Soils ain't soils - Bunnings, supermarkets, specialty stores, compost?

[Pikey]

Exactly what I thought

 

[itchybro]

i'll just add here , yes cannabis is a bio accumulator , they used hemp at the chernobyl site

2001 , a team of researchers in Germany confirmed the Chernobyl results by showing that
hemp was able to extract lead, cadmium and nickel and other heavy metals from a plot of land
contaminated with sewage sludge

Dynamic accumulators and phytoremediation , Plants like hemp somehow stabilize the area and
act as a filter by decomposing the contaminated matter after absorbing it

so probably best to be growing in soils that are not contaminated with man made crap , " if possible "

i can't find it at the minute but talking about toxic substances , arsenic is required by some , maybe all
plants ( in very small amounts ) to " help form plant structure , otherwise plants would be a green blob on the ground "
pretty sure i first heard that from Dr Elaine Ingham , sorry i can't provide a link

 

[Smegma]

There was an old Chinese bloke who grew his mull in tyres. I asked him how it tasted ...... To which he replied, " rubbery ... It tastes werry rubbery"

 

[Ganja Kaiser]

I use to use Gro-Dirt and also Easy As Organics living soil. Both great products.

 

[pug]

In addition to dialling these primary nutrients and trace elements, a big part of the development last year was reducing sodium, chloride and heavy metals as much as possible. With any potting soil, you really want to be able to see some figures for these elements before growing in it... At least sodium. If sodium is higher than potassium, the plant may take up sodium instead as it does not differentiate between the 2. It is a real problem with composts built with too much manure and not enough moisture. Worm castings are awesome as they are very low in sodium usually. Watch out for high levels of kelp meal as it can elevate your sodium and heavy metals. Cannabis is a powerful accumulator plant and will suck those elements right up and store in its biomass. Rant over lol

hey DNG

just wondering what kelp tested as high levels of heavy metals - in particular, if bull kelp was tested or northern hemisphere brown kelps like Ascophyllum nodosum?

cheers

 

[Donothing-garden]

hey DNG

just wondering what kelp tested as high levels of heavy metals - in particular, if bull kelp was tested or northern hemisphere brown kelps like Ascophyllum nodosum?

cheers

Any kelp will contain heavy metals, some more than others. It too, just like cannabis is a dynamic accumulator and absorbs heavy metals from the ocean. It's beneficial, just don't overdo it or you will start to see accumulation on tests.

 

[Donothing-garden]

Anna Paltseva is one of the leading scientists specialising in soil contamination and heavy metal remediation. Based in the US... Heaps of info on her website.

Research — House of Soil

www.annapaltseva.com

 

[pug]

hey dng ... kelp does like sucking up stuff from it's environment.

the pollution levels of the water where it grows would seem a contributing factor to how much and what it sucks up. it's a brave soul who eats nori grown in japanese waters at the moment.

most northern hemisphere seaweed unfortunately is sourced from heavily polluted waters. i would really like to see if there are any differences between heavy metal levels and types in australian/nz kelp (particularly tassie bull kelp) and those from the nth hemisphere.

i'm also looking forward to your testing service .... so many things I'd like to check out. if you do water testing too mate, that would also be great.

 

[Donothing-garden]

hey dng ... kelp does like sucking up stuff from it's environment.

the pollution levels of the water where it grows would seem a contributing factor to how much and what it sucks up. it's a brave soul who eats nori grown in japanese waters at the moment.

most northern hemisphere seaweed unfortunately is sourced from heavily polluted waters. i would really like to see if there are any differences between heavy metal levels and types in australian/nz kelp (particularly tassie bull kelp) and those from the nth hemisphere.

i'm also looking forward to your testing service .... so many things I'd like to check out. if you do water testing too mate, that would also be great.

Yes agreed. Good points! I've ditched the Northern Hemisphere kelp for Tasmanian, mainly to lower carbon footprint and support Australian business, also because I think the ocean is cleaner down there.

 

[Donothing-garden]

Blusoak in action! Need to get some mulch over it. Apparently the plant roots work in unison with the hose via exudates... When which is when they need moisture. A capillary action. Ideal for living soil.

 

[Pikey]

Yeah, I'm selling them actually... The dripper helps the Blumat carrot sense soil moisture more accurately to shut the Blusoak on and off... As U mentioned. One carrot is a regular, the other is a Maxi... In a closed loop config so the whole system has equal pressure and is emitting moisture based on 2x different sensors.

@Donothing-garden do you have a rough idea what you hope to be retailing the BluSoak for? I'm interested to give it a try as I've already got the blumats and have seen a few people such as BAS have good things to say about it.

I had a look at getting the BluSoak from OS but the shipping was... well let's just say "a bit much"

 

[Old fox]

There was an old Chinese bloke who grew his mull in tyres. I asked him how it tasted ...... To which he replied, " rubbery ... It tastes werry rubbery"

Yeah that old Chinese guy used to get around a lot. I believe his actual words were "it tastes welly lubbely"

 

[Smegma]

Yeah that old Chinese guy used to get around a lot. I believe his actual words were "it tastes welly lubbely"

It turns out that the old cunt ate all his weed in one sitting ...... He ended up with a pot belly

 

[Donothing-garden]

@Donothing-garden do you have a rough idea what you hope to be retailing the BluSoak for? I'm interested to give it a try as I've already got the blumats and have seen a few people such as BAS have good things to say about it.

I had a look at getting the BluSoak from OS but the shipping was... well let's just say "a bit much"

View attachment 23017

Hey Pikey,
Unfortunately I can only provide what the Australian distributor for Blusoak has decided to stock which is 3x different types of Blusoak kits and a 30m roll of Blusoak drip tape. They also provide zero information on their catalogue to me so I have to reference back to Sustainable Village.

