WalkGood 2013, 2014 and Beyond

PeriPeri · Mar 1, 2013

Ramon, those Tacos are seriously magma my friend. Some people do base jumping... you just dive into the crater of the volcano my friend.

WalkGood · Mar 1, 2013

cycadjungle said:
Hi everyone ...

Hi Tom, great to read your information and hope you don't mind me linking your article, if so let me know and I'll remove it. I think you hit the nail on the head with proper proportions. I’ve never used enough in my soil (i.e. < 10%) or compost, so I never noticed the direct benefits over the years but that never stopped me, hehe. I also never tried spraying it, thanks for opening my eyes to that aspect. Did you ever observe it eliminating fungal gnats? That’s one reason I decided to test germinating in a mix of it as this is the first year in many that I’ve lost seedlings to them. It could be they contaminated my compost to some extent and I terminated it when I found nematodes in it, they weren’t good ones

Thanks for sharing your knowledge/findings and if you could give me a heads up when you post your article, I will enjoy reading it

Stefan_W said:
I'd rather have a nice cuban cigar. Its been a few years since I had one.

Been a while for me too but I thought they're imported into Canada and you probably don't have the laws against them like we do here. Funny all the service guys I run into stationed in Guantanamo have loads of them, hehe ...

Edit:

PeriPeri said:
Ramon, those Tacos are seriously magma my friend. Some people do base jumping... you just dive into the crater of the volcano my friend.

Thanks Lourens, they were really great! BTW I've seen you eat whole pods, now that's some serious heat mon, hehe ... have a great weekend

PeriPeri · Mar 1, 2013

It was my stunt double

WalkGood · Mar 1, 2013

PeriPeri said:
It was my stunt double

ROFLMAO

Stefan_W · Mar 1, 2013

WalkGood said:
Been a while for me too but I thought they're imported into Canada and you probably don't have the laws against them like we do here. Funny all the service guys I run into stationed in Guantanamo have loads of them, hehe ...

You can get that at any shop here, but I prefer to wait for friends who vacation there to bring some back for me. The markup is insane.

JJJessee · Mar 1, 2013

+1 on the coffee, Ramon.
I never thought of it as an insecticide, but I have been collecting it from the local coffee shop for composting and mixing a little directly in my raised beds. They say worms love it, so I fed some to mine. So far, they haven't complained, but I really don't see much difference in their math scores either.

STEVE954 · Mar 1, 2013

Awesome experiments bredren!

Aside from the seaweed tea, I have started a 20 gallon compost bin. I am currently loadng this bad boy with your sargassum seaweed, spent coffee grounds, banana/orange/graperuit peels and the Florida chicken shmit.

The seaweed as a mulch looks very promising, I'm going to 'shakedown' the beach this weekend!

Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, calcium and magnesium and the caffine is a natural insecticide. This may make for a great foliar feed as well as a good mulching additive.

The only worry I have with the 1/4 thick coffee grounds atop the soil is that I believe this tends to cake, however, I do understand that this is an experiment.

Thank you for sacrfificing/experimenting your plants for the greater good of the community!

RocketMan · Mar 1, 2013

cycadjungle said:
that the alkaoids in the coffee grounds and liquid mix only last 4 1/2 to 5 months

Tom that's great information to know thank you for posting up your findings. I think a lot of us here in Florida as well as other States are goo g to find your new article very interesting reading. I know I did with your first one and what a great resourse we just toss into the trash can without thinking. Thank you for Shari g the results of your work with us. I think several of us might owe you a beer

Ramon keep that info flowing Brah :cool:

stc3248 · Mar 1, 2013

Starbucks does the "Grounds for Gardens" thing...and I put several large trash bags into my compost each year. It definately helps retain some more moisture in there and keeps things cooking. The worm beds love it too. Tried it for pest contol and never had much luck??? May try some in my compost tea...err um compost coffee then I suppose???

cycadjungle · Mar 1, 2013

I found that the coffee mainly kills various sucking insects. (I know all insects that eats our plants suck, but you know what I mean

