Worm Castings – a magical soil amendment

I have mentioned the use of worm castings in several articles, but have failed to describe why it is important to use. This is probably the most used amendment on my shelf and it can literally be used at any time, and almost any way, with great results. As the title suggests, there is some magic to it. That magic comes from the huge volume of beneficial microbes that are native to worm castings. How those microbes work is poorly understood, thus it is magic!

“Casting” is another fancy way of saying excrement, feces, or poop. When earth worms have fully consumed their food you are left with pure worm castings. The mixture of microbes in the gut of the worm have an excellent balance of beneficial microbes that are transferred directly into the castings. These microbes are decomposers who create nutrients that can be taken up by our cannabis plants.

The microbial content of worm castings along with the nutritional content are perfect for custom blended organic living soils such as the blend I use. This is a critical element in a new soil mix as it provides the microbes needed to break down the solid amendments added to the soil. In addition to the nutrients and microbes, castings also contain enzymes that can assist in breaking down nutrients into plant usable forms, along with humic acid. All of these things are invaluable in your soil.

Top dressing with castings is an excellent approach, particularly if you, at least partially, water from above. As water moves through the castings is carries nutrients and a fresh army of microbes into the lower layers of soil. Over time, this top dressing seems to ‘melt’ into the soil and eventually disappears. I like to top dress with small quantities of solid amendments along with worm castings that start decomposition of those amendments immediately.

Worm Tea is another great way to use castings. There are many different ways to accomplish this, but at the end of the day you have a dark colored, enriched water. Similar to top dressing, this water is now full of nearly all the components needed to make your plants healthy and happy.

In my opinion, worm castings are superior to compost for use in custom soil mixes. Compost can come with a huge variety regarding the inputs used to create them. Composts are more likely to come with larger debris (sticks and so forth) that are not beneficial in the soil. Compost is also far more likely to carry pests with it.

Quality worm castings should have almost no smell, still be moist to the touch, and be comprised of small, consistent football shaped nuggets. If castings are smelly or dried out, you should try a different brand. Some castings may still contain small yellow-brown sphere’s that are earthworm cocoons. For this reason, I also recommend using red wiggler earthworm castings. Red wigglers are known to moderate their population depending on container size and available food so you shouldn’t have any issues with over-population should those cocoons hatch.

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

Missouri NORML wants to double down on unfair medical marijuana scoring system

Quietly in the month of January, all Missouri NORML chapters voted to support Initiative Petition (IP) 2020-128. To date, the best argument for doing so has been; “IP 2020-128 has the best chance of passing” and “IP 2020-128 is well funded.” I find the move rather dis-heartening due to the fact that the current scoring system for medical marijuana under Article XIV is flawed and has left dozens of small communities without access to the medical marijuana industry in Missouri. The high prices we are destined to see will limit patient access to medicine.

Gross.

IP 2020-128 contains provisions that allow, once again, for limits to the number of adult-use marijuana commercial facilities in the same way that Article XIV currently does. It includes the same broken scoring requirements as Article XIV and grandfathers current medical license holders into additional adult-use licenses. As a consolation, a select few disabled veterans will be able to start micro-businesses (I’m a disabled veteran and that is laughable). Worst of all, it will certainly keep in place the arbitrarily limited number of licenses by allowing the state to impose such a limit.

This creates a protected market for big operators and will keep prices artificially high at your local dispensary. Is it any wonder that this petition is well funded?

I lobby on behalf of patients and adult consumers that deserve high quality cannabis at prices less than $250/oz. Do you want a protected system like Illinois? No, those prices are ridiculous.

I lobby on behalf of the so-called illicit market. A protected market and subjective scoring system will never allow these folks to participate in a legal market. Do you want 80% of marijuana sales to occur outside the legal market like California and Maryland?

I lobby on behalf of small communities across the state who could benefit hugely from access to a legal market due to the jobs and tax revenue that it would generate.

I’m all for legalization, but this isn’t the right way to go about it. We should be able to enjoy an open market along with <$150 ounces just like Oklahoma, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

Are you frustrated that NORML made this move without consulting its membership? Do you think this is the wrong move? Are you going to do something about it?

Write your local NORML chapter and voice your concerns! Activists need to get active! Share this using the link below!

NORML KC:

Kansas City MO 64119
newnormlkc@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/normlkc/?fref=ts
https://www.instagram.com/norml_kc/
https://twitter.com/normlkc

Springfield NORML:

Springfield MO 65804

info@springfield-norml.org
http://www.facebook.com/springfieldnorml

Greater StL NORML:

St Louis MO 63103 314-995-1395

greaterstlnorml@gmail.com
http://greaterstlnorml.org/
http://www.facebook.com/gstlnorml

NOTE: To be fair, this is the only chapter I’m aware of who brought this to its members. Despite membership speaking out against, they remain in support of IP 2020-128.

