The New & Improved [ROLS MEGATHREAD].

[smoooth]

HEy smooth.

My recommendations are....
Leave out the Sul-po-mag to much Mg
Trade the Dolo lime for Gypsum, once again to much Mg. and it will bring in some S
and I would acquire some crab shell if possible.

Timbuktu

Hey thanks for the info vortex. At the moment I don't have gypsum and wanted to use up what I had left of the dolo then start incorporating the gypsum. As far as the sul-po-mag I was just following gas's recommendation from his mix, i guess I can cut it down or eliminate.

 

[BlueJayWay]

4 days on the sprouted tea soak is probably too long and you'll get a foul smell that you don't want...

I'll soak for two days, often bubbled for one of the days, if I need to soak for 3 days before I use I'll bubble it to prohibit fermentation....

I sprout 1/4 cup seeds then soak in 1gal water and dilute that down to 1 cup/gal, barley mainly and switch it up with clover/alfalfa/fenugreek...

BBK x BMR startin' to show her stuff, small plant, slow vegger, but doubled in size after transplanting into flower, strong berry smells already, I think she'll end up being coined 'The BBK Pheno'

Sour Bubble well done @ 57 days:

9 days before getting transplanted into flower room in it's 15gal smartie...

Sprouted seed tea, silica, aloe, fulvic added to waterings 99% of the time since birth....no foliars done.....very few teas, mulched with cannabis/comfrey/yarrow/nettle mix & topdressed with EWC/neem/crab halfway through flower....

 

[moses wellfleet]

So with ROLS you don't need to feed ACT so often because the soil has had so much time to build up healthy life?

 

[xmobotx]

yeah as long as it doesnt dry out its still going and even if it does it'll come back but i give an ACT if it gets dry just for fun i guess

 

[organic_fanatic]

How often do you guys recommend watering when using this method? Do you usually try to keep the soil evenly moist at all times or do you let the pots dry out a bit before watering again?

 

[BlueJayWay]

Evenly moist for the most part but the style and size of container really dictates frequency and how much water is required to achieve 'evenly moist' - blumats seem to pair well with no-tills and is something I'll probably look into over the next year...otherwise I will regularly use the chapin sprayer to 'moisten' the top soil at least every other day, I don't like to see anything dry out more than one inch or so below the top....keeping the topsoil moist has lowered the frequency of full/thorough waterings....some big plants just don't care and want to watered a lot damn near everyday......

.....large no-tills like the 50gal smarties are a breeze to water and give much leeway with under/overwatering...

 

[Neo 420]

.....large no-tills like the 50gal smarties are a breeze to water and give much leeway with under/overwatering...

I am finding the larger the container the less I water(with mulch of course). For example you may have seen my other post were I stated I have to water my 5g twice a day where my 13g and larger pots are getting watered every other day. Volume makes a world of difference..

 

[xmobotx]

watering is a tricky subject and one we should be giving some thought to if we want to do a thread on watering

i think one of the reasons it isnt addressed better is the fact that there are so many variables {mid flower thirst, pot size, temp/humid, choice/proportion of drainage}

not only that but we could run a relatively dry pot w/ acceptable results or a relatively wet pot same

i been finding i water about 1x in 3 days w/ floor-dri vs times i have had to water daily w/ pumice ~an example of how buffers can temper advice just like the 50gal smart pot example {certain scenarios can be pretty forgiving}

i wanna try those blumats and will but i did read recently i think DHF {dead head fred} had some of them fail and kill plants ~fear mongering anyway dammit {lol}

 

[Cann]

amen.

my 5 gallon pots get water daily, the 30 gallon and 45 gallon no-tills get water once every 4 or 5 days...although I do wet the top layer every day or two as BJW said...gotta do that to maintain the living mulch (clover).

15 gallon smartpots get water every few days...etc. i'm loving the large pots..going to switch to massive smartpots from now on once I move into the new place at the end of the summer.

looking into blumats potentially too..i know a few folks who swear by them

 

[Microbeman]

BlueJ; You d' man

 

[ozzieAI]

I am finding the larger the container the less I water(with mulch of course). For example you may have seen my other post were I stated I have to water my 5g twice a day where my 13g and larger pots are getting watered every other day. Volume makes a world of difference..

absolutely...but plant size also dictates watering periods my frequency increases as the plants grow.

going to have to make some tea....

