Bat Guano for Organic Indoor Gardening w/RooRman

[taylr]

great info bro, im looking to grow in the future and this info will stay with me when i do my first grow

[RooRman]

Glad to be of assistance. Happy growing!

[spenceje]

Originally Posted by RooRman

However you grow, remember it is a life affirming process to grow and smoke your own cannabis do NOT base your grow on calendars, weight, and dollar signs, as such things are truly insignificant to this process.

True that!!!

[Medical Marijuana]

This is a very interesting article.

[PFlynn]

Thanks Rooman I'm bookmarking this one.

[RooRman]

Although I did not mention this fact in my orignal post, I feel it should almost go without saying, which is frankly why it was omitted, but I am adding it now for all those people who need to be told "don't try this at home". When working with Bat Guano, it is important to be clean. You are for all intents and purposes dealing with bat sh** which your plants will love, but can make you sick if ingested.

-Always wash your hands before and after touching Bat Guano products or mixing a tea. Do not touch your face, mouth, or eyes during the mixing process or before you have washed up.

-Avoid inhaling the fine dust. Work in a well ventilated area or wear a dust mask if necessary.

Your health and safety is paramount.

[Medical Marijuana]

Bookmarked! Thanks mate. (good idea about the warning on ingesting poo from bats0

[ace705]

Hey RooRman what's happening,

I was wondering what soil would be good to use with the guano? because i plan on putting clone's straight into flowering.

Pro-mix + perlite?

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by ace705

Hey RooRman what's happening,

I was wondering what soil would be good to use with the guano? because i plan on putting clone's straight into flowering.

Pro-mix + perlite?

Hello ace705,

I prefer to make a custom soil mix as well, and Pro Mix BX Seed and Clone is usually my choice for a good starting point. I then amend the soil with extra perlite, vermiculite, worm castings, and one type of bat guano. My choice of guano for flowering plants is the Jamaican variety.

The looser the soil mix is the easier it will be for the roots to penetrate it. Flowering plants expand their roots very rapidly so a light and airy soil mix is very helpful for their development.

[ace705]

Thank's for your reply RooRman,

What amount of amendments do you add per bale of promix?

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by ace705

Thank's for your reply RooRman,

What amount of amendments do you add per bale of promix?

You can play with the amounts, which is the nice thing about making your own mix. This should get you started:

10-20% Perlite: for added drainage and soil aeration. Use closer to 20% for flowering mixes.

10-30% Worm Castings: for nitrogen, added micronutrients and aeration.

1-2% Dolomite lime: Pro-Mix BX Seed and Clone has this already added! So I don't add it. Basic Pro-Mix, to my knowledge, does not. Dolomite lime helps stabilize the pH of the soil. Pro-Mix is mainly peat and as the peat breaks down the soil gets more acidic. Dolomite lime is used to combat this natural lowering of the pH.

2-4% Kelp meal/Guano: For additional macro/micornutrients.

I have also worked with Rainbow mix as another added dry fertilizer. This contains mychorrizae which is a beneficial root fungus. Although it is best to age soil before use when using this as it allows the fungus to colonize the soil beforehand.

[ace705]

Do i still start out with the guano recommended in the feeding schedule
since the castings and guano are put in the mix?

If i use 20% perlite,20% worm castings,and 5% jamacan guano do i just
add it to 55% of a bale of promix bx?Just making sure i understand when you
mention percentage's.

I'll be using about 128 1gl grow bag's and was also wondering how much soil and amendment's i need to fill them.

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by ace705

Do i still start out with the guano recommended in the feeding schedule
since the castings and guano are put in the mix?

If i use 20% perlite,20% worm castings,and 5% jamacan guano do i just
add it to 55% of a bale of promix bx?Just making sure i understand when you
mention percentage's.

I'll be using about 128 1gl grow bag's and was also wondering how much soil and amendment's i need to fill them.

Seeing as you add guano to the mix, there is no need to fertilize for the first few weeks of life. The general rule of thumb is to not feed seedlings until they have matured for two weeks, this is to prevent burning them. However, a small amount of nutrients in the soil mix will not harm them, and soil mixes like Fox Farms Ocean Forest manage to contain nutrients while remaining safe for seedlings. The secret is to not add too much, and I usually add very little in favor of feeding throughout the grow via waterings. 2-4% is the max that is recomended, you can go much lower or not at all if you wish to feed via waterings. Yet another benefit of mixing your own soil.

Ah percentages... why are stoners no good at math!?

As far as I can remember, a standard bag of Pro-Mix is 16 quarts. For instance, if we need to add 20% perlite to this quantity of soil we would multiply .20 (20% for the perlite) times 16 (amount in quarts of Pro-Mix) and we would get 3.2. This means 3.2 quarts of perlite should be added for every 16 quarts of Pro-Mix to obtain a 20% perlite to soil ratio. WHEW!

I don't know how much a "bale" of Pro-Mix is in quantity so I am at a loss with that one. Honestly, I've never had anywhere near 128 plants but recipes can always be modified for smaller or larger quantities using our good friend math.

[Boss]

3 cupfuls of this 1 and a half of that, a bag of this..feels good.. In it goes.. :-)

[Racefan]

Originally Posted by Boss

3 cupfuls of this 1 and a half of that, a bag of this..feels good.. In it goes.. :-)

Are you still talking about growing?