Author Topic: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?  (Read 1894 times)

Tropicaltoba

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Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« on: January 23, 2023, 10:26:56 PM »
I’m curious if anyone else is making their own fertilizers for container plants? I’ve been using old leaves and coffee grounds in a worm bin and also have been trying some experiments with bokashi composting for fruit and high nitrogen wastes. I find the solids products work well for my large containerized that have worms in them, but I’m not sure what to do with all the leachates? I’m hoping to use them as a liquid fertilizer for my smaller plants but have concerns about toxicity. I was wondering if others have tried similar things?

tru

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2023, 10:40:57 PM »
Maybe treat it as a concentrate, mix w water to experiment with? I think the only real way to tell would be an EC reader, not sure about the leachates maybe cheesecloth would work? I figure they're probably way smaller than that though

I've never heard of bokashi but after reading up on it sounds really interesting!

I keep a fishtank so all of the dirty water goes directly to the plants instead of down the drain, I have a compost bin going but I'm new to it all so idk how good I did, tried to do the whole browns to greens ratio but It's hard to say if it was done right
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elouicious

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2023, 11:44:59 PM »
I've done the same in the past-

Bokashi is great for composting on a small scale to produce liquid feritlizers

As tru said unless you have the same inputs to the bin, the leachate will always be a bit of a moving target but in general a dilution of 1:100 will be good for almost all applications

Really heavy feeders like some species of cactus can take it straight

What are your toxicity concerns?

(freshwater aquarium water changes are an amazing liquid fertilizer, I would like to begin experimenting with a protein skimmer from reef aquariums as well)
« Last Edit: January 23, 2023, 11:46:40 PM by elouicious »

pagnr

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2023, 04:35:37 AM »
A standard toxicity test is to plant 100 radish seed in a pot and count the germinations. High rate = very low to zero toxicity. Low rate of germination = higher toxicity.
You may need to standardise by knowing the germination rate of the radish seed, that should be 100% in most cases.
You could test toxicity of your fertiliser on radish seedlings in pots, if they go backwards it should be an indication.

roblack

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2023, 08:20:46 AM »
Used to feed plants black water from freshwater cichlid tanks packed with fish, plants, and driftwood . Never bought fertilizer for the house and porch plants, as the back water was fantastic. Have considered keeping freshwater fish again, partly for the wastewater.

I would be afraid to use skimmate from a protein skimmer. Not sure if the salt is transferred well in the foam, but who knows what is in the cup. Marine tanks, water, and fish usually end up getting dosed with all kinds of stuff, including antibiotics and copper. Even if it is good for plants and fruit, doubt enough could be produced and fed to plants to make much of a difference.

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2023, 12:48:28 PM »
I've done the same in the past-

Bokashi is great for composting on a small scale to produce liquid feritlizers

As tru said unless you have the same inputs to the bin, the leachate will always be a bit of a moving target but in general a dilution of 1:100 will be good for almost all applications

Really heavy feeders like some species of cactus can take it straight

What are your toxicity concerns?

(freshwater aquarium water changes are an amazing liquid fertilizer, I would like to begin experimenting with a protein skimmer from reef aquariums as well)

I’ve done a bit of reading that suggests there could be around 1-2% alcohol (my fruit waste probably turns into kombucha) and that if left to air 50% will evaporate over 5 days.

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2023, 12:49:09 PM »
A standard toxicity test is to plant 100 radish seed in a pot and count the germinations. High rate = very low to zero toxicity. Low rate of germination = higher toxicity.
You may need to standardise by knowing the germination rate of the radish seed, that should be 100% in most cases.
You could test toxicity of your fertiliser on radish seedlings in pots, if they go backwards it should be an indication.

I like this idea thanks

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2023, 12:59:52 PM »
Maybe treat it as a concentrate, mix w water to experiment with? I think the only real way to tell would be an EC reader, not sure about the leachates maybe cheesecloth would work? I figure they're probably way smaller than that though

I've never heard of bokashi but after reading up on it sounds really interesting!

