High quality compost, easier said than done.

Houstini

Houstini

Well-Known Member
So I’m on year 4 of my organic mix, I used a basic coots mix as the basis of my blend. First year I purchased bags of compost to use(bu’s and worm castings)

Second year, I and added more garden compost and some other various things I picked up like bagged mushroom compost and steer manure.

seeing a trend here,every year Ive Added compost, pumice and peat along with some fresh dry ingredients. It works great and is minimal work except for soil management.

year 3 I got something called cow peat, was a great compost that I really liked.

this year I found someone nearby that is actually putting together beautiful compost well crafted compost with zero municipal inputs. excellent people that know what they are doing and working with leading soil biologists to make their products better.

I couldn’t be happier, just turned my cover crop over and topped off the beds(100 gallon fabric pots) with this. I’ll add some barley and give them a nice tea to get the soil where I want it. Before the outdoor ladies get in there.

what is the best compost you have found? What do you look for if a farm like this isn’t nearby. I’ve spent 7 years looking for decent compost.
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crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
i don’t have a farm nearby so i use homemade ewc as my base compost mostly. feed them a rich diet including coffee, aloe vera, all the yellow and plucked leaves, fruit skins, oats and other things. they eat well and their compost comes out pretty much fantastic. and its such a gentle compost i had perfect pepper seedlings growing right in the bin from the seeds i missed.

i also have a ton of worms in the pots and after a while all that peat, coco and anything that falls to the pot becomes ewc rich with microbes
 
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loco41

Well-Known Member
I'll second what @crimsonecho just said about having a worm bin. Super easy to maintain once it's up and going.

Not sure what kind of area you have outside on your property, but maybe look into making some simple leaf mould/yard waste compost yourself. I grabbed some old wooden pallets and set up some makeshift "compost bins" at a family members property a couple years ago. It took about a year for the first batch to finish which was composed of leaves from the yard and some alfalfa/kelp/rock dust mixed in initially. I would turn the piles every few weeks to help speed things up a little more, but the end result was great imo. If nothing else, at least I have the peace of mind knowing that no chemicals/funky things were directly applied to the materials used. I used this compost for my worm bin bedding on the last two bins I built and it worked out perfectly. Introduced some springtails and sow bugs to the bins and they have exploded in there. So just some more organic decomposers to add to the party and hopefully give a more diverse final product.

I just like to think that any type of composting I can do myself will give me the best chance for some booming microbe life and also be a free sustainable source in the long run with just a bit of labor/time.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
loco41 said:
I'll second what @crimsonecho just said about having a worm bin. Super easy to maintain once it's up and going.

Not sure what kind of area you have outside on your property, but maybe look into making some simple leaf mould/yard waste compost yourself. I grabbed some old wooden pallets and set up some makeshift "compost bins" at a family members property a couple years ago. It took about a year for the first batch to finish which was composed of leaves from the yard and some alfalfa/kelp/rock dust mixed in initially. I would turn the piles every few weeks to help speed things up a little more, but the end result was great imo. If nothing else, at least I have the peace of mind knowing that no chemicals/funky things were directly applied to the materials used. I used this compost for my worm bin bedding on the last two bins I built and it worked out perfectly. Introduced some springtails and sow bugs to the bins and they have exploded in there. So just some more organic decomposers to add to the party and hopefully give a more diverse final product.

I just like to think that any type of composting I can do myself will give me the best chance for some booming microbe life and also be a free sustainable source in the long run with just a bit of labor/time.
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i’m doing a small bin inside, just enough to keep my operation going which is a hobby compared to a commercial grow. and since its a hobby i try to use the best available materials to get a cleaner product i would want to smoke or eat. i have a backyard to be fair but it’s mostly the worlds biggest toilet/playpen for my dog so i don’t really grow anything there except some fruit trees. so all that ewc would be wasted on me.

i use a 100L tub as a bin and compost leftovers and food waste mostly but i also do leaf compost but all these are in very small scale, just enough to keep me going and yeah homemade stuff is the best. i let the plucked and yellow leaves get bone dry and crumble that stuff in to a little hole i make in the ewc and cover it with some more ewc. its gone the next day :)

and all that springtails and critters and booming microbial life is present in my indoor bin too and seeing some small mites (hypoaspis miles mostly) crawling on the composting waste is a very pretty sight to my eyes
 
Beehive

Beehive

Well-Known Member
As a child. We'd go out to the local river. Up from the river bank. Under the trees. The canopy floor had the best "compost". Hundreds and hundreds of years of it being churn over. Organic material constantly be added. From leaves to what the raccoons would drag out the water.

100% deep black top soil below the level of the decaying organics. Thriving with life.

Parents made me carry 5 gallon buckets of it. Usually the river bank visit was for blackberries, pecans, or digging up some native bushes to decorate the yard.
 
