What do you top your dress with?

Dabbinblunted

Dabbinblunted

Well-Known Member
Definitely going to throw some blood meal and work castings on top a couple times. I was thinking of getting some sort of kelp or seaweed too. Maybe some alfalfa meal and bonemeal too? Good flowering guanos later on
 
Dabbinblunted

Dabbinblunted

Well-Known Member
buckets said:
doesn't blood and bone attract critters that dig up your plants? I'll suggest worm castings for top dress and kelp meal. The kelp meal I actually found at pet stores! People also give it to their dogs.
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I've finally got my area sealed so my dogs can't break in...for now anyways..im not worried about smaller critters. I'm gonna get some kelp meal. Already got ewc
 
ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
Dabbinblunted said:
Definitely going to throw some blood meal and work castings on top a couple times. I was thinking of getting some sort of kelp or seaweed too. Maybe some alfalfa meal and bonemeal too? Good flowering guanos later on
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Don't spoil your plants with all those meals. Get crab shell meal instead. It will also give you protection against insect attacks.
 
ANC

ANC

Well-Known Member
Not quite the same thing, the crab shell contains chitin the stuff insect shells are made of. The plants can sense this and reconfigure themselves for protection.
 
natureboygrower

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
i use insect frass once every 3weeks or so.crabmeal is already in my soil mix.the frass supposedly may help repel insects or help handle them better.you want to do it during dry weather,its more effecient making contact with the roots(on the top of your soil) rather than watered in.it can be in a foliar to help with molds,mildew...but ive never tried that.i do know that i picked up some ewc from the local grow shop that had some sort of tiny bug in it.after i top dressed my plants with it i found them.they werent harming the plant itself, not sure about the roots though.they were just under the soil.when i topdressed with the frass,those bugs split.i only used about half a cup per 45g pot.not much is needed which is good,its a bit pricey
 
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Chunky Stool

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
natureboygrower said:
i use insect frass once every 3weeks or so.crabmeal is already in my soil mix.the frass supposedly may help repel insects or help handle them better.you want to do it during dry weather,its more effecient making contact with the roots(on the top of your soil) rather than watered in.it can be in a foliar to help with molds,mildew...but ive never tried that.i do know that i picked up some ewc from the local grow shop that had some sort of tiny bug in it.after i top dressed my plants with it i found them.they werent harming the plant itself, not sure about the roots though.they were just under the soil.when i topdressed with the frass,those bugs split.i only used about half a cup per 45g pot.not much is needed which is good,its a bit pricey
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I bought a couple of bags of insect frass from Beta Hatch for $10 each at the flower & garden show in Seattle. Good deal for a 20 oz bag!
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5 lbs for $50 on Amazon is a decent deal. Five pounds is a LOT of frass and should last a while.
https://www.amazon.com/Insect-Frass-Plant-Food-Pounds/dp/B00C04DYBQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496162059&sr=8-2&keywords=insect+frass
 
splitopenmelt

splitopenmelt

Member
One of my local shops recommended top dressing with biochar as opposed to activating it with an EWC or N rich tea. I know it's not good to add "unactivated" biochar to a soil mix because it can rob your soil of N but can anyone weight in on whether this is a viable method of introducing it to premixed soil?
 
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