TC - Terracycle; WC - Worm Compost; C - Control (water only);
MG - Miracle-Gro
This update is beyond overdue! Unfortunately I’ve been completely sidelined, working on an important project for the last little while!
I actually ended the challenge back on August 12, which was day 31. I figured the one month mark was a good time to call it quits, especially considering some of the issues that were cropping up towards the end. As I learned, with increased size comes increased responsibility! haha!
Most of the sunflowers were geting pretty cramped in their pots and keeping the soil moist was becoming a bit of a chore. Some sort of pest (I suspect a squirrel) was also digging in some of the pots. (see picture to right)
All issues aside, there were some interesting and surprising results from the challenge by the end.
I hate to admit it, but I really wasn’t expecting all that much from the Terracycle-only treatment, especially given the relatively infrequent TC feedings (while the Miracle-Gro sticks released more nutrients with every single watering). Don’t get me wrong - I definitely have a lot of faith in worm compost & tea, but just expected the fertilizer sticks to provide the sunflowers with more of the nutrients needed for healthy growth.
In my ‘Day 20′ update (the last one) I reported that the TC-only plant was growing like crazy after a very slow start. That growth continued, and as you can see from the big picture above, TC-only outgrew MG-only. In fact, the TC-only plant ended up being the tallest of all of them (even though the TC/WC/MG plant was the clear winner as far as total biomass goes).
One thing I should mention re: the Terracycle used for the experiment. The bottle mentions an “added nitrogen boost”. I’m definitely curious to know precisely what this means. Have they added some inorganic fertilizer into the mix to help give it a little extra ‘zing’? Whatever the source of the added nitrogen, it likely explains the rapid upward growth of the TC-only plant.
Unlike the Terracycle-only plant, the vermicompost-only plant (WC) never seemed to recover from its sluggish start. It was clearly larger than the control by the end, but seemed to have been impeded by something. I have a sneaking suspicion the worm compost I used was not yet mature, but it’s hard to say for sure.
As far as the Terracycle Challenge “Jr” goes, it too ended up surprising me by the end. For whatever reason I had it in my mind that there were no obvious differences between the plants from the three treatments (TC, WC, MG). Unlike the sunflowers, all the bean plants in the Jr challenge were proportionally very similar. I think that because I was so zoned in on looking for size differences, I ended up missing some very obvious colour differences - until the end of the experiment that is.
It finally dawned on me that three of the nine plants appeared healthier (few signs of disease or pest attack, rich green colour). Once I grouped them together I realized they were all from the Terracycle treatment. Even the MG treatment looked pretty rough (a little better than the worm compost plants though).
What’s cool is that the results of the Jr Challenge are also more valuable from a scientific standpoint, since multiple reps were tested - and as you can see from the photo, the results were quite consistent.
All in all, both my TC Challenges turned out to be very interesting and a lot of fun! Hopefully I’ll get a chance to test out TC again before too long - next time I’ll try to make it more scientifically rigorous.
While I certainly won’t make any sweeping claims based on the results of this challenge, I think it is at least fairly evident that Terracycle worm tea can help boost plant growth and potentially even overall plant health. It isn’t the cheapest fertilizer out there, but as I discovered a little goes a long way!
Previous Challenge Posts
Terracycle Challenge - Day 20
Terracycle Challenge - Day 8 - Quick Update
Terracycle Challenge - Day 0
Terracycle Challenge - Off To The Races…Well, Almost!
Terracycle Challenge
Technorati Tags: worm bin, worm composting, composting, worm compost, worm castings, vermicomposting, red wigglers, red worms, terracycle, fertilizer, miracle-gro, miracle grow, plant growth
Written by Bentley on August 28th, 2007 with 4 comments.
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It’s been ages since I last heard anything from Patti Moreno (aka ‘Garden Girl‘), and to be totally honest I was really starting to think she’d decided not to continue with her ‘Urban Sustainable Living’ tv show idea.
Given the fact that Patti had made such a great impression on members of the green community (myself included) last winter, this would have been a real shame! I know I wasn’t the only person who has anxiously awaiting the release of new Garden Girl videos!
