AusBonsai

Just giving this historical thread from Treeman a new nudge; very informative for those wanting to try making their own fertiliser. A recipe provided at the start of the thread in Jan, 2016.

"Paul, That's interesting. What types of orchids? "

Sorry treeman just saw your post,about the molasses, 4 or 5 mm per litre on Aussie Native orchids, and yes a lot of better growers than me use it,but it must be blackstrap molasses available from horsey type product stores. i warm some water up in a jar to make it mix better

With spring around the corner, I finally got to making a batch of these cakes.
I mixed 7:3:1 of full fat soy meal, blood and bone and seaweed meal.
I just want to share that after soaking the seaweed meal and rinsing twice, they expanded so much that when added to the 7:3 mix, I almost didn't have to add the diluted molasses as it was enough to bind the mixture. It was almost elastic.


Treeman: Is this too much seaweed meal? I measured all the ingredient when dry.

Making a fertilizer like this would be an absolute disaster at my house. I have already had to make the decision to NEVER use blood and bone again as immediately after use, it causes the uncontrollable assortment of pests living here (bandicoots, rats, mice, orange-footed scrub-fowls and scrub turkeys) to remove soil from any container/pot as the soil now smells of feed. I now use only slow release fertilizer or water on fertilizer as it doesn't lead to my plants getting dug up.

longd_au wrote:With spring around the corner, I finally got to making a batch of these cakes.
I mixed 7:3:1 of full fat soy meal, blood and bone and seaweed meal.
I just want to share that after soaking the seaweed meal and rinsing twice, they expanded so much that when added to the 7:3 mix, I almost didn't have to add the diluted molasses as it was enough to bind the mixture. It was almost elastic.


Treeman: Is this too much seaweed meal? I measured all the ingredient when dry.

One part seaweed to 10 of the other ingredients is fine. Not too much. The volume increase is due to water but no increase in nutrients - not that seaweed has a huge amount anyway. As long as the cakes stay solid after drying, you're sweet.

Thanks Treeman.
Appreciate your reply.
My ratio was actually, 10:3:1. That should be similar to your 12kg to 4kg of B&B.
Thanks again.

Just one last silly question.
Can the mixture simply dry out in winter without going through fermentation?
It has been a week but no real change in smell.

Or am I just impatient?

longd_au wrote:Just one last silly question.
Can the mixture simply dry out in winter without going through fermentation?
It has been a week but no real change in smell.

Or am I just impatient?

Once they are hard and dry you can use them. The decomposition process will start as soon as you finish making them and it will stop when they dry out. Doesn't really matter how soon that is.

Do I understand correctly that after the cakes have dried (after the fermentation process), are they ready for use? Will cakes rot and smell in a pot?

Once the cakes have dried they are ready to go.

They don’t rot when you use them and an additional benefit is that they don’t stink up the joint. My wife is a big fan!

Matt.

Thank you. I tried using soybean meal in tea bags, but it attracted flies, because at first it smells sour, but after a week they smelled of rot. Now I will try to ferment them before using.

This is a write up from a Japanese orchid grower about the cake fermentation etc. Translated from Japanese.
He uses canola seed meal and bone meal but same thing.

http://www.orchid.or.jp/orchid/people/t ... lizer.html

In Japan it's possible to dry the cakes for 1 month in an open tray, due to the high humidity. In a drier climate, they can dry in just a couple of days, without going through the fermentation process completely. Perhaps it's worth doing this in a container that can be loosely covered with a lid to preserve moisture? And after the fermentation process comes to an end, spread the dough in a tray for further drying.

Is it normal that when it's ready and dried (after 1 month), after its application to the soil it begins to exude a slight smell of alcohol? I added molasses without using yeast. Apparently molasses didn't decompose completely.

proninyaroslav wrote: ↑April 4th, 2020, 5:04 am Is it normal that when it's ready and dried (after 1 month), after its application to the soil it begins to exude a slight smell of alcohol? I added molasses without using yeast. Apparently molasses didn't decompose completely.

It's possible to get a little alcohol forming from fermentation of the sugars. No problems. But remember that as the weather gets cooler and cooler, the cakes will work more slowly. I put my last cakes on in mid march.