Cal Mag & Silica

[bobrown14]

I remember you telling me about recycle sil. I have actually have it noted in my nute section of my cultivation notes. Idk why I thought it was something you add when recharging the soil (during winter months for example) probs because that was what I was talking about when you mentioned it LOL. I will have to see if I can find it on the 'zon

The build a bloom product could be of interest. My only concern here is that I read on some product site (I think it was one of the many Humboldt nute sites) that you have to be careful what they are using for chelation.

If you want organic silica - there are options

Pro-tekt -
Potassium (K2O)……….3.7%
Silicate (SiO2)……….7.8%
Derived from potassium silicate.

You can look for horsetail fern and harvest and make a tea with it. It's very high in Silica. Plants love it and totally organic.

The cal/mag stuff.... meh. I'm an organic farmer and I do not use any of that stuff. It messes with the microbial community. Best option for cal/mag is to be sure those elements are in the soil in a sufficient quantity. You wont have a need for a bottle of it.

Pro-tekt is one of 2 bottled stuff I use.
The other is Ful-power - fulvic acid and its organic.

Pro-tekt - a quart lasted me like 4 years
Ful-power I use a lot as well and it lasts a year-ish.

Can foliar these two on and/or water in.

 

[Enjoying]

What do you use to boost calcium and magnesium in the soil?
What do you use for microbial life?

I am planning on using compost tea(I need to go pick it up) and Soil Balance Pro. I may just stick with SBP but I feel I would have a more rounded community with compost tea than just SBP.

I can't find the rice hulls on Amazon =[ (so I will have to keep them at the top of the nute list for recharge purposes when I can wait for them to be shipped). I will have to read up on both pro tekt and TPS for silica purposes. They seem to be the same so probs just pick one really.

I'll probably just keep the horsetail for my skin, nails, teeth and hair =] Thanks for the thought though.

I appreciate everyones input!

 

[bobrown14]

For calcium and magnesium I use vermi-compost, Kelp meal and crustacean meal along with Oyster shell flower and gypsum fine ground.

I use "Coots mix" - pretty basic organic recipe. What I use.

I used to use compost teas. Been reading up on it and found that just top dress with compost and water thru the top dress is the way to go. Basically compost tea is just diluted compost so may as well put the whole deal in there instead of watering it down.

Thats how we always did outdoor gardening and not sure why/where the compost tea came into the picture. Basically the tea your breeding bacteria the bad and the good. Its the bad ones we wanna be careful of. They will be in the mix. Then you get that on your produce and people can get sick. Thats the idea. So just add compost as a top dress and let the soil do its thing.

For mycos I use WOW - Wallace Organic Wonder. Read the label on the counts of the mircrobes - this one has a bunch more than most any I've seen and its cheap enough.

 

[Enjoying]

Coir, compost (composted organic dairy cow manure, wood chips, straw, concentrations of yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle, dandelion, & oak bark), fir bark, perlite, worm castings, soybean meal, fish meal, fish bone meal, langbeinite, alfalfa meal, crab meal, green sand, neem seed meal, volcanic ash & kelp meal.

Those are the ingredients in my dirt. I was hoping to not have to feed them but it looks like I need to. I have some BioLive from down to earth but I am starting LIGHT as I killed my strawberry with it and my kiwi or silver vine(tbd still) didn't take to well but it did recover. But now that I look at the box Idk that I will give it to them because they are in flower and I need to cut back the nitrogen though they started like a week ago so I think a small dose of it will be ok... more concerned with killing it like the strawberry honestly lol.

I plan on using baby bu's compost to recharge the soil over the winter months along with Mykos. I'll more than likely add some rice hull powder for silica and maybe hit it with a balanced fertilizer so when it's time to put it in pots it's not overly hot but has the nutes readily available. I'll keep my focus on the microbial life as I know this is key in organic gardening.

That makes sense compost tea wise. I may just keep a stock of their compost for that reason. Along with earth worm castings.

I have seen Wallace in my many searches for nutes. I am leaning towards towards SBP because it supposedly boosts terp and oil production so I figured I would give it a try and Mykos from Xtreme because it has the one organism SBP is missing. Focusing on cannabis specific here.

 

[bobrown14]

Your BU Blend if you have it in hand top mix that with EWC 1/2 and 1/2 add about 2 cups to each container then water in. You will be fine and that will be a good short and long tern nutrient boost and organic. Wanna see the magic add a 1/2 cup of malted barley ground fine in with the ewc and BU blend.

I dont think you need to add fertilizer. You have a decent soil mix. It gets better over time. I'm running the same soil I mixed in 2016 and I run it hard in flower all the time. At least 25 rounds in the same soil I only add ewc, kelp meal and some malted barley ground fine.