Well, as I learned in an email she sent out today, Garden Girl is back! She also has some great news - apparently she has finalized a contract with ‘Farmer’s Almanac‘ and will be creating some content for their site in the near future. Very exciting!
Patti also mentioned that her site is being revamped and relaunched shortly. That said, I must admit to being somewhat puzzled when I stopped by the site today and saw some pretty strange advertising (”Smarty Knickers”?, “Love in the Uk”?, “Test your bandwidth speed”?). She mentioned getting hooked up with a new design/marketing company, so perhaps they are testing out a variety of offers.
Anyway…definitely NOT trying to rain on Patti’s parade here. I’m a huge Garden Girl fan, and am very excited that she is back!
Hopefully I’ll be able to share some new Garden Girl videos here on the blog very soon (as they become available).
Technorati Tags: garden girl, patti moreno, gardening, sustainable living, organic gardening, raising rabbits, urban agriculture
Written by Bentley on August 17th, 2007 with no comments.
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We are certainly overdue for a TCC update. I want to make sure people don’t assume I’ve thrown in the towel!
The picture above provides a pretty good overview of the results so far. Here again are the label codes just in case you need a refresher or are just joining us:
TC - Terracycle
WC - Worm Compost
C - Control (water only)
MG - Miracle-Gro
Definitely some interesting observations thus far! Initially it was looking as though the TC-only plant was going to grow about as well as the control, but it has gone gangbusters recently and is starting to gain on some of the multi-treatments. Worm compost (WC) on the other hand has not proven itself at all - at least not when used alone. The WC plant has made only slightly more progress than the control thus far - unless we see a sudden surge of growth in the home stretch, it will definitely come in dead last as far as treatments go.
The WC/MG plant was the largest and healthiest looking of the bunch, but very recently the all-inclusive (WC/TC/MG) plant has experienced a serious growth spurt and is looking like it might put all the others to shame.
Another interesting note about plants grown with worm compost (including those in the “Jr” challenge) - most of them are a much lighter green colour than the rest of the plants. I’m not sure what to make of that.
Speaking of the TCC Jr challenge - nothing overly exciting to report there. Most of the plants are quite similar in appearance (aside from the light green colour of the WC plants).
Some other important things to mention. I’ve decided to take an even more laid back approach to my already laid back methodology. Now that the plants are getting much larger and we are encountering another serious hot-dry spell, I’m finding that they are needing a lot more water. As such, I’ve decided to opt for a thorough soaking approach vs an exact amount of water (it would take WAY too long if I had to measure out exact amounts of water every single day). I figure as long as I make sure they all have as much water as they need it shouldn’t be an issue.
When you think about it, exactly measured quantities make no sense at this stage anyway, since some plants are going to require a lot more water than others (because they are much larger and growing more quickly).
The only concern this raises is the potential for washing out the Terracycle doses. When it comes down it, I’m really not going to be able to compare the results of MG vs WC vs TC anyway, since a stick of MG will undoubtedly offer FAR more nutrients than periodic waterings with TC or a small quantity of WC. If I was using ONLY Terracycle (ie no water) for the TC treatments it might be a bit more of a realistic comparison, but unfortunately that would cost me a small fortune! (haha)
What I’m really interested to see is how the different combos compare to one another and to the control. So far it has certainly been fun to watch how each of the plants has grown!
Anyway, thats all for now! Stay tuned for more updates!
Technorati Tags: terracycle, worm poop, fertilizer, worm team, compost tea, worm compost, vermicompost, worm castings
Written by Bentley on August 1st, 2007 with 6 comments.
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I just wanted to pop by and provide a bit of a Terracycle Challenge update for this week. We’ve (surprisingly) had a decent amount of rain since I started a little over a week ago, so today is actually the first time I’ve even had to water the plants (and since I’m going with a roughly 1-week Terracycle addition schedule, it worked out quite well).
If things stay fairly dry, and as the plants become more demanding, I’m sure I’ll need to water much more frequently (but will still only apply Terracycle once a week).
