I am seeking a way of gardening with (little) to no commercial nutrients and supplements. I know some things will still need addition of stuff like vinegar, sugar, molasses, etc… but what I don’t want to add is store bought bone meal, or oyster meal… stuff like that!
This goes for both indoor and outdoor growing and it also goes for veggies, flowers, and our sacred plants!
Rising costs of our favorite nutrient lines are getting out of control, and like everything else we pay for (food, gas, etc), things won’t ever return to ‘normal’ prices. But it’s not only cost, for me, it’s keeping chemicals at bay, not to mention the plastic containers they come in!
So, I am seeking any and all articles, tips, recipes! Please also add what it’s benefit is (npk, micro-nutrients, etc)
I know @ADK_Guerrila had started a thread on organics and @noddykitty1 and @GreenJewels have some amazing info!!!
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First up
Water Soluble Calcium
Water-soluble calcium (aka WCA) is a way of providing calcium to your cannabis plants using household items. Calcium encourages a plant’s cell processes, flowering (improves yield and quality), root growth, and prevents bud rot.
This recipe can be used as a foliar spray and is a good alternative to adding crushed eggshells into the soil or other slow-release amendments.
Water-soluble calcium can be used as a foliar spray during the flowering stage of cannabis plants.
To make water-soluble calcium you will need to roast eggshells for approximately 45 minutes until they’re slightly tan and then cover them with brown rice vinegar in a ratio of 1:10, so if you have 10g of eggshells you will need 100ml of vinegar then cover the mouth of the jar with a cheesecloth and let it rest for 7-10 days.
| Recipe |
Vegetative |
Pre-flowering |
Flowering |
| Water-soluble Calcium (WCA) |
0 |
1ml/L |
2ml/L |
You will see bubbles coming out of the eggshells, if you still see them after 10 days have passed, add more eggshells and repeat the process until the mixture is saturated and you can’t see any more bubbles, at this point your water-soluble calcium is ready.
If you see bubbles still coming out after 10 days, add more eggshells and let rest until you don’t see any more bubbles.
WCA should be used as a light mist very early in the morning or just after the sun goes down to avoid leaf burn and allow time for absorption before it evaporates, remember that even though KNF is organic watering with a too strong solution or too often can burn your cannabis.
WCA should be mixed during the pre-flowering and flowering stage of your cannabis plant and should be used in combination with the other recipes to have optimal results.
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Sprouted Seed Tea
Gather a bunch of seeds, preferably of a fast growing plant like alfalfa. I’m just using bird seed cause it’s cheap but if I had access I would use alfalfa seeds.
Soak seeds overnight in clean un-chlorinated water. The next day, drain seeds of water, but keep them moist. You can use a moist paper towel for this, cover the seeds with it and keep it moist
After a few days, you should see white shoots start popping out of the seeds.When the young roots are around 1/4in long, they are ready for harvest.
From the top you might also see some molds taking over too. That’s OK too, they should look like a nice white non-pathogenic variety and will have just started the breakdown of the seeds into their baser nutrients.
After a few days from sprout, weigh out or estimate the weight of the bunch of sprouts. Get 1/3-1/2 that weight in sugar and add it to the sprouted seeds
Add this whole thing to a blender and blend it well. You can add a bit of water to facilitate blending. The water also helps dissolve the sugar. You can dissolve the sugar in the water before you start blending.
Now we add the seeds to blender with water and sugar. Add a bit of lacto (SEE RECIPE BELOW), like 1-2 tbsp per liter of mixture
Seal up this whole thing in an airtight container. Use an airlock or pickle pie as gas will be created during fermentation that needs to be let out, without letting air in.
Leave in a dark place for 3-6 weeks to let fermentation run its course. After fermenting it looks quite a bit more broken down.
Now we have our Fermented Sprouted Seed Tea (FSST)
Using the Growth Promoter
Add this growth promoter to your plant’s feed water at 1-2 tbsp per gallon.
