ShLUbY's Garden
- Thread starter ShLUbY
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ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
i think with the perlite though, and this is purely speculation, is that it does not maintain its electrostatic ability/properties as well as say a pumice/scoria/biochar in an aqueous solution, resulting in its very very low (basically useless amount) of CEC capability. from what i understand, perlite and sand are quite equivalent in CEC.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
look at them buggers! they have like a goldish anterior end, interesting! now when you say australians... is that a certain species of worm? if so, what one?
i never have enough moisture in the bin to get a leachate out of it. i just don't want to invite anaerobic conditions into the bin.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
right on. i throw a few of those aerating night crawlers into my no tills now and again just to increase aeration. but i also put the composting wrigglers in the no tills as well.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
oh sweet. i like that you basically made an AACT with it. Makes the most sense to me to do it that way.
lately i've been doing compost extract with a couple handfuls of castings and a couple gals of water and just watering that right into the pots to give that little extra microbe boost. it better suits my current schedule/lifestyle to do it that way.
where did you get the australians from?
Pa-Nature
Well-Known Member
on line in canada
calliandra
Well-Known Member
heya SSGrower!
I agree with Shluby on the perlite, though my reasons are more simplistic: basically, it's glass
And the images of stuff just running off the surfaces of it correspond to shluby's more ornate explanation.
That said, there are people now adding their aeration directly to their worm bins, maintaining aerobic conditions in there and charging the aeration material with composty goodness at the same time.
Personally, I mainly use biochar, pumice, crushed claypots/small hydroton balls, and diverse organic components such as hulls for that. I've had my go with perlite and simply don't like it beyond a very small portion of the aeration component.
Regarding the pine needles, yeah 4 years is a long time. The thing with conifers is that they contain a bunch of essential oils devised especially to prevent decomposition processes. Those need to volatilize before they can break down at all.
Do you have anything you could use to break them up a bit - a shredder? a lawnmower? It could help speed up volatilization. Also, adding some nitrogen-rich layers to your pile may help speed up things then too. I just saw this, alas with dead leaves of chestnut and walnut, in my leaf-mold-style wormbin - until I added nitrogen-leaning foods not much was happening in there. So it may also help the pine needles along, though they're even tougher to decompose.
As for coco replacement, I have my eye on bark fines as suitable. Again, volatilization prior to use counts, since they're usually made from conifer bark. It can then be function as a wood chip pile for a while to accumulate fungal colonization too. I hope to find access to a nice pile of them soon so I can try it out!
Cheers!
SSGrower
Well-Known Member
Reason I'm asking both of you because I think you are both right and come at the problem from two different points of view (not radically different but call it varrigated maybe?), are able to recognize and prioritize the issues, then present the case in a ver logical manner.heya SSGrower!
I agree with Shluby on the perlite, though my reasons are more simplistic: basically, it's glass
And the images of stuff just running off the surfaces of it correspond to shluby's more ornate explanation.
That said, there are people now adding their aeration directly to their worm bins, maintaining aerobic conditions in there and charging the aeration material with composty goodness at the same time.
Personally, I mainly use biochar, pumice, crushed claypots/small hydroton balls, and diverse organic components such as hulls for that. I've had my go with perlite and simply don't like it beyond a very small portion of the aeration component.
Regarding the pine needles, yeah 4 years is a long time. The thing with conifers is that they contain a bunch of essential oils devised especially to prevent decomposition processes. Those need to volatilize before they can break down at all.
Do you have anything you could use to break them up a bit - a shredder? a lawnmower? It could help speed up volatilization. Also, adding some nitrogen-rich layers to your pile may help speed up things then too. I just saw this, alas with dead leaves of chestnut and walnut, in my leaf-mold-style wormbin - until I added nitrogen-leaning foods not much was happening in there. So it may also help the pine needles along, though they're even tougher to decompose.
As for coco replacement, I have my eye on bark fines as suitable. Again, volatilization prior to use counts, since they're usually made from conifer bark. It can then be function as a wood chip pile for a while to accumulate fungal colonization too. I hope to find access to a nice pile of them soon so I can try it out!
Cheers!
I have a shredder, that's why its only taking 4 years.
Peolple that live in this area cant afford to leave them in a natural state of forest floor duff that can get to be over a foot deep in densely treed areas because of fire risk and risk of spread to homes. We no longer have the cool low intensity fires to do this in the WUI (the area between the city and country).
