Posted by Sedaj Tesch on October 8, 2009 at 7:19pm
Help! This is our second crop that is failing to thrive! We have raised beds with 50% compost and 50% arizona dirt/sand. Our seedlings take off for about two weeks then they stop growing and die. We put some pumpkin test seeds in the worst sandiest dirt in a corner of our yard and it's growing like crazy. Do we need more sand in our raised bed and what should be the ratio to compost?
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Solving our waste problems, and re-vitalizing our soil are huge challenges, globally and regionally, and since all animal health depends on soil health, these are urgent problems to solve. That requires our collectively taking massive action, which, I believe means developing regional food composting facilities.
To be environmentally friendly, that means concrete composting pad under roof. To provide the aeration the microbes need, and also completely elminate foul odors means the aeration veins must be built into the concrete pad, and designed to incorporate our Dynamic Bio-Filtering technology. Turning is essential for good processing, to homogenize, enable re-hydrating, and to average out porosity for uniform aeration. This adds up to significant capital investment. Thus, it MUST be treated as business, to be sustainable. We've got to empower the naturally occurring microbial master composter, which include making sure they are not inhibited by a lack of oxygen.
To get answers to practical questions, we've done massive hands on research in our compost research silo lab which we have enhanced over time, adding features to enable getting answers and verifying them, to more practical questions. We've got to learn to live in much greater harmony with nature, and one another.
IN our test garden, we have tremendous reverence for thy mighty earthworms and which we look forward to seeing how their population grows this year, as a result of our mulching with over a foot of leaves again last fall. We don't have any need for any mechanical tilling. The earthworms do a great job.
The photo shows part of our compost research silo lab. It may not be fancy, but it has enabled us to get verifiable answers to many practical questions like how much air is needed, what is the oxygen and CO2 level, how much vacuum is required to pull the air through compost up to 97½" deep at various rates, what management practices are essential to having our Dynamic Bio-Filters to completely eliminate all foul odors, 100% of the time?
Have you ever had a good crop from this mix, or is this the first crop? IF it is the first crop, my first guess would the the "compost".
Few people understand oxygen in compost. There is a sacred MYTH in the composting industry that windrows of compost will passively aerate by convection. Well, that made sense to me until Spring of 1996 when I started doing cross section profile oxygen, CO2 and temperature monitoring. Clearly my Fyrite oxygen and CO2 meters told a very different story.
VFA's, Volatile Fatty Acids are byproductes of anaerobic decomposition, and they are Phyto-Toxic, toxic to plants, so I have read. I have not personally done research on this but in the Fall of 1995 I had several landscape jobs where I used some "compost" and I could not get grass seed to establish.
Since then I learned from our own hands on research that the microbes can crash the oxygen from 19% down to 2% in 15 minutes, when the forced aeration is turned off. Of course this depends on how many ACTIVE microbes are in the compost. In our own hands-on research, in our compost research silo lab, we've found that often our compost, during the early stages, can require over 23 times the volume of the compost, in fresh air, every hour, to hold the CO2 in the off-gas (and compost) ≤ 2%, and so far we've never assayed over 3.0E+9 (3.0 billion) active bacteria, per teaspoonful (one gram dry weight) when the CO2 was greater that 4%.
When using compost, I encourage people to TEST the compost for germination and plant growth performance, before buying a lot of it. IF the composter has a good appreciation for the microbial oxygen requirements, then that is a different story. It was 15 years ago that I learned that compost needs forced aeration, 24/7, NOT on/off aeration, but continuous, just like you and I.
I followed your link and learned soemthing about the two main processes for decaffeination. Very helpful information. I can appreciate your dilemma. It's funny how often questions lead, not to answers, but to more questions, which must play the role of answers.
Chris
Laureen Grenus > Christopher BatesJanuary 25, 2010 at 12:20pm
Is there a local college that will test soil for pH etc at no cost before I start to plant ?
Need some more info to offer ideas on this:
what are you trying to grow?