I’m definitely starting to see some noticeable differences amongst the various treatments. The control started off strong but is no longer looking as robust as some of the others. I can’t say I’m surprised to see all the MG treatments doing well. Worm compost and Terracycle on their own are not doing particularly well. In fact the worm compost treatment is the smallest plant of the bunch! It may not have been quite as ‘ready’ as I had hoped. I will definitely be interested to see how that plant fares over the long haul.
Sorry I haven’t included more photos. I definitely want to devote a section of our flikr gallery to the challenge. Once I get a bunch of photos up I will let you know.
The Terracycle Challenge Jr edition seems to be going well. I’m definitely glad I opted for multiple reps for that one - allready seeing a decent amount of variability amongst the members of each treatment. In general, the bean plants seem to be doing fairly well across the board. Given the fact that it’s a legume (ie. creates it’s own source of nitrogen), I imagine the most noticeable differences will occur later once the demand for other nutrients (such as phosphorus) becomes greater.
Something just occurred to me - I totally forgot to set up a water control for that experiment! Man, I’m such a dunce! Oh well, what can ya do?
Anyway, hopefully I’ll have time for a more interesting update next week (plus photos), not to mention some other EcoSherpa posts. Sorry for the drought in that department!
Technorati Tags: terracycle, worm poop, fertilizer, worm team, compost tea, worm compost, vermicompost, worm castings
Written by Bentley on July 20th, 2007 with no comments.
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I just caught an interesting comment on my Water-Smart Gardening article this morning. It was from Derek Lippert, owner of ‘Naturally Maintained‘, a local landscaping company dedicated to providing environmentally friendly landscape solutions in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge (Tri-city) area.
Here is what Derek had to say in his comment:
I started Naturally Maintained in 1999 with the primary focus of installing and promoting lawn alternative landscapes. At the time it was a fairly hard sell, with people saying ‘lawn what?’ Nowadays the lawn alternative is becoming nearly as popular as the lawn itself. With many options and styles to choose from it’s likely that a lawn alternative can be designed for nearly everyone’s taste. We’ve put in demonstration gardens for the Region of Waterloo and have eliminated lawns from 100’s of homes throughout the tri-cities. I’m at a point now where it’s hard to keep up with the demand.
I’m really excited to hear that these alternative landscaping ideas are really taking off! It sounds as though Derek doesn’t need the business, but I figured I might as well see if we can help him round up some more! (sorry, Derek! haha)
I totally love the look of the Naturally Maintained website - very simple and clean, but also full of life (great images and designs). Even if you don’t live in the Tricity area I highly recommend you check it out. The gallery section alone is definitely worth it! Certainly puts my landscaping efforts to shame! haha!
I see Derek offers installations of Eco-Lawn (I wrote a post about it recently) - cool! I’ll have to ask him about that (since I’ve been hoping to find someone who has experience with it).
If you happen to live in the K-W or Cambridge are and are looking for lawn-alternatives or other eco-friendly garden ideas, I highly recommend you check out Naturally Maintained (follow link at beginning of article).
One other thing I should mention. After hearing from Derek, I suddenly had a brainwave (happens once in awhile)! I think it would be really fun to dedicate a page to green businesses in Waterloo Region (perhaps even Southwestern Ontario in general).
I always love hearing about any that are close by, and I think it would be a great way to inform people in the region about green alternatives.
Anyway, I’ll think on that a little more and let you know what I decide to do!
Related Sherpa Posts:
Water-Smart Gardening
Eco-Lawn - Is The Grass Really Greener on the Other Side?
Technorati Tags: eco-lawn, green landscaping, lawn alternatives, natural landscaping, naturally maintained, kitchener-waterloo, waterloo region, local businesses, eco-friendly
Written by Bentley on July 12th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Water Conservation and Gardening.
Well I finally squeezed in some time for EcoSherpa this week, and my activites revolved around getting our Terracycle Challenge officially rolling.
Our sunflowers were all ready to go (enough for 1 per treatment), my worm compost was ready, and the stars and the moon were aligned just right - no stopping us now!
I felt kinda bad though - quite a few baby worms had hatched in the worm compost. I tried to move as many as I could over to one of my active indoor bins. The rest, along with plenty of springtails will simply have to make do with their new environment (in the plant pots).
