Guano

Well, I figured out that this shit is about as soluble as beach sand!!!!!

My plants are ready to get their first meal, and true to form I am not ready to be brewing tea. No way to bubble it for a couple of days. I'll correct that Monday.
In the meanwhile, I put 6 tablespoons of the guano in 3 gal of water along with 6 tbsp of molasses, and a capful of superthrive. I have been pouring it from bucket to bucket, about 4 or 5 times every hour or so. Does anyone think that I can feed the strained mix tonight?

thelastpirate said:

Well, I figured out that this shit is about as soluble as beach sand!!!!!

My plants are ready to get their first meal, and true to form I am not ready to be brewing tea. No way to bubble it for a couple of days. I'll correct that Monday.
In the meanwhile, I put 6 tablespoons of the guano in 3 gal of water along with 6 tbsp of molasses, and a capful of superthrive. I have been pouring it from bucket to bucket, about 4 or 5 times every hour or so. Does anyone think that I can feed the strained mix tonight?

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TLP It just takes time to breakdown, you cannot rush it. Give it a few days and you'll get more goodness out of your mix. The air pump thing Ohso & Drygrain are always talking about helps a lot. I spent $ 12 at Wally World for a cheap air pump & stone from the fish isle and it works great. I'd wait.

OK, if I keep up the back and forth pouring will it be ready by some time tomorrow?
I have 2 5 gal buckets, and can only mix 3 gal at once. I have 20 plants in 5 gal pots, so that's 10 gallons at the very least I'll need.
I am setting up a 15 gal nalgene tank (From a photo lab) to brew tea. I need a rather powerful air pump as this is really tall, and it's gonna take some pressure to get air down to an air stone at the bottom:



I can put a filter over the tip of the hose, or set up some type of filtration to remove any solids. I am trying to get this on a schedule so that one week I water, and the next week I feed. With the buckets, I'll be feeding 3 or 4 plants at a time, so I'll be doing alot of mixing and feeding. I think I can get this down so that I can fuck around with everything on the weekends. I have set a 5 to 6 month time frame for this grow, but nothing is graven in stone. The end product is way more important than my timeframe.

the guano won't have really broken down fully but throw it on anyhow. Don't strain it this time just use the solids as a top dressing and they will slowly release over time. Then get yourself an air-stone for the next round. What type of guano are you using right now, if you don't mind my asking?

Personally I would treat guano for tea the same way I treat castings and meals--a week for full effect. This is why I actually prefer just topdressing the guano and meals, because they'll break down in about two weeks anyway, and it's a bit of a simpler thing and, for me, it's a lot easier to prevent burning.

I haven't yet bothered with an airstone, I just use a container that's got a high surface-area-to-total-volume ratio and mix daily, vigorously. Sometimes I can't believe we both sold off ALL our aquarium equipment. Do you realize that we would already have a full-on grown-up size grow room had we not sold off all our equipment? What a coupla putzes (especially me, the "head" of the family).

For some reason I just feel like they are in need of some nutes. The only thing in the soil is the 4-3-3 from the BioTone, and the 6-9-0 from bone meal. They're a month old tomorrow.
I'll go ahead and feed what I've got made tonight and get some more tanks on Mon.
I'll be mixing my guano (2 tbsp/gal), molasses, and a capful of superthrive in 15 gal vats. How long should it steep before use? And how can I use that guano to feed in the meantime? Is it OK to sprinkle a tablespoon or so on top of the soil?

Regrets, I got some guano called EarthSafe Organics Bat guano (10-3-1). It comes in a little 1 qt pail. It looks and smells like someone pissed in dark brown beach sand. I should have started on this a couple weeks ago. This whole organic thing is a good bit more labor intensive than using chemical ferts, I guess we'll see in a few months if its worth it.

Is it possible to figure what strain I have? I know it's a sativa, or mostly so. I also know that I like this weed one HELL OF A LOT!!! I am just as happy with this as when we were getting WW.

How do they look, and how well are they growing?

thelastpirate said:

Well, I figured out that this shit is about as soluble as beach sand!!!!!

My plants are ready to get their first meal, and true to form I am not ready to be brewing tea. No way to bubble it for a couple of days. I'll correct that Monday.
In the meanwhile, I put 6 tablespoons of the guano in 3 gal of water along with 6 tbsp of molasses, and a capful of superthrive. I have been pouring it from bucket to bucket, about 4 or 5 times every hour or so. Does anyone think that I can feed the strained mix tonight?

