Compost rant ?
Randy Man
2 years ago
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annpat
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoGargamel
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoRelated Discussions
Construction Waste - A RANT
Comments (13)Another place you may try recycling the block and pavers is through a crusher, either your company's own or one at your city or county building department. Where I live, in Volusia County, crushed concrete products are in common use as roadway or parking areas subbase and base courses (the layers under the asphalt pavement, for those of you not in construction), or to beef up building pad fill soils that just need a little more "oomph" per square foot. Crush-crete can also be used in place of more expensive limerock or gravel as a stand-alone temporary paving surface, and sometimes even as drainage media for septic and storm drain systems: the point is, a few odd-sized leftover pavers or blocks may be difficult for your construction company to use, but a stockpile of crush-crete can always come in handy....See More*Rant* on someone who was careless with composting
Comments (9)I have been quite successful in starting and maintaining non-drilled bins, 9 gal(?) and 17 gal(?) RM bins. Since you are an experienced worm farmer, do you really want to drill holes in your bins? The only thing I modified are the lids. Cut out most of it and replaced it with weed cloth and careful feeding management. I find this method a lot less messy. And again with the help of a lot of corr. cb lining along the walls, several layers thick that eventually breaks down into nice crumbly VC. For the bottom I cut ca. 1" long strips of corr. cb, rolled them up and line the bottom with that. Provides some extra air in the beginning. Cover that with 2 or 3 layers of newspaper so stuff doesn't fill the air pockets right away. The RM bins sit tilted a bit on the floor and I have a 2 lt. pop bottle in one of the corners, just the "body" of the bottle. "If" the bottom ever get swampy which never did so far, I could stuff an old t-shirt into it to wick out moisture.At harvest time, the bottom VC is wetter but not muddy. It still breaks when you scoop a handful, doesn't "flow". I do dig down to fluff up stuff (not stir) at every 3rd feeding or so because i feed the bins real heavy but with minimal water content worm food. It's easier to add water later when needed, lol. PS. I keep adding dry corr CB to the sides of the bins once these got wet....See MoreInteresting Rant About Heirlooms
Comments (30)When I read the article, I found myself agreeing and then disagreeing...almost alternately as I proceeded. I've grown hybrids that gave great flavour and heirlooms that tasted wonderful. But I've also grown heirlooms that tasted fantastic one season but not so fantastic the next. After growing tomatoes in my garden since 1975, I admit to not knowing what I have to do in order to grow a great tasting tomato every single season. Oh... I can often grow great plants but what I've found, great plants don't guarantee fruit that tastes great. I've bought fresh seed from seedsmen such as Victory and had vastly different results in yield and flavour from one year to the next even though the seeds all came from the same packet. And I always grow out at least two plants of every given variety each season. One thing for sure. I'm not convinced that soil nutrient plays as huge a part as some people would like to think. Do tomato plants need nutrient? Of course they do. And I use compost, manure and other amendments just as many of you do. But I think that daytime temps, night time temps, clear sunny skies compared to overcast skies and the amount of moisture in the soil have more to do with flavour than anything else. This year, I have about 66 plants in the ground and I think that there's 20 varieties. They're planted on a friend's farm that has never seen tomatoes planted there before. The ground is fertile farm land and slightly on the sandy side of the scale. But the immense amount of rain (again this summer) hasn't helped produce flowers. The variety of bees in my area don't seem to have heard of umbrella's and pollenation of the flowers that have appeared hasn't been great. All of the local farmers have been complaining about not having as few as 4 consecutive days with no rain so they could cut, dry and bale hay. Last season was a total disaster for me and this season is shaping up much the same. And all that rainy weather has limited the amount of sunshine plus the daytime and night time temps are unseasonably cool. I've also taken fruit from a tomato plant that tasted quite different amongst each other. How does one explain getting one great tasting tomato from one branch and something quite different from a different one? So for me, the article was kind of laughable. Growing an heirloom variety does not guarantee superior flavour. Far too much of what happens in a growing season is completely beyond the control of gardener. I do my own starts, put them in decent soil and make sure they have adequate moisture. I watch for tomato worms and other problems. Aside from that, the rest is in Mother Nature's hands and I have come to accept that as being fact. Perhaps the writer of that article should attend Gary's TomatoFest for a bit of enlightenment. I hardly think that growing or choosing heirloom varieties of anything constitutes "snobbery". If she actually had a clue about OP vining varieties, then she would understand that there isn't just a single flavour in the tomato world. There are many nuances and discovering them is one of the many joys of growing out and sampling the choices we have available with OP plants. Just my opinion....See MoreFrustration in growing citrus (rant incoming + help needed)
Comments (24)Alright people time for an update. I went to Bunnings and bought 3 bags of Citrus and Lemon potting mix: http://www.bunnings.com.au/osmocote-25l-professional-fruit-and-citrus-potting-mix_p2961638 another link: https://www.scottsaustralia.com.au/osmocote/osmocote-professional-potting-mix/osmocote-professional-fruit-citrus-potting-planting-mix/ The store guy said that citrus (lemons in this case) are picky when it comes to soil and moisture (and judging by the new found info, I agree). He said that this potting mix is specially designed for citrus. When I told him about my pot size (60 cm long, 60 cm wide, approx 70 litres capacity) he said it's okay to pot the lemon plant into the pot - he'd seen even larger pots and the lemons had turned out fine. Now, I also drilled some extra holes for better water flow and draining. The pot originally had 3 big holes but I drilled some more. Just enough to not jeopardise the pot's strength and structural integrity. Some extra holes around the sides just in case. Overall result: Here's a size reference: My index finger I also filled the bottom with any pebbles and small rocks I could fine to allow better drainage. About an inch of layer is the best I could muster. Now. This is what I did to replace the old soil: 1) Remove the top layer of soil and put it in one bucket (because it had fertiliser feeds, you know, the small pebbly types). 2) Took the mid layer soil out and put it into another bucket. This is the soil that had contact with the plant's roots i.e. it surrounded the roots. 3) Emptied the rest of the soil into some big container. 4) I filled 2 bags worth (50 litres) of the citrus potting mix into the pot, over the layer of pebbles. 5) Once the soil got high enough, I made a small burrow and put the plant back in, so the small hole would give roots enough space to settle in. 6) Poured some more potting mix to cover the roots and provide stability for the plant so it was covered nice and well. 7) Covered the very top layer with the soils from 1) and 2). 8) Watered it using Seasol liquid feed just in case. Now I did whatever I could and this plant required so much attention and efforts from me I'm like "I did what I could, rest is up to the plant, I'm done". Really, I don't know what else I can do. I'm done. I won't have to water the plant for at least 2 more weeks. And I won't need to fertilise it for at least 7 months. If it still suffers from overwatering or overfeeding, and I hope to heck it doesn't, I'd be a pit pissed. Also, look at what I found when I was aerating my Tahitian Lime plant! I think they're cicadas. I've found them before in my lime plant. I found like 5 of them this time. I killed them all....See Morefour (9B near 9A)
2 years agoannpat
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