I would defiantly be interested in a video on using natural inoculents. Where and how to get them, and best case uses. My area is full of forest preserves and I doubt anyone will care of a little soil leaves for my garden.
Plant a nylon stocking filled with a cup of two of rice in the soil at the base of a nice old tree somewhere. After a month or so, dig it up and the rice will be inoculated well. Put into a large tub or barrel with water and a few tablespoons of molasses and aerate for 2 or 3 days. Then spread out over your growing area. You can water it down even more for this part.
🤔 You pretty much just explained why our older generations planted spruce trees, and that’s probably why I’ve never had to worry about soil Ph, my garden has spruce trees on two sides of it, thanks to the old farming couple that I bought my house from. 😂
Warmer water makes sense as well, I’ve always made sure that my houseplants get water that isn’t too cold or too warm, but have never actually put much thought into water temperature outside, other than not watering during the heat of the day. 🙈😂
Could the trough/bucket of warm water benefit be more from the fact that the chlorine from tap water has evaporated out through heat and with time? I totally agree that using cold water can unnecessarily shock the plant roots, but I'm betting the chlorine dissipation played a role too. Though these days, in addition to chlorine, most municipal water sources also add chloramine, which does not evaporate out. In fact even boiling the water will not remove it all. Its added to the water supply to clear biofilms from the pipes, which makes me worry about its affect on the biome of our soil.
For reference (and if you're like, wait, wasn't that more than 5?) 1. Solarization 2. Inoculation (not just mycorrhizal!) 3. pH test and adjust 4. Aeration 5. Watering with warm water 6. Mulch (chopped/shredded)
I definitely agree with using leaves. I made leave mold that I shredded using leaves mulcher in the garbage cans last year. but it didn't fully compost so I used that as my mulch. Why not, right? It's there and it's free. To my surprise, my soil actually stays damp a lot longer than the area I didn't put them on! And I didn't even put a thick layer down either.
We would use water collected in a rain barrel to water as much as we could, because our well water gets SO cold. Ice cold. For our more distant beds, we would fill a rain barrel with the hose so it could warm up before using it to water by hand. Last summer, we had a company come in to chip some huge branch piles we had. Way too much for our "little" wood chipper. It took them 8 1/2 hours, and we still have more branch piles. LOL It got us about 3 1/2 truck loads. The resulting wood chips are really course, though, so this spring I plan to use the shredder on our wood chipper to break some of it down more to use in garden beds. The larger chips are fine for around the trees and berry bushes we've been planting, but a bit too much for around vegetables! We use stove pellets for cat litter, which is really inexpensive. I found it works great as a light mulch. Scatter the pellets around, then water. The pellets expand into sawdust, which can be spread more evenly, if needed.
@@GardeningInCanada we slowly transitioned the litter boxes but, really, they had no choice. We are back up to 16 cats in the house (mostly rescues from the yard cats, trying to adopt them out) and a lot of litter boxes! A 40 lb bag is cheap and lasts a long time, even with as many litter boxes as we have!
I bought a small trasnfer pump to hook up to my rain barrels to water from them as much as I can this year. I have a few Bluebbery bushes that I've had in in 5 gallon pails, that I'm looking to trasnfer out this year. But last year, I checked the soil pH in those buckets and found that they were quite high. I ended up watering for a few days with warm water with a bit of vinegar in it to lower the pH and saw a great difference in about a week.
I read somewhere we can’t always trust resources online. We might just be buying nothing since you can’t see them concerns me I can’t tell which ones to buy, including the predatory mites.
Every fall I go to a state forest and take a few teaspoons of leaf litter to inoculate my leaf mold bin. Picked this up from Tony @ "Simplify Gardening". I thought oxygen only permeated the top 12" of soil. Leaves as a mulch are a beacon for jumping worms, BEWARE!!!! StayWell!!!!
Very interested in more info on inoculation using your local soil biome. We live next to a forest while walking I see mushrooms, moss, and much decomposing wood. I’ve often wondered if & how I could use it. I’m interested in a compost tea recipe.
