Living organic soil from start through recycling

[think_fast]

7 or 10 gal fabric pot personally to avoid having to water everyday but I will veg in 2 gal and just started no till those 3 weeks ago. Working really good after culling some males and replacing with fresh clones

Glad to hear invocation. I am just giving my two cents for those that do not have the convenience or desire or are just too stubborn to go 7 or 10 gal. This was advice for the truly small pot growers. That being said, it can be done (heck I've had good results with just over .5 gal) and I hope I am not sounding too harsh and I certainly do not intend to suggest that very small pot sizes are impossible. They just need to be approached with certain cautions is all. Thinking that they provide convenience is a mistake.

 

[DuckDuckGoose]

think fast,
i have a mix of 6 litre soft pots and some square "rose pots" that are about the same size i think. they measure 7.5" x 10". i salvaged them from a nursery near my house. i'm at day 40ish of flower, that pic is old. shit dries out quickly indeed. i water almost every day, but not a full on flood or anything. if they look dry on top then i give them extra. i think i will try and make some grow troughs or planters instead in the future. no till is what i'm trying to get to...next round the training wheels come off!



DDG

 

[think_fast]

I'm sure people re use Dixie cups with ewc, peat, and som aeration amendment from starting seeds and taking clones though no? Wouldnt this be considered no till?

Yes, but mostly NO. Your statement just means you have a very limited understanding of the demands a plant has on the soil in later development. It's a mistake to compare the nutrient needs of a seedling/clone to a plant in full bloom. No comparison.

Actually, what are they reusing in your scenario? The contents of those dixie cups you mention are simply transplanted into a larger pot. There is no no-tilling here at all. No-till means you cut the plant at the bottom of the stem, and leave it be! You don't cut seedlings/clones. At least I hope you're not doing that LOL!

 

[quitelost]

Since soil hydration is being discussed...
A mulch really helps cut-down on watering, keeps the soil evenly hydrated and makes watering easier. Here the grower has begun mulching with coco chips, they were a bit pricey but don't allow out of control mold growth on the surface as caused by some other mulches.

 

[bajangreen]

I have been following this tread as closely as i can, from post one. I hold the regular contributors to this tread in high regard, and the not so regular too.

But simply put Gascanastan loosening up the soil works for me and i am sharing the idea with those open minded enough to try it. The reaction i am getting to this i would think i was saying pour 5gall of h2o2 into your soil. lol. Really though i am not a scientist i just grow for a living. Yup my life depends on this shit. i do this every day all day all year no brakes, maybe you guys are not fully underestimating the strength of your soil or the ability it has to "bounce" back.

Why such a negative reaction to the suggestion? did you try it and it not work for you? you do know this is basic horticultural practice right? to add aeration to soil? if you add amendments to soil that have no other use but aeration (pierlite, etc) that means you do know that increased air to roots mean better growth.

Most people think that living soil means no till soil. i don't think that's the case at all. Here is the logic/magic that brought me to this thinking. I keep 3 gall plant pots as compost bins for the solids left over from my FPE's and as a compost source for the ACT's i used to full up one pot and place the other empty one over it and leave them to decompose, it would take very long to brake down and i found my self with a 8 pot stack to keep up with all the FPE solids, then i started turning over the soil in the pot twice a day and the soil would literally "eat" the solids so fast that i only needed 2 pots. patato skins take 6 days and they disappeared. At one point in time i tough rats were eating them, it brakes down so fast. this dramatic increase in speed of decomposition leads me to believe that microbes work better/faster in lose soil.

Well that's my contribution to this tread that has given me so much. I wish you guys would try it out and see how it works and not just condemn with out trying, that ent science. Right now i am running 60+, 5/3 gall outdoors.

 

[Gascanastan]

TO x BMR Bx1

 

[rrog]

That bud looks like it's about to fire up that lighter. Like out of Scary Movie.

BTW, regarding fabric pots, I start seeds in a 1 gal Geopot with velcro. Then transplant to a 7 gal geopot. I use Blumats to monitor and maintain the moisture level. I also have very accurate Tensiometers in each pot, so I can see whats happenin'.

I like that whole routine.

 

[think_fast]

Gas,

Are those shots - or your shots in general - from single cola x-mas tree plants or are they typically pics of only parts of plants? If I recall correctly you are mainly a top till you drop kinda grower and don't usually allow plants to just grow vertically, but every one of your finished bud pics looks like it came from a x-mas tree and not a 'bush'!

 

[think_fast]

Why the heck would I want to aspire to anything but no-till ROLS when those are the end products?

Pictures speak for themselves. They don't 'judge' one argument from another. They just are. They just are spectacular and beautiful and leave nothing else to be desired.

It's the end of the road folks. Case shut and frikkin closed.

 

[Neo 420]

13 gallon not till on its first cycle (recycled living soil of course). Will throw up a more recent pic with close ups tonight when the lights come on.

 

[think_fast]

That bud looks like it's about to fire up that lighter. Like out of Scary Movie.

