whythefnot
Member
Broad mites: one or two applications of Mighty Wash should do it. Any other reason I should stay away?
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wtfn's 4000w legal medical soil food web organic grow show
- Thread starter whythefnot
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whythefnot
Member
Here's the progress so far.
I still have to get that other light, but I'm waiting to catch a deal on one. I got those 3 rigs for $100 apiece and I'd sort of like a matching hood. Also I'm thinking about moving everything toward the right side of the room a few feet to make space for a 5th light (after this harvest?).
All I really need to do now is get some pots and timers, hang a few more fans and get my hands on some cloooones!! I'm ready!!
I still have to get that other light, but I'm waiting to catch a deal on one. I got those 3 rigs for $100 apiece and I'd sort of like a matching hood. Also I'm thinking about moving everything toward the right side of the room a few feet to make space for a 5th light (after this harvest?).
All I really need to do now is get some pots and timers, hang a few more fans and get my hands on some cloooones!! I'm ready!!
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whythefnot
Member
Getting clones (hopefully) delivered tomorrow, from about 2 hrs south of here. I cancelled my other order after realizing how many weeks (not days) it was going to take. So I'm getting 25 sublime og and 25 purple platinum kush tomorrow. I hope they pair nicely. If not, oh well I'm usually a VERY generalized and broad-spectrum approach to feeding, so I'm not expecting to need to make different teas for the crops.
I already had a little input on how to spread my light more efficiently -- I'm not going to scrog a room this big, which is what I've done in the past. Any suggestions how to get those plants trained where they create a uniform canopy in this type of space? I'd really like to be able to continue to move each plant. :/
I'm using 5 gal fabric pots (ordered today, hopefully here by saturday).
I already had a little input on how to spread my light more efficiently -- I'm not going to scrog a room this big, which is what I've done in the past. Any suggestions how to get those plants trained where they create a uniform canopy in this type of space? I'd really like to be able to continue to move each plant. :/
I'm using 5 gal fabric pots (ordered today, hopefully here by saturday).
raiderman
Member
unless you LST them which ive never done,figured I'd break something or other.i like to grow reg Christmas tree style unless ones climbing faster than the others then I top it down to where its more even, I hate a stretcher..good choice on the fabric pots, bot a load of 3 gal sqare fabric pots las year and yielded 30% more than reg plastic sqare pots.pulled a qarter pound dry ona few.and I agree on the nute approach,i use minimal amntswith bud candy every watering.that carb boost is like steroids for plants...ns strains bro ,wanna see these no doubt..good job on the room looks real pro.rdr.
whythefnot
Member
Thanks guy!
I'm doing a "soil food web" grow. I'm not sure how popular this is in the cannabis community, but while I was digging around for more information on compost teas I stumbled across this page on soil microbes and saw that quite a few people were recommending the book Teaming with Microbes. So I got the book and read it straight through in a couple of days. Really interesting read.
The crux of the book is that chemical fertilizers disrupt the natural biological homeostasis that's attainable in a healthy soil system. It approaches plant feeding from a different angle -- no longer concerned about or bound by traditional "NPK" gardening. Instead, it recommends feeding microbially-rich (not necessarily nutrient-rich, as most people do it) actively aerated compost teas. These are not compost leachates, which are made by putting compost in a sock and letting it sit in water for a few days to extract the nutrient value. No, this is liquid life, a primordial soup. It's safe to use on seeds and clones for EVERY watering but strong enough to supercharge flowering plants.
This approach works due to dozens or hundreds of symbiotic relationship which the plant will develop over its lifetime. In nature, plants do not uptake water-soluble fertilizers from the ground. No, they're fed by bacteria and archaea and algae and nematodes and FUNGUS (as we all no doubt have heard) who rely on these plants to achieve their maximum potential while providing the plant with everything that it needs to provide its maximum potential.
When these symbiotic relationships develop, it puts the plant on the conductor's podium. The plant, through chemical (reward) signals in the rhizosphere, is able to 'request' certain nutrients from the bacteria/fungus depending on its current needs. This means that the change from vegetative state to flowering state happens seamlessly, all on the exact same fertilizer schedule.
That's not to say that I'll never brew my teas a little differently. The majority of my teas will consist of the following:
A varying volume of chlorine-free water.
