ShLUbY's Garden

[calliandra]

Hey Schluby!!!! Great to see ya! You go man! Your dedication and focus are commendable - you'll get there!!
All the best wishes for 2018 too!

That Gorilla Glue looks amazing - best certification of your soil you can get
Cheers!

 

[ShLUbY]

Hey Schluby!!!! Great to see ya! You go man! Your dedication and focus are commendable - you'll get there!!
All the best wishes for 2018 too!

That Gorilla Glue looks amazing - best certification of your soil you can get
Cheers!

so great to see you as well my dear! i look forward to catching up with your conundrums soon I'll be sure to leave you a message when i do!!! I hope you have been well!

 

[calliandra]

so great to see you as well my dear! i look forward to catching up with your conundrums soon I'll be sure to leave you a message when i do!!! I hope you have been well!

Well if I had to put a tag on 2017, it would be the Year of Confusion ha
But a LOT of learning has come from it too, very basic things, like that there is the time axis, and that grass won't grow faster if you pull it.

Sheez I've almost forgotten about that thread! I should go back and see whether I even still agree with myself LOL
I've been going through some soil mix hell in my closet (yes it's built! and already feeling too small though it's almost 3x the size of my old one), and conundering about vermicompost and microbial populations. Oh and made my first protozoan infusion with all aerobic flagellates and some lovely bacterial diversity!

How did your compost turn out?!
My failed one ended up being quite OK by fall, so I've spread it all into the garden and covered with leaves.
Cheers!

 

[ShLUbY]

Well if I had to put a tag on 2017, it would be the Year of Confusion ha
But a LOT of learning has come from it too, very basic things, like that there is the time axis, and that grass won't grow faster if you pull it.

Sheez I've almost forgotten about that thread! I should go back and see whether I even still agree with myself LOL
I've been going through some soil mix hell in my closet (yes it's built! and already feeling too small though it's almost 3x the size of my old one), and conundering about vermicompost and microbial populations. Oh and made my first protozoan infusion with all aerobic flagellates and some lovely bacterial diversity!

How did your compost turn out?!
My failed one ended up being quite OK by fall, so I've spread it all into the garden and covered with leaves.
Cheers!

haha right on. do you have a new thread that you could point me in the direction of? Can't wait to see it! I saw the pic of the little pineapple you posted on Tesla's page.... looked amazing!!!

I'm not sure how much thermal composting i'll be doing in the future. I think i'm just going to focus on building more compost piles and letting nature do its thing. I had some BEAUTIFUL compost at the bottom of my leaf pile from last year. Fine particulates; nice and black. A nice looking mixture of frass and castings i would say! I think i'm just gonna let it happen slowly. far easier than turning and burning since i don't have the proper schedule to see that the pile is in good standing all the time anymore. maybe in a couple years i'll be back to some thermo piles... but quite honestly... they're such a pain!!! It so much easier to just let it happen.

Here's some of the compost I harvested from that pile in the yard at the end of the season. I think it turned out nice!!!



sorry image is kinda fuzzy

 

[calliandra]

Haha yeah, soil pix! I'm waiting for humans to develop the technology to have a little hand pop out of the screen offering up a little sample instead, now THAT would be cool!! I sure would love to get a scoop of the bottom of the leaf pile you described under my nose - I imagine it'd be a treat!

I quite agree with you regarding the slow composting, in fact it's part of my "time axis" insights.
If we're going for a fungal compost, even with the thermophilic phase going well, it's still going to need time to develop its biology.
That's the confusing thing about fungi - on the one hand, there's Paul Stamets making jokes about inoculating the world with the fungal spores he brings with himself from the old growth forests he works in, on his body and clothes, giving us the feeling they're ubiquitous. But then I see all my soils and compost sporting mainly bacterial populations, making me think about conditions favorable to fungal development (LITFA!) and time as an indispensable ingredient for making that really good compost.