On watering with warm water,I have a small shallow pond that was overloaded with domestic ducks one year, the gardens seemed to do very good. The thought was the turning of the water and fertilizer added by the ducks that I used to water?
Can you aerate a lawn with a pressure wash, pulsating the stream to penetrate the compacted soil? The reason I ask is because my Grandpa would make me aerate his lawn by stabbing a pitchfork in the sod, wiggling it back and forth, then filling the small holes with water from the garden hose.
I tried pressure washing a trench. I made a shield and it was still really messy. Chances are you will create more compaction or deep ruts by foot if you do this.
@@fillmorehillmore8239 I understand what you're saying. I have done my own hydro-vaccing too. But what I'm talking about is just a one-second shot from the pressure washer, to jet a small hole in the lawns crust, while injecting water into the the substructure. I'm going to pick a small patch in my lawn to test it out first. I was just hoping that Ashley would have heard about something like this. Cheers.
That's great to know. Just yesterday I was watering my patio garden, but I left the watering can in the sun all day and noticed the water was warm and panicked thinking I did something bad, rushing to the water filter to cool it down before continuing. Next time I might do it on purpose.
A lot of people make chun Ku mixes for aroids and don’t use any soil. Can I benefit from just dusting the chunky potting mix with some soil just for some water retention and nutrients? Also, can worm castings be used on any plant?
Looking forward to the soil testing video. Just started gardening in a new place and I have no idea if or what amendments to add. Are the species of weeds a decent indicator of soil type? For example, I'm getting a lot of manitoba maple saplings and they prefer a ph of 7-8. Is it likely that the soil is in that range or it means nothing and maple seeds just happened to land there?
What do you know about Fluazifop-P-Butyl? I’m losing a battle with quackgrass in my perennial garden and am going to use it, do you know if remains in the soil for a long time and how toxic it is compared to something like roundup?
I live across from a forest( lots of pine trees..n a river..high in iron)....would love to learn how to inoculate the soul also another question...- I is tooo cold here to set out the squash and zucchini plants...Won't be for another 3 weeks .but the pattypan squash..and zucchini are already making little round flower buds..What do I do..???? Take them off or keep them on...?? Thanks!..
Thank you, Ashley! One more question. The guy who lived in the house we bought this year sprayed the lawn with glyphosate round up. Im trying to grow food here now. How long does it take for this poison to decompose? Is it even safe to garden after that?
At what point do you think the water is too warm to add to your garden? I sometimes add hot water not thinking about it but haven’t noticed any issues.
Come visit in instagram if you want to see my daily garden grind! instagram.com/gardeningincanada
I would defiantly be interested in a video on using natural inoculents. Where and how to get them, and best case uses. My area is full of forest preserves and I doubt anyone will care of a little soil leaves for my garden.
Plenty of people tree plant from trees in forests. This land is your land as it is mine.
Plant a nylon stocking filled with a cup of two of rice in the soil at the base of a nice old tree somewhere.
After a month or so, dig it up and the rice will be inoculated well.
Put into a large tub or barrel with water and a few tablespoons of molasses and aerate for 2 or 3 days. Then spread out over your growing area. You can water it down even more for this part.
Another excellent video, this channel is a goldmine!
Id love to learn more about collecting microbs from the wild
Okay! Good to know
🤔 You pretty much just explained why our older generations planted spruce trees, and that’s probably why I’ve never had to worry about soil Ph, my garden has spruce trees on two sides of it, thanks to the old farming couple that I bought my house from. 😂
Warmer water makes sense as well, I’ve always made sure that my houseplants get water that isn’t too cold or too warm, but have never actually put much thought into water temperature outside, other than not watering during the heat of the day. 🙈😂
Hahah yea good point
I'd love a video about collecting native soils!
love that warm water tip
Yeah!
Love your videos you are a wealth of information thank you keep them coming
Glad you are enjoying!
Lots of great tips. Thank you .☘ I would love a video about using soil microbes from local ecosystems.
Okay!
Would defintely be interested on how to get it from the forest area.
Thank you Ashley!
