Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

Just picked up so milled malted barley that is sprouted and dried from buildasoil.com

It says add 1oz per gallon of water, bubble for 12-24 hours

I'm supposed to strain this after and then water right?

Also can you bubble longer? I usually visit my garden every other day ( live 30 mins away and have a newborn)

I'd make the sst and then let bubble til I came back
 
I wanted to share this and more later on but this plant on left was worse looking. I added EWC top dress about 12 days ago and it looks much better.

A comparison is the plant on the right. Both are in 5 gals but the plant on right is in a mix that is:
2 parts peat
1 part EWC
1/2 part small perilite
1/2 part big chunk perilite

So a mix that's 2:1:1

The one on left is in the revs soil.

Both a green crack.

I'd say coot is on to something. I'll post when I make his mix including the rock dusts and mulching.

Things are looking better in my garden everyday :)
 

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So for anyone who is top dressing with an established cover crop...what do you do?

I figure the dry amendments can just be sprinkled around, but then the plan was to cover that with a 50/50 ewc/compost layer...maybe an inch or half an inch.

Sooo will my clover just get merked and composted into the soil? Pop up on the other side in a few days? I'm just a few weeks into veg so plenty of time to replant I guess.
 
So for anyone who is top dressing with an established cover crop...what do you do?

I figure the dry amendments can just be sprinkled around, but then the plan was to cover that with a 50/50 ewc/compost layer...maybe an inch or half an inch.

Sooo will my clover just get merked and composted into the soil? Pop up on the other side in a few days? I'm just a few weeks into veg so plenty of time to replant I guess.

Sprinkle amendments and brush them into the cover crop or when top dressing with ewc/compost/amendments, just cover up the cover crop and throw some more clover seeds down.
 
What's everyone's opinion of cover crop? I used to be more excited about it, personally
Me too, i think it looks pretty, but for my own circumstances, don't really feel it brings any benefit. Its a pain in the ass if you plant the wrong stuff too, constantly having to trim it down. A good quality organic mulch is probably more beneficial.
 
I feel like these girls are lightening up near the top, feel like they don't have enough food. I'm about 6 weeks from chop.

Any suggestions? I haven't top dressed at all, and I feed them just alfalfa/kelp meal teas and occasionally an ewc tea.

Plant 1





Plant 2




Thanks for your time and any help you can give me.
 
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I haven't seen data, but I believe the N-Fixing of clover only happens when there's Low N. I'm not thinking (opinion time, here) that we let our pots get nearly low enough in N to trigger the nitrogen fixing.

I have heard that this only works in N-starved soils. I'd love to know more about this.
 
I haven't seen data, but I believe the N-Fixing of clover only happens when there's Low N. I'm not thinking (opinion time, here) that we let our pots get nearly low enough in N to trigger the nitrogen fixing.

I have heard that this only works in N-starved soils. I'd love to know more about this.

I have noticed that aswell. You will never have too much nitrogen but just enough with clover. I used to run clover but changed to yarrow/chamomile because of mites. When I changed over to a new cover crop I definitely noticed the need to add more nitrogen to my soils. The clover is very beneficial. I want to experiment with adding a couple clover plants per pot but I love not dealing with mites hahaha.

I use the cover crop for the same reason as bizfactory. It helps keep the pots more evenly moist. I also wrap my smart pots in tarp to keep moisture in. I do all this because I use blumats so my pots are not evenly watered. Works great in my experience!
 
Hi All,

Wow what a great thread. I've been working on getting my No-Till garden for some time now and this thread has been a great resource for me. I have a question for the experts here. I have been using Alfalfa straw as a mulch for my 4 plants and I've noticed that there is quite a bit white mold or some sort of growth poking its head through the straw. Is this a good or bad thing? I was planning on planting a cover crop in the next day or so. Pictures below. 20160302_091250.jpg
 

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Hi All,

Wow what a great thread. I've been working on getting my No-Till garden for some time now and this thread has been a great resource for me. I have a question for the experts here. I have been using Alfalfa straw as a mulch for my 4 plants and I've noticed that there is quite a bit white mold or some sort of growth poking its head through the straw. Is this a good or bad thing? I was planning on planting a cover crop in the next day or so. Pictures below. View attachment 3621518

no worries... got the same stuff..
white is good.. green is bad...
P1220139.JPG P1220140.JPG P1250153.JPG

imo dont really need to crop cover unless your working with 10g or more....
 
So I'm going to just put a 2 in layer of ewc on my pots and see if that solves my problems.

If someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.
 
I feel like these girls are lightening up near the top, feel like they don't have enough food. I'm about 6 weeks from chop.
Any suggestions? I haven't top dressed at all, and I feed them just alfalfa/kelp meal teas and occasionally an ewc tea.
Thanks for your time and any help you can give me.

top dress now with tomato food or bulb food and EWC... not going to stop yellowing, but it will help...
no more top dressing/food after 4 weeks... no guano after 7 weeks,, if doing 10 weeks.
seems like you got hungry plants... next time, make the soil hotter...

edit: you can topdress with soil
 
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