Let Me Run My No-Till Plan By You

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Hey everyone,

I am well into my first grow with a single tent, but it's time to step things up. I am trying to utilize a cabinet space for veg so I can have a rotation of plants in veg and flower at all times.

Veg Space:

• Dimensions - 18x33x26 inches
• Containers - Two, 10 gallon Smart Pots
• Light - 4 bulb, two foot, T5 setup
• Will eventually get a small oscillating fan
• Plug-in and cold air intake IN the cab!
• Link - Link to veg space thread

Flower Space:

• Dimensions - 2x4x7 feet
• Containers - Two, 10 gallon Smart Pots
• Light - Advanced Platinum Series P450
• Link - Link to current grow (seed, veg & plan to flower)

On to the good stuff, the no-till recipe I plan to use. I am planning to fill four, 10 gallon Smart Pots (two in veg & two in flower at all times) which is 5.35 cubic feet. Some extra material would probably be wise. Especially if I find I have room in the veg cab for a mother or two.

I received the below recipe from a friend on Instagram, who I don't think is on icmag. I am sure he got it from someone, so if you created this recipe, or it is fucked up, I apologize. I am here for your advice on my measurements and if anything is missing.

2 cubic feet each:
- Peat Moss
- Compost
- Pumice

2 cups each:
- Kelp Meal
- Neem Meal
- Crab Meal
- Malted Barley
- Earthworm Castings

Random:
1 Cup Gypsum
10 Cups Basalt
12 Cups Biochar
10-12 worms per 10 gallon pot

Cover Crop:
- Equal mix of white clover and crimson clover


So what do you think?!

• Is 10 gallons big enough for no-till?
• How do the measurements look?
• Am I allowing enough room in my cabinet? I am nervous the height of the pots and the amount of space the light is going to take up is not going to allow a ton of room for the plants to grow.

I truly appreciate your help and opinions. Can't wait to get this started.

Stay humble,
Tri_Cho_Me

 

[who dat is]

I skimmed through your post but was going to reiterate what I summed up with you on IG.

I feel like if you want to do no till then just go for it. I would only do it if it makes sense for your situation though. I've tried notill once indoors and I don't think I'll do it again because I don't have the space to run bigger containers. Outdoors I did notill because it was easier and I had the space to do it.

Either doing notill or ROLS will work depending on how you set things up. Just go for it if you want.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I skimmed through your post but was going to reiterate what I summed up with you on IG.

I feel like if you want to do no till then just go for it. I would only do it if it makes sense for your situation though. I've tried notill once indoors and I don't think I'll do it again because I don't have the space to run bigger containers. Outdoors I did notill because it was easier and I had the space to do it.

Either doing notill or ROLS will work depending on how you set things up. Just go for it if you want.

Oh I'm going for it. I just want people to poke holes in it so I can limit mistakes, save money, etc.

Thanks for popping by!
Tri_Cho_Me

 

[bigbadbiddy]

No EWC in your soil mix?
Perlite/rice hulls or the like?

 

[Shovelhandle]

no till? I'd not consider that no-till farming and the benefits of no till farming will not be realized indoors in small vessels.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

No EWC in your soil mix?
Perlite/rice hulls or the like?

I think the Pumice stone will take care of that.

I heard Perlite was not good for no-till. I've been wrong before though!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

no till? I'd not consider that no-till farming and the benefits of no till farming will not be realized indoors in small vessels.

10 gallons should work fine. You are correct though, it's a little on the small side. And I know of several indoors no-till gardens that work fine.

Why don't you think the benefit will be realized?

Cheers,
Tri_Cho_Me

 

[bigbadbiddy]

I'm working no-till in 5 gallon pots. This is my first run though.

I was told that it isn't ideal but can definitely work and no-till has been done in pots as small as 3 gallons and it worked.

Ya pumice instead of perlite, sorry not a native speaker and wasn't aware that pumice is one of the perlite alternatives.

No earth worm castings though? I thought they are in every good soil mix.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

I'm working no-till in 5 gallon pots. This is my first run though.

I was told that it isn't ideal but can definitely work and no-till has been done in pots as small as 3 gallons and it worked.

Ya pumice instead of perlite, sorry not a native speaker and wasn't aware that pumice is one of the perlite alternatives.

No earth worm castings though? I thought they are in every good soil mix.