Mid-Mo NORML:

Columbia 573-819-2669
danviets@gmail.com
http://midmonorml.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mid-Mo-NORML/812408365464674
Twitter: @midmonorml

MCIA Presentation: organic living soil

This is a compilation of articles that support a presentation given in January 2020. A link is also provided at the bottom of this post to the presentation used. If this information is useful for you, please consider subscribing so that new content is delivered to your inbox.

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

Supporting Articles:
Soil or Hydro?
DIY Soil
The Lit Farmer soil mix
Water Sources
Maintaining perfect soil moisture
About lactic acid bacteria (LABS)
Maintaining plant health
Basic Bio-controls for pest management
Using predator mites
Growing your own predator mites (coming soon)

Click here for the Powerpoint presentation

Patient/Caregiver expectations for medical cannabis

The key to a bountiful patient/caregiver relationship has to do with setting expectations. I posit that 80%+ of problems between patients and their caregivers come from a mismatch in expectations. For example: A caregiver might be upset if they bought a bunch of equipment to cultivate for someone who needs very little medicine each month. They may have been able to provide that amount for no extra investment of gear!

What follows is a list of questions that should lead to a good set of expectations between patient and caregiver. While a contract may be too formal for some, putting these things on paper (or email) is a good idea so each party has something to refer to over time.

Who will pay the cultivation fee?
(I recommend patients do so because they then own that permit and can assign it to a caregiver, or decide later to grow for themselves.)

Who provides nutrients, soil, lights, and other gear?
(This question speaks to equipment ownership.)

Who provides genetics? Who gets to choose what is grown and when?

What is being charged for, when, and how much? Monthly? Upon delivery of medicine?

When will first supply of medicine be available?

How much notice should be given when supplies run low?

Will medicine be delivered?

What happens in the event of a crop failure?

What if the patient is unsatisfied with the quality of the end product?

May the patient tour the grow room?

Will the caregiver mentor the patient regarding cultivation?

Who will possess what portion of the 12 oz patient limit, and when?

If known, what are the patient’s consumption needs in terms of ounces?

Will infused products be provided?

Will trim be provided and what is the cost?

Will the medicine be safety tested?

This list is probably not complete. If you have ideas for more expectations that should be set, please let us know and I’ll be sure to add them to this list.

Special thanks to the patients and caregivers who helped to develop this concept for me. You know who you are. I believe this will add a lot of value for current and future patients and caregivers.

Read more about caregiving.

Cheers!
— The Lit Farmer —

Predator mites and cannabis

Controlling spider mite pests in a cannabis crop is very important. While aphids and thrips can be relatively easy to treat for, the two-spotted spider mite, russet mite, and their kin can be extremely difficult to control. This is especially true once a colony is established. Further, if you don’t control for them then you will almost certainly catch a case. This is especially true in a living soil system since we don’t sterilize every piece of material (soil) before it comes into the grow.

When using the various sprays it is important to rotate the types of sprays you are using. If you continuously reapply the same type of spray, these hardy creatures can develop a resistance to it. Be cautious in living soil systems because many sprays will hurt your microbial populations as well. Although spider mites can develop a resistance to sprays, there is one thing that they can’t become resistant to: being eaten!

Predator mites come in all shapes and sizes. Fortunately, they are reasonably priced these days and are easy to purchase. I recommend applying predator mites just after your spray regime has ended. This is usually sometime around the second week of flower. I find that using these insects as a control measure, and not as a response to infestation, is most useful.

Select your predator mites based on your environment. Some predators like it warm and dry, others don’t mind it being cool and moist. Selecting the right variety for your environment will help them get established and ensure that they remain hungry! Also, if you have an active infection you will want to buy a bottle of hungry adult predators. Meanwhile, if it is purely preventative, you can purchase time-release sachets for extended protection.

I have had success with P.persimilus for active infections, and a knock-down spray will be needed [first] to help get the infection under control. A.andersoni, A.cucumeris, and A.swirskii are good beneficial to keep as they have a varied diet and may subsist on pollen and mold as well. This means that they will persist in the garden much longer as a preventative measure.

NOTE: A.cucumeris is a thrip predator and is not effective against spider mites.

I hope you have found this information useful. Exploring the world of beneficial insects can be challenging, but it can be fruitful as well. Stay tuned – in a future article I will detail how to create a breeding colony of beneficial predator mites.

