This stuff is pure gold. I have been gardening indoors and out for a few years now with my share of success and failure. I felt the need to share how worm castings and kelp have produced some great plants lately, like the ones that look like they are photo-shopped on the miracle grow bags. MG has it uses but the worm casting kelp mix has been doing wonders, I highly recommend it. It makes it easy to grow vigorous plants. I don't work for any company but I am a passionate knowledge whore who likes to share tips i have learned so far.
Worm Castings +Kelp= Win
- Thread starter bleachfan
- Start date
univativegrower
Member
interesting, do you mix it yourself? If so, what proportions?
or better, yet. . .do you keep a vermicomposter? i am lucky enough to have a yard full of worms, and i have been experimenting with them,feeling like a mad scientist who works on living creatures!(the lady comes in and it's like, "NO! you will disturb my lovely worms!"). and its fucked up, because i am only trying to get them to do what they do regularly, just in my bin hahaha. . .those slippery little bastards.
I dont use specific proportions in any exact amount but my mix lately that has been working really well is a combo of a heathy amount of perlite, vermiculite, coco coir, and worm castings. basically the descending order is the amounts i use, I mix it all up in 5 gallon buckets so i have some that has been "cooking" for a bit. The advantage to this is you can buy bigger quantities of soil that is at least equal if not superior to bought mixes. The first time i water the seeds i have used a bit of liquid kelp and from then on every other watering.
The result has been nice shoot thickness, green foliage and a healthy root system, which I believe to be the most important to vigorous disease and pest free plants.
Supposedly the behind the scenes stuff is basically the kelp acts as fuel for the worm casting micro herd to feed on. Once this starts the result is a live soil that helps your plant, not just hold it. Whatever the case may be for others i do not know, but, i do know it feels like its easy mode now to produce quality plants.
I apologize for being long winded, I get carried away sometimes heh.
The result has been nice shoot thickness, green foliage and a healthy root system, which I believe to be the most important to vigorous disease and pest free plants.
Supposedly the behind the scenes stuff is basically the kelp acts as fuel for the worm casting micro herd to feed on. Once this starts the result is a live soil that helps your plant, not just hold it. Whatever the case may be for others i do not know, but, i do know it feels like its easy mode now to produce quality plants.
I apologize for being long winded, I get carried away sometimes heh.
vtguitar88
Well-Known Member
I for one enjoyed reading it. So when you listed your components (Worm castings, kelp, coco coir, etc.,) are you mixing those in with standard potting soil that you buy? Or are you soilless? Wasn't clear on that... I'm looking into good mixes for an outdoor guerilla plot for cannabis, tomatoes, some various beans, some squashes, etc., and would like to find the most cost effective way to put together a large volume of kickass all organic medium. For indoor grows I always use my local compost/soil producer, because he's great and makes really excellent products, but they cost like 26 bucks for a 60 quart bag (15 gallon). For outdoor that would prove pretty costly. Any suggestions for me? Where can I source this stuff organically for cheap? Thanks for sharing your knowledge, it's good stuff!
Man do i know that feeling. The old lady gets pissed sometimes but the beautiful roses and zinias tend to soften her up. The beauty of this mix is it is sustainable and great for outside in the garden, indoor house plants, and containers as well.
Vermicomposting is a great way to turn waste into gold. Although for those with squimish wives who dont understand why a grown man would want to raise worms, there are places (I recommend looking around for a store that carries rather than onlining it to save on shipping) Another great thing is that because you are basically inoculating your soil with life even a little dash of the castings will make more of a difference than any of the other stuff.
If you live near a coast you can use washed up sea weed. Just make sure to thoroughly rinse it off to get rid of any salt on it. Other people may have other method but what I do is let it dry out, break it down it small pieces and aerate it in some water for a day or so with an ordinary aquarium air pump. Viola! You have made a organic fertilizer that both provides all micro nutrients and catalyzes micro flora and fauna growth. (Not to mention for cheap and without doing any damage to the environment.
Well thanks for the positive feedback
Ill sometimes throw in a bag of seed staring mix (generally very light mix comprised usually of perlite, vermiculite, and some peat) but I dont find it necessary. Some argue peat is damaging to areas where its produced while others claim the contrary. I have never been to a peat bog so I dont really know who is right or wrong. What I do know is that you can get relatively large amounts for pretty cheap. Perlite, vermiculite, and coco coir are avaible in bigger amounts then the rip offs at the super stores and home improvement centers. You may have to travel a bit, but to me a 45min drive to save a significant amount of money is worth it. I got a 22L of perlite for 8 bucks.
