Newbie Fall Time Grow Preparation.

Part of my Fall/Autumn routine is to prepare some of the gardens and such for the spring time planting. I produce my own manure and other such. That is what I use to amend all of the garden beds as well as fertilizing the lawn. Some goes towards top dressing, some is tilled in. This summer I was able to prep a new vegetable garden with around a 1000lbs of manure mixed into a dump-truck load of topsoil. We will see how it does next year. This season was purely to prepare it and clean up the weeds.

I am now making plans for my first outdoor grow. I have grown lots of other stuff, but never MJ. I am figuring that it should be very similar to growing tomatoes... I hope.

Here is what I have done so far:


I have begun 4 planting beds. Each hole is about 16-18" in diameter and 8-10" deep. I will be adding a 4'x4'x8" raised bed around the holes. That should give me 16-18" of depth for each spot. The 4'x4'x8" raised beds will also give alot of space for root growth. I haven't decided what will go in the raised beds yet, so I would love some suggestions.


For now I have added a thing layer of sharp sand (used for stucco and masonry), partially composted chicken manure, mixed ash, and a touch of lawn clippings, topped with another thing layer of sand. All of that will settle over the winter. I may add some insulation over the holes to help ensure good decomposition. I could add some alfalfa to it. I have lots of that...


And this is just to do something different... I have grown potatoes in stacks of tires before. I'll fill it with a topsoil mix in the early spring. Then add 4 stakes around the outside of the tire coming together into a pyramid. I can then plant directly into the center of the tire, and add a water blanket wrap (used with tomatoes for warmth). Wrapping around the pyramid will be a double layer of plastic sheeting. The black tire is warmed by the sun and then acts as a heat source warming the soil and the air. It continues to give off heat as the nighttime temperatures drop to freezing. Instant greenhouse with a heat sink built right in. It should allow me to plant several weeks early. That is the plan at least.

So what do people think???
What am I doing wrong and where should change things?
I will probably do some teas during the growing and flowering times, so I am not trying to create a super soil grow. I do want the holes to be prep'd though.

So bring on the thoughts and ideas!! I'm having fun so tell me what else I could do.

FYI... the last picture is wrong. I can't seem to get the Edit option to work though so it is going to stay there.

This is what it was supposed to be.

Interesting for sure. You might get a tired grow or wheelie good one.

OddBall1st said:

Interesting for sure. You might get a tired grow or wheelie good one.

Click to expand...

I just lost my drink lol

LOL
That sounds good to me!!

Ps. The site for these holes has been a patch of clover for the last 2 years, so there is a good amount of nitrogen fixed in the soil already.

So I'm thinking about adding a bit of soil mix before insulating for the winter. I could also add a small amount of kitchen compost. I just don't know if it's ready yet. What I put in is hot enough already.

I guess I could also add some bacteria to it with the water. Might speed up the decomposition process. I could use some ideas with this part.

Planned additions to the mix Before the Temperature truly drops:

- Kelp - I have some ground kelp that I use for the livestock as a mineral supplement.
- Alfalfa - Also livestock feed.
- Bacteria - I think I have a mix used for composting. Meant to help inoculate a compost bin and speed up the decomp.
- Topsoil - A thin layer (4") to cover everything.
- Insulation - rigid styro to lengthen the decomp time into the cold weather. I will need to remove this in the spring to help warm the holes.

I'm thinking about doing a few more smaller spots. I could plant the Auto seeds in May with some frost protection. Should give me an early harvest while I wait for the big four.

I'll have to decide how I am going to be starting the big four. Inside to veg for 4 weeks before moving them outside?? I may not have enough space to use the 2 gallon pots. I could do 1 gallon pots but I feel like that would just slow them down in the long run... But then it also might help to give a solid root ball to start with before putting in the big holes... I would like to have them well underway before putting them in the holes... I could start them inside then transplant into larger (2-5 gallon) pots in the small greenhouse, then move into the holes once the weather is warm enough... That would make for a really good start!!


So what do you think? Any of this sound reasonable? Or am I just going to screw it all?

Sounds like you have a green thumb and understand soil and raised beds. Hope you can grow em big cause your on the right track.

You are definitely on the right track! Although if you want to, make the hole bigger for monster plants
Try 5 gallon buckets. And if you need to can pull it out the ground to bring inside

BSD,
Are you thinking like a 3'x3' hole?
My growing season is only so long. Plus the current hole with 4'x4' raised bed gives quite a bit of good soil.
I can always go bigger though. I'll be doing a bit more work out there on the weekend. I have about 3 yards of manure compost at the moment. Chicken and sheep manure with a mixture of other stuff in it. Lots to work with.

