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The IC Organic Growers Community Thread.
- Thread starter VerdantGreen
- Start date
Ya ditto, had root aphids two sets back and nearly killed me. Not at all something I want to go through again. Had to nuke em with Orthene and Riptide dunk, plants sucked after that. These are a skinny bodied flier, not fat like the aphids. Though I believe they bring in aphids, seems like they run together.
I'm going to chuck that soil I think, not worth the headache. Problem is that I'm using worm castings from the farm and they have their own fliers in it. Haven't mixed the soil yet, castings are still outside in buckets.
I live near a pond and that's where the castings are from, horse manure pile down where the ground is pretty wet. I was under the impression that is where beneficial nematodes hang out.
Going to drive up to the woods and find a nice mossy spot and grab a bucket or two of soil there for the mix.
Wasn't till I read your post that I remembered just how bad those root aphids can be, (shudders.) If they show back up I will get the nematodes and Cap's Benies.
I'm going to chuck that soil I think, not worth the headache. Problem is that I'm using worm castings from the farm and they have their own fliers in it. Haven't mixed the soil yet, castings are still outside in buckets.
I live near a pond and that's where the castings are from, horse manure pile down where the ground is pretty wet. I was under the impression that is where beneficial nematodes hang out.
Going to drive up to the woods and find a nice mossy spot and grab a bucket or two of soil there for the mix.
Wasn't till I read your post that I remembered just how bad those root aphids can be, (shudders.) If they show back up I will get the nematodes and Cap's Benies.
Mix will be
20 gal pre made mix from last set. Been cooking for 2 months. It includes Rabbit and Pigeon manure as well as worm castings. That has a peat and coco base with perlite and happy frog. Also rock phosphates, crab, kelp, neem seed, azomite, cal phos, kms 0-0-21, Oyster shells and gypsum.
Going to stretch that with 4 ft2 of perlite, bag of frog, 10 gal castings, 10 gal forest humus, bag of steer manure and add 1/2 cup dolo pril per cubic foot as well as my remaining nutes and minerals listed above.
Should give me enough to pot up 23 into 5 gal each as they are already in 1 gal. And really the 5 gal pots tend to be 4 gal total. Hope that made sense.
Side note, wide awake now. 2 Rooms are on a flip 4 lights each room controlled by 4 ballasts. I have bare bulb vert in one and love the results. I have horizontal in the other and was taking apart the hoods to convert to bare bulb and sparks flew even though the room was off. Turns out when I wired that up only half of the two hots go through the contactor, the other half is live all the time. Lol, so now have to wait for other room to click off and kill it at the breakers. Whew stained my shorts!
Ph patrol, that is a good tip on the happy frog, I hope I got a good bag as it is already here. I quit using FFOF for that very reason. Had hoped the Frog was better quality. Next time for sure looking for something different.
20 gal pre made mix from last set. Been cooking for 2 months. It includes Rabbit and Pigeon manure as well as worm castings. That has a peat and coco base with perlite and happy frog. Also rock phosphates, crab, kelp, neem seed, azomite, cal phos, kms 0-0-21, Oyster shells and gypsum.
Going to stretch that with 4 ft2 of perlite, bag of frog, 10 gal castings, 10 gal forest humus, bag of steer manure and add 1/2 cup dolo pril per cubic foot as well as my remaining nutes and minerals listed above.
Should give me enough to pot up 23 into 5 gal each as they are already in 1 gal. And really the 5 gal pots tend to be 4 gal total. Hope that made sense.
Side note, wide awake now. 2 Rooms are on a flip 4 lights each room controlled by 4 ballasts. I have bare bulb vert in one and love the results. I have horizontal in the other and was taking apart the hoods to convert to bare bulb and sparks flew even though the room was off. Turns out when I wired that up only half of the two hots go through the contactor, the other half is live all the time. Lol, so now have to wait for other room to click off and kill it at the breakers. Whew stained my shorts!