How often do you water?
where is it located in the yard in relation to the sun?
do they wilt, dry up, disappear?
raised beds take a lot more input here in AZ. But understanding the relationships of plants to all elements is very critical for success.
Thank you so much for your response. We are growing pumpkins, squash, and zuccini. The raised bed is on the east side. We water daily until the seedlings are about 4 inches tall and then every other day. Some of them look like they can't take the heat (wilt) and some just stop growing and dry up. As I mentioned, this is the second time this has happened. We put a lot of work and money into putting in the raised garden. We were not aware that raised gardens don't do well in Arizona. Is it because of the soil temp? The test seeds we stuck in the regular dirt are doing just fine and are flowering. Very strange.
East side of your house or yard?
I am thinking if it is the side of the house, then too much shade. Esp. for squash who love heat and sun-to a degree of course!
We are out of pumpkin/squash/zuccini growing time. Please download the planting calendar that is on the right hand column of this website. We are now into the leafy greens and root veggie time. This may also be part of your issue. The ones that are growing in the corner of the yard - you probably have had in the ground then for a few weeks? You may have just caught the end of the season on those and you should keep tending them to see how they grow.
Raised beds take more input, more water, therefore time and tending to be sure that things do not dry out. Do not be discouraged. Growing veggies is not easy, and it takes time and knowledge of your yard and micro-climates to become one with your garden and nature. Do you have your own compost pile yet? If not, start one. You will constantly have to add compost to your soil, so save money and the planet by recycling your own waste into great dirt. Ask your local coffee house for used ground (not decaf though!) and spread that around.
Keep trying new veggies out, and dig a few small "pits" throughout the yard and amend them and see what grows. Start small and then you will use less energy and money to work out the details. Plants will tell us where they like to grow, if we just listen. I highly recommend the book "Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture" by Toby Hemenway. You will never look at plants and soil and our connection to them the same way again.
I think it's great that you're giving such good advice to Sedaj. Why do you say no decaf coffee grounds int he compost? That's all I drink, and use in my compost.
Chris
Ericka > Christopher BatesOctober 16, 2009 at 8:51am
The main way they extract caffeine is by using solvents like methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and highly pressurized carbon dioxide. I found this site that has a breakdown of the process and a few others that use less harmful procedures. Just best to avoid if you can, or want to.
On the other hand, where would we like to have decaf coffee grounds go? The land fill? If you have been using them, with no ill effects than I would say continue. Experimenting and OBSERVING is key. Many things are made on assumptions, and "they" are not always right. Plus, we really do not understand everything nature has to offer us yet. Maybe the bugs and microbes in the compost and earth breakdown small amounts of chemicals effectively. Either way, the chemicals are in the coffee, you drink the coffee, so why not add them to your soil? What is the difference at that point?
Your comment has me really thinking, thanks for posting!
Replies
To be environmentally friendly, that means concrete composting pad under roof. To provide the aeration the microbes need, and also completely elminate foul odors means the aeration veins must be built into the concrete pad, and designed to incorporate our Dynamic Bio-Filtering technology. Turning is essential for good processing, to homogenize, enable re-hydrating, and to average out porosity for uniform aeration. This adds up to significant capital investment. Thus, it MUST be treated as business, to be sustainable. We've got to empower the naturally occurring microbial master composter, which include making sure they are not inhibited by a lack of oxygen.
To get answers to practical questions, we've done massive hands on research in our compost research silo lab which we have enhanced over time, adding features to enable getting answers and verifying them, to more practical questions. We've got to learn to live in much greater harmony with nature, and one another.
IN our test garden, we have tremendous reverence for thy mighty earthworms and which we look forward to seeing how their population grows this year, as a result of our mulching with over a foot of leaves again last fall. We don't have any need for any mechanical tilling. The earthworms do a great job.
The photo shows part of our compost research silo lab. It may not be fancy, but it has enabled us to get verifiable answers to many practical questions like how much air is needed, what is the oxygen and CO2 level, how much vacuum is required to pull the air through compost up to 97½" deep at various rates, what management practices are essential to having our Dynamic Bio-Filters to completely eliminate all foul odors, 100% of the time?
