Know the Difference

Bacteria. Bacteria are vital for recycling nutrients. Bacteria can be recognized by their shape and motion. Bacteria are mostly round or rod shape. Some filamentous bacteria are required for the growth of some plants while they are quite detrimental to the growth of other plants.

Fungi. A fungal hyphae can be distinguished by its strand-like appearance with straight cross walls. A hyphae should be uniform in diameter, and not less than 2 micrometers thick. The best hyphae in our soil are those that are wide in diameter and dark in color. (Generally, when speaking of soil health, dark is always good.) These wonderful networks of the soil food web help to hold and transfer nutrients directly to plants through symbiotic relationships. They also promote healthy soil aggregation.

Don’t Buy Water

1. Any Mycorrhizae or Trichoderma product containing water is a stabilize liquid. This is required so the container doesn’t go anaerobic or explode on a retail store’s shelf.
2. This stabilization process seizes all the micro-biology growth, which defeats the entire purpose of feeding Mycorrhizae.

Examples of watered down products:

Voodoo Juice – Advanced Nutrients

Did you see that bottom line on the back label of Voodoo Juice? 98% Water? I didn’t know water was so expensive? Can’t you get a gallon of this “water” at any local convenience store for less than $3? Where is this other price coming from? Ohh yeah – product labeling, fancy graphics, and the sales and marketing team they design to hide this obvious fact that they are selling you water. But not only water, a stabilized, therefor “dead”, mycorrhizae product which is 98% water and 2% actual product.

Moving on to powders

Many products on the market are powder or granular Mycorrhizae products. Understand most (maybe 98%) of all mycorrhizae products come from the same source. Nothing is special between one brand and another. There are a few things to watch for to get the right stuff.

1. Freshness – this is key. An old batch is not as potent as a new batch
2. This product only stores for 12 months. After this time, you loose most microbial value.
3. There are 4 main strains to watch for…Rhizopagon (ECTO), Glomus (ENDO), Trichoderma and Bacillus (bacteria). Some may mix and match but understand it’s all the same strains being used repeatedly. Maybe some have more or less bacillus sub-strains but you still ultimately have the Bacillus, Glomus or Trichoderma. There are many, many other strains of fungi and bacteria, but the plant and plant nutrients industry really only works with these 3 main strains.

Don’t Buy Blends

Products you have probably seen or used:

ZHO Root Inoculant – Bontanicare

ZHO Root Inoculant  contains 49% inert ingredients. Meaning 1/2 of what you are buying is useless, of no value, waste of money. Do not buy blended products.

Great White – Plant Success

Great White is a superb product. Works great, just is not cost effective. Not blended with anything that is not needed (which is good). Just the Bacteria and Fungi Strains. Want a cheaper solution? Our Myco + Trichoderma blend is a perfect substitute that will also save you some money.

This educational post is for that intent only. Education. Don’t be afraid to read the back of the label of all the products you use now and do some research.

The largest factor in the quality of your Compost Tea is of course, your Compost. Where did it come from? How was processed? Great Compost should smell sweet, earthly and rich. Compost is a great tool if used properly. Although it’s pretty hard to mess it up. Compost is full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals and when mixed with aerated water, active biology.

Compost Tea Starter

This Compost Tea Starter has added Mycorrhizae, Kelp, Humic Acids, Amino Acids and Fulvic Acids. A great combination of organic acids and beneficial bacteria.  The concept is to soak the compost is water. For best results, you should provide aeration. Allowing the microorganisms to thrive and grow. Creating the environment for this bacteria to develop will make for easy processing of the “locked-up” nutrients.

Nutrients are there in your soil, the plant simply can’t gain access them. The  microorganisms  in the Compost Tea will break down all the nutrients and allow the plant to now gain access.

Water Prep

When preparing your water, if you are using tap water, let is sit in the sun for 24-36 hours. This will help de-chlorinate the water. A 5 Gallon bucket of water Adding aeration to this water will drop your wait time from 24-36 hours to 12-18 hours. I let my water bubble away empty for 1-2 days before using it. Continually cycling air into the water will help establish a proper environment for the micro-biology to grow.

Super Soaker

Grab a small burlap sack, sand bag, old sock and my personal favorite, panty hose. Fill up the sack with your Compost or our Compost Tea Starter. If you have earth worm castings they are another great addition to this micro biology we are trying to create. When your sack is full, find a way to seal it. Tie it together, or seal it in any way of your liking.

Toss in the Compost “sock?”. You can suspend the Compost to allow for better aeration, which in turn creates that ideal environment for these microorganisms to flourish.