2.68% of that volume of vermicompost (worm castings).
.5% of that volume of black strap molassses.
That's it.
But during the flowering stages they typically like more fungally-dominated teas. The best way to control whether your teas are bacterially-dominated or fungally-dominated is to make the compost yourself. I'm new in this house, obviously, so my compost pile is still fairly small. But eventually I plan to keep 4 different compost piles and a worm bin, for making various types of teas.
The key to this type of gardening is to have soil that is very rich. You DO still need the NPK's in there, but the ratios matter much less in this type of gardening. A lot of people (myself included) ask, "Can I use compost tea in a hydro system?" The short answer is no. It's a biological brew, not a nutrient brew. You use it to 'unlock' your soil so that it becomes available to the plant. The microbes can and will eat ANYTHING and use that to feed your plant what it needs. Wood, plastic, metal, whatever...given enough time microbes will consume it, making those nutrients part of the soil food web. And once the nutrients are in microbe form, they are not easily washed out of a soil. Rather, they become part of the living system.
Anyway, I decided to go this route for its reliability mostly, but also because TRUE organic bud just tastes better. This is the only type of growing that I consider to be true organics, too. Just because it's OMRI listed doesn't mean you grew organic buds. It's all about the soil food web.
I'm doing a "soil food web" grow. I'm not sure how popular this is in the cannabis community, but while I was digging around for more information on compost teas I stumbled across this page on soil microbes and saw that quite a few people were recommending the book Teaming with Microbes. So I got the book and read it straight through in a couple of days. Really interesting read.
The crux of the book is that chemical fertilizers disrupt the natural biological homeostasis that's attainable in a healthy soil system. It approaches plant feeding from a different angle -- no longer concerned about or bound by traditional "NPK" gardening. Instead, it recommends feeding microbially-rich (not necessarily nutrient-rich, as most people do it) actively aerated compost teas. These are not compost leachates, which are made by putting compost in a sock and letting it sit in water for a few days to extract the nutrient value. No, this is liquid life, a primordial soup. It's safe to use on seeds and clones for EVERY watering but strong enough to supercharge flowering plants.
This approach works due to dozens or hundreds of symbiotic relationship which the plant will develop over its lifetime. In nature, plants do not uptake water-soluble fertilizers from the ground. No, they're fed by bacteria and archaea and algae and nematodes and FUNGUS (as we all no doubt have heard) who rely on these plants to achieve their maximum potential while providing the plant with everything that it needs to provide its maximum potential.
When these symbiotic relationships develop, it puts the plant on the conductor's podium. The plant, through chemical (reward) signals in the rhizosphere, is able to 'request' certain nutrients from the bacteria/fungus depending on its current needs. This means that the change from vegetative state to flowering state happens seamlessly, all on the exact same fertilizer schedule.
That's not to say that I'll never brew my teas a little differently. The majority of my teas will consist of the following:
A varying volume of chlorine-free water.
2.68% of that volume of vermicompost (worm castings).
.5% of that volume of black strap molassses.
That's it.
But during the flowering stages they typically like more fungally-dominated teas. The best way to control whether your teas are bacterially-dominated or fungally-dominated is to make the compost yourself. I'm new in this house, obviously, so my compost pile is still fairly small. But eventually I plan to keep 4 different compost piles and a worm bin, for making various types of teas.
The key to this type of gardening is to have soil that is very rich. You DO still need the NPK's in there, but the ratios matter much less in this type of gardening. A lot of people (myself included) ask, "Can I use compost tea in a hydro system?" The short answer is no. It's a biological brew, not a nutrient brew. You use it to 'unlock' your soil so that it becomes available to the plant. The microbes can and will eat ANYTHING and use that to feed your plant what it needs. Wood, plastic, metal, whatever...given enough time microbes will consume it, making those nutrients part of the soil food web. And once the nutrients are in microbe form, they are not easily washed out of a soil. Rather, they become part of the living system.
Anyway, I decided to go this route for its reliability mostly, but also because TRUE organic bud just tastes better. This is the only type of growing that I consider to be true organics, too. Just because it's OMRI listed doesn't mean you grew organic buds. It's all about the soil food web.
whythefnot
Member
I like to say, "it's like a home-cooked meal for your plants." It's super cheap ($20 for a 30-lb bag of castings, and $10 max for a quart of BSM should last a whole grow) but it takes about 48hrs for a good brew.