Ph patrol, that is a good tip on the happy frog, I hope I got a good bag as it is already here. I quit using FFOF for that very reason. Had hoped the Frog was better quality. Next time for sure looking for something different.
Sluicebox
Im confused.. if your teas are high in pH, you would not want to add more calcium.. that will only up pH more
You would want to add sulfur to lower soil ph, but that might not be the problem.
I'd say consider brewing the teas at half strength. Microbes themselves actually tend to like less amendment (http://www.microbeorganics.com), and in general with nutrients less is more right? you can always add, but not necessarily subtract
Im confused.. if your teas are high in pH, you would not want to add more calcium.. that will only up pH more
You would want to add sulfur to lower soil ph, but that might not be the problem.
I'd say consider brewing the teas at half strength. Microbes themselves actually tend to like less amendment (http://www.microbeorganics.com), and in general with nutrients less is more right? you can always add, but not necessarily subtract
Now I have a big problem.
My mix is lacking drainage. I transplanted and leaves are still droopy like over watered 4 days after transplant. I scored the tops of the soil to allow air in, it seems to pack. Certain there is too much EWC in the mix.
Mix was old well draining soil mix that was unused last run. About 4 ft/3 of that. I then added 4 ft/3 of EWC, and 4 ft/3 perlite as well as a bag of happy frog. Soil tests PH 7.
The soil is forming like hard dirt clod on top of pot as it dries out yet super saturated if I stick my finger in hole at bottom of pot. I am thinking I should pull the plants out of new pots put them in 2 gal containers for a moment while I mix in coco, peat and frog say 2 bags of each? Total soil mix is roughly 100 gallons. Then replant into fixed mix. Newbie mistake I know. Really thought my mix would work. It formed a ball in fist and easily broke apart when poked with finger.
Room is 3x1k MH lights temps avg 70-80 lights on and 60s lights out, RH 30s and 60s respectively. No Co2 yet.
Definitely symptoms of over water though, droopy leaves except for tops and stems stay straight. Under watered stems will droop with the leaves. Also locking up nutes now seeing purple stems and color change to fan leaves.
My mix is lacking drainage. I transplanted and leaves are still droopy like over watered 4 days after transplant. I scored the tops of the soil to allow air in, it seems to pack. Certain there is too much EWC in the mix.
Mix was old well draining soil mix that was unused last run. About 4 ft/3 of that. I then added 4 ft/3 of EWC, and 4 ft/3 perlite as well as a bag of happy frog. Soil tests PH 7.
The soil is forming like hard dirt clod on top of pot as it dries out yet super saturated if I stick my finger in hole at bottom of pot. I am thinking I should pull the plants out of new pots put them in 2 gal containers for a moment while I mix in coco, peat and frog say 2 bags of each? Total soil mix is roughly 100 gallons. Then replant into fixed mix. Newbie mistake I know. Really thought my mix would work. It formed a ball in fist and easily broke apart when poked with finger.
Room is 3x1k MH lights temps avg 70-80 lights on and 60s lights out, RH 30s and 60s respectively. No Co2 yet.
Definitely symptoms of over water though, droopy leaves except for tops and stems stay straight. Under watered stems will droop with the leaves. Also locking up nutes now seeing purple stems and color change to fan leaves.
I wouldn't add more peat, nor Happy Frog. You need a lot more perlite. More coco could help, but I wouldn't do more than a 1/3 coco, 2/3 perlite as amendments. If you're talking about 100 c.f. of soil, you'll probably need at least 10 c.f. of perlite or perlite/coco. Maybe more. Good luck. -granger
Thank you Granger2, always an honor to receive advice from you.
I will go that way and just add more perlite. Good news as it's way cheaper! I know it's going to shock them getting pulled out of their new pots but fear that without doing it I will lose them.
I need to note that I TP'd some others in the same mix that showed males, so they never went into that room. They are doing fine, never drooped, though I only put those ones in 2 gallon pots. The problem plants went from 1 gal into 5 gal.
