I wanted to start a thread on different things I know to do as far as plant and animal husbandry but I don't know why it works.

Things that aren't easy to solve by Googling.

The first one I wanted to start with was why does adding a strong nitrogen source like blood meal cause woody plant debris that wasn't composting to do so?

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Hi BigGuy. I'll tackle that one. The right ratio of nitrogen to carbon for soil bacteria to flourish in is about 1 to 30. Leaves are just about perfect, which is why they decay fairly rapidly in the forest till, and soon make a thin layer of topsoil when frost heaves mix them in.(except oak leaves). Grass clippings are a little heavier in nitrogen, and decompose a little faster, but can get into an anaerobic ferment if not aerated by tossing the pile. Stuff that's high in carbon and low in nitrogen...woody plants...require additional nitrogen to feed the fungi and bacteria as they do their work. So if you try to compost sawdust (which I got free at the Marshfield sawmill)..you need to beef up the nitrogen a little to get it cooking. Use urea, or slow release bloodmeal like you said, or some grass clippings, chicken manure, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, ...
I used my daughter's rabbit droppings.
Turning the pile over selects aerobic bacteria over anaerobic and keeps the odor appropriate...it can stink quite a bit if it goes anaerobic. pete

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A second rate theory explains after the fact.
A first rate theory predicts.
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Okay, thank you Mr. Tree.

My main issue is I go through about 40 pounds a month of sunflower seeds for my bird feeders which I've started up again. When I mow the section of lawn under the feeders, it is the only time I put on the clippings bag on the mower to pick up all the husks the birds leave. Which I then compost in the backyard. Had to use the blood meal I normally keep for my roses to get it to go properly.

I use the mulching mode on the mower for the rest of the lawn as I consider lawn clippings a resource, not garbage.

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In your rush to call everyone "entrenched" or closed-minded or "limited" you fail to note that the "limit" here has a very natural boundary: that point at which the evidence stops. - JayUtah

Science fiction was never meant to be an educational tool. - Editor Amazing Tales

Same principle with Green Light Stump Remover. KN0₃, as I recall, provides the nitrogen boost. (I've also used it in freshwater aquaria as a plant nutrient.)

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Brett
Peters Creek, Alaska
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With fish?

(The rest of you don't laugh. There are a lot of people who keep aquatic plants without fish. A "Swedish tank" as it's known.)

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In your rush to call everyone "entrenched" or closed-minded or "limited" you fail to note that the "limit" here has a very natural boundary: that point at which the evidence stops. - JayUtah

Science fiction was never meant to be an educational tool. - Editor Amazing Tales

Dynamite also works for stumps... and fish.

Nick

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You bet. I used it in combination with other additives (including epsom salts) to make a dosing solution. I also supplemented with high output fluorescents and CO₂ injection.

My Rainbowfishes loved it. Lit up like neon signs.

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I've bred Bosemonis and Dwarf blue neons. I love those things. (Don't have any rainbows at the moment.)

Most recent aquisitons are a trio of golden pike cichlids. Always like the group behavior of pike cichlids. Fairly unique in my opinion. Definately more of a pack that a school. Took care of other peoples for a long time.

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In your rush to call everyone "entrenched" or closed-minded or "limited" you fail to note that the "limit" here has a very natural boundary: that point at which the evidence stops. - JayUtah

Science fiction was never meant to be an educational tool. - Editor Amazing Tales

I've got everything necessary on the farm to produce KNO3, but I havn't figured out how to capture the urea from the steers.

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(By the way, I hate it that so many papers in the areas of planetary science and geology are not easily available to the dreaded "non-subscribers". It is like they are screaming at me: "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH". Good, I feel better now.)

"Quaerendo inventis"

I usually salt up livebearers (with Reef Crystals) and reserve the epsom salts for african cichlids. Makes the operculums of M. auratus take on a true metalic gold. So I heard you that a lot of fish like it, just I hadn't heard rainbow fish were one of them. Nice to know. Thanks.

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In your rush to call everyone "entrenched" or closed-minded or "limited" you fail to note that the "limit" here has a very natural boundary: that point at which the evidence stops. - JayUtah

Science fiction was never meant to be an educational tool. - Editor Amazing Tales

I didn't mean to imply that my fertilizer solution did anything for rainbowfish coloration or breeding display...which is what my "neon sign" comment referred to. I attributed their "happiness" to being in a healthy, thickly-planted tank.

Never had any dwarf neons (M. praecox, right?) but I kept a few M. boesemani, M. herbertaxelrodi, Glossolepis incisus, and a favorite from my last tank:

M.lacustris640x320.jpg
Melanotaenia lacustris (Turquoise Rainbow)

Unfortunately, I could never catch them in breeding display with my camera. The Turquoise was the most vivid with the stripe ranging from bright yellow at the nose, to orange, to white at the dorsal fin. He was the bully of the tank, too and was showing some aggression darkening in the attached photo. I tried to attach a photo of my M. trifasciata one of his typical "yawning" displays but attachments aren't being kind to me today.

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Peters Creek, Alaska
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