Well, it's the same compost, just a larger percentage of the mix and I didn't have this issue with it last round. I can't believe just more of it would cause the issue.
Does it have biochar? could that be leaching it as it charges?
I does, but it's prechaged in extracts of worm castings, comfrey and nettle for a month so that shouldn't be it.
Very cool. This is next. I just wonder how to get rid of the membrane in an indoor kitchen. I don't have access to outdoor fire.
I have a small backpacking stove that takes all manner of natural fuel, pine cones, dried grass, dead leaves, etc., but I usually use twigs. It'll also take other fuels for camping like alcohol and such. That setup doesn't take up any more than a square foot when in operation and is about the size of a half coffee mug when put away, so maybe look into something like that.
You can, though the solids will continue to break down over time if you just leave them in the jar. I periodically add a small bit of worm castings to refresh the Microbial action.
Excellent idea, thanks!
Actually, since I will do a small batch, this may not be too much of a schlepp.
Great stuff. At what sort of interval do you add the ewc?
When I think of it. The original microbes from the castings, or compost, or leaf mold soil will be fine for probably a month or more, but I like to freshen the jars up periodically.
The plants are looking very lush green now in this new mix so I think they like it, though I am seeing lots of crinkly leaves which spells 'over watered' to me.I made up a new batch of soil today with yet another new recipe. This version is:
10 L
1P Leaf Mold
2P Worm castings
3P Compost
3P Old soil
1P Biochar
8T Stone Dust
2T Mineral mix (Azomite, Gypsum, Oyster Shell flour, Dusts of sand, stone, char, and eggshell)
2T Meals mix (Crustacean, Neem, Karanja, Malted barley)
2T Powdered Eggshells
8T Brown rice
And I'll dust the plant roots at planting with some Great White Myco (if I remember)
And please, no one tell @ReservoirDog that there's no perlite or any other aeration aggregate in the mix. He's got enough going on that I don't want him worrying about my plants.
Edit: But I'm not an idiot, I recognize that aeration is an important component so, after consulting with Mother Nature, I'm going to try using a half dozen worms to serve that function. Who knows, it might be even better as they tunnel around leaving air channels throughout the mix.
What it does do, however, is free up space for more compost in place of that aggregate in my small buckets and hopefully will get me further along into flower before deficiencies start showing up.
That's the plan.
I have mine in my basement, though it doesn't freeze down there. But even if it does and that kills the worms, there will be enough cocoons ready to hatch when the weather warms up which will restart the cycle without having to do much of anything. And you could insulate the container during the coldest months.
That's how I stocked mine - wild caught.
I went foraging around in early spring in leaf litter and managed to find a few. Then I partially buried a bucket in my garden with lots of holes in it, added kitchen scraps and compost to the bucket, put on a tight fitting lid to keep critters out and when I checked a week later, the volunteers had self-selected themselves into the bucket.
I find red wrigglers in the bottom of my compost pile if I keep it nice and wet Bode. Also, the poop pile at the llama farm was almost solid worms (red wrigglers) down low if you know anyone with them.
That's cool to know, so any pile will do!
Rabbit is one of the best as you can use their manure without even having to compost it unlike horse, cow, chicken, etc. Don't know about Llama's though.