Same with a vermicompost - if I want that to go fungal, it will have to be after the worms have left, because compost worms LOVE fungi, and whilst studies have shown how their grazing increases fungal growth rates, it also decimates their numbers at the same time. So nevermind a fungal network developing as long as the masses of worms we have in our bins are still around. I've got a wormbin experiment going with lots of woody inputs, going to let the worms work through it really well, then let it cure at least a few months and monitor how the microbial populations develop in that time. New insights to be gathered by the end of next year - unless I get so desperate for any halfways good compost I end up not being able to wait it out

That said, I'm still looking to make a few batches of thermal next year, collected all the leaves in the neighborhood and suspect I still don't have enough LOL
It does shave a bit of time off the process, so if I can make like 3 piles I may be able to leave one or two of them to sit until 2019.

Oh and no I don't have a thread going here at the mo, I did start one over on logical gardener in hopes of finding support on the microbial approach there, but it seems that with Tim Wilson taking a break, no one can really help me there either. Instead I'm being told to up my nitrogen, after posting microbial analyses that clearly show the problem is there's not a single flagellate or amoeba around for nutrient cycling (I do have a crazy large nematode population in there though) .. I could've gotten that here too...
That's what I get for choosing an approach that's not only on the cutting edge, but still also not universally recognized, never mind understood. I finally realized that if I want to know anything, I really do need to search in google scholar, and stop hoping for a nice n easy textbook that neatly bundles up all the different field of knowledge that converge in the soil food web

Yeah I was growing in what is supposed to become my seedling cabinet these past months, the PE was in there.
What I've got going at the mo:

Northern lights#5 x haze on the left, at 81 days veg, going to switch her to flower very soon, and Mephisto Cosmic Queen auto at day 24 and in the middle of her growth spurt (the smallest plant is also CQ, but was actually meant to be culled and was VERY pissed off for getting transplanted instead, so is just a curiosity on the side). Started these 56l fabric pots from all recycled soils as my new no-tills, and have a ways to go to get a solid soil ecosystem established in there.

I'm really liking your ideas for further development, no-till is definitely the way to go! Looking forward to your soil mix recipe too!
Cheers

 

[ShLUbY]

Haha yeah, soil pix! I'm waiting for humans to develop the technology to have a little hand pop out of the screen offering up a little sample instead, now THAT would be cool!! I sure would love to get a scoop of the bottom of the leaf pile you described under my nose - I imagine it'd be a treat!

I quite agree with you regarding the slow composting, in fact it's part of my "time axis" insights.
If we're going for a fungal compost, even with the thermophilic phase going well, it's still going to need time to develop its biology.
That's the confusing thing about fungi - on the one hand, there's Paul Stamets making jokes about inoculating the world with the fungal spores he brings with himself from the old growth forests he works in, on his body and clothes, giving us the feeling they're ubiquitous. But then I see all my soils and compost sporting mainly bacterial populations, making me think about conditions favorable to fungal development (LITFA!) and time as an indispensable ingredient for making that really good compost.

Same with a vermicompost - if I want that to go fungal, it will have to be after the worms have left, because compost worms LOVE fungi, and whilst studies have shown how their grazing increases fungal growth rates, it also decimates their numbers at the same time. So nevermind a fungal network developing as long as the masses of worms we have in our bins are still around. I've got a wormbin experiment going with lots of woody inputs, going to let the worms work through it really well, then let it cure at least a few months and monitor how the microbial populations develop in that time. New insights to be gathered by the end of next year - unless I get so desperate for any halfways good compost I end up not being able to wait it out

That said, I'm still looking to make a few batches of thermal next year, collected all the leaves in the neighborhood and suspect I still don't have enough LOL
It does shave a bit of time off the process, so if I can make like 3 piles I may be able to leave one or two of them to sit until 2019.

