ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
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.
well there's more than one aspect to the industry. sure there are people out there who don't sell the highest quality seeds. stay away from them. do your research. but don't discount the fact that there are breeders out there who put out 1st class genetics and if you buy from them, you won't be disappointed. if they're too expensive for you, then don't buy them. easy enough right? to each their own.
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
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!
Hey man, good to see you. Happy New Year to you as well! glad to hear you're getting over the set backs! it's not always easy is it? lol
 

Joe Blows Trees

Well-Known Member
Not at all, but if you're determined and learn from your experiences, you'll be that much better next time around. I'm so thankful I have a good amount of seeds from each cross I made before the mayhem so now I can grow them out and properly stabilize them. I'm extremely happy to be growing again. It's so calming.
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Lovely buds, and really nice-looking VC! I envy your amounts too :p haha

was this pun intentional??!!! LOL
LOL not the original. spontaneous thought, but yes, by the time I posted it :bigjoint:

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?!?
Ah a bunch of interesting thoughts there, thank you!

Indeed, how much of topdress is equivalent to the nutrients being cycled into our plant (and out of our soil).. If we just added back the whole plant, containing everything she ever took out of the soil, we should be good, right? haha
I've currently got a similar question hanging around regarding K. I was looking for data to ascertain whether I could replace comfrey for the kelp, and while that didn't go well (incomplete datasets, different analysis methods/categories, and inconsistencies that don't hardly allow any conclusions at all - here's what I could find: https://www.dropbox.com/s/brccq2tjzpexnhs/kelp-vs-comfrey.ods?dl=0 -- you'll see the dilemma) I did see high levels of K, even more in the comfrey than the kelp. Whereby I am less worried about single highly dosed amendments than the surreptitious addition of nutrient compositions over longer periods of time, perhaps accumulating excesses that at some point hit back boomerang style lol ( the lesson MustangStudfarm's experience taught us with his completely excessive mix hangs over me like the sword of Damocles haha)

As for plant cycle, I am currently operating from the assumption that plant infrastructure (i.e. root systems) are in their bulk established before flower, i.e.that essential basis for the good yield is mainly built in veg. I extrapolate this from the fact that microbial populations in the soils have a distinct seasonal pattern, with very high bacterial action in spring for the nitrates which heats up to early summer, slumps, and then resumes action in the autumn again (but way less than in the springtime). I.e.,by the time plants go into flower/fruit/seed production, microbial activity (which we remember is being steered by the plant) actually declines. This is definitely true of the nitrogen cycle, where (as far as I have understood) ammonium is made available by microbes NOT transforming it into nitrate form later in the growth cycle.
Now, whether that can be extrapolated like that, I am not sure ;) Hence, my current plan is to monitor microbial development in my pots to see whether this holds true.
It's going to be a little while until I can do that though, as it turned out my microbial herds are a far throw from where I want them: highly bacterial, with incredible bacterial-feeding nematode populations grazing on those masses - but hardly any protozoa. Just for an idea: 3000 bacterial feeders and what I've been classifying as omnivores in my VC - with quite some diversity, there are 6-7 kinds I find regularly (desired for our level of succession are at 100-500/g MIXED bacterial fungal feeders AND predators!). My NLH got the brunt of my explorations and was showing discomfort and the propensity to start showing some sort of "deficiency" signs (nitrogen, iron, sulfur, two days of Calmag signs?!?) at any moment.... until I was able to culture a hay infusion with 300K/ml of diverse protozoa and watered that in. She's stabilized since and I'm about to reassess the soils to see whether it has indeed developed a more balanced microbial herd ;)
Yeah and then there (probably) aren't any predatory nematodes to keep the bacterial feeders/omnivores in check, AND I'm missing the whole fungal section in my systems. Where there are no good amounts of fungi, there won't be any fungal feeders either, right!
So for now, I'm learning patience (or trying to haha) and looking to create contexts into which these missing partners will migrate and establish good population I can then inoculate: a little pine bark pile I threw in between the cherry tree and the raspberries in the garden, the "leaf mold" wormbin, and I found a chestnut three backyards away that is the only chestnut I've seen unaffected by the Pseudomonas, so that soil is an interesting possible inoculant too...

As for my no-tills, I've had to start over after leaving the old pot fallow for pretty much the whole year, so all my soils are recycled soils on their first run now. I'm pretty much following DonTesla's proportions with his organic and inorganic aeration with an eye for diversity of materials too, but sticking more to MountainOrganics' recipe in the no-till revisited thread over at GC, for its simplicity and concept of conditioning the soil for a few rounds of growing before it is fully established. It's just kelp, neem, malted barley/powder, coconut water (which I'm substituting with sprouts juice - last one, fed on the threshold of my plants going into flower, being of alfalfa seeds), aloe, silica (which I'm skipping, I've got DE running through my wormbin, in the soil mix, and being topdressed occasionally, so I'm thinking that's covered), and fulvics, being added in small portions on a regular schedule.
Sadly I don't have access to BIoAg for the fulvics on this side of the pond. So in its stead I've ordered humics (leonardite-extracted, just hoping they didn't fuck that up), which should arrive here in the next days and which I hope will also help build up the fungal side of my ecosystems.
And of course I'm also still blending up any plant parts I remove to feed directly back, have the occasional comfrey leaf mulched in here and there, and still topdress VC (which I'm adding aerating materials to during production now) whenever I have something that can improve the pot ecosystem. LOL another pun

I'm starting to get lost in my little world now so it's time to stop writing haha
Cheers!
 
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ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Lovely buds, and really nice-looking VC! I envy your amounts too :p haha


LOL not the original. spontaneous thought, but yes, by the time I posted it :bigjoint:


Ah a bunch of interesting thoughts there, thank you!