) I don't think it would kill fungus gnats, in fact you may increase the numbers for another reason. One problem I found with using the coffee as a mulch is that in a wet area, like in a humid greenhouse, there is a mold that can grow on the top of the coffee layer. Interesting enough, sometimes, the coffee has been made non-effective when it had a lot of this mold on it. (no explanation that I can figure) This would be what fungus gnats would just love. When I use it as a mulch, it is always outside or in a drier situation. When I use it on the pepper plants, I make sure to mix it in good and not so much on top, because many of the plants are in a greenhouse all year, and the others hide for the winter.
On linking my article, it is very alright. I originally started writing those articles to help the new people understand cycads and to help as many people with their problems. I am also president of The Cycad Society. We work on educational projects and fund conservation projects all over the world. I have recieved a lot of criticism from many fellow cycad nursery people who think that if I were to tell everyone my secrets, I would just be hurting my business. One time, I was getting ready to go do a talk at a botanical garden on how to hand pollinate cycads and someone flat out told me I shouldn't do the talk becasue if I told everyone how to make seeds, that everyone would end up doing it. I had to tell him, yes, that is the idea isn't it? Saving endangered species? Well, I'm not a pepper expert, so I'm not going to go around preaching, this is the way you all should do this, but I am into this with the same attitude. I am happy to say that I have met more GOOD pepper people already, than I have ever met with cycad people over the last 27 years. I think it has a lot to do with collectors who are willing to do anything it takes to get something rare for their collection, even if it is illegal. You don't find that much with peppers. Anyway, anything I write can be used to help others, but its always nice to ask anyway.
Also, on the gnats. It works with cycad seeds and certainly can't hurt with peppers. I found that when you are first starting either of these plants from seeds, I try to start them in as sterile a medium as possible. I know at some time I want to put them in my soil mix, but until they get to a size that they are less vulnurable to fungus and other problems, it is way better to start them off in something good. For cycad seeds, I use pure white sugar sand. Nothing organic at all, which can promote rot and pathogens. For the peppers, I found that Miracle Grow sphagnum peat is great. (comes in a yellow and green bag) It has a wetting agent added and a little bit of weak fertilizer just perfect for starting small plants. I spray my medium and do a quick soak on the seeds with something called Zero-Tol. It sterilizes material on contact. It is close to being a super strong hydrogen peroxide that you dilute down, and instead of using a chemical fungicide, this stuff pretty much just turns to water after it does its job. It's beautiful stuff. Also some people like to use an even more diluted amount in their watering regime. It helps to keep down fungus in the soil, but at the same time, it adds oxygen in the soil, which helps in plant metabolism functions. For that matter, just watering with water that has had an air pump running through it for a few days can really help with that as well. It can make your plants grow faster and healthier. Tom

WalkGood · Mar 2, 2013

@Stefan Beyond markup they’re possibly fresher. I remember buying them freshly hard rolled in Venezuela, they send cigar rollers over to hang out in the lobby of hotels. All they do is answer questions and rollem fresh, nice concept and sales boom …

@JJJessee, Carl I didn’t know the insecticide feature either, thus I’m testing that and everything I can think of with a few plants to see if these things work for me. I also agree about the worms, no matter where around our yard I’ve place used coffee grounds, earth worms show up in hoards. Fortunately for them I don’t fish with worms, it’s mullet for me here, lol.

@Steve, cool another compost bin … I should fire mine up again but want to make a barrier between the ground and it, don’t want nematodes in there again. These are only test, none of the plants I used are important to my main crop. Although I have started spraying all of them.

@Rocketman, Thanks for every ting Bill

@stc3248, Shane was the mixture you tried for pest control strong enough? I failed to mention, my first spraying I diluted down the mix but have stepped up the concentration. Strangely I haven’t seen any bugs in the last two days but that doesn’t mean anything as they seem to come in waves here. Although I have seen some common house flies now licking the leaves and this isn't a joke (no sugar in any coffee here).

@cycadjungle. Tom, Thanks for all the valuable information and the feed back on the gnats. As you know these are only tests, thus the attempt at using it for a medium, I never had gnat issues with starters in the past and thought why not try something different. My entire crop is outdoors but I agree that coffee retains moisture. This is why I only tried it mulching 3 plants, don’t think I’ll do others as I like the seaweed mulch better. My only concern with mulch is that it creates a place for bugs to hang out under when any of the beneficial deterrents are gone from it. Keep up dat great work and thanks again!

stickman · Mar 2, 2013

Wow, this is sure a busy place Ramon... Do you or Tom know if coffee foliar spray would be effective for Squash Bugs or Bean Beetles?
I had both in my garden by the end of the season. I had planned to nuke 'em with tobacco tea if they came back this year, but would rather avoid that if possible since my nightshades are so close to the other vegetables.

WalkGood · Mar 2, 2013

stickman said:
Wow, this is sure a busy place Ramon... Do you or Tom know if coffee foliar spray would be effective for Squash Bugs or Bean Beetles?
I had both in my garden by the end of the season. I had planned to nuke 'em with tobacco tea if they came back this year, but would rather avoid that if possible since my nightshades are so close to the other vegetables.

Rick I don’t know but I’m sure that Tom should be able to answer your question. I’ll be looking myself to see/read all that he says.

On another note and this is not directed at you Rick but I want to make myself clear for anyone reading.