I have 1, 2, 3, and 5 gallon pots. Lots of possibilities to work with. That is part of why I am interested in what others think and like to do. I am always open to trying new things.

When I plant fruit trees I have gotten into using a big auger and drilling down 4' or more into the clay. I add a mixture of manure, compost and good soil. that fill the augered hole which is in the base of the actual hole. Creates a place for the roots to reach down to where the water will collect and stay. It also creates a res of nutrients that the trees can use for quite a while. It works well unless what I add is too hot and not ready to be used. I have killed a few trees doing this. They start out really well and then sudden turn brown and die. Fried! All I can say is F@*%ing CHICKEN manure!!

Thank you for the encouragement and the ideas.

I wonder what Diatomaceous Earth would do if added to the mix? I think it is basically Silica. Might help with stem strength...
It does help with pest control when dusted on the ground and on the plants. Those creepy crawly insects (like mites, ants, and aphids) don't like it.

Anyone use this before?

One Hundred Posts!! Yay!

i am reading carefully what you shared.i really wish i knew how to help!!

Good prep! I second the bigger hole idea.

BCJohn said:

I wonder what Diatomaceous Earth would do if added to the mix? I think it is basically Silica. Might help with stem strength...
It does help with pest control when dusted on the ground and on the plants. Those creepy crawly insects (like mites, ants, and aphids) don't like it.

Anyone use this before?

One Hundred Posts!! Yay!

Click to expand...

Ive read that grandular DE is used as an soil amendment. Cactus growers use it. It helps with drainage and I believe it's supposed to help with root development.

Thanks BWG. Interesting. If the plant can adsorb a bit of it I can see how it might help with the root growth.

I have enough space to add one more big hole... That would mean Five big plants. Shit that is way more potential bud than I could smoke. I'm a total lightweight. I'm doing this more for the fun of growing than the producing part. In some ways I would be happy to just grow and give it away.

I could put one of my Sativas in a 3'x3' hole. It would have a bit of protection from the wind as there is a building there and I would be able to tie it if it gets too lanky. I wonder what it would be like to LST a 10' sativa tree?? I like that idea. Start them inside then transplant into the 5gallon pots in the greenhouse. Then transplant them into the holes for the summer as soon as the frost risk is gone. I could have 6 weeks of veg time before putting them into the ground! That would give a total growing season of around 6 months. That is really good for this far North. I would have to be careful about the hours of light though. Plan it very carefully to sink my indoor hours with the hours outside so that the transition doesn't cause them to flower. That would really suck.

So I've added insulation to the holes. This is just to extend the amount of time the composting can continue into the late fall. Should be good for another 4-6 weeks of decomp.

Time to do the 3'x3' hole.

3'x3' hole is now done... Ok it's not actually 3'x3'. I'm not feeling well today so I only did a 2'x2' hole. Still a good size hole.

I dug it out and then filled most of it back up again. I put in a mixture of sharp sand and 3 year old sheep/hay manure. Well composted along with a bit of the topsoil that has been underneath it for the last 3 years. The worms have been living there the whole time so it should be really good and very active biologically. Hopefully it will be a good base to start with. I'll add some more things to it in the spring; potting soil, more manure, alfalfa, peat or sphagnum, seaweed, etc.

If I can get some good plants growing in these holes I'll be very happy. They might actually grow fairly large. I might need to grow a bit of a camouflage screen around them... I'm thinking corn and sunflowers would do well. I can get lots of both.

I'm thinking that if things do well this summer I will turn these into permanent spots. I can build the raised beds up a couple of feet and just continue to add more organics every fall. Only question would be what to to plant each year.

Winter is in full swing. Temps crashed and the snow came.
The holes are now encased in an icy blanket. To hibernate quietly for the next few months while the winter winds howl above them. In the gentle spring they will slowly awaken in preparation for new growth.

By the time spring comes I will have FEM seeds ready to be sprouted and grown till ready for planting.

I will be setting up miniature greenhouses for them to start. Double walled for heat retention and stone for heat storage and weed control. If everything goes well I will have them in the ground by the middle of May and growing well by June. I should get 8 weeks of veg time. I am really looking forward to seeing what I can grow. I still haven't decided if I will plant a couple of autos as well. They would be for fun just to see what they would grow like.

I intend to do some brewing of teas when the summer arrives. I have enough basic ingredients that I could add in to the teas. I don't need to buy much for that. Rain collected in barrels for drip feeding and tea brewing. Lots of sun and likely some good heat. It all should give us some good growth.

I will need to grow a good hedge of corn and sunflowers to mask the grow area. I am more nervous about growing those than the MJ.