Good Things Take Time

Average brew time can vary based on personal preference, but we like to brew for a minimum of 24 hours. Take 48-72 hours and you will see and taste the difference in your fruit or flowers. Foaming is normal, especially if you are adding some Kelp4less nutrients. Let this brew bubble away and next we will talk about application rates.

Time to Apply

Compost makes a great product to feed your plants as it is so flexible in it’s application. You are able to root drench you plants, foliar spray to leaves (just make sure filter or screen the solution before spraying), dilute it down with water and feed many, many plants in your garden or flower bed. 5 Gallons of this Compost Tea can be diluted to make 25 Gallons of ready to use feeding water.

Feed this brew once a week and water with regular water in between feedings. This is great for Flowers, Vegetable Plants, Trees, Shrubs and even back into your Compost Pile to complete the natural cycle.

Advanced Tips and Tricks

Here are a few tips and tricks that will make all the difference in your Compost Tea Brews.

• Start with Warm Water – This makes a huge difference in the end result(active biology). Do you think the small microorganisms want to live in cold water?
• Inoculate your Compost Tea with Mycorrhizae to stimulate micro-biological growth. A.K.A – growing your nutrient break down army.
• Don’t add Molasses until the end of the brew. Only allow your Molasses to brew for 30 min – 1 hour. You can promote bad pathogens due to the high sugar content of Molasses. if you are not careful.
• Do not waste this. All the sludge on the side of your bucket, or bottle, all the remaining sludge left over, this still makes great fertilizer. Just Add Water and apply it again.

In the picture below, the Bell Pepper plant on the left has been feed Extreme Blend, on the right an everyday fertilizer. As you can see, Extreme Blend sure does the trick. Our Extreme Blend consists of Soluble Humic Acid, Fulvic Acid, Seaweed and Amino Acids! The Humic Acid helps to improve plant health, binding to nutrient and water, aiding in their uptake. The Fulvic Acid helps nutrients and water permeate through the plant, It can balance and energize cell life and biological properties it comes into contact.

Your pH level can be very important when growing plants. When a plants soil or nutrient solution becomes too basic, the nutrients become unavailable to be absorbed by the roots. A lot of growers think that if they add more nutrients or fertilizers, this will help. What it actually will do is compound the problem by usually causing toxic salt build-up. Toxic salt build up will stop the roots from absorbing water. You will want to check your pH levels before adding more nutrients and fertilizers.

Steps for pH:

Add your nutrients and fertilizers that you normally use before adjusting the pH.

Check the pH level using your method of pH testing.

If your pH level is too low, add a teaspoon of pH UP. http://www.kelp4less.com/shop/ph-up/

If your pH level is too high, add a teaspoon of pH DOWN. http://www.kelp4less.com/shop/ph-down/

Test your pH levels again using your test kit. Repeat if necessary until you reach your desired pH.

Now is the time to try it – $5 off your order of pH

Exp 05/01/2013

The Loewen’s needed some fertilizer and they knew exactly where to go to get it.

Loading up their mini pallet into their RV. What a nice ride. Still wishing we could have went for a drive. Yes…that is a sweet motorcycle in the back. Right next to the flat screen T.V.

We hooked them up with some Kelp4less Gear. We had to get a picture with the Kelp4less Team.

Thanks again for stopping by. You are always welcome at Kelp4less.

Step 1:
Decide where it belongs. Keep it in a low traffic area. Away from your house, on the corner of your lot or garden area works great.

Step 2:
Dig into the dirt a and break up the soil to allow for easier breakdown of the waste you will add later. Add card board (small pieces), leaves, grass, banana peels, food scraps, egg shells, egg cartons (remember cardboard). Make sure not to put any meat products. This will attract pests and rodents. We will try to fix this problem in step 4…

Step3:
Add any soil amendments such as Kelp, Humic, Kelp Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Oyster Shell Flour, Bat Guano or Amino Acids. Now is a great time to give food and nutrients to the biology that is doing all your dirty work. Feed them well and they will always treat you right!!

Step 4:
Stake out the area. Set up chicken wire, plastic fencing, or anything to keep the pests away/out of your compost.

Step 5:
Keep adding all the ingredient above and make sure to stir at least 1-2 times a week for best compost breakdown.

Worms are great and do most of the work for you. Seeing this is an excellent find.

