That's cool.
the link to the .pdf didn't work though.
thanks for the input.

Sorry about the link. I posted things a little prematurely. We're working on it.

Eventually I'll figure out how to post the .pdf file and everyone will be able to get the full scoop on all the magic inside EZ Green. I received the .pdf file as an email attachment, so I'm having to rely on my Web guru to figure out how to post it on the Web site, but he's out of town.
Stay tuned.

Also, I'm propagating my online "store" with lots of other goodies -- lots of how-to build this and that -- All FREE for the asking.

do you think composted horse manure would work just as well?
There's a place about 20 minutes away where I can shovel all I want.

RE: Horse Manure

My guess would be yes, but if I go to the nursery and ask for manure in a bag, EZ Green is what they hand me.

Horses eat grasses, while chickens eat grains, bugs, grasses, etc. It seems to me their dietary mix would include more nutrient sources than a horse's (hey, that rhymes).

Bottom line is: I don't know; try it and report your findings here on the 4m.

? Does anyone have a theory as to why a water extract of chicken manure compost would be self-buffering ?

Not sure how well horse tea will work in hydro, but my mom used to make it and feed it to her in the ground garden. I swear the plants leaned towards her when she would walk to the garden with her magic jug.

I am told its self-buffering quality comes from micro-organisms. Apparently, they buffer acids and bases in an effort to survive. If I can figure out who told me that, I'll post it. All I really know is it works. I grow strawberries and tomatoes and the pH holds at right around 6.3.

Hi freeman,
Micro-organisms are also in aerobic brews of worm castings "tea".
I know you've years of hydroponic experience, so am curious if you have ever used casting extract as nutrient solution & found it to be self-buffering.

Yes, I used to raise worms and have used "worm tea" but did not pay any attention to the pH. Sorry.

I have also since given my worm farm away to a friend who does "soil" organic farming. He uses the tea at regular intervals and absolutely swears by it!

what kind of worms do you use in a worm farm or does it matter?

When I gave away my worm farm, I gave away the care and feeding book with it and I don't remember the exact scientific name but it's something like Eisenia foetida, I think.

They are the same ones in your lawn. If you want to get some from your lawn, just moisten a piece of cardboard and lay it on your grass in the late afternoon. By the next morning, there will be worms feeding on the cardboard (really, I'm not lying-- these critters EAT cardboard) and all you haveto do is pick them up with your hands.

Anyway, it does matter what kind you use and these are that kind; they eat garbage!

Got a beef cattle ranch right behind my house, got access to this manure, just got to get over the barbed wire (lol) Worth a try? Thanks Al, Fred

GW has a worm compost forum = "Vermiculture"

frednumber3

The manure I use and suggest you use to brew plant nutrient is DIGESTED. That means it's been in a compost pile for nearly a year in most cases. The fresh stuff is just ****!

Anyone know if composted dog manure could be used? My 3 dogs (American Bulldog, Rottweiler and Cane Corso) can produce enough to last a life time! I sometimes wonder if a horse has gone through my yard.

gotmetalboy:

Hmmm . . . dog do; why don't you give it a whirl and let us know.

Of course, if we never hear from you again, we'll just assume it was a bad idea and you're dead, eh?

hi freemangreens,i made some of your cat out of the bag and if i mix it at 2.8 cf it reads 1,800 ppm, is this not way to heigh of a ppm? will it fry my tomatoes ? thanks les matzek.

Yeah, that's a little "hot". You did something wrong. Do you have and EC meter (Truncheon)? Test your mix water before adding the concentrate. Tomatoes like an EC of around 2.0. 1800 ppm is around 3.6 EC and your tomatoes will probably make audible sounds (screams!).

hi al, i got the containers mixed up. your ezgreen after 28 hours test at 900 ppm on the ec x 700 side of my blue lab, without any water added this is kind of weak right ? thanks les.

has anyone out there made any ezgreen tea ?, i got my com-
posted chicken crap from peacefull valley farm supply it
cost $ 4.99 PER 25 pound bag plus 25.00 dollars shipping
for a total cost of 30.00 per bag. i put 1 cup of chicken
poop in a silk stocken and put it in 2 gallons of water
and let it soak for 30 hours, and the last 10 hours bobbed
it up and down. it only reads 900 ppm on my blue lab anybody get a higher reading ? les matzek

lesmatzek209:
Check the EC of plain water. If you live in an area fed by snow, it may be almost nothing. My water reads 1.2 right out of the tap; it's full of calcium, which plants love by the way. If your bare-water reading is very low, it may be necessary to add calcium or another salt to up the EC. If that's not an option, you may be forced to grow something that needs less feeding, though 900 ppm is around 1.8 EC and that'll do tomatoes!

al, my water after going thru the garden gro filter i have
reads between 1 and 2 that should be about 1.5 ? if i have
to use the tea full strength the tea will last no time.
thanks les

What is a garden gro filter?
At any rate, something's wrong, but I'm not seeing it. I used a gallon of tea concentrate in 16 gallons of water to feed tomatoes and they thrived. Using that proportion, my EC was around 2.0.

Me again. I was going to tell you that when this bag of chicken poo is used up, you might want to consider a different nutrient mix. I've switched to one concocted by a friend of mine, Richard Frost. There's a link to him on my Web page; just click on "What's New" on the front page. I'm sure a year's supply of dry nutrient could be mailed to you for no more than $5 postage! The cost of the salts is extremely reasonable, by the way; and they work great!

Just wanted to go back to the worm castings stuff:

1) Composting worms (eisenia foetida) are not the same worms in the garden or yard. Different genus and species altogether. Nightcrawlers (the ones in the yard) will usually die in a composting system unless you happen to be lucky and have the euro nightcrawler (eisenia hortensis) in your yard in a very mild climate. They usually get driven out by the lumbricus genus worms, though.

2) Castings will depend on the food given to the worms. You will only get consistent castings content by using a consistent feed mix. Composting will yield varying results. Don't confuse castings tea with worm bin leachate. Totatlly different stuff. Leachate can be phytotoxic. It can also be beneficial. Depends on what you compost.

3) Castings have a high pH. Mine are always above 7 and most often hover around 8. I made tea a couple weeks ago with rain water (pH 5.5) and the tea still came out with a pH of 8.3. I used a teaspoon of molasses, 4 gallons of water, 2 cups of fresh castings, and an air stone. I haven't checked to see if the molasses will raise pH on it's own. Molasses encourages microbe production in the tea. That's what I read anyway. When I made a mix of just 1/2 gallon rain water and 2 teaspoons of castings, the pH was still over 7.

4) The EC on that tea was so high my blue lab truncheon was maxed out. I've read the only bad thing about castings is the salt content. Now I am a believer. I'll let you all know if I can find the perfect ratio of castings for hydro, but I imagine it will have to include an outside nitrogen source to be a good nute solution.

Edit: Where I said 2 teaspoons of castings it should say tablespoons. Humongous difference.