BlackKow - anyone use it?

jpcyan

jpcyan

Really Active Member
I grabbed a $2 dollar, 40lb sack of composted manure BlackKow (Cow)? brand from the farm store parking lot earlier today.
I should know better, as every time I buy outside bags I bring fungus gnats inside.
Its rated .5-.5-.5.
Now I have used some years ago as an additive to peat mixes outside. It did ok for potted plants around the house and yard.

I also tried it with mushrooms but hated it. Not only did it suck but it infested my crop with gnats.

So any opinions on it as an additive to a soil less/soil mix? Indoor or out?
 
BigBallzWillie

BigBallzWillie

BE THE BALL
What does it look like? Is there a lot of wood products? I'd be suspect @2 bucks as to what's in there and in what state of compostedness it is. Not to many years ago I could get Bovung composted cow manure at Home Dopey, and it was the shit...for real...lol. But now it's a bunch of incompletely composted stuff with lot's of identifiable parts, mostly twigs, stones, mulch. It works better in the second or 3rd year to be honest and outdoors at that....sometimes a nitrogen hog breaking down. You can sift some and see what's there.
That said....if it looks like finished compost and smells like shit $2 could be a deal.
 
Cfeezzie

Cfeezzie

Super Active Member
Screenshot_20190913-171421.png Ive used this but i give it to my worm bin first. Seems to work well never had any problems with it gnats or other wise. It does sit in the worm bin for 6 month before i use it. I mix it in used soil and new soil for veg. peat moss,coco, black kow worm compost and perlite. And add to top dress sometimes.
 
jpcyan

jpcyan

Really Active Member
Great idea thanks. The worms will love it for sure.
I haven't yet had time to open it and mess with it to see what it consists of.
Thanks for your input.
I need to read up on the em-1 and bokashi again. I have some FPE's (papaya, squash, banana I believe) and maybe some lactoBac I made, but it a couple years old. I probably need to start all that fresh.
 
TerpyTyrone

TerpyTyrone

LED Recruiter
Cfeezzie said:
View attachment 21700 Ive used this but i give it to my worm bin first. Seems to work well never had any problems with it gnats or other wise. It does sit in the worm bin for 6 month before i use it. I mix it in used soil and new soil for veg. peat moss,coco, black kow worm compost and perlite. And add to top dress sometimes.
Click to expand...
And thats it?
Just flip it every couple weeks?
I need to recharge some soil for next year. Maybe start here soon if I wanna have em outside by middle of May.
Do worm bins stink?
 
jpcyan

jpcyan

Really Active Member
My worm bins have no smell. When you open the lid its earthy, but otherwise its just another couple Sterilite totes sitting amongst the others in my basement.

Like anything else there is a learning curve on how much to feed, how wet the bedding/ food materials are and such.

I only feed them fruit and vegetable scraps, a bit of coffee grounds, and well aged horse manure. Sometimes a spent mushroom substrate if there is no vermiculite in it.

I use only coir for bedding.
 
Cfeezzie

Cfeezzie

Super Active Member
TerpyTyrone said:
And thats it?
Just flip it every couple weeks?
I need to recharge some soil for next year. Maybe start here soon if I wanna have em outside by middle of May.
Do worm bins stink?
Click to expand...
Never had a bad smell .just don't put any dairy, meat. I only put in fruits and veggie, made a worm feed with ground up egg shells browned in oven. Corn meal oat meal ground up ,malted barley ground up . Mix in 1 cup of each and bag it up. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of that feed on top surface and the next morning seems like all the worms are up there going crazy.
 
jpcyan

jpcyan

Really Active Member
Love me some thrift store goodies. Always find some great deals at the one I go to.

Good stuff man I like the recipe for the worm food. I do add grains/ oatmeal etc as well. I'll give your recipe a try. :) thanks

I found a product called "Magic Worm Food". It is grain based I believe and has all the needed nutes for healthy worms.
Which I initially found for using as a "poorman's spawnmate" for the growing of fungi. They like the same stuff ;)

My grandpa and dad raised worms when I was a kid, They sold them to bait shops and local lakes.
Red wigglers and Night Crawlers. Used to hunt 'em every night using a red lens on a flashlight with my Grandpa.
Ahh good times and memories.

Just checked and that Black Kow was a 50lb sack for 2 bucks. So i didnt get hurt no matter how I use it as long as no gnats come from it :)
 
Hillbill

Hillbill

Member
Black Kow is about as good national brand manure but was darker until
Last year or two. Use it in worms and in mix and everything I grow.
 
Now1more

Now1more

Super Active Member
I have used it, but never on cannabis. Compost it a while more. I use horse manure from a guy down the road. I compost it as it was brought to my attention that what the horses eat could have been a sprayed field crop. Those chemicals are passed along through the manure and need more time to age. I don't know if the same is true for cows since they have 4 stomachs! Am I right or just too high and remembering wrong? Lol. Either way... worm bin... awesome idea!
 
Hillbill

Hillbill

Member
Now1more said:
I have used it, but never on cannabis. Compost it a while more. I use horse manure from a guy down the road. I compost it as it was brought to my attention that what the horses eat could have been a sprayed field crop. Those chemicals are passed along through the manure and need more time to age. I don't know if the same is true for cows since they have 4 stomachs! Am I right or just too high and remembering wrong? Lol. Either way... worm bin... awesome idea!
Click to expand...
My mixes always have a wide variety of compost. Usually my own castings, Black Kow, Back to Nature Cotton Burr Compost, The Cow (peat with cow manure.)

Back to Nature Cotton Burr Compost is just wonderful and me and local nurseries use it a lot. Only brand worth a shit, awesome.
 
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