I keep a fishtank so all of the dirty water goes directly to the plants instead of down the drain, I have a compost bin going but I'm new to it all so idk how good I did, tried to do the whole browns to greens ratio but It's hard to say if it was done right

I do use an ec meter for my fertigation (add small amounts of liquid fertillizer every time I water my small container fruit trees) and try to adjust it based on some salinity tolerate tables I found, but I’m not sure how that translates to organic fertilizer as there is hardly any sodium
Or chloride in it.

tru

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2023, 01:08:23 PM »
https://www.gardenmyths.com/bokashi-tea-fertilizer/#:~:text=Levels%20of%20Sodium%20and%20Chloride,50%20being%20toxic%20to%20plants.

I found this article talking about sodium and chloride levels; They also tested bokashi vs nothing vs typical fertilizer and the typical fertilizer destroyed them, they say it is because bokashi does not contain much nitrogen

"Use bokashi for gardens with high nitrogen content, that can deal with excess salt easily"
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elouicious

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #9 on: January 24, 2023, 01:13:00 PM »
I think the salt concentrations mainly come from including cooked food- I could be wrong baut as long as you are only using raw food discard I can't see how the salt would accumulate

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #10 on: January 24, 2023, 02:36:33 PM »
https://www.gardenmyths.com/bokashi-tea-fertilizer/#:~:text=Levels%20of%20Sodium%20and%20Chloride,50%20being%20toxic%20to%20plants.

I found this article talking about sodium and chloride levels; They also tested bokashi vs nothing vs typical fertilizer and the typical fertilizer destroyed them, they say it is because bokashi does not contain much nitrogen

"Use bokashi for gardens with high nitrogen content, that can deal with excess salt easily"

Yeah I found that one too so I’ve tried making two different types. One that is mostly fruit peels (should be high in potassium), and another that should be high in nitrogen cause it’s all fresh leaves (passion fruit vine trimmings) along with meat and dairy waste (I’m not going into detail about this yet cause I’ll sound like a lunatic). My plan is to try to adjust the fertillizer to the grow/fruiting needs of the plants.

Vegan Potato Man

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2023, 04:55:35 PM »
I put a bunch of comfrey in a bucket and ended up with a bunch of juice.

I diluted it and tested it with my truncheon ec meter but I should have sterilized it since it had some nasty mold in there that attacked my plants.

Will update if I use it again after sterilizing.

achetadomestica

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #12 on: January 24, 2023, 05:26:23 PM »
cricket frass
I usually mix a cup in a gallon of water and let simmer for 2-4 hours in the sun.
Also on the first of every month I have been giving my potted plants
fish emulsion. I have 4 jabos in pots and they really seem to be responding

elouicious

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #13 on: January 24, 2023, 06:57:06 PM »
where do you get the cricket frass?

or do you have crickets in a box?

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2023, 07:18:20 PM »
Do you make your own emulsion? I too am curious where u get the crickets.

achetadomestica

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #15 on: January 24, 2023, 07:36:15 PM »
where do you get the cricket frass?

or do you have crickets in a box?

I owned a cricket farm, Acheta domestica is the genus and species of the grey cricket.
I sold 89,000,000 crickets one year
Anyway I am getting the frass from my old farm.

achetadomestica

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #16 on: January 24, 2023, 07:42:24 PM »
Do you make your own emulsion? I too am curious where u get the crickets.

I was driving down the road and saw a 5 gallon bucket on the side of the road.
I needed one more to collect rainwater and I stopped to get it and it was full of
fresh caught Tilapia and bluegill. They were just starting to stink. Someone must have
lost them going down the road and they landed perfectly without spilling
I put the fish in a pastic barrell and added some mollasses and water and I have a batch.
I mix one Tablespoon per gallon of water.

Galatians522

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #17 on: January 24, 2023, 09:31:32 PM »
where do you get the cricket frass?

or do you have crickets in a box?

I owned a cricket farm, Acheta domestica is the genus and species of the grey cricket.
I sold 89,000,000 crickets one year
Anyway I am getting the frass from my old farm.

I knew there had to be a reason for your chosen avatar.

pagnr

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #18 on: January 25, 2023, 02:04:51 AM »
Do you make your own emulsion? I too am curious where u get the crickets.

I was driving down the road and saw a 5 gallon bucket on the side of the road.
I needed one more to collect rainwater and I stopped to get it and it was full of
fresh caught Tilapia and bluegill. They were just starting to stink. Someone must have
lost them going down the road and they landed perfectly without spilling
I put the fish in a pastic barrell and added some mollasses and water and I have a batch.
I mix one Tablespoon per gallon of water.