Also, the microbes that populate the rhizosphere (millions and millions if not billions of them make an invisible 'mat' around the roots) are great at buffering pH. Your soil's pH could be 4.5 but right at the root zone there are armies of organisms producing large amounts of biological buffering agents. That's a really good thing -- those microbes are my friends, and I want to keep them happy and healthy and doing all my work for me!
Also, the microbes that populate the rhizosphere (millions and millions if not billions of them make an invisible 'mat' around the roots) are great at buffering pH. Your soil's pH could be 4.5 but right at the root zone there are armies of organisms producing large amounts of biological buffering agents. That's a really good thing -- those microbes are my friends, and I want to keep them happy and healthy and doing all my work for me!
whythefnot
Member
I got my clones today -- they're not the most robust in the world, and honestly they're a little rough-looking, but they're all showing roots out of the rockwool or peat pellets. And at $5 apiece plus 11 free, I'm really not complaining. Most important of all, they're in my hands. Better off here than anywhere else.
I ended up with 7 purple platinum og, 6 lemon og, and 48 sublime og (blue dream x pre-98 bubba kush). That's 61 plants! I'm pretty satisfied with it overall, although I would have prefered some larger cuts. But the increased plant count allows me to shorten the veg time just a little.
Photos tomorrow...
I ended up with 7 purple platinum og, 6 lemon og, and 48 sublime og (blue dream x pre-98 bubba kush). That's 61 plants! I'm pretty satisfied with it overall, although I would have prefered some larger cuts. But the increased plant count allows me to shorten the veg time just a little.
Photos tomorrow...
whythefnot
Member
Whelp, I flooded my room filling my second res today. I had at least 4 inches across the whole thing. Pond liner held 
The only reason I realized is because I heard the TV click off, meaning a breaker blew. Apparently my cordless drill charger was taking a bath.
I REALLY need to get a float valve.
The only reason I realized is because I heard the TV click off, meaning a breaker blew. Apparently my cordless drill charger was taking a bath.
I REALLY need to get a float valve.
choptops
Member
Whelp, I flooded my room filling my second res today. I had at least 4 inches across the whole thing. Pond liner held
The only reason I realized is because I heard the TV click off, meaning a breaker blew. Apparently my cordless drill charger was taking a bath.
I REALLY need to get a float valve.
DUDE!!! Stop it! Do that again and your gonna have a bad time.
Whelp, I flooded my room filling my second res today. I had at least 4 inches across the whole thing. Pond liner held
The only reason I realized is because I heard the TV click off, meaning a breaker blew. Apparently my cordless drill charger was taking a bath.
I REALLY need to get a float valve.
LOL i've done this too many times. keep an eye on the float valve first couple times you use it, some (1 out of 5 for me) will continue to VERY slowly fill if there's enough pressure and can overflow a bit if left on overnight.
whythefnot
Member
Sorry no photo updates yet, things have been pretty hectic over here and I'm having a real hard time getting my phone to take decent pics under the HPS. So I'm gonna have to dig out my old camera to take these plant pics.
Anyway, most of the clones survived the flood, but a few look like they're on their way out. I expected to lose a few, there were some REAL scrawny ones in that bunch. The guy said he'd replace any I lost if I wanted to make the drive back down. I'm not sure it's necessary.
Anyway, pushing/pulling through those vents proved to be too much for my a/c unit's exhaust fan, so I have one of these on the way to give it a boost. In dealing with that I ended up disassembling my a/c's case to I could poke and prod at the unit. I'm really glad I did. I found a crapload of potential air leaks inside, and sealed them all with expanding foam.
While I was inside the unit, I decided to fix the little "auto evaporate" problem too. This a/c is designed so that the condensation drips down into the condenser's radiator and is carried away via hot dry air. This is a bad thing. That's a great way to get a skunky back yard, so I sealed up the holes where the water is supposed to drip through and installed my own drain line using some high strength silicone gasket maker. I didn't have much of a lip to work with so I couldn't do any better than that, but it seems to be working fine. I'll finish the install when the duct booster comes in.