Kit 1: 4X8'/120X240CM IRRIGATION SYSTEM $150
(Have no idea what this system was designed for due to lack of information in distributor catalogue, I've attached an image)


Kit 2: 4X8'/120X240CM DELUXE SYSTEM: $180

BluSoak DripKit 4x8 Bed New Deluxe system

DetailsThis kit provides an easy, fast, and water-saving way to water a 4' x 8' raised bed or garden bed. No timers, batteries, or electricity required!Click here to download the instructions. A Deluxe kit features more redundancy and will allow you to maximize the amount of potting mix being...

www.sustainablevillage.com

Kit 3: 120X600CM DOUBLE MANIFOLD SYSTEM: $216

BluSoak 4' x 18' Double Manifold Kit

DetailsNew 4' x 18' Double Manifold Parts KitThis parts kit uses our BluSoak 2.0 Drip Tape along with Blumat Sensors to automatically water your plants based on their moisture needs.Click here to download the instructions.This kit provides an easy, fast, and water-saving way to water a 4' by 18'...

www.sustainablevillage.com

 

[Pikey]

Thanks @Donothing-garden, much appreciated. I'll get my raised bed set up and have a think about which option to go with.

I'm only going with a ~3x3 bed so will probably be looking at Kit #1 or 2 and just use half now and other half for spares or future expansion It's a pity they've only offered you limited options, but hey that's still better than no options anyday

 

[itchybro]

that's a pain , i think i'd prefer to make my own system rather than trying make a bed / pot / garden fit to a pre made system
so would rather buy individual items separately or a combination of both , kit & individual items

we , the interested consumer , might have to email the oz wholesaler asking for individual item pricing
it is looking pricy though , which is a shame

maybe if they brought individual items in bulk & packaged systems up here if needs be , that should help
keep pricing a little lower , who knows probably already doing that & enjoying a larger profit margin
although i do understand shipping isn't as cheap as it was , along with varying dollar conversion

Growlife in NZ have a price of $3.90nzd per meter of blusoak tape & the blusoak to 3mm adaptors for $6.45nzd each
sustainable village pricing seems to be $0.86usd per foot of blusoak tape & the adaptors for $3.00usd each

anyway it is what it is i guess , we wait to hear some oz non kit pricing

 

[Old fox]

@Donothing-garden thanks for sharing helpful info for Aus grow community. Your unbiased advice on outdoor watering is valued. Great passion you have to provide Aussies with a top quality soil. Easy for consumers. ( me) to forget how much thought and effort you put into the preparation. All power to you, because I'm certain you rarely "Do-nothing" in your garden

 

[Donothing-garden]

@Donothing-garden thanks for sharing helpful info for Aus grow community. Your unbiased advice on outdoor watering is valued. Great passion you have to provide Aussies with a top quality soil. Easy for consumers. ( me) to forget how much thought and effort you put into the preparation. All power to you, because I'm certain you rarely "Do-nothing" in your garden

Lol yeah thanks mate! Do Nothing was a throw back to when I was a relaxed gardener, striving for a simple, no till garden driven by nature, inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka. Now I'm just thinking about changing the name, I'm way too busy... Seems disingenuous lol

 

[Donothing-garden]

that's a pain , i think i'd prefer to make my own system rather than trying make a bed / pot / garden fit to a pre made system
so would rather buy individual items separately or a combination of both , kit & individual items

we , the interested consumer , might have to email the oz wholesaler asking for individual item pricing
it is looking pricy though , which is a shame

maybe if they brought individual items in bulk & packaged systems up here if needs be , that should help
keep pricing a little lower , who knows probably already doing that & enjoying a larger profit margin
although i do understand shipping isn't as cheap as it was , along with varying dollar conversion

Growlife in NZ have a price of $3.90nzd per meter of blusoak tape & the blusoak to 3mm adaptors for $6.45nzd each
sustainable village pricing seems to be $0.86usd per foot of blusoak tape & the adaptors for $3.00usd each

anyway it is what it is i guess , we wait to hear some oz non kit pricing

I agree, it's silly that there are 3x kit products to choose from out of their massive, extensive catalogue. So many people with existing Blumat systems that can't just buy some parts to extend, adapt etc. Had a customer recently who got a friend in America to just buy what he wanted from sustainable Village at RRP, ship it to him here in Australia... And it still ended up costing him half of what's being charged here lol

 

[Sticky67]

Hi all,

What Aus. acquired soils are you using?

Is there anything decent from Bunnings and chain stores?

Apparently soils for tomatoes will work for cannabis.

The last tomato soil I bought from Bunnings was full of woodchips which I hear will toxify the soil for cannabis.

Tips, techniques, ratios - compost/soil to perlite to coco, etc.

Is there an 'all in one' mix you can pot up and good to go?

Which soil for seedlings vs soil to transplant into.

I remember back in my day, you just bought potting mix and it worked fine but a year or so ago I haven't had much luck. The seedling gets to a certain size then slows right down/stops growing (could be shonky seeds) and I'm willing to give this another crack indoors and then outdoors when the weather fines up.

All advice welcome.

j

Hey Jaz I don't know which state Ur in but I've had success with Rocky point coco pro with growing an auto in, I didn't give it some pk near the end whether it needed it or not I don't know and no burning or problems and also had some luck with the new seasol potting mix..but I tend to still go back to to canna terra pro and start seedlings in it and here's a easy one Green planet backcountry grow and bloom powdered nutes just sprinkle on top accordingly and water and go..I've had great success with Green planet backcountry. I only grow outside though. Good luck and peace love and lotsa buds hey..