Is this the correct type of malted barley for adding to soil?

[Phillybonker]

I just want to confirm if this is the correct type of malted barley to use in ground soil......

Gladfield Ale Malt

I'm going to grind it up with a wooden roller and top dress about a cup of it per two meter diameter holes. Anything wrong with this plan?

Also will the chitinase in the malted barley harm the mycorrhizal fungi, or does mycorrhizal fungi not have chitin in it's cell walls?

 

[Phytoplankton]

Malted barley is a good soil amendment, if you powder it, it will provide enzymes more quickly. Most things I've read say to use the powdered form, which you could do in a coffee grinder or food processor.

 

[Vegan4life]

I grind it up into a powder in my Vitamix blender, then top feed my pots about 1 cup per plant . I use 20 gallon pots.

 

[Stunger]

I just want to confirm if this is the correct type of malted barley to use in ground soil......

Gladfield Ale Malt

I'm going to grind it up with a wooden roller and top dress about a cup of it per two meter diameter holes. Anything wrong with this plan?

Also will the chitinase in the malted barley harm the mycorrhizal fungi, or does mycorrhizal fungi not have chitin in it's cell walls?

Hi Phil, I could not see the detail of that particular malt in that link although I have used the Gladstone variety myself. But as I understand it, the key thing is to get diastatic malt, i.e. it contains active enzymes. Some malted grains are peated or toasted which may diminish the important enzyme content that we want for our soil.

I buy mine from a brewing/distillation supplies shop and take the option they offer of having them lightly grind it for me. I doubt it matters much though, if given a couple of week earlier when not ground it should be the same.

However, I'd say if growing outdoors, to cover up your soil as the garden birds kicked the hell out of my pots going for the malted barley until I draped hardware cloth over them.

Pots amended and soon to be in use

• Stunger
• Sep 6, 2022

 

[Azimuth]

Using malted barley in an organic grow is a Clackamas Coot idea. He says it has many important properties for our plants including helping the organic components break down quicker, offering bug protection with the chitinase, and helping your plants finish 10-15% faster than they normally would.

You can read about it in an interview he did with Kis Organics Here. It's kind of long but I've bolded certain phrases to make finding things easier. If you don't want to read the whole thing, scroll down near the bottom looking for 'talk a little more about barley' to find that part of the discussion.

 

[Stunger]

Yep, as Azi above mentioned, the idea for malted barley is from Jim Bennett/Clackamas Coot, I think I read it from that same Kis Organics article too, some great reading!

 

[Phillybonker]

Hi Phil, I could not see the detail of that particular malt in that link although I have used the Gladstone variety myself. But as I understand it, the key thing is to get diastatic malt, i.e. it contains active enzymes. Some malted grains are peated or toasted which may diminish the important enzyme content that we want for our soil.

The key points in the details are:

"The kilning regime gives a nice toasty character to the malt and makes it perfect to use to brew a traditional English style darker ale."

"Diastatic Power (WK) min.: 190"

I buy mine from a brewing/distillation supplies shop and take the option they offer of having them lightly grind it for me. I doubt it matters much though, if given a couple of week earlier when not ground it should be the same.

Yeah I'm not going to get too fussy with that part, I haven't got a processor or coffee grinder anyway so I'll just take to it with a rolling pin.

However, I'd say if growing outdoors, to cover up your soil as the garden birds kicked the hell out of my pots going for the malted barley until I draped hardware cloth over them.

That's something I didn't think about, if I top dressed the malt barley the birds will probably take the lot and I'll be none the wiser since I'm only going to check my plants once every few weeks. Then I'll be back on this forum claiming malted barley is useless and it doesn't do anything LOL

 

[Phillybonker]

Using malted barley in an organic grow is a Clackamas Coot idea. He says it has many important properties for our plants including helping the organic components break down quicker, offering bug protection with the chitinase, and helping your plants finish 10-15% faster than they normally would.

You can read about it in an interview he did with Kis Organics Here. It's kind of long but I've bolded certain phrases to make finding things easier. If you don't want to read the whole thing, scroll down near the bottom looking for 'talk a little more about barley' to find that part of the discussion.

Yeah I read the Kis interview yesterday which convinced me to add malted barley to my plants this year. A very knowledgeable guy that Clackamas Coots.