Oh and no I don't have a thread going here at the mo, I did start one over on logical gardener in hopes of finding support on the microbial approach there, but it seems that with Tim Wilson taking a break, no one can really help me there either. Instead I'm being told to up my nitrogen, after posting microbial analyses that clearly show the problem is there's not a single flagellate or amoeba around for nutrient cycling (I do have a crazy large nematode population in there though) .. I could've gotten that here too...
That's what I get for choosing an approach that's not only on the cutting edge, but still also not universally recognized, never mind understood. I finally realized that if I want to know anything, I really do need to search in google scholar, and stop hoping for a nice n easy textbook that neatly bundles up all the different field of knowledge that converge in the soil food web

Yeah I was growing in what is supposed to become my seedling cabinet these past months, the PE was in there.
What I've got going at the mo:
View attachment 4065183
Northern lights#5 x haze on the left, at 81 days veg, going to switch her to flower very soon, and Mephisto Cosmic Queen auto at day 24 and in the middle of her growth spurt (the smallest plant is also CQ, but was actually meant to be culled and was VERY pissed off for getting transplanted instead, so is just a curiosity on the side). Started these 56l fabric pots from all recycled soils as my new no-tills, and have a ways to go to get a solid soil ecosystem established in there.

I'm really liking your ideas for further development, no-till is definitely the way to go! Looking forward to your soil mix recipe too!
Cheers

Those look beautiful! Excellent work!

I'm glad we're on the same page with the compost. It seems to be the best method IMO. As you say, LITFA!

Yes, all my growing will be done with no-till this year. I'm working on getting a few more going at the moment. just mixed up 4 cu. ft. last week, and gonna start on getting more mixed up this week. I only have 6 more days of freedom before I have to go back to university so I need to get some shit done! i'm hoping this next run of four plants will be my last in the 5 gallon containers. I've also found that I can grow two plants in no-till under one light, and get damn near the same yield as four plants. So with some proper shaping and manicuring to widen the canopy more, I don't think i'll have any issues getting the yield to be the same.

Also i'll be picking up a couple new strains in 2018 as well. My friend just got a beautiful looking white widow (though feminized) it smells amazing, and he doesn't even have it in organic soil! He has a blueberry strain that is fire as well I'm gonna pick up, and also, the perkins CBD strain so I can start making some capsules to take daily.

I also have him growing his first organic plant, I supplied the soil and everything, and he had some blumats laying around so we hooked those up. He LOVES it. He can't believe how easy it is to maintain haha. He's learned the hard way about keeping the medium moist all the time. That's one adjustment people just have a hard time getting used to I think.

Working on harvesting the worm bins yesterday and today. I'll have some pics of my finished product when I get done. 1 of 2 bins harvested so far. Castings look amazing, and I took a little too long to get to this bin.... EVERYTHING is completely worked by the worms haha. They look great, but I can tell that my population did not expand a whole lot due to my lack of getting to the bin in a timely manner. but that's the nice thing about the worms..... they are patient and can handle neglect so long as you give them something to munch on haha. I'd say i got a cu. ft. outta the first bin and I expect the same from the next one. I think i'm gonna start building my own tower worm farm with wood and construction mesh. The bins are a PITA to harvest.

My soil mix i'm gonna be testing out for the next no-tills i build will be using a mix of peat and coco coir (for better water retention and trying to prevent hydrophobic pockets in the medium). Peat is such a pain in the ass!!! So I think mixing some coir in there will help with water absorption. I'll be running 40-45% drainage, 30-35% peat/coco, 25-30% organic matter. As for nutrients I have all the usual suspects: Kelp, Alfalfa, Fishbone Meal, Neem Meal, Greensand, OSF, Gypsum, Rock Dusts, and Crab Shell Meal. So i'll do the typical 1/2c-ish of each in the initial mix, and then just make a blend for top dressing. I've also been using a bloom boost mix during flower to pump up the harvest weight and it's been working amazingly! about 1-2 weeks into flower, I mix 1/2c of bloom (3-7-4) with enough compost to layer 1-1.5 inches and top-dress that mixture, cover it with mulch and let her rip. I use blumats regularly for water supply, so about once a week i hand water the top layer of soil to make sure it's evenly moist around the top to keep everything active and breaking down.

I think i might look into some drip emitters for the blumats this year to distribute water more evenly around the containers. But for now, I just need to get more no-tills put together so I can finally stop having to do soil mixes and break up root balls. what a PITA!!!!