The room without problems is mid 70s F, and mid 40s Humidity. Vs Problem room low 80s F and mid to low 30s Humidity.
I will go that way and just add more perlite. Good news as it's way cheaper! I know it's going to shock them getting pulled out of their new pots but fear that without doing it I will lose them.
I need to note that I TP'd some others in the same mix that showed males, so they never went into that room. They are doing fine, never drooped, though I only put those ones in 2 gallon pots. The problem plants went from 1 gal into 5 gal.
The room without problems is mid 70s F, and mid 40s Humidity. Vs Problem room low 80s F and mid to low 30s Humidity.
Slu,
Save your lungs by wetting the perlite before mixing. You can buy it in 4 cu ft woven plastic bags. Open it up and pour water from a watering can with shower head. Excess will drain out of the bag. There will then be no dust, and because of the nature of perlite it handles/mixes well even when wet. Good luck. -granger
Save your lungs by wetting the perlite before mixing. You can buy it in 4 cu ft woven plastic bags. Open it up and pour water from a watering can with shower head. Excess will drain out of the bag. There will then be no dust, and because of the nature of perlite it handles/mixes well even when wet. Good luck. -granger
MileHighGlass
Senior Member
Even better wear a respirator.
Been growing "organically" for a few years. Recently I switched back to notill indoors. It's just easier than mixing a bunch of soil all of the time. I also get better results.
I use to sell my soil mix commercially, but honestly it's not rocket science. I now freely giveaway any info I have learned over the years. Reason being, more people need to grow naturally. Plain and simple. If I can aid that, then I will.
hi all, its been a while since i took any pics, but here is a couple of a new cab ive been running that is 18" square, with an 84Watt LED
its a Chem D about 8 weeks in and starting to fade out nicely. using a very big pot for the cab size that holds about 25 litres of my recycled soil mix. first time with this light and i'm very pleased with the nug size so far!
the screen is fixed so hard to get a decent shot of the whole canopy but you get the idea
happy belated 420 and organic growing guys and girls!
VG
its a Chem D about 8 weeks in and starting to fade out nicely. using a very big pot for the cab size that holds about 25 litres of my recycled soil mix. first time with this light and i'm very pleased with the nug size so far!
the screen is fixed so hard to get a decent shot of the whole canopy but you get the idea
happy belated 420 and organic growing guys and girls!
VG
The real d on the other side of the pond... Looking great.
Now is when you smell her and she makes you gag and want to puke.
Gotta love it.
Now is when you smell her and she makes you gag and want to puke.
Gotta love it.
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i kind of like the smell lol, but thats probably because i associate it with the amazing smoke and high that the D has. my home made carbon filter seems to be just about coping with it so far.
thanks for all the nice rep comments, i may try and start a grow diary for this new cab as im trying out a few new ideas, trying to do a 2 level grow in a 4ft high cabinet with a small mum/veg level below the flowering area. its tight but so far so good.
VG
thanks for all the nice rep comments, i may try and start a grow diary for this new cab as im trying out a few new ideas, trying to do a 2 level grow in a 4ft high cabinet with a small mum/veg level below the flowering area. its tight but so far so good.
VG
Ganjaganjakush
Active member
Filled a 32 gal trashcan with nettles yesterday, found a nice size patch growing on new property. Lucky for me it rained today and I didn't have to use ro
hi guys, i harvested the plant shown a few posts up, and for those that are interested i started a grow diary for the cab, lots more pics there 
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=326970
10 weeks
VG
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=326970
10 weeks
VG
Sorry if this is a tired question. I ran living soil indoors last set and at the last 3 weeks got spider mites, minor webbing on a few. Harvey is done, now have that soil to deal with. I would like to pile it up and add compost and ewc plus some amendments. Let it work for a month or two. Good idea or chuck it?
There was a deficiency that started it, plants were weak.
There was a deficiency that started it, plants were weak.