This explains why I had trouble growing in containers in Washington state. Tap water is rarely above 50°F
Could the trough/bucket of warm water benefit be more from the fact that the chlorine from tap water has evaporated out through heat and with time? I totally agree that using cold water can unnecessarily shock the plant roots, but I'm betting the chlorine dissipation played a role too. Though these days, in addition to chlorine, most municipal water sources also add chloramine, which does not evaporate out. In fact even boiling the water will not remove it all. Its added to the water supply to clear biofilms from the pipes, which makes me worry about its affect on the biome of our soil.
The warm water! Thanks!....
For reference (and if you're like, wait, wasn't that more than 5?)
1. Solarization
2. Inoculation (not just mycorrhizal!)
3. pH test and adjust
4. Aeration
5. Watering with warm water
6. Mulch (chopped/shredded)
Thank you...
I definitely agree with using leaves. I made leave mold that I shredded using leaves mulcher in the garbage cans last year. but it didn't fully compost so I used that as my mulch. Why not, right? It's there and it's free. To my surprise, my soil actually stays damp a lot longer than the area I didn't put them on! And I didn't even put a thick layer down either.
Water temp and aerating the water made a big difference to growth rates of my crops.
Absolutely
We would use water collected in a rain barrel to water as much as we could, because our well water gets SO cold. Ice cold. For our more distant beds, we would fill a rain barrel with the hose so it could warm up before using it to water by hand.
Last summer, we had a company come in to chip some huge branch piles we had. Way too much for our "little" wood chipper. It took them 8 1/2 hours, and we still have more branch piles. LOL It got us about 3 1/2 truck loads. The resulting wood chips are really course, though, so this spring I plan to use the shredder on our wood chipper to break some of it down more to use in garden beds. The larger chips are fine for around the trees and berry bushes we've been planting, but a bit too much for around vegetables!
We use stove pellets for cat litter, which is really inexpensive. I found it works great as a light mulch. Scatter the pellets around, then water. The pellets expand into sawdust, which can be spread more evenly, if needed.
I wish my cat would use something like that
@@GardeningInCanada we slowly transitioned the litter boxes but, really, they had no choice. We are back up to 16 cats in the house (mostly rescues from the yard cats, trying to adopt them out) and a lot of litter boxes! A 40 lb bag is cheap and lasts a long time, even with as many litter boxes as we have!
I bought a small trasnfer pump to hook up to my rain barrels to water from them as much as I can this year. I have a few Bluebbery bushes that I've had in in 5 gallon pails, that I'm looking to trasnfer out this year. But last year, I checked the soil pH in those buckets and found that they were quite high. I ended up watering for a few days with warm water with a bit of vinegar in it to lower the pH and saw a great difference in about a week.
Ooo that’s really cool .
I read somewhere we can’t always trust resources online. We might just be buying nothing since you can’t see them concerns me I can’t tell which ones to buy, including the predatory mites.
Every fall I go to a state forest and take a few teaspoons of leaf litter to inoculate my leaf mold bin. Picked this up from Tony @ "Simplify Gardening".
I thought oxygen only permeated the top 12" of soil.
Leaves as a mulch are a beacon for jumping worms, BEWARE!!!!
StayWell!!!!
Any tips on adding elm mushrooms spawn to soil to increase productivity?
Warm water, how about that! Makes perfect sense - I don't want to take cold showers either!
Haha awe exactl
Very interested in more info on inoculation using your local soil biome. We live next to a forest while walking I see mushrooms, moss, and much decomposing wood. I’ve often wondered if & how I could use it.
I’m interested in a compost tea recipe.
thank you Ashley for the tricks and i wish you a wonderfull growing season.
You as well!
On watering with warm water,I have a small shallow pond that was overloaded with domestic ducks one year, the gardens seemed to do very good. The thought was the turning of the water and fertilizer added by the ducks that I used to water?
Wonderful information...Thanks for sharing.
Get yourself a front-yard camera for when the thieves want to take your produce. I hope I'm wrong but it's a nutty time.
😅 my husband has but up an excessive amount of cameras
Can you aerate a lawn with a pressure wash, pulsating the stream to penetrate the compacted soil? The reason I ask is because my Grandpa would make me aerate his lawn by stabbing a pitchfork in the sod, wiggling it back and forth, then filling the small holes with water from the garden hose.