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

The Lit Farmer living soil mix

I’ve received a number of requests for the living soil mix I use personally. While I have published a general DIY Soil Mix, there are a few adjustments in what you will find below. I did not invent this mix and refuse to take credit. Modern potting soil mixes are based on the ‘Cornell Mix’ developed by Cornell University researchers in the mid-twentieth century. It was later fine tuned for cannabis by Clackamas Coot (use search term “Coot Soil Mix”). This mix is largely Coot’s mix with just a couple adjustments.

1 cubic foot recipe

2.5 gallons peat moss*
2.5 gallons aeration material**
2.5 gallons compost or worm castings
0.5 gallons biochar

Minerals:
1/2 cup oyster shell flour***
1/8 cup crushed basalt
1/8 cup green sand
1/8 cup azomite

Nutrients:
1/2 cup kelp meal
1/2 cup neem cake
1/2 cup crustacean meal
1/2 cup bone meal

1/4 cup insect frass
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup malted barley (ground)
<read more about using insect frass and grains as amendments>

Inoculate:
Bacillus Thurigensis-israeleus, Beauvaria Bassiana, & LABS****

Notes:
* Peat moss should be thoroughly hydrated prior to mixing for best results
** A variety of aeration materials may be used, including perlite, lava rocks, shale, pumice, rice hulls, etc.. If you plan to maintain a colony of red wiggler earth worms in your bed, rice hulls are an excellent choice. The rice hulls will eventually break down and the worms will take care of aeration on their own.
*** Peat moss is slightly acidic, so use of oyster shell flour or gypsum is needed to buffer PH in the soil. Both are also good sources of calcium. Avoid using dolomitic lime as it may add too much magnesium to your mix.
**** Innoculations as described above are optional, but I highly recommend doing so. Compost often comes with a colony of fungus gnats and/or white flies – among other things. While these decomposers are generally good, they can become a problem indoors. It’s always best to start your pest management practices very, very early on. The LABS part of the inoculation is to boost your beneficial microbe counts. This can be accomplished with a quality compost/castings tea as well. The compost/casting used in the soil mix should do the trick, but I don’t mind taking it up a notch. If you water over the top then a top-dressing of compost or castings will also work well in the place of tea or LABS.

Be sure to let this mix sit for a week or two – depending on your conditions. After just a few days you can feel how [literally] hot the mix is by plunging your hand into the middle of it. You will need to wait until the mix cools off before use. I always have a batch of living soil ‘cooking.’ This mix is great for seedlings and clones provided the mix is well aged. During this period is also when the biochar gets charged with nutrients and microbe colonies.

Last but not least, this early decomposition process releases a great deal of CO2 into the environment which is a great secondary benefit.

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

Missouri law enforcement has instant access to patient information

In a recent communication with Missouri Medical Marijuana Program officials, I was informed that Local Enforcement Officers now have access to patient information from their squad cars using the MULES system. This is important as some patients have been challenged about the validity of their license. If you are in that scenario, you should feel empowered to tell officers that they should be able to confirm using their MULES system. Many have not been trained, but if you mention this they’ll know what to do next. I’m including the response from the department.

“Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution allows for the release of related patient information to verify that a person who presented a patient identification card to a state or local law enforcement official is lawfully in possession of such card.  Our rules further define specific information that can be released for verification law enforcement pursuant to 19 CSR 30-95.025 (1)(A) which states:

Upon request and for purposes of verifying whether a particular individual is lawfully in possession of a qualifying patient, primary caregiver, or patient cultivation identification card or lawfully in possession of a particular amount of marijuana, state and local law enforcement personnel shall have access to patient and caregiver information such as names, addresses, dates of birth, and purchase limitations;….

Local and state law enforcement do have access to the patient and caregiver information, as defined in the provision above, through the MULES system and access is restricted to be utilized only for the purpose as authorized in Article XIV. 

We do not have an information kit, however if you are a member of law enforcement you can inform your agency of the information provided in this response.  

Medical Marijuana Regulation Program
Website: https://medicalmarijuana.mo.gov
Toll Free: 866-219-0165
Email: MedicalMarijuanainfo@health.mo.gov“

Insect Frass – what the crap?

Frass is a common term that refers to insect detritus. That is to say, bug poop. While ‘honeydew’ is liquid version of insect excrement, frass is the term used for the solid waste. For horticultural purposes, including cannabis gardening, the cultivator should be sourcing frass from a herbivorous insect. Mealworm frass is quite common given that mealworms are produced to feed poultry, reptiles, fish and amphibians that need live food. Insect frass is often very reasonably priced and has great value in organic living soils.