One change to methodology I should mention - just so you know, I’m now back using fertlizer sticks NOT liquid fertilizer (sorry for the flip-flopping). They are still MiracleGro though. This will make things so much easier since I won’t have to mix anything. Each MG pot gets one stick.
Today every pot received 300 ml of either rainwater or Terracycle (depending on treatment). All treatments will now only receive water until it’s time for our next round of TC (will likely use it once per week as suggested on bottle).
I also kickstarted my second TC Challenge, which I’ll be referring to as “Terracycle Challenge Jr”. Kinda ironic that I would belittle it like that, since it’s actually much more of a scientific experiment than the main challenge. I have 3 reps for each of the 3 treatments I’m testing (MiracleGro, Terracycle, and Worm Compost).
I’m using green beans for this one since they grow very quickly and…well…I love eating green beans!
It’s not technically ‘Day 0′ for this challenge though - I decided to hold off on watering today since the peat pellets they were grown in were soaked this morning. I will start the actually watering them (and Terracycling them) tomorrow.
I’m aiming to provide updates for the challenges at least once or twice a week! Stay tuned!
Related Sherpa Posts:
Terracycle Challenge - Off To The Races…Well, Almost!
Terracycle Challenge
Technorati Tags: terracycle, worm compost, vermicompost, worm castings, miracle gro, miraclegro, fertilizer, sunflowers, experiment, gardening
Written by Bentley on July 12th, 2007 with no comments.
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As I discussed in our summer newsletter, our “Terracycle Challenge” is underway. If you have absolutely no clue what I’m talking about, be sure to check out my original post: Terracycle Challenge.
As you can see in the picture above, we are making some progress - but as you can also see, we’ve run into a bit of a situation with one of our pots! I had hoped that by putting two seeds in each pot I’d greatly increase our chances of having at least one test plant for each treatment (of course, if I had started with a lot more seeds I definitely would have planted more than two in each pot).
Unfortunately some local bird hooligans had other ideas and decided to munch on both seedlings as they emerged from one of my pots. I had one other casualty, but luckily there is still another plant left in that pot.
In hindsight of course I wish I had purchased a lot more sunflower seeds (unfortunately I still was not sure what type of plants I was going to use for the challenge), but oh well! I could track down another package of the same type of seeds, but I’m not sure I’ll have time this week and the other plants are already well on there way.
SO…
I’ll either transplant one of my other seedlings (most likely) or get rid of one of my treatments (don’t want to do this).
I should also mention that I am going to setting up a similar experiment using different plants in the near future. While it can’t be considered at second repetition (since different plants are being used), it will still be interesting to see if we have similar results.
Back to our current challenge…
Once the second set of leaves (first set of ‘real’ leaves) emerges I will start ‘Phase 2′ of the experiment. Each pot will become a distinct treatment, and various fertilizers and amendments will be added accordingly. It just occurred to me that I’ll need to make sure we only have one plant per pot at that point so there isn’t any uneven allocation of resources (2 plants sharing resources obviously won’t grow as well as a single plant).
Anyway, you can expect to see another update before too long!
Technorati Tags: terracycle, compost, worm compost, vermicompost, fertilizer, miraclegro, micracle gro, sunflowers, worm tea, compost tea
Written by Bentley on July 3rd, 2007 with 2 comments.
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I’ve had an interest in ‘growing stuff’ for a number of years now, but my true passion for gardening has been cultivated (no pun intended) in the last two years, since buying our first home.
When we first moved here, creating a garden design with perennials in mind was of paramount importance to me. The property was pretty bare from a botanical standpoint - almost like a blank canvas, waiting to be painted upon.
My goal has been to bring our property to life - to have it bursting with lush green foliage and a wide assortment of colourful flowers.
It’s probably important to mention that I use the term “design” very loosely! While I will certainly plan where I want my gardens to go and what size I want them to be, but I tend to enjoy flying by the seat of my pants a little when it comes to putting in plants!
My only real requirements are that my plants be almost exclusively A) Perennials and B) As small as possible (when planted).
Don’t get me wrong - I’m the furthest thing from a gardening snob! Seeing my neighbours out digging in their gardens each spring warms my heart - regardless of what types of flowers they are putting in. I strongly believe that EVERYONE should make time to connect with the earth and mother nature in general.
