quick return compost activator as a base fert

[dpn]

i will be experimenting with teas this year, and was wondering if this compost activator which consists of....

Yarrow
Iron, Lime, Potash, Soda, Phosphorus, Sulphur, Nitrates

Chamomile
Potash, Lime, Phosphorus, Sulphur

Dandelion
Iron, Soda, Potash, Phosphorus

Oak bark
Potash, Lime

Valerian
Formic Acid, Acetic Acid

Nettle
Oil, Formic Acid, Ammonia, Carbonic Acid, Iron

Honey
Glucose

... would make a good base fert? rather than just using it to break down compost but instead as a plant fert (tonic). I would also supplement with other goodies like liquid kelp, molasses and other minerals depending on the plants needs. Heres a link to the website http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/QR/QR6.html

[c-ray]

here's a source of the qr compost activator:
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=60_171_173

these are just dried herbs I don't know how bioavailable or soluble the elements would be so myself I would probably just add them to a bottle of pure blend pro or earth juice, or perhaps make up a mix of kelp, molasses, fish slop, guano, etc. in a bucket and dump in some of those herbs and put it someplace warm for a few months and stir it every so often

[The Cannarchist]

Plus add

Alfalfa meal/pellets

Lots of nitrogen and potasium plus a hoard of goodies

Plus a bag of mushroom manure

Hubble bubble and aerate it,

[dpn]

we can get comfrey pellets, but alfalfa is hard to get in the right form in the uk (its either an expensive health supplement or part of a horse feed mix with other undesirables) what other rich nitrogen souces would you recommend? this will be outdoors so pests need to be considered (no blood meal or fish emulsion)

[dpn]

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=60_165_167&products_id=2190 what do you think of soya as a nitrogen source?

[caddis]

cow poop? er, manure.

[c-ray]

soya meal is a great nitrogen and protein source, and a great microbe food/colonizer

[humble1]

neem seed meal can be an N source, also

[c-ray]

I think if you could make your own QR mix using the above herbs in their prime but fresh and fermenting with EM or BIM that would be interesting

as a side note I found an interesting technique while looking back at the QR book from the first link

Tomatoes in Pots

Start with the normal mixture, loam 5 parts, compost 2 parts. Plant low in the pot -- the soil level about half-way up. When the roots appear on the surface put two inches of top dressing:

1st dressing: 4 parts loam; 3 parts compost.

2nd dressing: 3 parts loam; 4 parts compost.

3rd dressing: 2 parts loam; 5 parts compost.

When the first truss sets and is the size of a golf ball, use pure compost. When the fruit is ripening, give either manure or compost water, every ten days. When the roots grow out of the drainage holes, put compost on the stage. This method has proved most successful.

this could be interesting for cannabis with custom blended composts, for instance the first dressings with more N based compost (grasses, clovers) and the later dressings with less N based compost (weeds)

[c-ray]

ok I recently read through the quick return compost book (http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/QR/QRToC.html) you linked to above and the key piece of info is that the quick return composting herbal mix was found to be most effective in homeopathic doses, when used to improve compost..

from chapter 2
With the words came the understanding of what they meant: the life, the vitality within the herbs, in the sap. From previous experience I knew it had to be used in homeopathic quantities, according to the homeopathic creed of 'the power of the infinitely little'.

I started experiments that very day, extracted the juices from the living plants -- dandelion, nettle, chamomile, yarrow, valerian, and made an infusion of oak bark.

The difficulty was to ascertain the right strength. I was no scientist; the only way was by practical experiment; and comparative tests. I filled a number of glass jam jars with lawn mowings, chopped-up weeds, nettles, and general vegetable matter. I treated them with the solutions in the following strengths:

1 in 10: 1 in 30: 1 in 60: 1 in 100 -- and then, urged by an impulse -- 1 in 10,000. There were two controls.

The jars were carefully labelled, then mixed and placed with the label towards the wall. Within five days the contents of one of the jars had gone ahead, and was changing colour rapidly. After ten days I invited a soil expert to come and see the progress of the experiment, and place the jars according to their merit. When he had made his choice, we turned them, label forward, and they read:

First, 1 in 10,000: Second, 1 in 100: Third, 1 in 60, and so on down to the controls which were still green, much as they had started. In fifteen days it was obvious that the 1 in 10,000 was far the best, in fact, almost broken down to compost.

What the jars showed was proved in the test 'heaps'. I took two numbers only -- 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 60. Again, the 1 in 10,000 was ripe and ready for use long before the 1 in 60.

this does not mean that it is not going to be a good fertilizer source but my research indicates that medicinal type herbs should only make a small portion of composts like 5-20% and that protein/amino acid rich ingredients like grass, manure, legumes, etc should make up the bulk

perhaps what might be a good idea is to pre ferment, compost or bubble some primary bulk ingredients with the quick return activators
if that is a good idea then it is easy to find the herbs at a local health food store and grind them up, or just buy the qr quick mix

I'm going to play with this, thanks for the idea dpn

[dpn]

you can get most of the ingredients sold as teas in this country although i did go picking and filled up some quart jars with yarrow and dandelion flowers.

i think the lady mentioned about making a QR compost with pure cow manure (black gold) and for stubborn fibrous materials they could be combined to get the compost process going...
might be worth throwing a shovelful of compost in there, to get things jump started.

[nugs]

i use this it works wonders on compost. never added it to anything by itself the recipe for the activator involves a small amount of liquid compared to what i would need to feed. might work good in a tea but the compost tea that it makes is great enough and grows healthy plants, and the compost finishes fast when done right.