Reminds me of a similar story from when I was a teenage member of the Aquarium Club.
One member told about when he went on a trip to the beach to catch small shrimp for live fish food, caught and collected in a big drum in the back of the station wagon.
On the way home on a backroad, he was T boned by another car, and the shrimp exploded onto the road, flicking and jumping.
Both cars wrecked.
When the other drive walked up, he only asked one question.
"where did all the shrimp com from" ?
« Last Edit: January 25, 2023, 02:06:32 AM by pagnr »

pagnr

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #19 on: January 25, 2023, 02:23:27 AM »
I do use an ec meter for my fertigation (add small amounts of liquid fertillizer every time I water my small container fruit trees) and try to adjust it based on some salinity tolerate tables I found, but I’m not sure how that translates to organic fertilizer as there is hardly any sodium
Or chloride in it.

NaCl has an EC, but so does CaCl KCl CaSo4 MgCl MgSo4 etc etc all those similar fertiliser components for the purposes of liquid fertigation
Even Urea CO(NH 2) 2. has an EC equivalent, although it is not exactly the same type of molecule as the others.
Organic fertiliser may have more complex larger molecules, but they probably eventually break down to smaller types like above.
On top of that your water has some level of EC before you add fertiliser.
Not a big problem, but keep in mind that fertilisers have an EC effect.
Also if you apply fertiliser to a pot and it dries out the EC increases in the remaining soil water.
That is why some fertilisers say don't apply in high temps, more so if the are heat release types.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2023, 04:46:37 AM by pagnr »

Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #20 on: January 25, 2023, 03:46:16 PM »
Organic fertilizers are def a safer option for pot culture, ive read that with the sintetics its easier to overdo on potted plants due to the confinement of the pot.
I also started making my own fish emulsion, i have set 2 10 liter bottles past summer, should be ready by june probably.
That said i am generally very bad at keeping up the fertilization schedules, so i only used it like 2- 3 times this summer, mostly doing the sintetic stuff ,also not on a schedule and probably could do way more.
I have 2 ponds with fish in my yard, both of them have accumulated like 10 cm of muck at the bottom, i will be removing a part of it, leaving the rest for the water lilies to enjoy as they are growing straight into it. I plan on dessicating the muck and probably mixing it with irigation water as needed. This thing is literally black, years of worth of acummulating of sediment and fish waste, i just imagine how fertile it is.
In summer when i am hand wattering i use the water from the ponds , then backfill them with my well's water, its a pain to cary so much water trough my yard ,but i have to change the ponds water periodically anyways, and i hate to just spill it out on the tiles, not gonna happen!
« Last Edit: January 25, 2023, 03:50:52 PM by Plantinyum »

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #21 on: January 25, 2023, 07:29:11 PM »
Organic fertilizers are def a safer option for pot culture, ive read that with the sintetics its easier to overdo on potted plants due to the confinement of the pot.
I also started making my own fish emulsion, i have set 2 10 liter bottles past summer, should be ready by june probably.
That said i am generally very bad at keeping up the fertilization schedules, so i only used it like 2- 3 times this summer, mostly doing the sintetic stuff ,also not on a schedule and probably could do way more.
I have 2 ponds with fish in my yard, both of them have accumulated like 10 cm of muck at the bottom, i will be removing a part of it, leaving the rest for the water lilies to enjoy as they are growing straight into it. I plan on dessicating the muck and probably mixing it with irigation water as needed. This thing is literally black, years of worth of acummulating of sediment and fish waste, i just imagine how fertile it is.
In summer when i am hand wattering i use the water from the ponds , then backfill them with my well's water, its a pain to cary so much water trough my yard ,but i have to change the ponds water periodically anyways, and i hate to just spill it out on the tiles, not gonna happen!

I am jealous of people with ponds. Are u feeding the fish or do they just eat bugs? How are the mosquitos? I live in the mosquito capital of Canada and I want a pond but I’m worried I’ll just ending giving my neighbour hood west nile virus. Also what sintectics?

Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #22 on: January 26, 2023, 02:08:43 AM »
Tropicaltoba, i dont really feed my fish, i keep goldfish and some native species, which i want to replace with goldfish ultimately. I have bought 1 goldfish feed this summer, very small quantity and that was all i fed them the whole summer. I dont usually feed them becouse i have introduced river crustaceans,  dunno which species but are very small and have a stable poppulation of theese. I also have dragonfly larvae ,some stranje muck worms that show themselves trough the muck , and all other kinds of nasties.
My ponds are not heavily stocked with fish, so what in there naturally is sufficient at this point.
For the mosquitos i dont really know if the ponds are making a dent in the poppulation, i have never seen a flock of musquitos like flying above them. Ive seen them laying eggs on the water's surface, and i do have a substantial amount of mosquitos in the yard in spring and early summer, BUT at that time wherever i go there are awlays alot of mosquitos, forests are the worst place to go with summer outfit lol. 
Ive red there are some biological means of controlling mosquitos in ponds that do work, i just let mine run as naturally as possible, i will possibly get more goldfish this summer, this should help with their control.
Also if you make a pond u can add a strong watterfal or some kind of watter aggitation device, mosquito hate moving highly oxigenated water.
Sintetic ferts, i use whatever i get my hands on..npk ones, micronutrient ones, i found a hidroponic store where they offer some stuff that is usually hard to find here, like terra aquatica brand along others. I also use kristalon, which i think does a good job.
Here are both of them right now.




« Last Edit: January 26, 2023, 02:19:07 AM by Plantinyum »

pagnr

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #23 on: January 26, 2023, 03:46:24 AM »
i keep goldfish and some native species

Plantinyum, what native Bulgarian fish species do you keep ? Just wondering what they might be ?

 We have Carp, Tench, Redfin Perch ( Perca ) and Rudd/Roach introduced to Australia.

Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #24 on: January 26, 2023, 05:36:57 AM »
i keep goldfish and some native species

Plantinyum, what native Bulgarian fish species do you keep ? Just wondering what they might be ?

 We have Carp, Tench, Redfin Perch ( Perca ) and Rudd/Roach introduced to Australia.
I only have two wild species in the ponds, one is crucian carp, which is kind of an invasive species in our area. The other one i dont really know the name of it, its a small elongated fish, dark grey in colour with quite prominent protrusions on the sides of the gills/head. They may stay so small due to the confinement of the ponds.
I also had wild juppies at one time, those died out the first winter, they are native in some southern areas of my country, invasive as f**k.
I also have 2 big lake clams in the bigger pond, i should get more of those for both ponds, they seem to love trailing trought the muck.
I would love to really stock the ponds with all kinds of native fish, but they are too small for heavy fish raising. Will stick with goldies since they are the most friendly and beautiful to look at, native fish are too shy, thought my crucian carps do eat food from my hand at this point.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2023, 05:43:32 AM by Plantinyum »

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #25 on: January 26, 2023, 09:21:51 AM »
Tropicaltoba, i dont really feed my fish, i keep goldfish and some native species, which i want to replace with goldfish ultimately. I have bought 1 goldfish feed this summer, very small quantity and that was all i fed them the whole summer. I dont usually feed them becouse i have introduced river crustaceans,  dunno which species but are very small and have a stable poppulation of theese. I also have dragonfly larvae ,some stranje muck worms that show themselves trough the muck , and all other kinds of nasties.
My ponds are not heavily stocked with fish, so what in there naturally is sufficient at this point.
For the mosquitos i dont really know if the ponds are making a dent in the poppulation, i have never seen a flock of musquitos like flying above them. Ive seen them laying eggs on the water's surface, and i do have a substantial amount of mosquitos in the yard in spring and early summer, BUT at that time wherever i go there are awlays alot of mosquitos, forests are the worst place to go with summer outfit lol. 
Ive red there are some biological means of controlling mosquitos in ponds that do work, i just let mine run as naturally as possible, i will possibly get more goldfish this summer, this should help with their control.
Also if you make a pond u can add a strong watterfal or some kind of watter aggitation device, mosquito hate moving highly oxigenated water.
Sintetic ferts, i use whatever i get my hands on..npk ones, micronutrient ones, i found a hidroponic store where they offer some stuff that is usually hard to find here, like terra aquatica brand along others. I also use kristalon, which i think does a good job.
Here are both of them right now.





Super cool. Really jealous. Gonna have to convince the wife to allow to expand my ridiculous hobbies.

Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #26 on: January 26, 2023, 12:13:54 PM »
Tropicaltoba- Hahah ;D , if you have the space ,make one, it doesnt have to be huge u know, just make it deeper since your in a cold zone and fish like to have a deeper place to go to ,when its very cold.
My ponds look like nothing right now, they look spectacular in summer with all the vegetation, waterfall running and water lillies blooming. Its a little more work in the start untill the water has circulated itself, after that its on a autopilot mode.

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #27 on: January 26, 2023, 01:24:44 PM »
Thanks for the suggestions, the ground here freezes to 6-8 feet here so I’m gonna have to start working out to get my shoveling muscles ready for the spring. I’ll probably pick your brain closer to the spring in an attempt to minimize failed pond experiments.

Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #28 on: January 26, 2023, 01:27:05 PM »
Thanks for the suggestions, the ground here freezes to 6-8 feet here so I’m gonna have to start working out to get my shoveling muscles ready for the spring. I’ll probably pick your brain closer to the spring in an attempt to minimize failed pond experiments.

No worries, i'll share what i know !

Daintree

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #29 on: January 26, 2023, 05:55:52 PM »
Hi Tropicaltoba!
I am not nearly as cold as you, but in Idaho I do have to have a greenhouse and all my tropicals are in pots.
I have not had great luck with organic fertilizers in pots, because there isn't any "soil" in them so to speak, and organics have to be broken down by soil microbes before being available for the plants to use. It takes a long time, so you have to be patient to see results, and adding beneficial fungi and microbes is really important.
I am lazy and impatient by nature, and just use MiracleGro mostly, although "The Bobs", aka my worm composting setup, contributes a lot.
Can we see pics of your greenhouse???

Carolyn

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #30 on: January 26, 2023, 06:17:13 PM »
Yeah I’m not sure if organic are the way to go. Somethings seem to produce well, others not so much. I think I’ve finally figured out the climate control (sort of). Now working on pests, soil and fertilization. The problem is I don’t know any other people trying this stuff up North so I don’t know if I just suck at growing certain things or if they just take a while to produce. Be warned I have a high electricity bill but hydroelectric power here is abundant and we actually have a surplus.


Daintree

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #31 on: January 26, 2023, 07:35:00 PM »
Awesome!
I'm wondering how you move around in there! Do your pots go outside in the summer? I used to, but things are too big now.
Even down here, I have a hard time getting enough light on my citrus in the winter. And yeah, the heat can be pricey! Our natural gas in Idaho is cheap, so that is my heat source. Whenever people ask how much, I always say "it's way cheaper than showing horses!"
Here is my setup -

The seating area, a.k.a. The Laughing Impala Pub


Cacao, cinnamon, vanilla


One of my sweet Bourkes parrots that live out there


One of the two gas furnaces. I move the air around with cheap little fans


The pathway through the tropics


Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #32 on: January 26, 2023, 09:40:05 PM »
It looks really nice to have a setup with the birds and sitting space. I have too many exhaust fans so animals are a no go for me. yeah it’s pretty tight, only 225 sq ft so I pack as much in as I can. I did have to room to fit a hammock which I used during lockdown.

They all stay inside all summer, I’ve figured out how to keep the temps under 86F even when it’s 100F and sunny.

I’m still trying to figure out how to perfect the humidity for mangos (too dry mildew to wet ancathranose). I also think I need to make a mini greenhouse for rambutan, lanzone/Landsat sand mangosteen as I think they need even more consistent high humidity to grow well they look a little sad. I also use digital Controllers for the humidity and they always seem to break after 18 months which makes it hard or delicate plants.

I’m also trying to find out how to get enough chill hours near the windows to grow dwarf nectarines 800h. I can’t get low chill cultivars in canada. I get enough for feijoias 150? and did peaches (400) one year before I got ultra tropicals and had to turn the heat up a bit. I’m hoping the mini greenhouse will let me turn down the winter temps to save power and get more chill.



Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #33 on: January 27, 2023, 01:58:21 AM »
Nice greenhouses and plants!

Daintree, i am jealous of your cacao, bananas and the rest place that you have in there! The parot has a very nice colouring.