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Lactic Acid Bacteria Serum
Put 1/4 cup of rice in quart mason jar and fill with 1 Cup of chlorine-free water. Vigorously shake the mixture, strain the water from the rice, and place the resulting rice wash in a jar. Cover the jar with a coffee filter, securing it with a rubber band.
Place the jar in a shaded area with good air circulation. Let it sit for 3-4 days, or until a small film (a pellicle (known as a scoby when making kombucha!)formed by bacteria) forms on the solution’s surface.
Add 1 part of the rice wash to 10 parts of milk in a larger glass jar This creates a lactic acid environment, giving the lactic acid bacteria an advantage to out-compete other bacteria.
Cover the jar with a lid or material like cheesecloth to keep insects out, remembering that the ferment will off-gas carbon dioxide so the seal should not be entirely airtight.
After three to four days, you’ll see a curd of cheese form on top of your bucket.
Once you have two distinct layers, your goal is to grab the yellow-colored whey. Lift out the top layer from the jar, and set aside. Then run the yellowish layer of serum (whey) through a cheesecloth into a clean jar. That whey can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
To preserve the serum for a longer period of time, add an equal amount of Un-sulphured blackstrap molasses , and stir well. Store at room temperature for up to 12 months.
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Thank you for putting this information here.
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There are various micro-flora that are thought to increase the availability of nutrients in soil.
I have seen university research done that tested this approach using worm castings, for the digestive micros in worm stomaches. Adding these to soil is usually referred to as inoculating the soil. Since they do not actually add any nutrients to the soil.
Lacto-cultures [as the name implies] help to digest milk so humans can more easily absorb the sugars in milk. I am not aware of any university research done to test whether Lacto-bacteria assist in making nutrients more available for plants. It certainly does not add any nutrients to the soil.
I suspect you would see greater nutrient availability by using bacteria that specifically digests soil, as compared to bacteria that digests milk.
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Here’s an interesting read for you on LAB @OrganicFarmer! Very interested as to what exact bacteria you are referring to?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0929139323001531
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You’re welcome Marty!!! Thanks for tagging along with me! It’s a new journey and I’m hoping many will jump in and add to this amazing arsenal!
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My horticulture days were long ago. Though recently I have been attending a few workshops at UM-Orono where they were comparing soil microbe inoculation.
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Thank you for posting the link.
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Sweet @Caligurl following!
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You betcha! I’m more-or-less following KNF (Korean Natural Farming) or Jadan Organic Farming.
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DIY Bokashi Bucket
You can buy one from many different sources but I wanted to make my own Bokashi Bucket. I took 2 five gallon buckets, only 1 lid and it is an airtight screw on lid. Drilled holes in the bottom of one, then put weather stripping around the upper part of the bucket on the other.
Cut a piece of landscape paper to fit over the holes to keep the solids stuff out.
Sprinkle about 2-3 Tablespoons of Bokashi Bran over the landscape paper then layer food scrap. Making sure I had at least 2 inches of food scraps. Packed it in a bit, then sprinkled another 2-3 tablespoons of Bokashi on the top. I’ll be showing you how to make your own Bokashi Bran soon! But you can buy it on Amazon like is shown in my picture.
I’ll keep all the food scraps in a bowl on the counter until I have enough for another layer. Each layers gets topped with some bokashi.
After a few day, I should start to have juices running out of the bottom so I can just lift the top bucket off and pour it out! Waiting game begins!
Next, I needed something to weight down on the material to keep it from getting too much air. I bought a terra cotta saucer and drilled holes in it to attach a handle (you know, so I don’t have to touch the stuff inside LOL).
Then I attached a spigot so I don’t have to separate the two buckets to get the good stuff out!
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Watching this one fer sure 
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Something always going on at the Caligurl farm haha! Set to watching!
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Welcome @Bentstick and @Myfriendis410!!! Just warning everyone some of this stuff is pretty stinky LOL
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Oh I’m not running any of that stuff in my space. You’ve seen it and I don’t want to drive everyone out of the house lol.
I see myself more in a supervisory role haha.
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Cali! Thanks for posting this. 
