Cradle of Mirth
In Bloom
What I do to take my beds back to the fungal realm for veg, or for new soil.
Easiest way for me has been with a rich compost, this one here is from Oly Mtn fish compost on Buildasoil.
I use about 1/3 of a paper sandwhich bag in volume of the compost, and i don't wet it unless it's dry, just want it moist but not wet.
On the side i'll prepare a mix of:
+about a teaspoon or more of insect frass, tho not required (+1/8tsp b.bass powder if on hand),
+2 tablespoons of oatmeal,
+2-3 tablespoons of clackamas coots mix OR a few tablespoons of 2-row malted barley and a little bit of corn meal,
+a few teaspoons of alfalfa meal, and kelp (not required but helpful)
+a small pinch of dyno myco if on hand (not important)
++Just using only 2-row malted barley alone or with oats works just fine.
I'll add all that into the coffee grinder and pulverize it, then add that to the compost along with another 2 tablespoons of unmilled oatmeal and 1 tablespoon of unmilled 2-row barley...this last part isn't important...and you can use just one or the other in the coffee grinder, i just find it heats up faster and comes to life the more diverse of a mix for me personally. and the alfalfa helps later in the tea, the kelp helps in the process and breaks down a little so it's more readily available in the tea, like when you make a paste from it for going into solution.
I just mix everything together real good for a nice aggregate, put it all in a paper bag, fold it up and rest it upside down in a dark bag (or 2) in the grow for a few days, then slowly open up the bag as i notice moisture and a VERY sweet wine like odor developes in the air and lasts for 3-5 days. Kind of getting nasty if you haven't opened the bag up enough and it's too moist, a poopy gross smell tells you open the bag! it's too moist let it get more air.
When the block feels like a solid chunk of life (it's obvious) and the heat being emitted from it is not like the day before when you really notice the heat - that's about the sweet spot for me, and i take a chunk of that cake, add it to a bubble bag and bubble it alone with water in a 5 gal, maybe add saponins like yucca or aloe, once that is finished 6-10 hrs later, i sprinkle the rest of that cake on the soil surface, and water it all in with the tea. Over the coarse of the week the soil will start to lean more fungal and warm up.. which is also useful in colder months. There are places I can and can't do this, air quality can really mess it up the fungal cake, keep ambient room temp in the 70-80F range especially. Doing this in the grow space can also raise co2


When things are too bacterial it can cause lockout of nutes if it doesn't switchover. Like if i start veg and the soil is too alkaline, especially if I let it go super dry for months after a strong bacterial phase in the previous flowering cycle. or maybe I've just mixed in a ton of new soil with old soil. Ways of naturally ph'ing without ph up or down are helpful. i find bacterial or fungal teas to be useful for combatting such lockout without having to direct feed each plant showing it's own unique needs and let the soil do it for me.
Always curious what others do for fungal dominant teas in natural farming? aside from limiting sugars, or buying fungal products. Lot's of good methods in knf and jadam preps that overlap into other realms I'd like to try experimenting with as well. What are your favorite ways of makin her swing back? for altering bacteria:fungus ratio
Easiest way for me has been with a rich compost, this one here is from Oly Mtn fish compost on Buildasoil.
I use about 1/3 of a paper sandwhich bag in volume of the compost, and i don't wet it unless it's dry, just want it moist but not wet.
On the side i'll prepare a mix of:
+about a teaspoon or more of insect frass, tho not required (+1/8tsp b.bass powder if on hand),
+2 tablespoons of oatmeal,
+2-3 tablespoons of clackamas coots mix OR a few tablespoons of 2-row malted barley and a little bit of corn meal,
+a few teaspoons of alfalfa meal, and kelp (not required but helpful)
+a small pinch of dyno myco if on hand (not important)
++Just using only 2-row malted barley alone or with oats works just fine.
I'll add all that into the coffee grinder and pulverize it, then add that to the compost along with another 2 tablespoons of unmilled oatmeal and 1 tablespoon of unmilled 2-row barley...this last part isn't important...and you can use just one or the other in the coffee grinder, i just find it heats up faster and comes to life the more diverse of a mix for me personally. and the alfalfa helps later in the tea, the kelp helps in the process and breaks down a little so it's more readily available in the tea, like when you make a paste from it for going into solution.
I just mix everything together real good for a nice aggregate, put it all in a paper bag, fold it up and rest it upside down in a dark bag (or 2) in the grow for a few days, then slowly open up the bag as i notice moisture and a VERY sweet wine like odor developes in the air and lasts for 3-5 days. Kind of getting nasty if you haven't opened the bag up enough and it's too moist, a poopy gross smell tells you open the bag! it's too moist let it get more air.
When the block feels like a solid chunk of life (it's obvious) and the heat being emitted from it is not like the day before when you really notice the heat - that's about the sweet spot for me, and i take a chunk of that cake, add it to a bubble bag and bubble it alone with water in a 5 gal, maybe add saponins like yucca or aloe, once that is finished 6-10 hrs later, i sprinkle the rest of that cake on the soil surface, and water it all in with the tea. Over the coarse of the week the soil will start to lean more fungal and warm up.. which is also useful in colder months. There are places I can and can't do this, air quality can really mess it up the fungal cake, keep ambient room temp in the 70-80F range especially. Doing this in the grow space can also raise co2


When things are too bacterial it can cause lockout of nutes if it doesn't switchover. Like if i start veg and the soil is too alkaline, especially if I let it go super dry for months after a strong bacterial phase in the previous flowering cycle. or maybe I've just mixed in a ton of new soil with old soil. Ways of naturally ph'ing without ph up or down are helpful. i find bacterial or fungal teas to be useful for combatting such lockout without having to direct feed each plant showing it's own unique needs and let the soil do it for me.
Always curious what others do for fungal dominant teas in natural farming? aside from limiting sugars, or buying fungal products. Lot's of good methods in knf and jadam preps that overlap into other realms I'd like to try experimenting with as well. What are your favorite ways of makin her swing back? for altering bacteria:fungus ratio
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