As frass breaks down it provides a low, balanced amount of NPK. Like fish hydrolysate, frass has a high amount of chitin. While crustaceans use chitin to form their shells, bugs use chitin to form their rigid exoskeletons. Plants react to the presence of chitin (and other chemicals in frass) as if they are being attacked by bugs. Thus, your cannabis plants will try to develop thicker stems as well as thickening of the epidermis and cuticle (outer layer of cells and the waxy coating that protects the plant from excessive transpiration and insect attack). The idea is to encourage the plant to become stronger and therefore more resistant to pests.

An attractive secondary benefit is that chitin is a substance that fungi use to make its hyphae. Fungus literally uses chitin as its ‘skin.’ Most of us do our best to encourage rigorous myccorhizal fungi growth in our root zones and insect frass will help promote this growth and therefore increase the potential for nutrient uptake for our cannabis plants.

I’ve found benefit in mixing about 1/4cup of frass to each cubic feet of soil initially, then top dressing with a light dusting every two weeks through the life-cycle of the plant. Because I top dress regularly, I don’t use frass to re-ammend my soil between crops.

Finally, frass can make an excellent tea. Brew it in a cheese cloth (so it can easily be removed) for an hour or so and your tea will be infused with chitin, nutrients, and other chemicals that will help achieve the desired effects described above.

Do you use frass in your grow? We’d love to hear the details and whether or not you find it beneficial.

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

DIY Climate Control

Recently I was faced with a challenge; I wanted a single fan to exhaust garden air when either the temperature was too high or the humidity was too high. This sounds straight forward but almost every controller I found controlled one or the other, but not both. The few that did control for both had separate sockets for two devices. Although I did find a couple high-end controllers that would fit the bill, I wasn’t willing to pay that kind of money. So, for $80 I did it myself and I am very pleased at the result!

On my workbench you can see the XXDuoStat (attic fan) controller, an outdoor extension cord, and a Govee thermometer/hygrometer. The Govee was an additional $14 but makes for a great addition that allows you to track stats using an app on your phone.

Unboxed, it is clear that this device needs to be wired. Note the extra 2″ length of 14 gauge copper wire. It should be attached to the green screw which will ground the unit (as seen below).

Assuming your home wiring is standard (white = common/neutral, black = hot, green = ground), use the picture below along with the wiring diagram on the inside of the unit to make your connections. I wired mine with the power input from outlet on the left. Chop your extension cord in half, peel back the insulation and strip the wires. Be sure to install cable connectors first and use appropriate wire-nuts.

Notes:
–White wire passes through so simply reconnect with wire-nuts.
–Ground wires should be connected to the ‘stub’ that is connected to the green grounding screw on the unit.
–This picture does not show cable connectors installed on the openings where your power cord enters and exits the unit. I’m not too proud to admit that I forgot to install first, then had to take apart my wiring and try again (I forgot to take a second picture). Cable connectors help to keep pests out of the device and ensure that the wire-nut connections aren’t stressed.

After dialing in the temperature and humidity settings for a couple days, this unit has performed extremely well and has dialed in the environment in the grow tent nicely. As you can see from the graphs, the trend for temperature and humidity are staying within a consistent range. I have a bit more work to do to further refine the environmental parameters, but this unit is doing precisely what it was designed to do.

Happy Harvests!
— The Lit Farmer —

Simple cannabis-infused micro-dose coconut oil chocolate recipe

I have successfully used the following technique to make edibles that are both enjoyable, and have a good therapeutic value. Making very small chocolates is little more difficult so you might elect to make a bigger size. However, smaller sizes allow for a lot more dosing control. Tips for making more potent edibles are included below as well. In any event, let’s get to the good stuff.

Ingredients:
-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
-14 oz quality coconut oil (should be solid at room temperature)
-28 g quality cannabis
–1cc Mini-ice cube silicone molds (or similar)
-Measuring cups (1/4c will suffice)
-spatula
-oven & baking sheet
-double boiler pan set
-ice water
-french press
-cheese cloth
-oven mitts
-sterile food handling gloves

1. Prepare the cannabis by chunking it up [with scissors] into dime sized chunks. The densest buds will need to be chunked up a little more – light and fluffy buds a little less. I don’t recommend grinding as this will damage more trichomes (where the medicine is) and will make your oil taste more ‘green.’