I would think that a processing is necessary for the needles, but the shredder will grind them to dust if ran through multiple times. I'm thinking more along the lines of two concrete slabs being osscilated back and forth with needles between to try and keep a fibery componet.
Cheers and if you dont mind keep the thougts coming.
calliandra
Well-Known Member
Ohwow, I think I want to go and grab a handful of needles to have a closer look at!Reason I'm asking both of you because I think you are both right and come at the problem from two different points of view (not radically different but call it varrigated maybe?), are able to recognize and prioritize the issues, then present the case in a ver logical manner.
I have a shredder, that's why its only taking 4 years.
Peolple that live in this area cant afford to leave them in a natural state of forest floor duff that can get to be over a foot deep in densely treed areas because of fire risk and risk of spread to homes. We no longer have the cool low intensity fires to do this in the WUI (the area between the city and country).
I would think that a processing is necessary for the needles, but the shredder will grind them to dust if ran through multiple times. I'm thinking more along the lines of two concrete slabs being osscilated back and forth with needles between to try and keep a fibery componet.
Cheers and if you dont mind keep the thougts coming.
Indeed, such an abundant resource does cry for putting-to-use!
Know what, I can ask Elaine too - we have a live compost class coming up this week and I've only submitted off-topic questions to now lol
Might as well ask what her take is on getting them to decompose faster!
Where are you again, Washington? Chances are, she knows of the issue of accumulating pine needles you described
You could also spread them on pathways that are used alot to help crush them (though that grinding stone image you put in my mind is cool!), and you could biochar some of them too..
When I think of forest floors I've walked, I definitely think keeping the pile really nicely moist should speed up breakdown too.
Cheers!
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whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
Pine needles make great mulch.
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
Hey shluby, what dispensary did those high cbd clones come from? I need some and ill be in MI next month.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
you know, i'm not positive, but i want to say they came from one of the dispensaries in Ann Arbor. A friend of mine went down and picked them up and I'm pretty sure that's where he was at. I can ask him if you like. Where are you going in MI?
SSGrower
Well-Known Member
Ohwow, I think I want to go and grab a handful of needles to have a closer look at!
Indeed, such an abundant resource does cry for putting-to-use!
Know what, I can ask Elaine too - we have a live compost class coming up this week and I've only submitted off-topic questions to now lol
Might as well ask what her take is on getting them to decompose faster!
Where are you again, Washington? Chances are, she knows of the issue of accumulating pine needles you described
You could also spread them on pathways that are used alot to help crush them (though that grinding stone image you put in my mind is cool!), and you could biochar some of them too..
When I think of forest floors I've walked, I definitely think keeping the pile really nicely moist should speed up breakdown too.
Cheers!
I must be a genius!
I use them for both! On pathways more than 3 or 4 inches becomes ankle twisting risk for certain populations that may be not paying attention to where they are stepping, also can get a little slick if too thick.
Im in the high mountain desert of colorado, average rh in the 20s, what exactly does rain look like, I know snow and hail, but its been a bit since weve had what most people not from here would call rain. So there is that lille issue. I can put on north side of house, stays wet but zero sun to warm, my chosen spot for composting is on east side of house. Elevation 7800 ft, same latitude as denver.
And I beat ya to it, dont tell my wife they are in the oven.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
i'm sure she does, she's probably composted everything under the sun
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
I will be in the Detroit Warren area. I don't mind traveling out of my way a bit.
I use pine needles for mulch, bedding and to put on muddy areas.
ShLUbY
Well-Known Member
@whitebb2727 the name of the place is GenotypeA2 where he got the cutting from. hopefully they still have it! looks like they have a website...
edit: looks like they don't have it in right now, but they do have the harlequin, which is CBD:THC 5:2 ratio... which sounds pretty awesome to me!
edit: looks like they don't have it in right now, but they do have the harlequin, which is CBD:THC 5:2 ratio... which sounds pretty awesome to me!
SSGrower
Well-Known Member
You'll be able to see how or if it works as a planting media if you keep an eye on dawgs cup comp. Hope you arn't offended by me not entering yours. You have some valid points and allow for more grower style, Id like to see one that requires a bit of veg, then you pick one to flower on whatever schedule you want. There would be an end date of 120 days from start, bring whatever seed or clone and whatever light and light cycle.
But I digress, I dont want to get cought up in a fued or between membersI respect so I am sticking with the one I entered first and will just watch yours.