I guess my love for perennials simple stems (the unintential puns are flying today) from my fascination with watching something grow from one year to the next. I almost feel like I’m the parent of many children - I nurture them as best I can, and feel a great deal of pride as they grow and blossom (literally) over the years.
The idea of planting a cold-intolerant plant, only to watch the poor thing die at the end of the season just seems a little odd to me (but I guess I CAN understand the appeal of easily adding life and colour to one’s property during the growing season).
Of course, like a fine wine, perennial gardens often require some time before you start to see the fruits of your labours. There is a certain level of unpredictability inherent in this approach as well - it’s hard to know for sure what your garden is going to look like, especially when just starting out.
But I think this is in fact one of the real pleasures of perennials! Sure, your garden might end up looking a little rough around the edges at first, but with a minimal amount of love and attention, you’ll be amazed with how well things progress. I’m constantly surprised by new blooms and unexpected growth during the spring and summer months - something a bed of petunias just can’t provide.
Of course, if you have the money and don’t want to wait, you can easily head to your local nursery and purchase large perennials instead. I just happen the love the idea of starting from square one (ok, maybe “square two” - I definitely don’t grow from seed as much as I’d like to). Not only is it much less expensive, but like I’ve said there is just a real thrill that comes from watching something grow and prosper under your care!
And it’s EASY! Far easier than keeping houseplants alive, in my experience.
Once you do the initial dirty work (don’t forget the mulch!), all that’s required is a little maintenance from time to time. Nature does the rest!
I know we won’t be in this house forever, but I like the idea of leaving behind a living legacy of sorts. Something that perhaps inspires others (the next owners included) to get into gardening.
I’m sure I’ll be a little sad leaving all my “children” behind, but I’ll also feel a sense of satisfaction, knowing that my green investment will likely pay dividends for years to come.
Technorati Tags: perennials, perrenials, gardening, mulch, annuals, green gardening, eco gardening, natural landscaping
Written by Bentley on June 25th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Green Commentary and Gardening.
As mentioned multiple times now, this year I’m really zoning in on water conservation - both inside and outside of the house.
One of my significant water-suckers last summer was my vegetable garden. While I certainly wasn’t a crazy hose-wielding maniac like my neighbour across the street (who seems to love watering his grass, washing down his multiple vehicles, and even pressure washing his driveway during summers droughts), I still needed to give my plants a decent amount to drink so as not to stunt their growth.
This year I decided to impliment some additional water-conserving strategies to help reduce the amount of tap water needed to keep my crops in good shape.
Mulch - I decided to lay down straw on my vegetable bed this year to help reduce water-loss via evaporation. You
do need to be a little careful when using a carbon-rich mulch like straw (wood chips etc) however since it can lead to loss of nitrogen from the soil (microbes breaking down the straw take up the N to help maintain C:N balance).
I decided to use slow release fertilizer sticks to help ensure the plants have a constant supply of N (and P). In future years I would love to use strictly organic methods, but unfortunately my soil is just not rich enough yet. If you ARE going to use inorganic fertilizer I highly recommend taking the slow-release route.
Targeted Watering - Using a watering can, and pouring water under each plant (vs general watering of beds) can save a lot of water. To further prevent excess run-off, I like to water 2 or 3 plants at a time. I’ll start with the first, counting off 3-5 seconds as I pour, then move to the next and so on. This allows the water to percolate down, making it much more likely that it will reach the roots where it is needed.
Depending on how serious you are (about water conservation, and about your veggie garden in general), you may even want to set up some sort of slow-release system, either in the form of a drip-line, or slow release reservoirs.
As mentioned not too long ago, the latest Mother Earth News has some great info on the subject. In the article “Wise Watering”, one method the author suggests is creating slow-release water bottles by punching small holes in the bottom, placing them near your plants then filling them up with water. I think this is a great idea.
Here’s a related idea that popped into my head recently: if you happen to have 2 litre pop bottles, why not make a series of punctures or slits then bury in the ground with only the lid showing (could easily be hidden from view with mulch). To water, simply open the lid and pour water down into the bottle.