5 Steps to a better garden

• Start by over seeding. You will have a higher germination rate and you can always pull the smaller ones at a later date.
• Use a germination cube – Germination rate is supremely increased. You can find these at any local garden center.
• Create the greenhouse effect – seal the top of your freshly planted seeds with saran wrap. A common household item.
• Pop the Top – As soon as you see germination pull the cover off. Let the sun and plant do their jobs
• Pat yourself on the back – seriously, you should. Allow the plant to develop a full true leaf set before applying any enhancers, boosters, or fertilizer.

Here are some our seeds we have been prepping for the season to begin.

Total % vs Available %

Rock Phosphate is a great example and starting point.

When you see 20% total phosphate vs 3% available, this means that out of the total 20%, about 3% is chelated, or available for your plants to absorb. We often interchange the word chelated with “plant available”. Don’t worry though, the rest of the phosphorus will become available later on, as soil microorganisms like bacteria and fungi secrete chemicals called chelating agents to help with this. Think of the other 17% as your “slow release” rock phosphate.

You can purchase Rock Phosphate here.

Amino Acids are another great example

Plants synthesize Amino Acids from the Primary elements, the Carbon and Oxygen obtained from air, Hydrogen from water in the soil, forming Carbon Hydrate by means of photosynthesis and combining it with the Nitrogen which the plants obtain from the soil, leading to synthesis of amino acids, by collateral metabolic pathways. Only L-Amino Acids are part of these Proteins and have metabolic activity.

Our Amino Acid product is 100% available. Meaning the N-P-K of 14-0-0 is 14% available nitrogen. That’s instant gratification as your plant CAN use all of the nitrogen.

You can purchase Amino Acids here.

Starting with Big Bud
Looking at the back of the label I see that this product is

Derived from:
Mono Potassium Phosphate (MKP) – Shop Now
Potassium Sulfate (Sulfate of Potash or SOP) – Shop Now

Now that we know what the active ingredients are, we can find a solution to our CA$H problems. Start with Google, Yahoo! or use your favorite search engine and lets search the derivitives.

After searching “Mono Potassium Phosphate” – we find www.kelp4less.com on the 1st page of your search results with a product description explaining what MKP (Mono Potassium Phosphate) is. How it works and how to use it in a hydroponic or soil environment. We also provide accurate, high resolution photographs of the product.

For 1 Quart of Big Bud by Advanced Nutrients, the best price I can find today is $37.45.

At www.Kelp4less.com you can get 1 Pound of Mono Potassium Phosphate (MKP) for $12.00 and 1 Pound of Sulfate of Potash soluble powder for $8.00. Now totaling $20.00 we have 2 pounds of this product and no idea how to use it. “Advanced Nutrients explains to me how to use the product.” Correct. Kelp4less.com will explain how to use our products as well. All of our items are labeled with instructions and packaged in resealable packages for easy storage.

Now the idea and concept to understand is we spent $20 at Kelp4less.com and received 2 Pounds of product. 1LB MKP and 1LB SOP Powder. Using 1 TSP per Gallon of MKP and 1/2 Gram per gallon of SOP Powder you now have the equivalent of Big Bud by Advanced Nutrients. But now think how many Teaspoons of MKP you have. Think about how many 1/2 Grams you have of SOP Powder. You can make many, many GALLONS of this product. That’s right folks I said GALLONS not Quarts. Many, many GALLONS for $20??? At Kelp4less we work hard to provide the best quality product at the lowest cost.

Here is another great example:

As of today Liquid Karma is $22.70 for 1 Quart. Is there a way we can get the same active ingredients at a cheaper price?

The active ingredients in Liquid Karma reading directly from the back of the label state:

Derived From:
Kelp Seaweed Extract. – Shop Now

Other NON-Plant Food Ingredients:
Humic Acid – Shop Now
Yucca – Shop Now

Kelp/Humic Blend from Kelp4less.com 1 Pound is $15.99. and 4 ounces of Yucca is $12.30. Your total at Kelp4less.com is $28.29. “Now that’s more expensive than Liquid Karma” you say? Why yes, you are correct.The idea and concept we need to remember is we can make many, many GALLONS of Liquid Karma with a 1 Pound Kelp/Humic Blend and 4 ounce Yucca from Kelp4less.com. There I go again capitalizing GALLONS. Trying to make a point. I hope you understand.

We can go through all of the products you find on the shelf in your garden store and do the same thing. One at a time we will discover the exact same result. I can make many, many gallons of product instead of buying the retail priced products you find at your local garden store.

Now that our CA$H problem is resolved we can focus on more important stuff such as watching old episodes of Fraggle-Rock!!.