That’s so cool!!!
4 Likes
Anyone ever tired using cold pressed neem leaves 
as part of the Mulch?
Apparently coconut farmers use dried neem leaves as Mulch and also use it as Teas and mixed with oil for sprays.
Natural pesticide to guard against:
- aphids
- whitefly
- grasshoppers
- caterpillars
8 Likes
I use neem meal in my soil. That’s an awesome idea though man. I’ve never heard of it.
@nefrella thanks ma’am. If you ever want instructions, let me know. It’s an airlift tea brewer. You can multiply your microbes and make your organic soil happy.
5 Likes
Hhaha It came to mind when I seen the Neem Leaves in my wife’s Tea cabinet. Now the leaves are mine… muahahahaba
5 Likes
I’m pretty sure you want neem seed meal, not neem leaves.
9 Likes
I was investigating charcoal last year.
The conclusions I came to were: You need to pick the correct charcoal (no easy light). Briquettes are right out, they almost always have combustible fuel in them (easy lighting). You need to break the big chunks down to 1/4 ~ 1/2 inch chunks (that is going to be messy!)
This looked good.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/maple-leaf-premium-charcoal-8-kg-0851680p.html
Next, it is best if the charcoal material is ‘charged’ (soaked in nutriments) otherwise is absorbs nutriments from the soil.
I figured it would be best used in no til beds or where you recycle your soils but I haven’t tried any practical experiments. 
Cheers
G
11 Likes
Where did you get that soil mix recipe from? What’s the purpose of the chopped banana leaves? And the coconut chips? Those are to be mixed in with the soil? I’m not criticizing, just curious. Never heard of that before. Also, rock dust is a very important amendment for organic grows, especially no till. I notice you don’t have it listed anywhere in your recipe. For every fifteen gallons of soil mix, I add eight to ten cups of basalt, just to give you an idea of how important it is.
Also, your base soil mix should be 1/3 of that HP pro, 1/3 EWC and/or compost and 1/3 aeration (lava rock, since that’s what you have). The amount of perlite in the HP pro isn’t going to be enough aeration for a mix that’s 45% HP pro and 55% compost. So, since you’re using ten gallon pots (which are probably a little too small for no till), for three pots you’d want ten gallons of HP pro, ten gallons of compost and ten gallons of lava rock mixed in., including the amendments. I noticed you said something about ordering 10 lbs of lava rock. That’s barely more than one gallon and won’t be nearly enough to provide the amount of aeration you’ll need.
As far as sprouted seed teas, I’ve used them in the past but switched to using malted barley in the last couple years. If you have access to a brew store, you can get like two pounds of malted barley for three bucks. Then just grind it in a coffee bean grinder or whatever and topdress. It’s available online, too. The seeds they use for brewing are sprouted until they’ve reached peak enzyme levels. Brewers have it down to a science.
I wouldn’t. Alfalfa needs time to kind of “cool down.” Back in the day, like ancient Egypt, they would rotate crops. Anything containing alfalfa would be chopped and left to decompose for a season before those fields would be used to grow in. You said you already have the crimson clover, right? That works. You can probably mix in just a little bit of alfalfa into your cover crop mix, if you really want to, but like I said, I wouldn’t.
Do you mean bio char? If you put a bunch of bio char (or charcoal, whatever) in the bottom of your grow bags, it’s going to get insanely soggy and gross after a while, especially if you’re growing no till. Pre-charged bio char works when it’s mixed in with your soil, but I definitely wouldn’t put a layer of it in the bottom of my air pots. And if you’re going to use bio char, it must be pre-charged. Un-charged bio char will cause all kinds of problems.
8 Likes
Also, I’d skip the cedar chips for mulch. Cedar just doesn’t sound right to me. Google “cedar mulch cannabis” and see what comes up. If you wanna use some kind of wood, I’d try to find composted bark. Why not just use hay? Or straw, whatever you wanna call it. You’re going to be planting the crimson clover anyway, which is a living mulch. I’d use straw/hay and skip the wood.
6 Likes
I thought the bio char would get charged from your soil. What type of issues could it cause?
I never charged mine, but I didn’t add a bunch either.
4 Likes
As I understand it, uncharged bio char basically acts as a leech and absorbs nutrients etc from the soil and into the char, which throws off the balance in the soil itself. At least initially. I’d imagine that as the bio char breaks down, it would release those nutrients into the soil again.
It’s been a long time since I’ve even read about the effects of uncharged bio char in a soil mix, so I can’t quote shit verbatim, but if I remember correctly, uncharged bio also kind of acts like a “magnet” for microbes or whatever and they’ll spend most of the time kind of “colonizing” the bio char rather than working on the soil itself.
That’s not the best way to put it haha, but that’s the best way I can put it. All’s I really remember is that uncharged bio char is bad haha.
4 Likes
From resources Iv found “Livingwebfarms”studies on biochar with videos, lectures and such UN charged biochar has only had some sort of negative effect on Cole crops such as any of the Brasica family
5 Likes
It makes it a leach on the soil. Makes sense. Thanks.
2 Likes
Uncharged biochar is not much of a leach on the soil. If you have shitty soil, it will cause a problem. I’ve found that with everything I add to the soil, it charges while the plant is still relatively small. Either way, just take some fish hydrolysate and soak the biochar overnight.
Keep cedar away from the garden. It can cause some issues. If you want a killer mulch, I use rice hulls and love them. You can get them from a brew shop in a HUGE 50 lb bag that will last for years.
I also like pine bark fines from Home Depot or Lowes. They come in a bag for like $5 and make great mulch. I have mixed pine bark fines into my worm bin as an aeration. It make the most amazingly fluffy EWC and the worms LOVE it. I’m actually going to go get some this weekend to start a new bin. This post reminded me of it.
Most wood chips do not cause issues with plants as long as it is not directly mixed into the soil. They do help add lots of carbon to the soil.
8 Likes
That’s too bad about cedar, the bugs hate it. It is some super oily stuff.
Thanks Tommy, I need to hit the brew store.
I need to go fishing, so I can make some knf fish fert. I think I’ll go ahead and charge my next bio char with that.
5 Likes
I thought about dropping minnows down a hole
In the pot during the first stages of the plants growth
2 Likes
Ya I agree it’s a good bug deterrent for sure with the high amount of oils in the wood itS a wood that resistant to rotting For sure
3 Likes
My buddy swear his best tomato plants have had fish in the bottom of the hole. He’s the one I work for growing pot now.
7 Likes
Speaking of plants breaking wood down over time. I’ve got a few Hügelkultur beds I grow vegetables in. Every year the beds get better. I have some HUGE logs that I buried. Too bad Hügelkultur beds take so much digging.
There are two I used to follow in Oregon and Switzerland who grew Canna on Hügelkultur. Amazing plants. I’ve always wanted to try canna on one of these beds.
9 Likes
That’s awesome @Tommy_McCain! We’ve always wanted to try Hügelkultur. Is there a preferred type of 🪵 wood to bury? I’ve seen them basically just mounded up dirt over the top, and grown on both sides sloping down. Might have to set one up this spring.
5 Likes
I had a pile of old rotted maple wood from a tree I cut down in my fence row. It was past the point of being firewood. I wanted to find a good option for using the wood decided on a Hügel bed. Cut wood goes in that progression here. Firewood for house, firewood for outdoor bon fire…too rotted? Hügelkultur bed.
I layered it with big stuff on the bottom followed by sticks, then twigs, and then some manure and straw. Then soil on top. After the first year, I never really have to water them, they just do their thing.
11 Likes