No worries on the mix-up! I would rather talk about it now and figure it out then realize down the road I fucked up.

The recipe I am using didn't call for any earthworm castings but I have some and can certainly add some in. I guess that's why I'm here. Is that a hole in my recipe? Anyone else have thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by bbb!
Tri_Cho_Me

 

[BusinessFactory]

Definitely add those worm castings. If you can do half castings and half compost for the 1/3 total, that would be great.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Definitely add those worm castings. If you can do half castings and half compost for the 1/3 total, that would be great.

Thank you for the heads up! I will definitely add that to the recipe!

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[VortexPower420]

Careful with that much biochar in the raw form.

If it is charged first then you should be fine.

I would 4x the gypsum. But that's just me and I'm a little crazy...

Maybe a little high cal lime to and some more Ca.

Everything else looks good. Just gotta be good trainer

 

[Skinny Leaf]

How much soil does that recipe make?

I would do without the worms. They don't make it through a grow. If your plants are root bound the worms start looking for other places to go. Use the castings in place of the worms. Works better.

I also suggest you make about four times the amount of soil you are going to need. That way you always have s....oh wait you wanted to do that no till thing. Ok. Well good luck.

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Careful with that much biochar in the raw form.

If it is charged first then you should be fine.

I would 4x the gypsum. But that's just me and I'm a little crazy...

Maybe a little high cal lime to and some more Ca.

Everything else looks good. Just gotta be good trainer

I'm not familiar with biochar. I honestly don't even know if I can get it where I live. Haven't had the opportunity to research that one yet.

"Maybe a little high cal lime to and some more Ca". I'm not following this. Can you restate without the abbreviations?

Thanks!
Tri_Cho_Me

 

[moses wellfleet]

Yes your mix is lacking earthworm castings! Oyster shell flour or aragonite for more calcium, same suggestion high cal lime in the above post!

 

[Tri_Cho_Me]

Ohhh, I see what he's saying now, High Cal Lime to ADD more Calcium. Got it.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely edit my list! Any suggestions on amounts of the High Cal Lime or Oyster Shell Flour?

Tri_Cho_Me

 

[bigbadbiddy]

EWC are an essential part of every mix, I thought maybe something you have replaces them but would have been surprised.

So yub, would use those, that was the one ingredient everyone agrees to and seems absolutely essential.


I also second the comment of making more soil than you think you will need. Even if you go the no-till route.
Afaik there is no downside to having your soil mix cook or sit for longer periods of time before using it and you don't want to run into a situation where you don't have enough soil (like it happened to me) and then you have to sweatily mix up a fresh batch and wait 2 weeks before you can transplant the leftover 3 plants into flower ...................

Oyster shell flower... I used 1 cup in roughly 50 liters of my soil mix.

I researched my recipe a long time and asked many people to comment on it as well as helping me match it to my water source which I had analyzed.

In the end everyone seemed to agree that the mix is fine.

I was quite pleased with it during veg but I had to neglect my plants sometimes and they went without water for several days sometimes and now I am no longer sure if the weird looking leafs, yellowing leafs etc. I have in early flower are residual effects of the droughts I put the plants through or if my soil mix is lacking something ...

Will post some more pics soon in my thread, maybe people will be able to help me out or point it out to me.

So not really sure if I can advice you properly on dosage etc.

 

[pH_This]

Yes your mix is lacking earthworm castings! Oyster shell flour or aragonite for more calcium, same suggestion high cal lime in the above post!

Instead of oyster shell flour, can you use just ground up oyster shell? It's not a powder or flour consistency, but small chunks of actual oyster shell. Just wondering because I already have some of that.

 

[moses wellfleet]

Instead of oyster shell flour, can you use just ground up oyster shell? It's not a powder or flour consistency, but small chunks of actual oyster shell. Just wondering because I already have some of that. ��

I don't think so because oyster shell flour is a mined product from deposits of fossilized oysters. I don't think fresh shells would have the same properties. Another alternative is aragonite available from aquarium stores. It is commonly used in marine fish tanks!

Edit: it is possible fresh shell chunks have different benefits, requires some research!

 

[Lapides]

I would do without the worms. They don't make it through a grow. If your plants are root bound the worms start looking for other places to go. Use the castings in place of the worms. Works better.

Ignore this. Worms DO make it through a grow. Use castings AND worms. Start growing your own worms.