Side note, i was explaining to the guy at the grow shop how I grow (he was asking about the amendments I was buying and if i like them, to which i replied "well its the only way my plants get nutrition!"). He was amazed that I can harvest a plant and then replant in the no-till the day I harvest haha. I'm gonna help him put one together so he can try it out for himself. He was pretty intrigued.

 

[DirtRider357]

I don't know how long it's gonna take the pail to drain yet; i'm interested to see this myself. i literally have no experience with automated watering systems. but these just seem too good to be true! my buddy is using them with the Canna A+B products right in the reservoir. he's loving them so far. Mine will be for water only, and when i want to give them some coconut water or aloe drench or whatever i just water it in like normal, except i don't think i'll need to use as much since i won't need to saturate the whole soil medium.... maybe a half gal to a gal of drench right to the base of the plant is all i think it'll need. I'm thinking i may need 3 maxi's per 20 gal, but we'll see. it'd just be a more accurate moisture reading to have 3 of the maxis' in there.

As for the PM.... it's not a trigger so to say... we're dealing with a fungus here. all fungus reproduce by spores (ideally though some do reproduce asexually). So once a spore lands on a plant and starts to grow and actually penetrates the cell tissue of the plant, it's trying to grow and reproduce and spread spores to more plants to continue its life.

PM is a systemic fungus that lives in the plant no matter if it's producing the conidiophores (the PM you actually see) or not (once the plant has been infected of course). I've read many things that say high humidity causes it (which would be my outdoor vege garden this summer), and that low humidity causes it (my indoor cannabis garden right now) and all this other crap. the one that made the most sense to me is a dry leaf surface area; that's what PM likes in order to put out the conidiophores and release spores. the key to getting rid of it, I BELIEVE, is interrupting the life cycle until it hasn't had a chance to infect more plant surface/tissue. I feel like, though i don't know this to be fact, the plant will fight it off eventually if you can control it from spreading to more surface areas of the plant. the only problem is right now, the plant is constantly making new leaf surface that is not treated because it just grew! so i'm seeing the new break outs on newer leaf tissues, not the old stuff that has been treated.

All my small plants in veg that had PM that i got from my friend to save the genetics (Sour D, GG#4, Querkle, Con Cheese, JC2) are all VERY VERY healthy looking, no PM outbreaks for a week at least (and by an outbreak i mean i see one friggin spot and spray the whole place down lol), leaves praying like crazy, and green as all get up. Even the two Con Cheese in flower had PM just before going into flower, and a couple very isolated leaf breakouts during these first 2 weeks, but man she is happy and healthy as ever. No break outs going on at all with it right now.

i'm battling the PM on every level and about to go further. Getting an ozone emitting bulb with UVC for veg and flower (ozone knocks the spores dead outta the air), i have crab shell topdressed and covered in mulch in all the vegamatrix containers hoping that the plants will respond with chitinase enzymes to help break down the fungal cells inside the plant, i've been spraying neem + bicarbonate which has been very effective, bout to hit them with the geranium oil i just got yesterday from growers trust which allegedly CURES pm.... so if all of this combined doesn't work... well i just don't know what to do other than start buying seeds!

Why buy seeds when you can make seeds?

 

[ShLUbY]

Why buy seeds when you can make seeds?

because purchased seeds from reputable breeders are stable genetics and have months and months if not years of development. why WOULDN'T you buy seeds?

 

[DonTesla]

Hey @ShLUbY

What is the Perkins CBD strain if you dont mind expanding on that?

And if interested, we could work on worm farm designs together a bit, like you, I am looking to go to a vertical system that collects the castings a little easier than just having a couple rooms right full of 5 gal pails or tubs..

I need to make 100 cf of castings by spring and thats just the start!!

Happy New Year eh!

 

[ShLUbY]

Hey @ShLUbY

What is the Perkins CBD strain if you dont mind expanding on that?

And if interested, we could work on worm farm designs together a bit, like you, I am looking to go to a vertical system that collects the castings a little easier than just having a couple rooms right full of 5 gal pails or tubs..