If you're concerned about Calcium add in some more fish bone meal and kelp meal while the soil is sitting dormant.

Kelp meal has every macro and micro nutrient plants need to live. EWC has most all and lots of beneficial bacteria.

When you add the EWC to the kelp meal the bacteria in the EWC break down the kelp over the flowering period so you get your slow release nutrients from that breakdown. The ewc has readily available nutrients all you need is water.

 

[Nunyabiz]

That's more or less what I do.

I just use Craft Blend which has all the above in it.
My EWC mostly comes from the worms in my pot fresh daily.
I will add a Alfalfa Sprouted Seed Tea to the soil for the Triacontanol and the worms love the ground up seeds.

This is what's in the Craft Blend.
It's perfect to reamend soil with.

Ingredients all Equal by Weight:

1. Thorvin Premium Kelp Meal
2. Karanja Cake - Terviva
3. Alfalfa Meal
4. CalPhos
5. Camelina Meal
6. Crustacean Meal
7. Fish Meal
8. 3x Fish Bone Meal
9. Soybean Meal
10. Sul-Po-Mag (Also Known as K-Mag or Langbeinite)
11. Organic Malted Barley
12. Premium Calcium Montmorillonite
13. Micronized Basalt - Blue Ridge Meta
14. Gypsum
15. Oyster Flour

 

[Enjoying]

Do you have a preferred brand of EWC? I read that some companies force feed their worms food that doesn't actually feed them. I understand this is the internet but if it is true I would prefer to spend my dollars elsewhere. I hear AgroWin is good (from what I have read) but I can't find it on Amazon or anywhere really lol. Maybe I need to look harder =]

I made note of what you said about BU'S Compost and EWC in my soil file for future reference.
1/2 1/2 EWC and BU’S COMPOST(~4 CUPS WHEN COMBINED) + 1/2C FINELY GROUND MALTED BARELY
TOP DRESS WATER IN
Is what I equated it too. Could I add kelp to this for flower nutrition? I assume so but I don't know what amount. 1/2 to 1 cup is my guess.

I've heard of using malted barely but I have no clue what it does. Can you explain?

I put the info about what EWC does to kelp and I'm assuming it does it to all nutrients? This is the type of stuff I like to make note of so I have some sort of idea of what I am doing when I do it myself.

Oh also, what is leading me to believe I may need some fertilizer is my lower branches are turning yellow. They have been through the entire time but I know I have made a lot of mistakes (started REALLY LATE, transplanted to late, over watered and probably a few other things) I have the watering figured out now for the most part. I just water it when the pot is light now. The GG4 is mighty small as a whole (leaves are very small and it's short) but it's flowering nicely at this point. The CBD Mango Haze has some pistils but is def slower then the GG. I'm assuming that's just because it's sativa. I also dosed it hard with EWC when I transplanted it, like way more than I meant too LOL. So it's surprising it's showing possible nute defs.

Anyways thanks for all of your help!

 

[Enjoying]

That's more or less what I do.

I just use Craft Blend which has all the above in it.
My EWC mostly comes from the worms in my pot fresh daily.
I will add a Alfalfa Sprouted Seed Tea to the soil for the Triacontanol and the worms love the ground up seeds.

This is what's in the Craft Blend.
It's perfect to reamend soil with.

Ingredients all Equal by Weight:

1. Thorvin Premium Kelp Meal
2. Karanja Cake - Terviva
3. Alfalfa Meal
4. CalPhos
5. Camelina Meal
6. Crustacean Meal
7. Fish Meal
8. 3x Fish Bone Meal
9. Soybean Meal
10. Sul-Po-Mag (Also Known as K-Mag or Langbeinite)
11. Organic Malted Barley
12. Premium Calcium Montmorillonite
13. Micronized Basalt - Blue Ridge Meta
14. Gypsum
15. Oyster Flour

Making note of this blend so when I recharge I can take a look at the list and pick what I want. Where do you get the craft blend in case i get lazy lol? What is karanja? I think it is neem seed meal. I will have to look for some CalPhos also.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Making note of this blend so when I recharge I can take a look at the list and pick what I want. Where do you get the craft blend in case i get lazy lol? What is karanja? I think it is neem seed meal. I will have to look for some CalPhos also.

I get Craft Blend at Buildasoil.

Oddly enough Karanja and Neem are totally different plants yet are virtually identical to each other in what they provide the plant.

If I need to buy worm castings I buy the Colorado Worm Company Vermicompost also at Buildasoil.

 

[Enjoying]

Both are noted in my nutes bookmarks. I have been looking for a quality EWC.

I have read that neem seed meal fed through the soil is more effective than the oil used as a foliar spray. The only thing you have to figure out is how much to use for the plant to have enough to push through out it's tissues as it grows. I thought neem and karanja were the same because when I saw karanja it was "neem/karanja" makes sense why now though.