Rain Barrels - I highly recommend using at least one rain barrel to capture run-off from your roof during summer showers. I’ve been absolutely loving my rain barrel this year, and actually really want to create a multi-barrel system. One of my dreams in the past has been to create a huge underground cistern for rainwater, but I think I’ll need to wait until I get a country property before it makes sense to do that.
Sadly, I just used up the last of my rain barrel water the other day. Things have been utterly desert-like as of late! Speaking of which, if you do only have one barrel I would recommend trying to use as much of it as possible between rainfalls. I’m always frustrated when I’ve been extra-conservative with the barrel water, only to see it overflowing after a couple minutes the next time it rains. You could also simply move the water to other containers so as to ensure that you will always collect a full barrel each rainfall.
Indoor Water Capture - Assuming you don’t already have a greywater system in your home, why not capture excess water from rinsing dishes, washing fruit/vegetables, showers etc etc. (I’ll be talking a lot more about this in our first newsletter). It’s amazing how quickly this adds up. Of course, I’d recommend you keep the soapy water in it’s own container since it’s probably not the greatest water for your edibles - you can however use this for your shrubs and other ornamentals.
Timing - Another way to help reduce the amount of evaporation is to water your plants either earlier or later in the day, when the sun is lower and temperatures are cooler. Early morning is your best bet since this provides your plants with a nice dose of water for their most active hours, and also reduces the chances of diseases developing (watering at dusk is not as ideal for this reason). I’m far from perfect myself, so my timing is not always the best. Now that the weather is really heating up however, I think I’ll be working a little harder to ensure I time my waterings a little better.
So there you have it - just a handful of ways you can save a considerable amount of water this summer, while maintaining lush, healthy gardens.
Technorati Tags: water conservation, mulch, rain barrels, rainwater recycling, watering can, drip line, slow release fertilizer, greywater, grey water
Written by Bentley on June 18th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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As I mentioned in my update post the other day, I recently ‘adopted’ a composter.
On the weekend my wife and I were heading off in the car for some shopping when I noticed a backyard composter sitting on the edge of the curb on one of the streets in our neighbourhood. It appeared to have a paper sign taped to it, but I could not make out what it said.
We were in a bit of a rush at the time so I (sadly) kept driving, vowing I would come back to check it out when I got home. I was pretty sure it was being given away, and I was also pretty sure it would be gone when we got back home - but when it came down to it, I decided it was better to risk losing the composter than it was to have an angry pregnant woman on my hands!
It will of course come as no surprise to anyone to learn that the composter WAS indeed still there when we drove past it again. Once we had unloaded our shopping stuff and settled in a little I decided to take the car over and check it out. As I suspected, it did indeed have a couple “free” signs taped to it, so I happily tossed it in the back of the car and drove it back to its new home.
What did however surprise me was the fact that A) Someone would want to get rid of a perfectly good composter, and B) Nobody would have grabbed it before me. Judging by the insane turn-out at the regional Water Barrel Sale on Earth Day Weekend, I got the impression that many more people were becoming interested in these sorts of things.
It was almost a bittersweet victory - on the one hand I was very excited to have a new bin, but at the same time it almost felt like a dark day for composting in general.
Ok, perhaps I’m being a wee bit melodramatic here!
Anyway…
Since bringing it home I have dug myself a decent pit, positioned the composter over top, and piled in as much extra green waste as I could find lying around. As it turns out this new bin is just what the doctor ordered! I’ve been having some real issues trying to keep my large outdoor worm bin from heating up. In an effort to reduce any further heating I have kept a large amount of green waste out of the bin - leaving it to sit in various bags and heaps.
The great thing about the new bin is that it will serve as an excellent “precomposting” bin, where I can pile as much green waste as I want, and then transfer it over to the worm bin once it’s partially composted.
The only problem I have now is that I don’t have enough waste to go into it - and really, that’s not the worst kind of problem to have!
Technorati Tags: composting, composter, compost bin, backyard composting, yard waste, grass clippings, worm composting, worm bin, vermicomposting
Written by Bentley on June 14th, 2007 with no comments.
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