I need to make 100 cf of castings by spring and thats just the start!!

Happy New Year eh!

Happy New Year my friend!

The Perkin's cut is a specific cutting of the Cannatonic CBD strain that we were able to obtain from a dispensary in Michigan. this particular cutting is known for its very low THC (1% or less) and high CBD (i think my friend's test was between 16 and 19% if I remember correctly) Beautiful plant to boot! let me know if you need any other info on it!

As far as the worm farms go.... I think i'm going to try and just build some square frames with construction mesh on the bottom and have some sort of "stand" that they rest on with landscape fabric on it to keep the materials in the frame and allow breathability to the last frame. I'll probably look around online for the DIY stuff and see what other people are doing. There is definitely an easier way than trying to coax the worms to one area of the bin and remove them and then sift through all the castings too. I'd be happy to collaborate on something efficient!

As far as 100 cu.ft. before spring.... my friend, you have your work cut out for you!

 

[DonTesla]

Happy New Year my friend!

The Perkin's cut is a specific cutting of the Cannatonic CBD strain that we were able to obtain from a dispensary in Michigan. this particular cutting is known for its very low THC (1% or less) and high CBD (i think my friend's test was between 16 and 19% if I remember correctly) Beautiful plant to boot! let me know if you need any other info on it!

As far as the worm farms go.... I think i'm going to try and just build some square frames with construction mesh on the bottom and have some sort of "stand" that they rest on with landscape fabric on it to keep the materials in the frame and allow breathability to the last frame. I'll probably look around online for the DIY stuff and see what other people are doing. There is definitely an easier way than trying to coax the worms to one area of the bin and remove them and then sift through all the castings too. I'd be happy to collaborate on something efficient!

As far as 100 cu.ft. before spring.... my friend, you have your work cut out for you!

Cheers, Shluby!
Is there any seeds of that by chance! ANYWHERE lol! Cannatonic is what I am after, precisely the cut you speak of which we call AC'DC up here I think!

 

[DonTesla]

And @ShLUbY,

If you find any designs that might suit us nicely, please do share!! I will make sure Santa sends out a late xmas present or whatever you like, we really appreciate the extra eyes and ears on the pavement!!!!! Bigtime!!

 

[ShLUbY]

Cheers, Shluby!
Is there any seeds of that by chance! ANYWHERE lol! Cannatonic is what I am after, precisely the cut you speak of which we call AC'DC up here I think!

I do not know of any seeds simply because this is one of those gems that someone found amongst many of popped seeds. I know making feminized seeds is not everyones favorite approach.... but i'd be willing to entertain the idea trying to make a batch of my own... i would like to think that it would retain most of its genetics through the process...

as for the worm bins, i will definitely let you know what I come up with!!! I'll be doing some looking over the next couple days most likely.

 

[calliandra]

Happy New Year guys!

I need to make 100 cf of castings by spring and thats just the start!!

Wow that's a shitload of VC!
You're probably going to be happiest with a continuous flowthrough system - like these: https://www.wormfarmingrevealed.com/continuous-flow-through-bins.html
The problem I have with those is the scrapers that harvest at the bottom - surely worms get killed there. But then again, I don't sift my VC for the same reason

I was going to build a second flow-through stack-of-bins type system, but got detoured setting up a leafmold-simulating bin (=basically just leaves spiced up with a bit of amendment mix and set to go slow) instead haha
But I'm going to have to build one soon, as I just started another experiment in my main bin: recycling soil + diseased (spider mites) plant matter with worms (who DO take care of all pests), and then recycling my tomato soils with the resulting VC in time for the next growing season.
I'll just be doing a version of the build @Grandpa GreenJeans once posted (https://www.rollitup.org/t/vermicomposters-unite-official-worm-farmers-thread.637587/page-36#post-12309700) and @DonBrennon did a beautiful build of just recently - see here: https://www.rollitup.org/t/dbs-organic-gardens-and-diy-projects-thread.949876/page-5#post-13855921
I really like his bottom tray idea too!