 

[bobrown14]

Craft blend is good. I have used it in the past for amending my soil after a run.

For kelp yes you can add it in with your EWC and Compost.

So do 1/2 cup of kelp 1 cup of Compost 1 cup of EWC 1/2 cup of malted barley ground fine.

Can double that up to make your mix and top dress then water.

Its not going to be a turnaround thing but your plants will be healthy and the end result is what matters.

With this and with the craft blend you do not need any fertilizers. You can add craft blend to your top dress mix but I would go easy say 1 tbs per plant.

I used the craft blend more for soil re-amending and only used very little. As mentioned like 1 tbs per pot in the hole with EWC at up pot.

 

[bobrown14]

Making note of this blend so when I recharge I can take a look at the list and pick what I want. Where do you get the craft blend in case i get lazy lol? What is karanja? I think it is neem seed meal. I will have to look for some CalPhos also.

The calphos is why I say go easy with the craft blend. You can really mess the soil up with too much of this stuff.

Karanja cake = kernels left over after the karanja seeds are crushed for their oil. This is from Asia specifically more so form India.

Neem Cake - residue from the processing of neem seed and neem plant material to make oil from it. This oil is used in many things in again India mainly. Its a very big part of their culture as well. Its got pesticide properties among other good things. You can actually soak the neem cake it water like making a tea. Let that cool and dilute say 1-2 tbs of tea with 1/2 gal of water and use that as a foliar instead of purchasing the neem oil. You will get say 30-40% of the strength of the neem oil without the cost and its not an oil. Oils on plants as pesticide can cause Phytotoxicity. Meaning leaf burn.


These soil recipes and amendment recipes are not pick what you like type deals. They are blends specific amounts to make a whole. Like baking a cake not really very many substitutes right or its not a cake anymore.

So we mentioned Craft Blend and we mentioned Coots Mix - both are options that you use the recipe follow it. There's not really a pic and choose. You get into trouble then how will anyone help you. These 2 mixes are proven to work as a whole.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Depends on pot size.
I usually use about 1/3 rd of a cup for top dress and up to a cup to reamend in between grows, but iam in 25 gallon pots.

 

[Enjoying]

VERY valuable information here, thanks! I guess I won't be picking and choosing and just go with what's been created as it's more balanced and as you said if I run into trouble how can anyone help. Plus it's been tested and works so why change it? I'll probably go with Craft (though now with this info about CalPhos I may still be search of something comparable) because after reading on buildasoil it seems coots may be light when it comes to the flower nutrition. But only one person said this so who knows for sure...

Notes updated with the amounts for mixing kelp, EWC, compost and malted barely. Along with 1tbs per pot of craft if I do indeed buy it. It's good to know that I have looked at enough recipes to get a feel for how much one should use when mixing things too!

 

[Enjoying]

Depends on pot size.
I usually use about 1/3 rd of a cup for top dress and up to a cup to reamend in between grows, but iam in 25 gallon pots.

Those are big pots dude. I am in five gallon pots. If I were to go bigger it'd just be in the ground. Are you referring to craft or...? How much craft would you use for enough dirt to fill four five gallon contains as a re amend?

I picked up some TPS Silica Gold and feel like a big dummy. I didn't look into it as deep as I should of. It's not ORMI listed nor organic and is synthetic(according to ORMI site). Debating sending it back but I really want to give these guys some silica. I am not sure they really need it though lol. I got a few dollars and figured I would dose them since a heat wave came but they are standing up happier than before praying to the sun so I'm pretty sure they are good. I'll probably send this back and order those rice hulls top dress and again when I re amend.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Those are big pots dude. I am in five gallon pots. If I were to go bigger it'd just be in the ground. Are you referring to craft or...? How much craft would you use for enough dirt to fill four five gallon contains as a re amend?

I picked up some TPS Silica Gold and feel like a big dummy. I didn't look into it as deep as I should of. It's not ORMI listed nor organic and is synthetic(according to ORMI site). Debating sending it back but I really want to give these guys some silica. I am not sure they really need it though lol. I got a few dollars and figured I would dose them since a heat wave came but they are standing up happier than before praying to the sun so I'm pretty sure they are good. I'll probably send this back and order those rice hulls top dress and again when I re amend.

Yes Craft Blend.

This is from the Buildasoil site what they recommend.

• "Re-Amend your used Organic Soil at 2-4 Cups Per Cubic Foot
• Top Dress at 1/4 - 1 Cup Per Plant"

If you use Craft Blend do not add more Calphos.
About all I would add along with Craft Blend is some Bokashi and the occasional sprouted seed tea.
If you are doing actual organic and pretty much water only then a minimum of 15 gallon fabric pots are needed.

