a mite to remember

crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Self-Proclaimed Don Quixote
don’t kill these guys if you have them, don’t drench your soil or soilless mix with pesticides, don’t use diatomaceous earth to cover the top soil either because these guys will do the job for free. hypoaspis miles, a beneficial guy all the way. scavengers, so they will eat any pest that spends at least one phase of its lifecycle in soil (thrips and fungus gnats are the obvious pests targeted by these beauties). you may even see them roaming on the lower leaves of small plants or on seedlings too, perfectly fine. they will never ever damage your plants and kill those only which will cause damage. love these mites.
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crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Self-Proclaimed Don Quixote
i know some find these creatures unnerving and in some cases think they may be detrimental to plant health but in reality these are higher life forms that make an organic soil work by making the stored nutrients available held within the fungi and algae and shit by consuming them.

perfectly fine to have in the soil and in fact a good indicator that you have a healthy functioning organic medium, thriving.
 
H.A.F.

H.A.F.

a.k.a. Rusty Nails
crimsonecho said:
i know some find these creatures unnerving and in some cases think they may be detrimental to plant health but in reality these are higher life forms that make an organic soil work by making the stored nutrients available held within the fungi and algae and shit by consuming them.

perfectly fine to have in the soil and in fact a good indicator that you have a healthy functioning organic medium, thriving.
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Cool thing is you don't have to realy do anything or buy anything for them to show up. A worm bin is a nursery for them all, and the eggs are right in there with the worm eggs and such when you use fresh castings.

I have only been doing organic since last summer and at first they freaked me out. I was taking pics and asking people if it was OK to add these castings to the plants ;)

Other good guys are ladybugs, but I think buying them is the best option unless you can breed them in the tent. The adults don't eat much but the larva and babies are voracious. But the larvae look nothing like a ladybug so look it up before you kill any little black alligator-dinosaur-looking things.

And rove beetles. I think these guys show up any time you add oats to the bin.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Self-Proclaimed Don Quixote
H.A.F. said:
Cool thing is you don't have to realy do anything or buy anything for them to show up. A worm bin is a nursery for them all, and the eggs are right in there with the worm eggs and such when you use fresh castings.

I have only been doing organic since last summer and at first they freaked me out. I was taking pics and asking people if it was OK to add these castings to the plants ;)

Other good guys are ladybugs, but I think buying them is the best option unless you can breed them in the tent. The adults don't eat much but the larva and babies are voracious. But the larvae look nothing like a ladybug so look it up before you kill any little black alligator-dinosaur-looking things.

And rove beetles. I think these guys show up any time you add oats to the bin.
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yeah i got this indoor bin in my grow room and i’ve been neglecting it for the past year and it was almost dead with a handful of worms and nothing much moving around. but after a couple of weeks of proper feeding with high quality organic material the life began blooming and now after a couple of months its alive as ever.

you really don’t need any other microbial innoculant besides homemade ewc imo.

as for ladybugs i don’t think you can cultivate them in a tent per se, they need constant supply of food (so you have to have endless supply of pests in the tent) and once they get their wings they’re gonna wanna fly away as they do but outdoors seeing one around my plants always lights my face up. i’m hoping that its laying sweet eggs on one my tomatoes and stuff haha

rowe beetles is something i havent seen yet eventhough i add oats from time to time. in scarce amounts tho, don’t want to attract rodents.
 
H.A.F.

H.A.F.

a.k.a. Rusty Nails
crimsonecho said:
here they are roaming on the newly transplanted clones checking up on them to see if theres anything to eat. hypoaspis is the best security guard ever! on alert 24/7. better than any chemical ipm to me!
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If you add a cover crop you'll get that 'bug-o-sphere' that stays around the cover crop where all the feeding and breeding and whatnot takes place.

I use rice hulls because the worms love it and they don't muck up the soil like some things can. Mulch by itself will help keep the soil from drying out and killing and those feeder roots. If it dries out it's at least shaded so next watering or top-dressing they are right back to work.

But you can also let the soil dry down a lot more without hurting anything if you have the crop. It basically eliminates losing anything to evaporation I noticed this on my outdoor garden which is covered in "weeds" this year. My tomatoes aren't drooping in the heat of the day like they always did and I am not watering nearly as much. Same for inside.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

Self-Proclaimed Don Quixote
H.A.F. said:
If you add a cover crop you'll get that 'bug-o-sphere' that stays around the cover crop where all the feeding and breeding and whatnot takes place.

I use rice hulls because the worms love it and they don't muck up the soil like some things can. Mulch by itself will help keep the soil from drying out and killing and those feeder roots. If it dries out it's at least shaded so next watering or top-dressing they are right back to work.

But you can also let the soil dry down a lot more without hurting anything if you have the crop. It basically eliminates losing anything to evaporation I noticed this on my outdoor garden which is covered in "weeds" this year. My tomatoes aren't drooping in the heat of the day like they always did and I am not watering nearly as much. Same for inside.
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yeah good angle bro. i’m planning on moving to 20 gallon pots for my next run in the 4x4 and doing basil and sage and mulching with hay. i’m gonna experiment with clovers too. i’m planning at least. mulching is a must in organic soil imo. whatever you use as long as you keep it moist with good air exchange the fauna is gonna thrive.

the thing is this doesnt matter much in chemical gardening because in chemical growing medium is there to anchor the plant and nothing much else. in organics medium is the feed. so when you let that precious top inches dry you lose the usage of a considerable amount of your invaluable organic medium.

so basically if you don’t mulch with something, preferably organic material to feed the fauna, you’re mulching with the top inches of your soil. that part becomes the mulch. which i find to be sad. that back breaking work and all those quality organic material sitting there to act as a mulch. not what i’d prefer :)
 
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