Cheers!

 

[calliandra]

Those look beautiful! Excellent work!

I'm glad we're on the same page with the compost. It seems to be the best method IMO. As you say, LITFA!

Yes, all my growing will be done with no-till this year. I'm working on getting a few more going at the moment. just mixed up 4 cu. ft. last week, and gonna start on getting more mixed up this week. I only have 6 more days of freedom before I have to go back to university so I need to get some shit done! i'm hoping this next run of four plants will be my last in the 5 gallon containers. I've also found that I can grow two plants in no-till under one light, and get damn near the same yield as four plants. So with some proper shaping and manicuring to widen the canopy more, I don't think i'll have any issues getting the yield to be the same.

Also i'll be picking up a couple new strains in 2018 as well. My friend just got a beautiful looking white widow (though feminized) it smells amazing, and he doesn't even have it in organic soil! He has a blueberry strain that is fire as well I'm gonna pick up, and also, the perkins CBD strain so I can start making some capsules to take daily.

I also have him growing his first organic plant, I supplied the soil and everything, and he had some blumats laying around so we hooked those up. He LOVES it. He can't believe how easy it is to maintain haha. He's learned the hard way about keeping the medium moist all the time. That's one adjustment people just have a hard time getting used to I think.

Working on harvesting the worm bins yesterday and today. I'll have some pics of my finished product when I get done. 1 of 2 bins harvested so far. Castings look amazing, and I took a little too long to get to this bin.... EVERYTHING is completely worked by the worms haha. They look great, but I can tell that my population did not expand a whole lot due to my lack of getting to the bin in a timely manner. but that's the nice thing about the worms..... they are patient and can handle neglect so long as you give them something to munch on haha. I'd say i got a cu. ft. outta the first bin and I expect the same from the next one. I think i'm gonna start building my own tower worm farm with wood and construction mesh. The bins are a PITA to harvest.

My soil mix i'm gonna be testing out for the next no-tills i build will be using a mix of peat and coco coir (for better water retention and trying to prevent hydrophobic pockets in the medium). Peat is such a pain in the ass!!! So I think mixing some coir in there will help with water absorption. I'll be running 40-45% drainage, 30-35% peat/coco, 25-30% organic matter. As for nutrients I have all the usual suspects: Kelp, Alfalfa, Fishbone Meal, Neem Meal, Greensand, OSF, Gypsum, Rock Dusts, and Crab Shell Meal. So i'll do the typical 1/2c-ish of each in the initial mix, and then just make a blend for top dressing. I've also been using a bloom boost mix during flower to pump up the harvest weight and it's been working amazingly! about 1-2 weeks into flower, I mix 1/2c of bloom (3-7-4) with enough compost to layer 1-1.5 inches and top-dress that mixture, cover it with mulch and let her rip. I use blumats regularly for water supply, so about once a week i hand water the top layer of soil to make sure it's evenly moist around the top to keep everything active and breaking down.

I think i might look into some drip emitters for the blumats this year to distribute water more evenly around the containers. But for now, I just need to get more no-tills put together so I can finally stop having to do soil mixes and break up root balls. what a PITA!!!!

Side note, i was explaining to the guy at the grow shop how I grow (he was asking about the amendments I was buying and if i like them, to which i replied "well its the only way my plants get nutrition!"). He was amazed that I can harvest a plant and then replant in the no-till the day I harvest haha. I'm gonna help him put one together so he can try it out for himself. He was pretty intrigued.

Ahh so you're beginning to venture forth and spread the word too!! Excellent!
Yeah I am really starting to appreciate how blumats can be a good thing! In the very dry environment my closet is in now, I've needed to re-learn watering all over lol. It really is important to maintain those nice conditions!