2. (Optional) Blanch & Rinse: This step is not critical to the process, but will help remove a great deal of ‘green’ taste from your final product. It will also reduce smell during the decarboxylation step and the process does NOT reduce potency.
-Prepare bowl of ice-water
-Bring pot of water to boil
-Tie up prepared cannabis in cheese cloth
-Submerge in boiling water for 5 minutes
-Submerge in ice-water for 5 minutes
NOTE: Never store your cannabis wet. If blanching and rinsing it is recommended to decarboxylate immediately thereafter.

3. Decarbylation: This step converts THCA to THC (psychoactive form).
-Preheat oven to 220 degreesF
-Spread prepared cannabis on baking sheet
-‘Cook’ for 30 minutes
NOTE: You can cook longer at a slightly lower temperature, or for a shorter amount of time at a higher temperature.
TIP: Place your container of coconut oil on the stove top while the oven is on in order to liquefy. Now you’re ready for the next step.

4. Coconut oil infusion: In this step we will transfer the cannabinoids from the cannabis to your oil.
-Place decarboxylated cannabis into your french press.
-Pour 14oz warmed coconut oil over cannabis
-Mix lightly with spatula
-Bring pot of water to a simmer (water level should not be higher than the level of oil in your french press)
-Place french press directly in simmering water and ensure there is no risk of tip-over
-Press down screen on french press just far enough to ensure cannabis is submerged in oil
-Simmer for 6 hours; check water level every 30-60 minutes and add water as needed
-After 6 hours, depress french press fully and pour contents back into coconut oil jar
-Allow to cool for 30 minutes
-Freeze coconut oil for one hour before moving back to refrigerator – keep refrigerated until use
-You should expect about 12 oz of finished canna-oil

5. Making chocolates:
-Start double boiler
-Add 1/4 cup of cannabis-infused coconut oil
-Add 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
-Mix very thoroughly for five minutes after chocolate and oil has melted – watch closely for ‘swirls’ and mix until they disappear
-Quickly and carefully transfer melted chocolate into your molds – use your spatula to get all of your chocolate
-Place molds in freezer for 20-30 minutes
-Once frozen, quickly remove from molds, place in plastic baggies, and put back in freezer or refrigerator. The addition of canna-oil makes the chocolate melt faster.
NOTE: If making for a patient you should strongly consider using sterile food handling gloves.

6. Dosing: As alluded to in the intro; I prefer to use 1cc mini ice cube molds but you can use larger molds if you like. Larger molds make it easier to remove chocolate from the mold, but the smaller molds are much better for dosing control (some of my patients have a low tolerance to THC). Assuming your cannabis was near 20% potency, you’ll end up with 1 cc chocolate cubes that are about 2mg of THC each. Be aware that this is an educated guess and has not been proven by testing.

Be sure to start off with a small dose and wait two hours for it to take effect. I can’t tell you what a small dose is as they depends largely on the individual. I would suggest starting with 5 cc (cubes) if you are an experienced user. My inexperienced patients have started at 3cc with good results. I prefer to wait 1 day between doses to be sure I fully understand the potency. Be careful with edibles as they can be very intoxicating!

Increase potency by adjusting this recipe in one or more of these ways:

  • Increase Cannabis from 1/2 oz to 1 oz
  • Increase size of the candy mold used
  • Increase infused oil in chocolate mix from 1/4c to 1/2c

    CAUTION: Making all of these adjustment could create extremely potent edibles.

Other notes:

  • I prefer to make a full 12 oz batch of coconut oil at once as this will help ensure consistency of edibles made from it.
  • Test each batch individually and expect some variation in dosing. The larger the ‘batch’ size, the more consistent the potency will be within that batch.
  • Milk chocolate can be used but will melt all over your fingers during this process.
  • Be careful about licking spatulas and fingers as it may become very difficult to get off the couch.
  • There is a large difference in the amount of cannabis you will use if you are processing trim (~triple). Add kief to your trim and it still takes about twice the amount.
  • You may process smaller amounts of oil and cannabis and a ratio of 1g of bud to 1oz of coconut oil or 3g of trim to 1oz coconut oil is a good starting point. 2g of cannabis to 1oz of oil is the ‘sweet spot’ for my patients.
  • This process will work for cannabis containing CBD as well as THC. If CBD is used you will need to adjust your decarboxylation temperature to a minimum of 230 degreesF.
  • You may substitute a double boiler and cheese cloth strainer for the french press. This will be necessary substitution if you grind the cannabis instead of chunking it up.

The notes and tips could go on and on. This is just one of many, many methods for making cannabis-infused coconut oil. This one just happens to be my preferred method at the moment and just about the simplest method I could find using common household items. It is also a method I have found to make edibles with consistent potency which can also be used for micro-dosing.

Bon appetite!
— The Lit Farmer —