Bat Guano for Organic Indoor Gardening w/RooRman

[RooRman]

Using Bat Guano for Organic Indoor Gardening

The purpose of this thread is to assemble most of my knowledge using bat guano fertilizer for organic indoor gardening. Specifically, we will be using the Sunleaves range of bat guano products and discuss the reasons to go guano, the methods of feeding and the different types. All of this information is compiled from my own personal experience in the use of this product for growing cannabis.

Why Organics? Why Guano?

Mainly, organic gardening produces a cleaner tasting final product than something grown with chemical fertilizers. This is the subject of much argument, but organic gardening, when done correctly, should perform just as well as chemical fertilizers with the added benefit of being all natural and having a cleaner taste. Why do you think organic tomatoes cost more than hydroponic ones? Better taste. This is not meant to incite argument, this post is just to outline another way of gardening besides gardening in soil with chemicals or hydroponics. If you have great results with chemical fertilizers then more power to you.

Bat Guano is natures super fertilizer, it contains many necessary macro and micro nutrients as well as a whole host of beneficial micro-organisms that cannot be duplicated by a chemical fertilizer. Also, bat guano, when used correctly, makes it virtually impossible to inflict your plants with accidental nutrient burn.

How to feed.

Bat Guano should be made into a tea for regular feedings. It can also be added to the soil dry as a time release fertilizer, although quantities for this are entirely circumstantial.

Tea preparation is as follows:

I use guano (3 tbls.) to 1 gal. of water. I mix this in a large bucket using 3 quarts of warm (not hot) water and 1 quart of cold water. The reason for this is I feel it breaks down the bat pellets better if you are going to add it directly to the feeding water, which is what I do. I stir the 3 quarts of warm water as I add the 3 tbls. of bat guano, mixing continually. Then I gradually pour in the 1 quart of cold water. Also, let it sit at LEAST overnight or up to 48 hours before feeding to your plants. Then cover loosely, if the cover is solid, punch air holes in it. I water 3-4 times a week. A dilute mixture for young plants can be made with 2 or as little as 1 tbls. and still remain effective and non-burning for younger plants.

Try making tea in cold water, you'll find out the hard way like I did it just sinks to the bottom NEVER to be absorbed into the water. Don't waste your sh*t!

Now Sunleaves says 3 times a week is max feeding for bat guano, however organic gardening is not an exact science. I feed based what the plant needs, and I feel if you have good enough drainage in your soil and have run-off every time you water then it is fine to feed this often.


Types of Guano.

Bat guano comes in different types. The N-P-K ratio of the guano is dependent on what the type of bat it came from and what it’s diet consists of. For instance, Mexican bats eat bugs so their guano is high in nitrogen. While Jamaican bats feed on fruit, so their guano is high in phosphorus. Lets explore some different types of guano and their application.

Mexican Bat Guano (10-2-1). This type of guano is very high nitrogen. This makes it perfect for the vegetative stages of growth. Even when the plant is young it can be fed a dilute mixture if the soil happens to contain very little nutrients. This type of guano can be used throughout the vegetative stage of growth.

Peruvian Seabird Guano (10-10-2) This type of guano is NOT bat guano. It comes from Peruvian seabirds and is then transferred into dry-pellet form. This type of guano, because it is not from bats, is very “hot”, meaning it will burn plants very easily if prepared incorrectly or over applied. Do not exceed the recommended amount when preparing the tea and allow it to sit for at least 72 hours before feeding your plants. This is 24 hours longer than bat guano because the pellets are harder to break down as well as the high potential for burning the plants otherwise. Peruvian Guano is both high in nitrogen and phosphorus making it ideal for the transitional phase of growth when you are finishing the vegetative phase and beginning to flower. The nitrogen will sustain the plant through it’s initial stretch and the phosphorus will allow for root expansion and as a result better yields. On a side note, many people have poor results with this type simply because they do not prepare the tea properly or let it sit long enough the end result being damage to their plants that is beyond repair.

Jamaican Bat Guano (1-10-0.2) This type of bat guano is high in phosphorus. It is perfect for the early-mid flowering cycle once females are well established. I like to use this type for most of my flowering phase in conjunction with Fox Farms Tiger Bloom at ½ strength for massive blooms.

Indonesian Bat Guano (0.5-12-0.2) This type of guano is the ultimate low-nitrogen, high-phosphorus bat guano. It is perfectly suited for the end of the flowering cycle before the final flush. This drops nitrogen levels low to cut growth and signal the autumn harvest as well as provide a huge resource of phosphorus to bulk up buds and add to trichome count.

In conclusion, you can now see that bat guano is perfect for growing your own clean organic cannabis. It is easily customized to every stage of the plants growth from seedling to harvest. Organic gardening is by no means an exact science. Depending on your atmosphere, light, and type of plant you may need to feed more, less, or perhaps amend your feeding water with something that bat guano does not contain, for instance to stabilize pH etc. 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.