Tropicaltoba, supposing that you have planting space outside the greenhouse, why dont you plant the stonefruit outside? Is it too cold to grow peaches there outside, or you just have space limitations in the yard?
I have thought about a similar thing, supplying cold to my feijoa in the gh. Ive thought about enclosing it in someking of a box, and opening a small window in the policarbonate, to supply the cold needed. I think you could do a wooden or other box around the peach trees, and install small windows to supply the cold air. I dont know your setup so excuse me if this is impossible to do...
« Last Edit: January 27, 2023, 02:00:23 AM by Plantinyum »

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #34 on: January 27, 2023, 07:23:52 AM »
Yeah it’s too cold out sometimes -40C, I’ve some some microclimates in my yard that allow me to keep some small zone 5 (paw paw seedlings) and I’ve tried doing peaches in containers (zone 4/5) and store in the garage or cold part of basement but I can’t seem to keep them alive for more and 2-3 years. Yeah I was thinking about the cold box idea too, the problem here is most winters (not this one) are extremely sunny, so anything enclosed really heats up. It’s actually why I decided to build one 7 y ago (it’s actually on the roof of my kitchen). It works so well that here on a sunny cold day it’s -30f outside and over 80f (26c) inside. The past 3 years have been much milder and cloudy so I put up grow lights as I had a lot of citrus dieback a couple of years ago. Also the beneficial insects I have can start to go dormant with <12 sun a day so it serves multiple purposes.

Talking about feijoias (the only ones I’ve ever seen/eaten are min own)I’m thinking my greenhouse runs to hot at 85F for them To taste their best. I had a friends parents visit from New Zealand, and while I was very proud to show them I could grow their favourite fruit in the middle of a cold winter, they did not think they were anything like the big juicy fruits that they had at home (they actually snickered when they saw them). What’s been your experience with taste/temp?

Also I don’t find them to be partially self fertile at all like some People on this forum have said, and getting cultivars that flower at the exact same time for cross
Pollinating has been a challenge. My nikita rarely had fruit cause the others started flowering just as it finished.

pagnr

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #35 on: January 27, 2023, 07:47:19 AM »
It works so well that here on a sunny cold day it’s -30f outside and over 80f (26c) inside.

How do you go with condensation drip or ice formation on the inside roof ? It is a problem here with frost in unheated plastic tunnels at below zero.

Tropicaltoba

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #36 on: January 27, 2023, 09:18:07 AM »
It does sometimes drip from the top. The ceiling is 45 degree so it usually rounds down the walls. I actually got a proper thermally broken frame and I run a dehumidifier in the winter (dessicant so also heats) so water only condenses at -10c outside and the frame will frost/freeze up at -25c. I have a ceiling fan that gives good flow so I don’t usually have any fungal issues at colder temps. I did have butter lettuce rot and get fungus this year as near the windows where it’s cold (55f) and 85% rh. Rocket and arugula did fine though. The only Fungus issue I have (it may be that some other growing issues are from Fungus?) is ancathranose with some mangos.

Plantinyum

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #37 on: January 27, 2023, 09:32:17 AM »
 Havent had the fruit of feijoa,
I have 3 feijoas , none of which have fruited yet, they are reasonbly big plants. The one it the greenhouse has around 20 flower buds forming right now , the other 2 that are potted havent bloomed yet. The poted ones are an unknown variety, the greenhouse one is Jemini. Last year i self pollinated the gemini, didnt form fruit. I hope they all bloom in spring at the same time so i can cross pollinate, butthis may be challenging as the greenhouse one doesnt experience any winter temps whatsoever, doesnt get below 10 c in there, and rarely does it get below 15c. The potted ones are in the basement at much colder temps.

Daintree

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Re: Homemade organic fertilizers for container plants?
« Reply #38 on: January 27, 2023, 10:24:26 AM »
It does sometimes drip from the top. The ceiling is 45 degree so it usually rounds down the walls. I actually got a proper thermally broken frame and I run a dehumidifier in the winter (dessicant so also heats) so water only condenses at -10c outside and the frame will frost/freeze up at -25c. I have a ceiling fan that gives good flow so I don’t usually have any fungal issues at colder temps. I did have butter lettuce rot and get fungus this year as near the windows where it’s cold (55f) and 85% rh. Rocket and arugula did fine though. The only Fungus issue I have (it may be that some other growing issues are from Fungus?) is ancathranose with some mangos.
Different climates sure have their own challenges! You have a DEhumidifier, and here in the high desert, I have to run a HUMIDifier!!

Carolyn