I tried pressure washing a trench. I made a shield and it was still really messy. Chances are you will create more compaction or deep ruts by foot if you do this.
@@fillmorehillmore8239 I understand what you're saying. I have done my own hydro-vaccing too. But what I'm talking about is just a one-second shot from the pressure washer, to jet a small hole in the lawns crust, while injecting water into the the substructure.
I'm going to pick a small patch in my lawn to test it out first. I was just hoping that Ashley would have heard about something like this. Cheers.
I just let the voles aerate our lawn-lol.
@@sashadieken1 ...ha, ha...that works too.
😅😅😅
That's great to know. Just yesterday I was watering my patio garden, but I left the watering can in the sun all day and noticed the water was warm and panicked thinking I did something bad, rushing to the water filter to cool it down before continuing. Next time I might do it on purpose.
Yea! Try it out!
You're smart! This video is packed with very good advice & tips. Thank you...🇺🇸 😎👍☕
Glad you enjoyed!
I love to soak neem seed meal or organic pallets of fertilizer in water and sun heat it. Smells horrible but helps keep some bugs away
Oh yeah lol I could see that working
Any kind of fork to aerate the soil? Now I know what to use those extra eating forks for!
Hahah yea! You could use for forks hah
Can we use warm water from the tap inside the house?
More info on microbe hunts
Looking forward to your soil testing video. Thanks for the great information.
A lot of people make chun Ku mixes for aroids and don’t use any soil. Can I benefit from just dusting the chunky potting mix with some soil just for some water retention and nutrients? Also, can worm castings be used on any plant?
Looking forward to the soil testing video. Just started gardening in a new place and I have no idea if or what amendments to add.
Are the species of weeds a decent indicator of soil type? For example, I'm getting a lot of manitoba maple saplings and they prefer a ph of 7-8. Is it likely that the soil is in that range or it means nothing and maple seeds just happened to land there?
Great video ! Ty.
Great videos full of great ideas and advice! Thank you 🙏🏼
Yea! Anytime glad you enjoyed Alice
What do you know about Fluazifop-P-Butyl? I’m losing a battle with quackgrass in my perennial garden and am going to use it, do you know if remains in the soil for a long time and how toxic it is compared to something like roundup?
Where do you buy your elemental Sulphur?
geni.us/EBLmS4 this one or Canadian tire has an aluminum sulphate I have used
I live across from a forest( lots of pine trees..n a river..high in iron)....would love to learn how to inoculate the soul also another question...- I is tooo cold here to set out the squash and zucchini plants...Won't be for another 3 weeks .but the pattypan squash..and zucchini are already making little round flower buds..What do I do..???? Take them off or keep them on...?? Thanks!..
They are likely just make flowers so you could pull them off
@@GardeningInCanada thank you !!!😊
What product do you buy for rhizobium inoculation?
Mackenzies used to have one I loved. I haven’t been able to find it back though
@@GardeningInCanada I've been looking for something available in Canada with no luck :(
I thought this was going to be about electroculture!
Hahaah oh god that is definitely viral atm
Ashley, how much elemental sulphur do i add into a hole for a bareroot raspberry im going to plant? Ph 7.0 Thanks
It will depend on the brand. Follow the manufacturer recommendations
Thank you, Ashley! One more question. The guy who lived in the house we bought this year sprayed the lawn with glyphosate round up. Im trying to grow food here now. How long does it take for this poison to decompose? Is it even safe to garden after that?
Can I supercharge my indoor soil and plants?
Yeah!
Would sawdust work for mulch?
Yes! Nice and thin
@@GardeningInCanada Thank you! We have lots of local sawmills that always have free sawdust!
At what point do you think the water is too warm to add to your garden? I sometimes add hot water not thinking about it but haven’t noticed any issues.
Anything close to 35C and you start cooking the roots.
Want to avoid cooking them forsure
💚💚
❤️❤️❤️
👍
I would love a video on how to collect our own local fungi and microbes 🦠 ❤