The growing large plants, outdoors, thread...

[localhero]

local hero:
i got the mixture from a friend ive talked to a few other people and what he had told me appealed to me more then the others so far seems to be working great ill post pics in the next couple days the one thing that is bothering me is i dont think the tea is coming out with propper fungal rates im thinking this because im only using a 3/4 cup maxicrop and thats were i have figured out most of the fungus is coming from being new to compost teas im not sure if this is a big deal or if i should be doing something about any ideas?

if youre focus is to make a fungal tea, then make the tea specifically for that. dont add molasses or it will cause a bloom in bacteria, outcompeting the hyphal fungae. also if youre using a rough tea brewing method like i do, fungal hyphae have a tougher time of living through the tea process.

im really not the guy to ask about fungal teas though, thats about the limit of my knowledge.

 

[nomaad]

If you are talking about the stretchy nylon string netting, I humbly disagree. That stuff rocks... for the right job. I probably would not want to do my big plant 3-D trellising with it, but its absolutely perfect for the seas of green in my 800 gallon rectangular smart beds. It does, however, take two people to stretch it out and drape it over the bed.

 

[bringinbudsdown]

appreciate the response local hero even with your "limited" knowledge which is more then mine of teas you have helped a bit good luck your garden looks loveley ill post some pics of my girls soon

 

[FillthePotmore]

The Big Garden July 12th, 2010

The Big Garden July 12th, 2010

July Update: Here are a few pics of the "Big" Garden's progress. The largest trees measured in at 7' tall by 7' wide and 6 1/2' tall by 8' wide - Blues Dream & Mental Floss are by far the most vigerous strains this season. However, the Kish, Sweet Tooth #3, Deep Chunk x Bubba Kush x (Who's You're Daddy?), Glo, Flo, Block Head, and Time Bomb are all flourishing as well. We hit them with a heavy guano (Sea Bird & Bat) dressing early this morning - watering them in as I write. The Blue Dream cuttings came from the wise Mr. Butte a couple of season back. The Blue Dream Blvd. in the pics below came from a Mighty Mother that produced 12lbs. last season! They are all right on schedule this year. We have been distributing lively tea on a regular basis. We're brewing up an active batch today(With Butte's custom made Tea Brewer), gathering resources from town to complete the caging at the "Swimming Pool" Garden tomorrow, and soon the second top cages will be placed on both gardens as well as a good layer of digested cow manure around each plant!

Blessings to all and happy farming!!! Hope you enjoy the pics!

 

[nomaad]

Beautiful, Fill. What's your spacing? My Dreams are about 8.5' tall by 6.5'wide, but in 200 gallons of dirt they are going to stop in their tracks while yours continue to get fatter and fatter. My belief is that the max potential for BD in 200 gallons is about 8 lbs.

How much dirt was the 12# mom in?

 

[NorCalMeds]

I was using it alone so it was a hassle

 

[here2learn]

trying like a sponge to soak up all the knowledge in thread!!!

 

[FillthePotmore]

Big Trees: Spacing & Hole Size

Big Trees: Spacing & Hole Size

Nomaad: Last season the trees were in 10' x 10' holes. This season they are in 12' x 12' (some 15' x 10'/12') and all the plants (both seasons) were spaced 15' apart - measuring from the center of each hole.

My Dreams are about 8.5' tall by 6.5'wide, but in 200 gallons of dirt they are going to stop in their tracks while yours continue to get fatter and fatter. My belief is that the max potential for BD in 200 gallons is about 8 lbs.

It sounds like you're right on track for 8lb. plus of "Sacred Blue Dream Heaven!"

Happy, healthy, vigorous, strong, blessed, medicinal, precious emerald green ladies!

 

[localhero]

wow fill, you could have almost just dug a 10' trench and spaced the plants 15' apart. how deep did you make the holes? not sure if you mentioned it, but are you ammending native soil or mixing your own?

 

[FillthePotmore]

Soil depth & mix

Soil depth & mix

Localhero:

wow fill, you could have almost just dug a 10' trench and spaced the plants 15' apart. how deep did you make the holes? not sure if you mentioned it, but are you amending native soil or mixing your own?

The holes are approx 2' deep and the berm rises approx 18" (3 to 4' total per hole in depth from top to bottom)... I noted the ingredients to our soil mix on page 100 of this thread... (there are several gallons of native soil but a very small percentage compared to the amendments, worm castings, and green compost).
Blessings to you and your garden!