Anyway, most of the clones survived the flood, but a few look like they're on their way out. I expected to lose a few, there were some REAL scrawny ones in that bunch. The guy said he'd replace any I lost if I wanted to make the drive back down. I'm not sure it's necessary.
Anyway, pushing/pulling through those vents proved to be too much for my a/c unit's exhaust fan, so I have one of these on the way to give it a boost. In dealing with that I ended up disassembling my a/c's case to I could poke and prod at the unit. I'm really glad I did. I found a crapload of potential air leaks inside, and sealed them all with expanding foam.
While I was inside the unit, I decided to fix the little "auto evaporate" problem too. This a/c is designed so that the condensation drips down into the condenser's radiator and is carried away via hot dry air. This is a bad thing. That's a great way to get a skunky back yard, so I sealed up the holes where the water is supposed to drip through and installed my own drain line using some high strength silicone gasket maker. I didn't have much of a lip to work with so I couldn't do any better than that, but it seems to be working fine. I'll finish the install when the duct booster comes in.
whythefnot
Member
So it looks like the duct booster and fabric pots won't be here until Saturday and Wednesday, respectively. Pulling my hair out ready to have my room set up...
Maybe I can use this time to track down another $100 lighting system :/
Maybe I can use this time to track down another $100 lighting system :/
whythefnot
Member
Found my 4th light setup for $120 plus the cost of another 25 ft of 14/2 wire. Gonna go pick it up tomorrow in the city as long as the guy still has it. I'll make a beach trip out of it.
whythefnot
Member
I have a new toy!!
This thing is very aptly named (MASSIVE).
We could barely fit it in the trunk, even with the backseat down!
I really need to get a truck.
Louie photobombed this one. If you look back through my 2000w journal from 2009 you'll see him as a kitten. Back then he was 'Lucy' 'til I saw dem ballz.
While I was doing some re-wiring (ballast came wired for 120, had to switch it over, but left the 120v plug, so I switched out an outlet) and I had the light off I snapped a photo of the ladies, at least the ones not in ICU. I had a few mishaps with the a/c (90 degrees or so) and they got flooded on their first or second day here, which wiped out a few. Hopefully I won't lose any more, since I'm down to 50 now. At least that's how many I wanted. I ordered 50 fabric pots and I really don't want to have to go buy 5gal buckets. That would just make things more complicated.
Anyway, here they are, still very small, but all putting on new growth:
I hit them with some AACT for the first time since the flood, which I'm assuming had obliterated the soil biology. They're starting to get a smell already. Chops, I think that Lemon OG is the real deal.
I left a gorgeous area (WNC) to move to the desert, so needless to say I haven't been overly thrilled with the landscape here. But this Cali sunset alone makes it all worth it:
This thing is very aptly named (MASSIVE).
We could barely fit it in the trunk, even with the backseat down!
I really need to get a truck.
Louie photobombed this one. If you look back through my 2000w journal from 2009 you'll see him as a kitten. Back then he was 'Lucy' 'til I saw dem ballz.
While I was doing some re-wiring (ballast came wired for 120, had to switch it over, but left the 120v plug, so I switched out an outlet) and I had the light off I snapped a photo of the ladies, at least the ones not in ICU. I had a few mishaps with the a/c (90 degrees or so) and they got flooded on their first or second day here, which wiped out a few. Hopefully I won't lose any more, since I'm down to 50 now. At least that's how many I wanted. I ordered 50 fabric pots and I really don't want to have to go buy 5gal buckets. That would just make things more complicated.
Anyway, here they are, still very small, but all putting on new growth:
I hit them with some AACT for the first time since the flood, which I'm assuming had obliterated the soil biology. They're starting to get a smell already. Chops, I think that Lemon OG is the real deal.
I left a gorgeous area (WNC) to move to the desert, so needless to say I haven't been overly thrilled with the landscape here. But this Cali sunset alone makes it all worth it:
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whythefnot
Member
That hood is brand new in the box -- still had the plastic liner sheet on the inside of the glass. $120 with the ballast. Can't beat that.
whythefnot
Member
They sent me 3 gal pots. I am not happy. 5 gal or bust.