[RangerDanger]

Excellent info RooRman.
I use bat guano. I porefer to make a concentrate. Depending on what kind it is and what the recommeded amt to use is, I mix the shit and and water together in a 5-gal. bucket. I ferment it for a few days, stirring often, then I keep it sealed and take a certain amt. out every day to add to my feeding regimen.

I used to live in an area with lots of abandoned mines and an old abandoned hotel (which unfortunately burnt down). I used to dig out my own bat guano.
I couldn't determine what the N-P-K was so I used a small amt. throughout the grow.

I wonder what the N-P-K of vampire bat shit is?

[RooRman]

I have also heard of this method. It envolves making a concentrated tea to add to plain water and then feed, instead of just making a tea to feed directly. This is in fact probably the best choice for bat guano you harvested yourself.

I have heard of people using an old pillow case or nylons to make a tea bag in which to suspend a larger amount of guano in a larger amount of water to make this concentrated tea. I didn't add this info because I personaly have never tried this method and I figured I had better give advice that I know for sure works. Also, I feel for small gardens my method is good as you don't use as much guano each time to construct the tea and it only lasts about 30 days, so you need to use it all in that time.

[Torco]

I think this should be a sticky, great info here.

[RooRman]

I would be honored to gain "sticky" worthy status as I wrote all that myself. No cutting and pasting together different articles.

[Akornpatch]

Good stuff RooRman!

[vintner]

Yes good stuff RooMan. As an avid vegi gardener, I would like to know if you've tried adding a oxygen to your tea while it's fermenting via a fish tank air pump and stone? That is how I make compost tea for my vegies. The added oxygen is great for the roots. You can also add your tea to a one gallon jug that is about 3/4 full and shake the crap out of it right before you water your plants w/it.

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by RangerDanger

I wonder what the N-P-K of vampire bat shit is?

This may have been a joke, but seeing as such bats DO actually exist we can somewhat figure this out. Blood is high in protein, thus it's guano would probably be high in nitrogen as well. Also, if the vampire bat overfed, which they do often, it would excrete iron as a waste product as well. However, I imagine most of this waste is disposed of via their urine and not their excrement, making their guano less useful for growing plants. In addition, Vampire bats do not roost, meaning that they do not live in large groups. Therefore large quantities of their guano is not readily availible for harvest and obtaining it would not only be expensive but impractical.

[RangerDanger]

Yeah I knew they didn't live in large colonies; good thing for us mammals too.
Could you imagine a swarm of vampire bats leaving in a cloud like out of Carlsbad Cavern--YIKES!!!

[realtalgrower]

Sadly I missed this post till now. Some amazing stuff here. Any good online supply stores for guano?

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by RangerDanger

Yeah I knew they didn't live in large colonies; good thing for us mammals too.
Could you imagine a swarm of vampire bats leaving in a cloud like out of Carlsbad Cavern--YIKES!!!

Actually, Vampire Bats do not find human blood all that desirable. I imagine they would bite a human if there was NO other food source to be found, but they prefer a nice cow or deer's blood over human blood any day.

Originally Posted by realtalgrower

Sadly I missed this post till now. Some amazing stuff here. Any good online supply stores for guano?

www.wormsway.com has the complete line of Sunleaves Bat Guano. I ordered the International House of Guano, which comes with the 4 types of guano (including the seabird) for $29.99 USD. This contains the full size bags you would pay about $7.00 USD for a piece, not just small samples, so it is slightly more cost effective and practical to buy it this way. Plus, it comes with a helpful feeding schedule to get you pointed in the right direction as well as comprehensive instructions for preparation that are not included with the individual bags.

[realtalgrower]

^^^ RooR your an conisour and a gentelmen. Thanks so much. I really think this needs sticky'd. Really takes the fear out of the word "Organic" I plan to pick up my guano like... NOW.

[RooRman]

Originally Posted by realtalgrower

^^^ RooR your an conisour and a gentelmen. Thanks so much. I really think this needs sticky'd. Really takes the fear out of the word "Organic" I plan to pick up my guano like... NOW.

Glad to have been the one to have opened your eyes to this great method of gardening. If there is a fear in most people that organics are difficult, they should certainly reconsider. I feel organic gardening is actually more forgiving then using chemical ferts. which are generally stronger and will burn more easily if over-applied. Also, organic ferts. do not cause as much salt buildup in the soil like chemical ferts. do, so you don't need to flush as often throughout your grow.

[realtalgrower]

Awesome! I am currently using "almost organic" liquid nutes, but I am just not enjoying hydro. I think that using organic guano nutes in soil is going to be a pure joy. Especially now that I am not living in fear!

[realtalgrower]

Item Size Price Qty

International House of Guanos $29.95 1


Its on its way! Now I hope you realize I will be asking you question daily in PM's!