Rurumo

Rurumo

Well-Known Member
hard to beat good vermicompost. I get aged cow manure/straw compost that's decent for my vegetable garden, I only use small amounts in my cannabis soils for diversity. In terms of bagged compost, Malibu has always been decent, and Oly Mountain Fish Compost is good, even though Cootz used to rag on it to no end. I've gotten a few bags of it and it was choice. Some people swear by Coast of Maine but I haven't tried that one. Try to find third party heavy metal testing on any vermicompost you guys buy because it can me a surprising, MAJOR source of heavy metals in organic growing.
 
El Verdugo

El Verdugo

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
hard to beat good vermicompost. I get aged cow manure/straw compost that's decent for my vegetable garden, I only use small amounts in my cannabis soils for diversity. In terms of bagged compost, Malibu has always been decent, and Oly Mountain Fish Compost is good, even though Cootz used to rag on it to no end. I've gotten a few bags of it and it was choice. Some people swear by Coast of Maine but I haven't tried that one. Try to find third party heavy metal testing on any vermicompost you guys buy because it can me a surprising, MAJOR source of heavy metals in organic growing.
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I would have to say that about 30% of the problems that i read that people have with their girls stems from their compost. Without a soil test every time there is no way of knowing exactly whats in there until possibly too late. I personally substitute home made ewc for my compost. I do have a compost bin and works great on my cucumbers and melons.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
I had a feeling my store bought compost wasnt the greatest,now I feed it to my worm bin.Should be better once finished.
 
Medskunk

Medskunk

Well-Known Member
Rurumo said:
hard to beat good vermicompost.

Try to find third party heavy metal testing on any vermicompost you guys buy because it can me a surprising, MAJOR source of heavy metals in organic growing.
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So true, you made me check for extras on the compost side. Heavy metals and stuff. But how an organic compost is organic when the first raw green materials are grown with 'chemicals'.. Not very organic is it?
 
Houstini

Houstini

Well-Known Member
Building worm bins and increasing scale of my personal compost is certainly in the works. These are ways I know I can improve my own inputs, however I’ve only been in my spot for 4 years and have struggled to produce enough for my garden. What I do have gets used, but I’m always needing some extra beyond what I can produce. It’s not easy to source good stuff, and it seems like the general advice is to get into worm farming so I’ll have to take a serious look into that. Unfortunately it would have to be outside and I’m not sure how challenging that is.
 
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living gardening

Well-Known Member
I'm in with a local mushroom farm and bought a wood chipper. Also found a source of rabbit poos. That with some fish and wood chips plus IMOs and we should be off the races. Also got the drums to build a pyro chamber to make things like Biochar.

I hate paying for things. . .
 
J

JimmyJackCorn

Well-Known Member
El Verdugo said:
I would have to say that about 30% of the problems that i read that people have with their girls stems from their compost. Without a soil test every time there is no way of knowing exactly whats in there until possibly too late. I personally substitute home made ewc for my compost. I do have a compost bin and works great on my cucumbers and melons.
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Copy that. Took my first grow (and part of the next) to figure out exactly what my compost lacks.

As long as I use that compost and add the proper amendments, I have great soil--now. There was certainly a learning curve.

The bonus comes when I use that compost for my garden. Growing weed has made me a better gardener!
 
L

living gardening

Well-Known Member
I've gardened for ten years both indoor and out. I agree you can learn both ways.
My first run ever was on first run living soil. Steeep learning curve!! I will say hemp/cannabis is just like growing an Heirloom tomato indoors (did this). They are just as finikey and particular. BTW you get way less for your efforts (another reason to love the flower). Permaculture has always been a thing with me and I'm also a forager so CHEAP is my jam, JADAM had really interested me. I need to grab the book, I just don't want to give Jeffy B. my Samolians. . .
Also: Vermicompost cannot be over stated!!!
 
J

JimmyJackCorn

Well-Known Member
living gardening said:
I've gardened for ten years both indoor and out. I agree you can learn both ways.
My first run ever was on first run living soil. Steeep learning curve!! I will say hemp/cannabis is just like growing an Heirloom tomato indoors (did this). They are just as finikey and particular. BTW you get way less for your efforts (another reason to love the flower). Permaculture has always been a thing with me and I'm also a forager so CHEAP is my jam, JADAM had really interested me. I need to grab the book, I just don't want to give Jeffy B. my Samolians. . .
Also: Vermicompost cannot be over stated!!!
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I looked up vermicomposting vs. composting for the first time.

I have been vermicomposting all along. lol
 
L

living gardening

Well-Known Member
Having a worm box is different than johnson bio reactors. Both may have worms but one is a sustainable and harvestable set up. The other is a way to compost just about any material without having to turn it. Products are different. Same with things put through Pyrolysis (bio-char, certain ash products, ect).
I have a JS Bio-R i haven't got going with worms yet.
 
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