guano -(be careful when coming out of one ecosystem and adding to another) can cause damage to ecosystem its removed from, there are other things that can be used in its place

peat moss - comes from peat lands (wet lands) and purify waters in an environment, carbon sink, carbon dioxide released when removed form ecosystem and can damage it []

foliar fertilizer - not for fertilizing plants, but can be used for identifying nutrient deficiencies, spray leaves with suspected element/nute and if it changes then add to soil.

• the leaf is not the only target for fertilizers.
• be mindful that not all elemnets are "mobile" and may not "travel" in the plant
• used in fruit production to make sure fruits have all neccessary element, dont drop early, etc [be mindful of washing after harvest before consuming]

when plants are producing fruits they are not producing compounds that resist insects, pests, etc

overuse of fertilizers can caues dormancy, be careful when growing in veg and then winter hits and they werent prepared


way easier to add nutes than to take away

• cover-cropping can help leach excess nutes out of a soil

for the love of God, dont add aluminum to your soil even if the internet tells you to

epsom salts can easily cause issues later down the line, mostly with nute toxicities as epsom salts are not easily uptaken by plants [OK, I guess im not using that anymore...lol]











Lecture 13
Pruning

this one is dedicated to mostly trees and shrubs, which is of little use to us here. A few notes:

"Prune whats dead, dying, infected"

"pruning will make the local area go dormant and can activate the lower, dormant buds"

"Dont prune right after transplanting"
[not sure if this translates well from trees/shrubs to herbs like cannabis]



[...told you it would be quick...check out the video if you want to see how to prune a tree. I would advise to use LST to provide more light to each leaf/branch instead of pruning cannabis but thats just me...]

 

[TorturedSoul]

I know very little about the woman, but do recall that she knows that the occult biodynamic agriculture twaddle that grew from Rudolph Steiner's ravings... is a steaming pile of uncomposted male bovine dung. So that's a big plus.

 

[bobrown14]

Lecture 11
Aftercare for New Plants



breaking up root ball when transplanting can help you use less staking to keep the plant from moving or falling over
staking should be exception, not the rule

be mindful of movement in wind for staking
[she mentions this in regards to trees]

This part is for planting trees or shrubs - not cannabis. Its bad practice to break up a root ball 420% on that. Its the same thing as topping a plant.

Plants have an root apical meristem. This is as important for over all plant health as it the apical meristem. Damage that, and you just set your plant growth back weeks.

I wood even say that its bad practice to break up root balls when planting young trees and shrubs. This is just not the proper way to transplant.

 

[bobrown14]

I know very little about the woman, but do recall that she knows that the occult biodynamic agriculture twaddle that grew from Rudolph Steiner's ravings... is a steaming pile of uncomposted male bovine dung. So that's a big plus.

Dont forget that Biodynamic farmers have been doing sustainable agriculture for well over 100 years and still going strong. This lady just started gardening 5 years ago.

There's grains of salt every where. Gotta sift thru some to find the gold crumbs.

Food for thought....

 

[bobrown14]

She probably never witnessed how peat moss is harvested or even knows about CSPMA and what there functions are.

Some of her stuff she writes just doesn't make sense in the "Real" world.

I'd probably get an F in her classes and kicked out.

So its OK to use chemical fertilizers and glyphosate, but not OK to use Peat Moss.

Thats just absurd.

And yes she promotes Round Up. That right there is her Fail.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Dont forget that Biodynamic farmers have been doing sustainable agriculture for well over 100 years and still going strong.

Klansmen have been hosting good ox roast dinners for decades, too . That doesn't mean that we should all avoid ox roasts, just like your statement doesn't mean people should avoid sustainable agriculture practices just because a bunch of would-be "farm witches" favor them.

 

[Redcup]

Wow, ts, comparing biodynamics growers to klansman. Thats impassioned

Thanks for sharing the write up HydroponicFireman.

 

[bobrown14]

Klansmen have been hosting good ox roast dinners for decades, too . That doesn't mean that we should all avoid ox roasts, just like your statement doesn't mean people should avoid sustainable agriculture practices just because a bunch of would-be "farm witches" favor them.

I've been a Rudolf Steiner fan in the past and learned some good stuff from him and his cronies. I just skipped past the dancing the hokey pokey on the compost pile while shaking a ox horn around and all that stuff. Didn't see the point.

I'm a fan of sustainable ag. Been trying to practice that for a while now.

 

[Emilya Green]

If I was a field farmer or even a large outdoor backyard gardener, a lot of what this chick has to say is worth listening to. Growing weeds in indoor containers under artificial lights and in designer soils however, would throw this real world neophyte into a tizzy... she wouldn't have any more clue what she was doing than I did when I first started growing weeds. I was great at growing prize tomatoes, knew how to fix and care for trees, but pot had me feeling like a total rookie.

My grandfather was a professional arborist and tree surgeon in Wales during most of his career and then semi-retired to run a large landscaping company in Orange County, California before he died. He knew everything about trees and shrubs and lawns... but zero about growing weeds. My dad and he would sit and talk for hours about our plant and he would marvel at the things we were developing and methods we used in our indoor gardens. Based on the knowledge that he passed down to me from a very early age, I still had (and still have) a whole lot to learn about indoor cannabis gardening. It turns out that real world weed gardening indoors is nothing like book world agricultural studies or growing cash crops in a field... and indoor container grown weeds have completely different needs than trees and field corn. Go figure.