[compost_tea] Re: adding soya meal to the soil

From: Tim Wilson <thegoodjob_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:11:11 -0000

Symphylans are apparently extremely difficult to eradicate. I've not had a =
problem (knock on wood). There are a number of potential controls suggested=
 on the Internet; removing loose litter, tilling, drowning, etc.

If it were me I'd try to find a predator; praying mantis? garter snakes? ch=
ickens?

Any easy solution to your composting efforts is composting worms.

Tim

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, EAReinheimer <erica_r_at_...> wrote:
>
> Hello Ian C,
>
> Well....
>
> In the vegetable garden I like to mix it as thoroughly as possible.
> This means different things at different times.
>
> I have top dressed my "lawn"; it's about 3' x 10'. Doesn't take much
> (sounds like you used WAY too much). Water it in. Pretty immediate
> results.
> Best to stay with organic fertilizer for lawns especially. Compost is
> good enough. Even the purchased stuff - ... think about a handful per
> 10 sq ft.
>
> Flower beds... i dunno. Do you really want more leaves in there?
> Sometimes yes, mostly no....
>
> I likely should be adding nitrogen to my compost pile. It's tough,
> though, as the meals are such good fertilizer by themselves, and they
> run up to about $1 per lb. Still, having kept chickens and goats in the=
 
> past, that's probably a bargain.
>
> I'm not a real good compost maker. Part is the missing nitrogen . The
> other missing ingredient is the turning. So.... I'm still learning.
> Honestly, I'm not even sure what to do with the low grade compost I do
> make. When it comes out of the kitchen scraps tumbler, it is in balls,
> which mainly seem to attract symphlans under the mulch in the garden. I=
 
> kinda dislike being in the business of feeding symphlans in the
> vegetable garden. If any soil biologists are reading this, What do you
> think about symphlan populations? They are going crazy in my vegetable
> garden, but so are the vegetables. I can see maybe 100 in a cup of soil=
 
> sometimes.
>
> I am trying to foster life in the vegetable garden. So far, I suspect
> the main ingredients are carbon, nitrogen, water and warmth. The light
> straw mulch helps provide a blanket to conserve moisture, but I admit it=
 
> does seem to be alot of work; with the T-tape drip irrigation
> underneath. Warmth is something we are sort of lacking here on the
> central coast of California, with out 52 degree year round nights.
>
> Erica
>
> On 6/20/2011 3:09 AM, RTS Friction - Carruthers wrote:
> >
> > Hi Erica
> > Do u add your Soya/feather meal early to the compost or
> > mix into the compost prior to application or
> > dig it into the soil before additions of compost ?
> > I ask this because I added it (Soya) as a sort of light top-dressing
> > to my lawn & flower beds. In the areas
> > spread a bit thick it rotted (smelly) & went moldy, during which time
> > the blue-bottle flies moved in.
> > Thanks
> > Ian C
> >
> > <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<snip>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> > *From:* EAReinheimer <mailto:erica_r_at_...> *To:*
> > compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com <mailto:compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com>
> > *Sent:* Monday, June 20, 2011 2:00 AM
> >
> > Mine is about 2%. Until I started adding 50# sacks of soymeal,
> > now feather meal, the garden never produced like I wanted it to.
> > It is extremely difficult to get those results by adding manure
> > and/or compost. For some reason, the percent nitrogen of the
> > amendment plays a big role in it's effectiveness. Likely this is
> > because it takes some nitrogen just to decompose the carbon in the
> > amendment itself.
> >
> >
>




Received on Tue Jun 21 2011 - 13:42:52 EDT

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