Learning living soil

[bye12]

So I decided to go over to the living side of growing after a few successful and unsuccessful grows with salt.
I don't grow all the time, but growing season have started for me and the excitement is real.

I managed to get some extra cash and invested in some organic amendments, fabric pots and other goodies.
I will be running a premixed amendment from Ecothrive, with a base of Peat, worm humus and aeration. It is basically a European take on Coots recipe.
I have not received all my stuff yet but will go further in details when im ready to mix up my first batch of living soil.


Firstly, let me break down my setup really quickly.

Grow tent: Secrete Jardin DS120W (4x4x6 feet)
Light: Migro Array 240w
Ventilation: PRIMA KLIMA TC 125EC - 680m3/h - Ø125mm
Carbon filter: PRIMA KLIMA Industry K1604 700m3/h - Ø125mm
Drip irrigation: Tropf Blumat and Blumat Max

I don't have much control over the "lung room". I have a 10l dehumidifier so I can mange the humidity pretty good.
And I have floor heating without a thermostat so I got heating but its impossible to dial in and I got windows so I got cooling.


For now the new girls will have to do in some regular Bio Canna Terra Plus.
I bought a mix Pack from MedicalSeeds and decided to start with Channel+. I grown her before but only from clone and that was about 15 years ago so can't say I got experience.

Seeds were put straight in to 0.5l pots on Friday 7/10, pre watered with some microbes, aloe and yucca.
Im still waiting for them to poke up but so far nothing.
But could wait to post so here are the babies before birth. And what's coming up next.





Welcome to follow along and help me grow and learn along the way.

 

[shiva82]

cool . looking forward to watching you grow.

 

[Cvh]

Don't mind me pulling up a seat .

Good luck!

 

[bye12]

So had the first sign of life yesterday. Plant A was fully above ground with the seed cap still on, and plant B was just showing her white "neck" a little bit. But today A lost it's hat and B is rocking hers.



I have also created a weekly grow log that I will try and update and upload every week. My goal is to get a better understanding of my grow environment and to just have some cool data to look back at after a few
years of growing.

 

[bye12]

cool . looking forward to watching you grow.

Don't mind me pulling up a seat .

Good luck!

thank you for joining in

 

[bye12]

Both plants are looking good. Im pretty happy with the initial stretch.



I also received the last part of my living soil, the worms and their poop arrived so had a mixing party in my living room in the evening. it got a bit messy in the living room but it worked out pretty good with a tarp.
Mixed up,
70l peat moss
70l worm humus
30l rice husk and 40l pumice stones
10l Bio char

I only need about 130L for my 2 pots so gonna save and amend the rest later when needed.
Proceeded to amend the 130l with 1.5kg Ecothrive life cycle and 1l Ecothrive charge.
The pots are actually 75l each but decided to save some space for top dressing.


I also got a few other amendments to try out during this grow.
not sure how/when to use them all thou.

 

[flylowgethigh]

The ‘greens’ are food for the critters. I mix them when I amend after a run. You can also make a tea with them, and apply it during veg.

Your soil will only get better with time and runs. I think a cover crop is good for early veg after the pot plant is big enough to fight for itself. I use BAS 12 clover seeds. The root activity seems to help. Don’ forget to inoculate with microbes.

 

[bye12]

So thing are taking off nicely. the 2 big pots are just covered in cover crop and the 2 girls are also doing great.
Plant A started week 2 a little stronger then plant B, But plant B have caught up and seems to be the stronger of them. Too early to tell thou


I plan to replant them in to the big pots this weekend and at the same time cut down the cover crop and let it mulch.

I have seen that a lot of organic growers like. to have "cover crop" growing at the same time as their cash crop but for me a cover crop is just something you grow when you are in-between grows.
I found some good information regarding cover crop / companion planting from a guy called Tad Hussey.

Why Cover Crops Don't Belong in Indoor Gardens

I’d like to start by saying cover crops are amazing and have a ton of benefits. They are one of the best ways to improve soil health in agricultural soils. Cover crops can be used to increase organic matter, effectively raising cation exchange capacity in soils where it’s impractical to bring in...

www.kisorganics.com

Please feel free to and try change my mind if you are of another opinion.

 

[TexasTea]

I love Tad's Science and Cannabis podcast. Always interesting info. And I have bought some amendments from him over the years because he has super top quality stuff that is often different from what I can find locally.

That said, in a small tent situation where you have a lot of control, and if you have no pest issues, a little clover is not going to hurt anything. I have done that numerous times and find it keeps the soil more friable for watering. Plus I think it looks cool, sort of like a nice bush vs shaved, just looks more natural if you know what I mean.

 

[bye12]

The ‘greens’ are food for the critters. I mix them when I amend after a run. You can also make a tea with them, and apply it during veg.

Your soil will only get better with time and runs. I think a cover crop is good for early veg after the pot plant is big enough to fight for itself. I use BAS 12 clover seeds. The root activity seems to help. Don’ forget to inoculate with microbes.

thanks for dropping by.
What do mean with the "greens"?
I don't have any options to do any aerated teas but thought to do some light top dress with the Alfalfa, neem and malted Barley as soon as I transplant the girls in the the big pots.

Im curious if its actually is more beneficial with or without cover crop.
For me it just seems like you have other plants "steeling" nutrients from your pots and makes it harder to amend and more pest prone.
Maybe I should just let one pot with cover crop growing and one without and see if it make any different.
It wouldn't be a true side by side but if more people replicate it we might get and answer.

I already watered with some microbes and are in the process of creating some LAB. I failed twice so lets hope the 3rd time is the charm.

 

[bye12]

I love Tad's Science and Cannabis podcast. Always interesting info. And I have bought some amendments from him over the years because he has super top quality stuff that is often different from what I can find locally.

That said, in a small tent situation where you have a lot of control, and if you have no pest issues, a little clover is not going to hurt anything. I have done that numerous times and find it keeps the soil more friable for watering. Plus I think it looks cool, sort of like a nice bush vs shaved, just looks more natural if you know what I mean.

yeah its a great podcast, I didn't follow it from the start so have a lot of episodes until im all up to date.
unfortunately I don't live on that side of the sea so can't get a hold of a lot of stuff that you guys can.

I do agree with you that in a small tent its probably easy to manage some cover crop. But is it worth the risk just because it looks cool?
I just decided that I will run one pot with and one without just to see if it makes a difference. will I be able to see a different growth? is it easier to manage? does it looks cooler? this is some questions I would like to answer and if you are up for it try it yourself and we can compare results.