BTW, regarding fabric pots, I start seeds in a 1 gal Geopot with velcro. Then transplant to a 7 gal geopot. I use Blumats to monitor and maintain the moisture level. I also have very accurate Tensiometers in each pot, so I can see whats happenin'.

I like that whole routine.

Sounds like you work in the 'tech' department lol.

I'm a velcro guy myself, only because I can't seem to get the 'bunny ears' proportionate

 

[Gascanastan]

Gas,

Are those shots - or your shots in general - from single cola x-mas tree plants or are they typically pics of only parts of plants? If I recall correctly you are mainly a top till you drop kinda grower and don't usually allow plants to just grow vertically, but every one of your finished bud pics looks like it came from a x-mas tree and not a 'bush'!

I personally suck at taking pix..it sucks..I hate it.

I don't have a good camera,and I'm far busy to take the time to correct lighting and all that jazz...soooo I take a bunch of pix and glean out the good ones.

In this particular garden and in the space I'm taking photos in,the lighting is just sucking....so it turns out that taking shots of single cola's is better for some reason in this particular lighting situation.

Yes I top the shit out of everything...this last shot of TO x BMR is an un-topped plant. Hopefully she performs the same on the next round as she was a seed plant. I'm remaining confident~

 

[OrganicLearner]

I think the planter beds is a good idea and worth trying but it seems like it would have some flaws also; plants can outgrow and overcrowd other smaller plants, can't separate plants if any are infested with mold or pests without stressing from digging up rootball, watering might take a while to get used to, and I'm still unsure if all the roots from different plants coming in contact and just going crazy would be a good or bad thing..

Yes, but mostly NO. Your statement just means you have a very limited understanding of the demands a plant has on the soil in later development. It's a mistake to compare the nutrient needs of a seedling/clone to a plant in full bloom. No comparison.

Actually, what are they reusing in your scenario? The contents of those dixie cups you mention are simply transplanted into a larger pot. There is no no-tilling here at all. No-till means you cut the plant at the bottom of the stem, and leave it be! You don't cut seedlings/clones. At least I hope you're not doing that LOL!

Plant seed into Dixie cup with seed/clone mix, let it veg then take clone and flower it to determine if worthy of keeping, if worthy keep it alive to take more clones, if not cut it as low as possible on the stem and let roots decompose then plant another seed reusing dixie cup...

 

[BlueJayWay]

I'm still unsure if all the roots from different plants coming in contact and just going crazy would be a good or bad thing

Hey OrganicLearner - 80% of my no-till area are plants sharing pots, I would say it makes no difference i.e. it's more important to have enough soil in the container for however many plants you're going to plant.

5gal notills have 1 plant usually, the 15 and 18gal containers take two plants and the 45's have 4. This is all plant size dependent of course.

 

[Gascanastan]

would a no till in a larger container say a 20 gallon smart pot be inherently more "stable" over the long term?
have any of you guys tried this method tree style,like one plant per 1000w lamp?

Sounds pretty nice...the soils performance would blow your socks off after a few rounds.

 

[bajangreen]

Very nice pics Gas!!

till 1 (tl)
tr.v. tilled, till·ing, tills
To prepare (land) for the raising of crops, as by plowing and harrowing; cultivate


Maybe that's where the problem arises, in the definition of the word, till. i don't turn over the soil (plow,harrow)i just loosen it, the top of the soil remains at the top and the bottom at the bottom. i don't have any in flower right now its veg time round these parts. here's my seed patch i have going.

 

[rrog]

I personally suck at taking pix..it sucks..I hate it.

What the hell are you talking about? That's BS. You could assemble a coffee table book with your pics. We love looking at them.

 

[BlueJayWay]

Yea Stan you must be high or somethin LOL your pictures are great! But I know what you mean, the lighting and ambiance and shit, takes too much time, and talent that I don't have.

But I dig this buds shadow, looks like Homer from the Simpsons for some reason

 

[rrog]

D'Oh!

 

[Scrappy4]

I think the planter beds is a good idea and worth trying but it seems like it would have some flaws also; plants can outgrow and overcrowd other smaller plants, can't separate plants if any are infested with mold or pests without stressing from digging up rootball, watering might take a while to get used to, and I'm still unsure if all the roots from different plants coming in contact and just going crazy would be a good or bad thing..




Plant seed into Dixie cup with seed/clone mix, let it veg then take clone and flower it to determine if worthy of keeping, if worthy keep it alive to take more clones, if not cut it as low as possible on the stem and let roots decompose then plant another seed reusing dixie cup...

OL, you bring up valid points on growing plants so close together. But once you have confidence in handling things that might come your way those issues become fairly minor.

One of my first scrog grows I somehow had a male plant growing into my screen. That one time was enough for me to only run trusted varieties in my scrogs.

Another draw back is you are kind of forced to grow a class of plants over a perpetual grow, if that is a concern.

While you get experience handling bugs and diseases, and in getting the soil right and making sure it is in fact a living soil, it might be best to run single pots, but once you feel confident this opens up another door in this game.....scrappy