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TheLastPirate.... Your mix sounds pretty good. You can water it in tonight - just split up the sediments equally between four or more plants. These sediments will break down slowly over the next few weeks, providing a slow, steady feeding for your girls.
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I tend to bubble my teas for days, before use, but that's because uping the micro-beasties is my goal. Guano is only so soluble & you will never get it to completely break down in water. OK, I said never - that's not completely true - anything left in water long enought breaks down. But, I'm not that patient.
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Keep it Real...Organic.....
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Seamaiden, there ya go again!!! I get confused or stuck, and there you are with the answer I wanted to hear. Thank you and Regrets too. I was REALLY hoping to top dress. I'm going Monday to get a good pump and air stone.
I'd post some new pics, but one of my customers decided that they liked (or needed) my camera better than I did, and the cocksucker stole it off my desk!!! (I hope his girlfriend grows a dick!!!) I'll try to get some with my phone here today.
The little fuckers are doing well. (which translates into "they aint dead yet"!!) I have compared pics of my plants from last grow at this stage, and they are significantly larger, and more robust!!! I did alot of shit different this time, and it's showing. I'm proud.
WHY did you sell all your aquariums? That really sux. I am thinking about building another system out of a burial vault (Concrete coffin box) I found one with a huge crack in one side. A carborundum blade, a big piece of 3/4" glass and some epoxy paint, Viola! Big assed tank.
I'm picking up 2 more of those 15 gal nalgene tanks. Then I'll have 1 for water, and 2 to alternate tea making. But top dressing seems to be the way I need to go for now. Baby steps.
Thank god it's cooling off. I have been opening the window in the room during the day, and with 5 400w lights blazing, it's staying right at 70-75 during the day!!!
OH! before I forget, I FIM topped all but 2 yesterday as well just above/at the 6th node. I hope I did it right. I'm pretty sure I did, as they are still upright this morning.


Thanx OhSo, I went ahead and fed what I had mixed to 3 plants, and top dressed with 2 tbsp guano per 5 gal container. Is that enough? One thing I learned from the last grow is that more is NOT better here. Definitely less is more.
Now that I have fed, I'll water next with plain water, alternating feeding. How long before I need to reapply the top dressing? And should I use guano tea in conjunction with top dressing? I appreciate all your input. You are still on the "do not call" list. I tried to PM you a few times. I can just imagine how flooded your inbox must be, in your shoes I probably wouldn't want that kind of volume messaging either. Just answering everyones questions could be a full time gig.

Thanx for all the input everyone. I'll post pics as things happen.

TLP

I sold off my stuff because I really didn't think I'd need it anymore. I have had no desire to keep my own fish (just geek out on others'), so..

It's great that you're able to take a look and see where your different techniques are showing in the plants, this gives us incentive.

But it fucking SUCKS ASS that someone nicked your camera. Bad juju for dem.

Seamaiden said:

I sold off my stuff because I really didn't think I'd need it anymore. I have had no desire to keep my own fish (just geek out on others'), so..

It's great that you're able to take a look and see where your different techniques are showing in the plants, this gives us incentive.

But it fucking SUCKS ASS that someone nicked your camera. Bad juju for dem.

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It's more like I can look back and see where everyone elses' techniques are showing. But that's more than I had to fall back on in college. Now THAT was trial and error.
Maybe by my 4th or 5th grow, I'll be able to post on some of my own techniques, until then, I'll just apply the knowledge gleaned here.

Yeah, I hate thieves. I said I hoped his girlfriend grows a dick, well I also hope it's bigger than his, and I hope she wants some payback!!!

And no Astraglide, either!

I wanna grow trees that provide shade in the summer.

TheLastPirate..... I cleaned out my overstuff mailbox again. Put you on my contacts list & sent a friendship request, to ensure you can personal message me.
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I bubble my teas for days before use, then feed with them, and generally throw my sediments into my compost barrel.
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You can continue to divide up the sediments between your plant evenly, without worrying. I'd suggest alternating, one feeding topdress the left over sediments, the next feeding throw the sediments in the compost pile. That would greatly reduce the chances of overfeeding.
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Hope this helps....
Keep it Real...Organic... & check your mailbox....

I love top dressing. I just wanted to say that. I use guano's and castings, and everytime I water I watch bits of it wash away into the soil and I feel like I'm really doing something. I'm not exactly sure why, but top dressing my plants is one of the things I get the most enjoyment out of. That and mixing soil (can be very sensual in my opinion) I just love getting my hands in there and making sure it all mixes evenly.

regrets said:

I love top dressing. I just wanted to say that. I feel like I'm really doing something. I'm not exactly sure why, but top dressing my plants is one of the things I get the most enjoyment out of. (can be very sensual in my opinion) I just love getting my hands in there.

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Always use a condom,er.......robber gloves!

I'm glad this is an adults only site!

P.S. I have a confession to make: I too, am a "Top Dresser"!

regrets said:

I love top dressing. I just wanted to say that. I use guano's and castings, and everytime I water I watch bits of it wash away into the soil and I feel like I'm really doing something. I'm not exactly sure why, but top dressing my plants is one of the things I get the most enjoyment out of. That and mixing soil (can be very sensual in my opinion) I just love getting my hands in there and making sure it all mixes evenly.

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I love scratching the stuff into the top of the soil with my plastic fork. Seriously!

Sorry about that my girlfriend has been out of the country for 3 weeks, and will be until march. Sometimes my hormones get the best of me. lol

Are you saying you have regrets?