Few people understand oxygen in compost. There is a sacred MYTH in the composting industry that windrows of compost will passively aerate by convection. Well, that made sense to me until Spring of 1996 when I started doing cross section profile oxygen, CO2 and temperature monitoring. Clearly my Fyrite oxygen and CO2 meters told a very different story.
VFA's, Volatile Fatty Acids are byproductes of anaerobic decomposition, and they are Phyto-Toxic, toxic to plants, so I have read. I have not personally done research on this but in the Fall of 1995 I had several landscape jobs where I used some "compost" and I could not get grass seed to establish.
Since then I learned from our own hands on research that the microbes can crash the oxygen from 19% down to 2% in 15 minutes, when the forced aeration is turned off. Of course this depends on how many ACTIVE microbes are in the compost. In our own hands-on research, in our compost research silo lab, we've found that often our compost, during the early stages, can require over 23 times the volume of the compost, in fresh air, every hour, to hold the CO2 in the off-gas (and compost) ≤ 2%, and so far we've never assayed over 3.0E+9 (3.0 billion) active bacteria, per teaspoonful (one gram dry weight) when the CO2 was greater that 4%.
When using compost, I encourage people to TEST the compost for germination and plant growth performance, before buying a lot of it. IF the composter has a good appreciation for the microbial oxygen requirements, then that is a different story. It was 15 years ago that I learned that compost needs forced aeration, 24/7, NOT on/off aeration, but continuous, just like you and I.
there is more information at http://www.magicsoil.com on the research page, and also at http://www.magicsoil.com/evolution
Dr. Mike Robe
I followed your link and learned soemthing about the two main processes for decaffeination. Very helpful information. I can appreciate your dilemma. It's funny how often questions lead, not to answers, but to more questions, which must play the role of answers.
Chris
what are you trying to grow?
How often do you water?
where is it located in the yard in relation to the sun?
do they wilt, dry up, disappear?
raised beds take a lot more input here in AZ. But understanding the relationships of plants to all elements is very critical for success.
I am thinking if it is the side of the house, then too much shade. Esp. for squash who love heat and sun-to a degree of course!
We are out of pumpkin/squash/zuccini growing time. Please download the planting calendar that is on the right hand column of this website. We are now into the leafy greens and root veggie time. This may also be part of your issue. The ones that are growing in the corner of the yard - you probably have had in the ground then for a few weeks? You may have just caught the end of the season on those and you should keep tending them to see how they grow.
Raised beds take more input, more water, therefore time and tending to be sure that things do not dry out. Do not be discouraged. Growing veggies is not easy, and it takes time and knowledge of your yard and micro-climates to become one with your garden and nature. Do you have your own compost pile yet? If not, start one. You will constantly have to add compost to your soil, so save money and the planet by recycling your own waste into great dirt. Ask your local coffee house for used ground (not decaf though!) and spread that around.
Keep trying new veggies out, and dig a few small "pits" throughout the yard and amend them and see what grows. Start small and then you will use less energy and money to work out the details. Plants will tell us where they like to grow, if we just listen. I highly recommend the book "Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture" by Toby Hemenway. You will never look at plants and soil and our connection to them the same way again.
I think it's great that you're giving such good advice to Sedaj. Why do you say no decaf coffee grounds int he compost? That's all I drink, and use in my compost.
Chris
On the other hand, where would we like to have decaf coffee grounds go? The land fill? If you have been using them, with no ill effects than I would say continue. Experimenting and OBSERVING is key. Many things are made on assumptions, and "they" are not always right. Plus, we really do not understand everything nature has to offer us yet. Maybe the bugs and microbes in the compost and earth breakdown small amounts of chemicals effectively. Either way, the chemicals are in the coffee, you drink the coffee, so why not add them to your soil? What is the difference at that point?
Your comment has me really thinking, thanks for posting!
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