 

[Enjoying]

Yes Craft Blend.

This is from the Buildasoil site what they recommend.

• "Re-Amend your used Organic Soil at 2-4 Cups Per Cubic Foot
• Top Dress at 1/4 - 1 Cup Per Plant"

If you are doing actual organic and pretty much water only then a minimum of 15 gallon fabric pots are needed.

I am trying to do actual organic, I think. I am not sure what you mean by that but my dirt ingredients are up there some where (if you can't find them easily and are interested I will post again no problem or just google baby bu's bio dynamic potting soil from malibu compost). I haven't given them anything but compost tea back in the seedling stage (only one ounce), the guy who makes that is VERY apt about organics especially in cannabis growing and while he didn't give me his recipe and I am sure he didn't give me all the ingredients from what I can tell it's organic - clover,alfalfa,ewc and kelp are what he has mentioned. I will go get some Saturday to give all the plants, it's past time.

I don't want to use anything that isn't labeled organic or isn't on the omri site. I know some companies produce products that are organic but they don't want to pay the fee for the label and I am good with that. This is why reading the ingredients and researching what you are not familiar with is so important to me.

I don't really want to use anything synthetic and I wish organic had written into it's practices that the animal byproducts be from animals that weren't fed or treated with any antibiotic, hormone, gmo feed and anything else I am missing there but I suppose by definition these byproducts are organic just with traces of chemicals that aren't.

I am sure as you can tell from my posts that I am very focused on trying to be as close to what I would call organic. I am not interested in miracle grow or the other various purely synthetic fertilizers. In my garden I use Dr. Earth and/or Down to Earth. I have used Fox Farm but it seems some of the stuff in bottles isn't organic - I have never used a bottle form them though. I have read they may create saponins in the soil also which to my understanding isn't good. I won't even use a companys organic line if they produce synthetic because that still feeds their synthetic side. Hopefully none of the products I use have parent companies that produce synthetics...

 

[Nunyabiz]

I am trying to do actual organic, I think. I am not sure what you mean by that but my dirt ingredients are up there some where (if you can't find them easily and are interested I will post again no problem or just google baby bu's bio dynamic potting soil from malibu compost). I haven't given them anything but compost tea back in the seedling stage (only one ounce), the guy who makes that is VERY apt about organics especially in cannabis growing and while he didn't give me his recipe and I am sure he didn't give me all the ingredients from what I can tell it's organic - clover,alfalfa,ewc and kelp are what he has mentioned. I will go get some Saturday to give all the plants, it's past time.

I don't want to use anything that isn't labeled organic or isn't on the omri site. I know some companies produce products that are organic but they don't want to pay the fee for the label and I am good with that. This is why reading the ingredients and researching what you are not familiar with is so important to me.

I don't really want to use anything synthetic and I wish organic had written into it's practices that the animal byproducts be from animals that weren't fed or treated with any antibiotic, hormone, gmo feed and anything else I am missing there but I suppose by definition these byproducts are organic just with traces of chemicals that aren't.

I am sure as you can tell from my posts that I am very focused on trying to be as close to what I would call organic. I am not interested in miracle grow or the other various purely synthetic fertilizers. In my garden I use Dr. Earth and/or Down to Earth. I have used Fox Farm but it seems some of the stuff in bottles isn't organic - I have never used a bottle form them though. I have read they may create saponins in the soil also which to my understanding isn't good. I won't even use a companys organic line if they produce synthetic because that still feeds their synthetic side. Hopefully none of the products I use have parent companies that produce synthetics...

Then you should think about larger pots .
Most of your nutrients comes from feeding microbes, bacteria, fungi.
Your soil is kinda like a battery and the microbes and bugs, worms etc are busy breaking all that down to plant available nutrients to charge that battery.
All those amendments need time to break down and the more alive and healthy your soil is the faster it can charge that battery.
A larger pot gives a solid healthy root system to tap into the soil and build that symbiotic relationship with the mycorrhizae.
The plant will use up to 30% of it's energy creating food in the roots for the microbes.

Or you could do a super soil type thing where you put very nutrient rich hot soil in the bottom 1/3rd of the pot, that would work in a 7 gallon fabric pot and feed some compost teas.

I add saponins to my soil in the form of Yucca Extract every time I water.

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[Stltoed]

Sorry if this is the wrong area to post this question but I couldn't find a nutrition section.

Does anyone know of an organic, fast acting cal mag and silica? They don't need to be mixed together, Idk if that even exists. I know they do separately. But I want to make sure it's organic and I'd like to get the information from some one who has used the product.

Thanks!

Is it going into soil or hydro?

 

[Enjoying]

Is it going into soil or hydro?

I will probably always be in soil. I know for the foreseeable future I will be for sure.