While I have composted and mixed coffee in my soil for years, I have not directly witnessed the benefits. That said, I have noted that it attracts loads of earth worms to all my in-ground applications.
I am testing the spraying now for the first time ever, I have only sprayed twice so far but will be spraying the third time later this morning. I am also not going to dilute my spray today as Bill stated in one of his posts that the concentrate in my gallon jug looked ok.
On the second spraying and after Bill’s 1[sup]st[/sup] response I have started spraying my entire crop. The first spray application was limited to my test plants.
I don't use his "sun tea" method to make the coffee spray but have made sun tea for years. I decided I did not want to wait 5 days and I regularly save coffee grinds daily so I have loads of the stuff. I am brewing a second batch of coffee with 1/2 the normal water to make my coffee tea.
I will try to post what I do and do not see. But I am far from any expert on this subject and I think everyone will get better answers directly from Bill ( cycadjungle)
The test I’m trying are for my own education but I am happy to post or discuss any of my results. That said, I doubt I will note any substantial differences in my test germination of the JA Hab. I say this because my seed is very easy to propagate, is very hardy and has good germ rates. I selected my seed as I have years of growing them and this should make it easier for me to identify changes. I decided to this latter idea because this is the first time that I have lost seedlings to fungal gnats and I do not use poisons on any of my plants. Although I do use; soapy water solution in different concentrations, H2O2, Epson salt, seaweed tea, water/oil mix (ortho volck oil) and a few other home remedies. I am not against any poisons but I’ve never used them because I eat fresh fruit from my plants almost every day of the year.
Any questions that I can answer, I’ll be more than happy to share the info ^_^
While I would love to post a conclusion in a few months, I think that is impossible ... I believe this will take years, just look how long Bill has been focused on his experiments. Although I can post observations along the way.

As always, thanks for reading the glog and I appreciate everyone’s feedback

DocNrock · Mar 2, 2013

Great looking tacos, man. Keep us posted on the coffee/coffee ground experiments. I'm particularly interested in your outcomes with the coffee ground mulch.

WalkGood · Mar 2, 2013

DocNrock said:
Great looking tacos, man.

Thank you and I probably should have called them tostadas, strange no one said anything ... guess I don't know much about Tex-Mex

DocNrock said:
Keep us posted on the coffee/coffee ground experiments.

No problem Brent, but you rarely ever come around any more. Between your Andretti race car rippin, your mad mon pepper’in skills and your part time doctoring … I’m amazed you have time, lol

DocNrock said:
I'm particularly interested in your outcomes with the coffee ground mulch.

My main reason for trying this is to see if it will keep bugs out of the soil, or at least some bugs. Although Tom indicated that some will still come, If you are looking for a good cheap mulch (if you’re not far from the beach), I’d recommend seaweed ... I love the stuff! But you do have to replentish every 6 months as it eventually breaks down but also acts as a good organic fertilizer.

DocNrock · Mar 2, 2013

WalkGood said:
No problem Brent, but you rarely ever come around any more.

Hahaha! I'm around here more than you know, pretty much daily. It is just on the weekends that I have time to go through the glogs, get caught up, and comment.

WalkGood · Mar 2, 2013

DocNrock said:
Hahaha! I'm around here more than you know, pretty much daily. It is just on the weekends that I have time to go through the glogs, get caught up, and comment.

Doc I was joking about all the activities (car racing, plants, work, etc.) you've had going on lately, you missed the wink, yes I know you are around a lot, probably more than me and even if you weren't around a lot you'd still be welcome with open arms

915river · Mar 2, 2013

Nice plants yummie food

cycadjungle · Mar 2, 2013

Do you or Tom know if coffee foliar spray would be effective for Squash Bugs or Bean Beetles?

I don't think it would work with these larger insects. If Squash Bugs are the same as Pumpkin Bugs, then I know for sure it hasn't helped with those. Bean Beetles, I've never seen that I know of. There are larger insects that don't get killed directly by the coffee spray, but I have seen some insects that are repelled by the use of coffee. Like with fire ants, I have sprayed them many times and they didn't die, but I have killed entire colonies of fire ants by covering the mound with "coffee mud" and going beyond about 6 inches farther than the mound on all sides. They seem to be repelled, so they don't get through the barrier, and then the mound dies, because they don't get out for food and whatever else they need. I did notice that if I only covered the mound itself, without that extra few inches, that sometimes, they would tunnel outside of the covering and move on.

WalkGood · Mar 3, 2013

915river said:
Nice plants yummie food

Thank you for checking

cycadjungle said:
Do you or Tom know if coffee foliar spray would be effective for Squash Bugs or Bean Beetles?

I don't think it would work with these larger insects. If Squash Bugs are the same as Pumpkin Bugs, then I know for sure it hasn't helped with those. Bean Beetles, I've never seen that I know of. There are larger insects that don't get killed directly by the coffee spray, but I have seen some insects that are repelled by the use of coffee. Like with fire ants, I have sprayed them many times and they didn't die, but I have killed entire colonies of fire ants by covering the mound with "coffee mud" and going beyond about 6 inches farther than the mound on all sides. They seem to be repelled, so they don't get through the barrier, and then the mound dies, because they don't get out for food and whatever else they need. I did notice that if I only covered the mound itself, without that extra few inches, that sometimes, they would tunnel outside of the covering and move on.

Tom thank you for all the feedback, I certainly appreciate it

Hopefully Rick has read your response by now.