With biochar??? I’ll have to look into that. And composting… you mean in with the compost pile? Or by itself?
Yes I mean in the compost so it gets charged with microbes and nutes or charged in a tea. Yeah, look it up.
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Make your own and amend it.
1/3 peat with no additives
1/3 pumice
1/3 HQ compost (I use Bu’ Blend)
To that add:
1 cup fertrell fish meal per cubic ft of base mix
1 cup acadian kelp meal per cu ft base mix
1 cup basalt rock dust per cu ft base mix
1 cup pacific pearl oyster shell powder
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Makes complete sense. The biochar acts as a nutrient reservoir, or as I read it, a coral reef for microlife. So impregnating it first makes sense for quick use. Thanks for the tip!
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Nice simple recipe. I will try that on a couple plants this year and see how they fair next to my complicated mix. I looked for shell powder last year with no luck. Using colloidal rock phosphate and crushed oyster shell instead. Where did you get yours?
Check the thread I made lol.
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Ok so you found another rabbit whole lol, so there is this theory that biochar retains the intelligence of the plant it’s made from they say that biochar made from the cannabis plant has the intelligence from the previous cycle so like how to protect from disease, drought , bugs, heat, ECT I know it sounds crazy but once I started doing it things got a whole lot easier and as far as charging it while it’s hot take a tea or so jadam JLF or lab/worm castings stirred in water or a combination of the three or how ever, pure or spray it on the char while hot and it flashes the char with steam and it clears out the honeycomb structure and the filles it with nutrients and microbes I perfer the JLF and lab mix because they are facultative anaerobes they can handle the harsher environment then the aerobic ones can I like to mix/bury mine so the microbes can mine it and it act as a moisture well it’s pretty awesome stuff I use a Christmas popcorn tin if you’re doing cannabis stalk put them in tin set tin on a fire keeps cleaner and you won’t lose no mass due to oxidation/ash if you’re just using wood, sticks n such build fire once you get coal bed take shovel fill tin then pure to clear and charge 
edit oh and I also take a sledge hammer and bust em up to smaller pieces makes for a easier spread like a finer mix I keep some larger pieces like AA battery size but most is like fines edit then if you add multiple cycles of stalk as be char it increases your soils intelligence and this increases your compacity to reach genetic potential in turn increases genetic expressions:) onward down the rabbit hole lol
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Not or but both it’s a nutrient well and microbes hotel it also increases cation exchange and increases moisture holding compacity and a cpl more things too I forget, it’s really badass stuff
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Fascinating. Any links for further reading?
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I made the switch from Ocean Forest to Strawberry Fields a couple years ago. Strawberry Fields is coco based, not peat. it seemed that when Ocean Forest gets dry, water pours right through it. Strawberry Fields does a much better job of absorbing water when it’s dry.
funny, I’ve never fried a plant in plain Fox Farms soil… might get a touch of tip burn on a smaller plant, but that goes away quickly. I mean I’ve popped seeds n Fox Farms and had zero problem with the seedling getting burned (it didn’t happen).
things that make ya go , Hmmmmm…
I use FFHF or Ocean
The main reason is on the east coast not many places sell it.
Lucky for me a.nursey 20 mins away does.
Now, I’m not saying i got broad mites from it
But they are on the west coast for sure.
It is possible I just got them here.
So i now sterilize all soil.
Pour boiling water over it in pots and add fish emulsion
To rebuild bacteria.
So ya Love FF
All my notes are FF.
I used FF HF soil consecutively for 20 grows or more.
Just flushed soil
Sifted old roots out and kept on banging.
It was not till after about 2 years I bought 3 new bags
And then broad mites.
Not saying it was their soil
Could been on my end.
So ya I’m a fan of their soil for sure.
I use their fruit and flower
Powder and top dress the soil when I flip.
Then I use open sesame
First weeks
Beastie blooms mid flower
And cha ching late flower
As directed.
Again I don’t blame ff for mites
They are a new plague
And im not sure anyone could provide affordable soil
And promise they aren’t hiding somewhere.
Always sterilize from now on
Is my motto.
Good luck
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Yes dude’s name is cuauhtemoc villa https://youtu.be/1JHj5ZRcaBM
Here’s a video with him and Matt powers it’s a hour and a half long but there is many more I just had to dig through 4years worth of videos cus I couldn’t remember his name lol
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He worked with a college in south America studying terra preta I’m not sure if it’s the right video or not but it will get you started another interesting tidbit is that the secret ingredient to terra preta is chunks of fired clay pots they found that thru the fireing process it like excites the clay partical and causes it to emit infrared light which in turn like supercharges certain microbes they use it as a food source of sorts I think one is the purple nonsulfer bacteria which is one of the main ones in worm castings like I said a whole nother rabbit whole lol I hop that helps actual white papers I not sure I’m sure that south America college probably submitted some but I don’t remember the name of the college but it should be able to be found using key words edit sorry I might need to tag ya @upstate
hopefully it opens the pic trying to show you why I was busy:) making brownies in the AM lol 214g trimmings to 5 sticks butter oh yes enuff for one whole brownie have ya trippin lol
lol 214g trimmings to 5 sticks butter oh yes enuff for one whole brownie have ya trippin lol
Good possibility that they came from the soil. Another decent possibility is that they are hitchhiking on your clothes from the store you went to. When everybody has sick plants they freak out and go to the store to find a solution, bringing their problems with them sometimes, especially so when the problems are so small and impossible to see with the naked eye. Years ago my remote grow got russet mites after a visitor showed up just after going to the local grow store. Believe me when i tell you there was no other possible source. His grow 30 miles away got them simultaneously. If i were you I’d make it common practice to sterilize your soil AND your clothes after going to the store.
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That’s good to know the other soil is a better option for efficient watering. It is good practice to water twice to avoid dry pockets in the soil. The Roots themselves will act as gutters to drain the water out of the pot, creating dry pockets. Watering a half hour after you water the first time will avoid these dry pockets. I also found Fox Farm mixed with my garden soil will become repellent when it is very dry and it’s at these times that I dunk the whole pot underwater for a couple minutes or until bubbles stop rising. Having a dish underneath your container also helps.
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Yep I’m familiar with that special South American soil. I’ve been trying to build it at my own place. Still haven’t added pottery. Or human feces lol. One thing at a time.
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I’ve done pottery once but moved before I was able to see any results but I’ve got like 60 of the small terracotta pots/red clay from an auction I’m gonna bust up and double dig a cpl rows see what happens edit lol I won’t use feces though but I will use urea
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I’ve been using a half and half of ocean forest and Happy frog but the price was starting to bother me.
I got a bag of groundswell and the first xplant I put in got burnt and nute locked for 2 weeks. was told it was not as hot as ocean Forest but I’ve never used straight ocean Forest. I’ve had great results with my mixture and I’m going to go back to what I know and what’s worked.
I’m assuming shipping it to you is not an option? I’ve bought mine online for the most part.
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