As for your soil mix, I've never used peat myself, but am looking to replace the coir too, in the long run, with something that can be sourced locally. I'm actually looking to do that with all the common recipe inputs, but have altered my approach in that I've begun sticking more to the tried and tested recipes (modified to accommodate such things as organic vs inorganic aeration -a bit like @DonTesla is doing too!), running with those for a while and then gradually replacing single inputs.
One question regarding that bloom mix, is it something you make yourself (the NPK confused me)? The high P there makes me wonder, weren't you working with mycorrhizae? I actually have scratched stuff from amendments I add regularly due to highP content which I don't want my soil mix to get saturated with LOL
Am I missing something there?

Cheers!

 

[ShLUbY]

Ahh so you're beginning to venture forth and spread the word too!! Excellent!
Yeah I am really starting to appreciate how blumats can be a good thing! In the very dry environment my closet is in now, I've needed to re-learn watering all over lol. It really is important to maintain those nice conditions!

As for your soil mix, I've never used peat myself, but am looking to replace the coir too, in the long run, with something that can be sourced locally. I'm actually looking to do that with all the common recipe inputs, but have altered my approach in that I've begun sticking more to the tried and tested recipes (modified to accommodate such things as organic vs inorganic aeration -a bit like @DonTesla is doing too!), running with those for a while and then gradually replacing single inputs.
One question regarding that bloom mix, is it something you make yourself (the NPK confused me)? The high P there makes me wonder, weren't you working with mycorrhizae? I actually have scratched stuff from amendments I add regularly due to highP content which I don't want my soil mix to get saturated with LOL
Am I missing something there?

Cheers!

the bloom mix is something i buy from a local company in my state. I will note that the P is high, and as i learned recently in my plant physiology class that P can build up to toxic level in the soil, but I have the feeling that since i'm not amending the entire mix after each cycle with the notills, i find i topdress less nutrients than what I would normally use to amend an entire batch of the same amount of soil. So i'm not all that concerned right now... but i'll definitely be paying attention to signs of P toxicity in the future. and yeah, i definitely use mycos in my soil when i transplant every time right to the roots just to be sure that they remain in the medium. But honestly, i've been amazed at times how much nutrients these plants seem to go through in a given cycle. And to note... with the high P in that bloom mix, which helps facilitate root growth, I think that's a key thing when going through the bloom phase, as the old adage goes... the bigger the roots, the bigger the fruits! I'm looking to push the limits when it comes to organics. I'm tired of hearing people have a bias towards hydro because they "grow faster and produce greater yields"... i call TOTAL BULLSHIT. it's the same plant. if you provide it an adequate amount of food, plenty of water, and good light, and good active soil....the yields should be no different. So it is my quest to push the limits I've had several plants reach 7oz. each in the 20 gal no tils, and i don't even have very good ceiling clearance! to date, my best is a full lb. off one 600 watt, and i know for sure that i could have done them better. I'm looking to get to 20 oz. off one 600 to know that i'm really pushing the limits.

oh side note.... i may be upgrading to a pole barn this year... if i do so, i'll be switching to 1k watters instead of 600s (which i swore i would never do!) and run 4 x 20-30gal under each one... that should produce some impressive harvests!

thank you for the DIYs from fellow members on here @calliandra What are you doing for your soil mix in your notills now?!?

 

[ShLUbY]

Brainwrecks at 9.5 weeks, and likely gonna be harvested this weekend.





The first worm bin I harvested the other day. I still have the other to do. got about 3' x 3' x 4" of compost total from the first bin. The other should have about the same. i'm guessing ~2.5-3 ish cu. ft. total. Letting them air out a little bit before putting them in a bag for storage (not that they last long LOL)

 

[ShLUbY]

Wow that's a shitload of VC!

was this pun intentional??!!! LOL

 

[DirtRider357]

because purchased seeds from reputable breeders are stable genetics and have months and months if not years of development. why WOULDN'T you buy seeds?

It just seems like the biggest scam to me. Ive seen some of the prices of seed packs. Makes me think that the business isnt in the flower its in the seed.

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Hey shluby, looking good. I had a few set backs but I'm up and running again. I've got some more worms coming in so I can get some more fresh ewc. I still have some left over from the last harvest. I'm looking forward to seeing how that brainwreck turns out. Peace, Happy New Year and a Bountiful Harvest!