 

[localhero]

thanks man! blessings to your amazing garden too

between chores ive been daydreaming about how to do the setup next year. the ideas are:

1-a trench build ala onetimes oxygenation via perforated drain pipe method (a ton of work)
2- a trench and raised bed combo
3- large home made smart pots .this is probably the simplest for me as there are alot of tree roots under my ground.


what i gather about making anything "raised" is that it helps drainage correct? otherwise why wouldnt we all just till a whole field?

the other thing is, at what point would going in larger pots become individual raised beds, and be almost the same thing as goin in ground? have you Fill, or anyone here tried and seen roots out to 10 ft?

i guess im wondering at what point does the law of diminishing returns apply to smart pot size? if the roots dont make it all the way to the edge of the pot, then they cant be getting the same amount of oxygen as if they did right?

 

[FillthePotmore]

10' smartpots - Good Idea!

10' smartpots - Good Idea!

what i gather about making anything "raised" is that it helps drainage correct? otherwise why wouldn't we all just till a whole field? the other thing is, at what point would going in larger pots become individual raised beds, and be almost the same thing as going in ground? have you Fill, or anyone here tried and seen roots out to 10 ft? i guess I'm wondering at what point does the law of diminishing returns apply to smart pot size? if the roots don't make it all the way to the edge of the pot, then they cant be getting the same amount of oxygen as if they did right?

From what I've experienced... If you have a tractor and good native soil in your garden area then 12 x 12 is the way to go.
This season's raised beds at the "BIG" garden, have excellent drainage. In the summer California heat, our 12 x 12 plots take 2 to 3 hours (through an irrigation system - 4 drippers around the 1st training cage and 4 sprinklers on each corner of the berm) of water (several gallons) every 2-3 days.

In previous seasons, I have seen "Butte" rip trenches and then place large homemade smart-pots (6' - 8' in diameter) evenly spaced over the top. This method worked very well!

However, if your native soil is filled with roots and rocks and the tractor is not an option, I have been turning over the 1st foot of soil (pitchforking and mixing in a bag of gypsum) then placing homemade smart-pots (open bottomed) atop of the loosened soil and filling them in with amendments, Happy Frog, worm castings, and green compost. This has proven, thus far, to be an excellent approach to growing large healthy plants above ground level.

This year at the "Creek Garden" the water table is even with my plants - so, I had to use this method... As soon as I dug more than a foot in the ground, water bubbled up from the nearby tributaries of the creek. Last year in another area, I had trouble with the native soil (red clay) mixed in with my holes (lack of drainage and H2O penetration when irrigating.) The creeks ecosystem is thriving! It's a whole different experience...

At any rate, I would speculate that a bin 10' in diameter 18" to 2" high would be the perfect dimension, given you have ample sunlight and plenty of space in-between your trees (recommendation of 15') then you would be one happy farmer come October/November 2011! This season at the creek, my bins diameter in 8' to 9' and a couple of the tree's root are almost touching the outer rim - approx. 10" down. Hope that helps! Peace & Respect

 

[humboldtlocal]

 

[FillthePotmore]

Green Thumb!

Green Thumb!

Humboltlocal: Somebody has a "GREEN THUMB!" Your garden is looking superb! Impeccable job brother! Did you dig trenches under your bins? Good God, a couple of those ladies look like their 10 to 12 feet already! Impressive.

 

[Ganja D]

Some are pushing 9 ft. I'm getting a little nervous about how much work I'm going to have keeping up with the ones in my gardens and gh's at HL's. Almost wish it was mid August now.

 

[deltronZER0]

Some are pushing 9 ft. I'm getting a little nervous about how much work I'm going to have keeping up with the ones in my gardens and gh's at HL's. Almost wish it was mid August now.

sounds like one of those good problems to be havin'...

 

[DoobieDuck]

That's rediculous, I quit, call 911... my jaw fell off and I can't talk...drooling is quit simple though and I think I'll just drool for the rest of the day after seeing this...DD

 

[humboldtlocal]

One more for you Doobie

 

[Aeroguerilla]

you guys are out of control. wild wild west. mine are just beginning to take off. check it...

 

[nomaad]

I guess if we're all whipping it out...

I even made him go up the little mound so he was on level ground with the bottom of the pot.

Best thing about this pic is how much room there is for July/August growth. Makes me feel better. I have hedge nightmares once a week. I wake up in cold sweat.