 

[dogfishheadie]

killer info bjw. i'm trying to figure out my perpetual sprout harvest cycle and it would seem you're sprouting seeds all the time? day or two to get roots, soak in 1 gal for 3-4 days for every watering start to finish? sounds like i'm going to need a bit more room to accommodate all the different concoctions i'll be brewing up. i remember you being big on kelp in one of the other threads, is that still a main staple of yours?

anywho, picked up a lb of purple barley from whole foods the other day from timeless seeds. called for pricing to like $1.86/lb for a 50lb bag less shipping, pretty sure fedex / LTL is going to tape me. lady was more then helpful and is going to send me pricing along with local distributors in my area in the morning.

http://www.timelessfood.com/purple-prairie-barley.html

also, hope you don't mind me sharing the info from one of the other threads, but it's far too helpful not to. really helped me out.

I've done exactly the above frequently, also the kelp tea is often paired with say alfalfa, or comfrey...

I think about this way:

Your base is Kelp Tea

To that you're adding each additional item for each of their own seperate reasons.

If two items serve more/less the same purpose I will omit one or do both @ half amounts.

If my base is alfalfa/kelp but I also want to add neem, i'll cut the alfalfa in half, and use half the neem amount, but the kelpwill stay the same.

ACT will be brewed as its own deal with its own ingredients that benefit from being brewed/bubbled together....

....Sometimes if I want the benefits of the ACT and something like the above kelp/fulvic/aloe/enzyme tea in the same watering, I'll brew them seperate but mix together before watering or water one after the other.....

At least that is what I do & I hope it all makes more sense then I felt it did by the end.

-BJW

 

[Neo 420]

.but plant size also dictates watering periods my frequency increases as the plants grow.

Yes.. Thats why I have to water 2x everyday for 5 gallon pots. Once the 5g are flowered I'm moving up to larger pots. I am starting to lean toward 10 gallons min for large plants. (recycled soil)
Having the larger volume of soil allows for more leeway for a number of items which of course includes water retention.
For my scenario, 5 gallons pots no longer cuts it..

 

[YosemiteSam]

On watering...remember with ROLS you are not feeding/watering the plant...you are watering the soil/microbes. Consistent moisture content is best for soil/microbes...so smaller amounts more often seems the way to go.

The traditional thought is 25% water and 25% air for max microbe happiness.

When you actually start thinking that way watering becomes easier.

 

[MrSterling]

I mean you're still watering the plant, it still requires water for daily processes and the water flow is what carries those nutrients over the roots.

 

[xmobotx]

yeah ~we all know the plant needs water and that you are right ~whats more the plant may require more at certain times and dry the soil out

BUT; what YS is say'n here is that maintaining the proper moisture level in the soil is our focus as living soil gardeners

the soil environment first and it will take care of the plant

*must be some pretty good samples in that judge's pack*

 

[Coba]

speaking of watering.... when I water heavily, should I be recycling the runoff?

I read somewhere that the plant's exudes could be toxic to itself... sounds kinda iffy, i mean, doesn't the micro flora eat the exudes?

 

[Cann]

i use turkey basters to "recycle" the runoff back into the pot...

plant exudates being toxic to the plant? hmmm....i wouldn't worry about that

 

[Scrappy4]

speaking of watering.... when I water heavily, should I be recycling the runoff?

I read somewhere that the plant's exudes could be toxic to itself... sounds kinda iffy, i mean, doesn't the micro flora eat the exudes?

If you use a tray under your plants pot the water will wick back into the medium as it starts to dry out....scrappy

 

[VortexPower420]

Root exudes are just that food for microbes, and pretty specific in a very healthy plant to feed micro colonies that make soluble a specific nutrient
In the myth world they might be harmful or something but in our (the real) world they are only of benefit.

Also run-off takes away soluble anion nutrients, no need for any losses.

Timbuktu