One thing I fine for outside stuff is digging the hole twice as big as you want for the roots and then put a good few inch layer of perlite at the bottom of that hole. Cover hat up with some compost, a good amount of water, place your plant in and backfill with some more perlite/topsoil mix. When those roots reach that perlite rich with moisture and micro organism activity you'll wish you hadnt done it cuz the dang plant is growing so fast.
BluffinCali
Well-Known Member
I always add black gold worm castings with my mix, stuff really is golden. Im trying out some black gold soil right now, almost always went with mostly ocean forest, so far seems to be pretty darn good, not sure if I like it more or not. My buddy last year had some fresh kelp/seaweed, that he would cut up,soak in some water in the sun and add some during veg, not sure how or if he measured it out, but he really liked it. My mix last year was ocean forest, bg worm castings, bonemeal, perilite and some d lime, always looking for ways to tweak it or figure out an original mix. Anyone got any special ingredients suggested for outdoor/indoor?
Early in the spring once the earth starts to heat up a bit I use newspaper that I hold onto from a variety of mostly free sources. Plain cardboard with little to no printing on it also works well for this. What I do is lay a thick layer of newspaper down ( I'd estimate 6-10 pages thick) over my beds. The trick to save your self from getting super pissed off when the wind is blowing away these newspaper on your beds is to lightly moisten the newspaper once it is down with a spray bottle.
"But that shit must look ghetto bleach, and why would you do that anyway?
The newpaper is a fave food of worms, a biodegradable mulch and soil insulator and a super easy resource to get for little to nothing. Now if you dont want your neighbors to know your secret (or dont want people thinking your a nut job) this would be a fabulous time to lay down your mulch (I like aged bark). This can all be done in a day and you'll have succeeded in three things
1. Provided munchies for the worms who are ones who should be doing crap like aerating, tilling, and fertilizer the natural way.
2. Provided a good spot for transplants; (insulated, warm, and moist environment that has root promoting nutrients)
3. made it so any "weeding" that youll have to do will be way easier; stuff that you havent purposely put into the soil will be easier to yank out (which has been reduced by probably 85%)
Pizza boxes with a slit leading to a hole for the stem are also great biodegradable collars that provides similar benefits.
Another tip for outside growing: Birds are phenomenal bug killers. In fact they eat them and poop em out as more fertilizer. having a bird feeder in the area will attract in my opinion the pesticide available: they are cheap to feed, they work early in the morning, and are total gluttons. hopefully multiple birds will come to the feeder and while some of them wait for a perch they more than likely will rummage around your gardens for a snack while they wait.
If you have crops you dont want birds on its pretty easy to construct an anti bird shield with pvc pipe and netting. Using elbows and such (sketching something out and getting an idea of what to build first tends to be helpful for me, since different areas will need different configurations.) Its a cheap solution to a common problem.
"But that shit must look ghetto bleach, and why would you do that anyway?
The newpaper is a fave food of worms, a biodegradable mulch and soil insulator and a super easy resource to get for little to nothing. Now if you dont want your neighbors to know your secret (or dont want people thinking your a nut job) this would be a fabulous time to lay down your mulch (I like aged bark). This can all be done in a day and you'll have succeeded in three things
1. Provided munchies for the worms who are ones who should be doing crap like aerating, tilling, and fertilizer the natural way.
2. Provided a good spot for transplants; (insulated, warm, and moist environment that has root promoting nutrients)
3. made it so any "weeding" that youll have to do will be way easier; stuff that you havent purposely put into the soil will be easier to yank out (which has been reduced by probably 85%)
Pizza boxes with a slit leading to a hole for the stem are also great biodegradable collars that provides similar benefits.
Another tip for outside growing: Birds are phenomenal bug killers. In fact they eat them and poop em out as more fertilizer. having a bird feeder in the area will attract in my opinion the pesticide available: they are cheap to feed, they work early in the morning, and are total gluttons. hopefully multiple birds will come to the feeder and while some of them wait for a perch they more than likely will rummage around your gardens for a snack while they wait.
If you have crops you dont want birds on its pretty easy to construct an anti bird shield with pvc pipe and netting. Using elbows and such (sketching something out and getting an idea of what to build first tends to be helpful for me, since different areas will need different configurations.) Its a cheap solution to a common problem.