Indeed, how much of topdress is equivalent to the nutrients being cycled into our plant (and out of our soil).. If we just added back the whole plant, containing everything she ever took out of the soil, we should be good, right? haha
I've currently got a similar question hanging around regarding K. I was looking for data to ascertain whether I could replace comfrey for the kelp, and while that didn't go well (incomplete datasets, different analysis methods/categories, and inconsistencies that don't hardly allow any conclusions at all - here's what I could find: https://www.dropbox.com/s/brccq2tjzpexnhs/kelp-vs-comfrey.ods?dl=0 -- you'll see the dilemma) I did see high levels of K, even more in the comfrey than the kelp. Whereby I am less worried about single highly dosed amendments than the surreptitious addition of nutrient compositions over longer periods of time, perhaps accumulating excesses that at some point hit back boomerang style lol ( the lesson MustangStudfarm's experience taught us with his completely excessive mix hangs over me like the sword of Damocles haha)

As for plant cycle, I am currently operating from the assumption that plant infrastructure (i.e. root systems) are in their bulk established before flower, i.e.that essential basis for the good yield is mainly built in veg. I extrapolate this from the fact that microbial populations in the soils have a distinct seasonal pattern, with very high bacterial action in spring for the nitrates which heats up to early summer, slumps, and then resumes action in the autumn again (but way less than in the springtime). I.e.,by the time plants go into flower/fruit/seed production, microbial activity (which we remember is being steered by the plant) actually declines. This is definitely true of the nitrogen cycle, where (as far as I have understood) ammonium is made available by microbes NOT transforming it into nitrate form later in the growth cycle.
Now, whether that can be extrapolated like that, I am not sure ;) Hence, my current plan is to monitor microbial development in my pots to see whether this holds true.
It's going to be a little while until I can do that though, as it turned out my microbial herds are a far throw from where I want them: highly bacterial, with incredible bacterial-feeding nematode populations grazing on those masses - but hardly any protozoa. Just for an idea: 3000 bacterial feeders and what I've been classifying as omnivores in my VC - with quite some diversity, there are 6-7 kinds I find regularly (desired for our level of succession are at 100-500/g MIXED bacterial fungal feeders AND predators!). My NLH got the brunt of my explorations and was showing discomfort and the propensity to start showing some sort of "deficiency" signs (nitrogen, iron, sulfur, two days of Calmag signs?!?) at any moment.... until I was able to culture a hay infusion with 300K/ml of diverse protozoa and watered that in. She's stabilized since and I'm about to reassess the soils to see whether it has indeed developed a more balanced microbial herd ;)
Yeah and then there (probably) aren't any predatory nematodes to keep the bacterial feeders/omnivores in check, AND I'm missing the whole fungal section in my systems. Where there are no good amounts of fungi, there won't be any fungal feeders either, right!
So for now, I'm learning patience (or trying to haha) and looking to create contexts into which these missing partners will migrate and establish good population I can then inoculate: a little pine bark pile I threw in between the cherry tree and the raspberries in the garden, the "leaf mold" wormbin, and I found a chestnut three backyards away that is the only chestnut I've seen unaffected by the Pseudomonas, so that soil is an interesting possible inoculant too...

As for my no-tills, I've had to start over after leaving the old pot fallow for pretty much the whole year, so all my soils are recycled soils on their first run now. I'm pretty much following DonTesla's proportions with his organic and inorganic aeration with an eye for diversity of materials too, but sticking more to MountainOrganics' recipe in the no-till revisited thread over at GC, for its simplicity and concept of conditioning the soil for a few rounds of growing before it is fully established. It's just kelp, neem, malted barley/powder, coconut water (which I'm substituting with sprouts juice - last one, fed on the threshold of my plants going into flower, being of alfalfa seeds), aloe, silica (which I'm skipping, I've got DE running through my wormbin, in the soil mix, and being topdressed occasionally, so I'm thinking that's covered), and fulvics, being added in small portions on a regular schedule.
Sadly I don't have access to BIoAg for the fulvics on this side of the pond. So in its stead I've ordered humics (leonardite-extracted, just hoping they didn't fuck that up), which should arrive here in the next days and which I hope will also help build up the fungal side of my ecosystems.
And of course I'm also still blending up any plant parts I remove to feed directly back, have the occasional comfrey leaf mulched in here and there, and still topdress VC (which I'm adding aerating materials to during production now) whenever I have something that can improve the pot ecosystem. LOL another pun

I'm starting to get lost in my little world now so it's time to stop writing haha
Cheers!
while i do agree that a well grown plant before flipping does build the necessary infrastructure to support a harvest of the highest potential, i have noticed that with the smaller pots that I recycle after the run is done there is an extensive network of roots that literally aggregate the entire mass of the compost + nutrient topdress that I apply during flowering. Also, I have noticed substantial yield increases of up to 25% and I anticipate that to go as high as 35% when I dial everything in properly. Perhaps if i had the time necessary to make teas for these girls again I may see that full potential.

have you thought about using greensand for you K needs? I generally don't consider kelp an adequate source of K. If you think about it, 1% of its weight by volume is K. when you apply 1/2 cup of kelp, you're adding hardly any K at all! I generally think of it as a means of increasing micronutrients, vitamins and its other benefits.

we must also remember that when growing indoors, things like seasonal fluctuations do not exist because we do not experience the temperature swings that exist in the outdoor world. we also should rarely have moisture deficits due to the fact that we take very good care of our ladies :)

it's getting late. my brain is fried. we'll continue this tomorrow :)
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Took the brainwrecks today. They were still foxtailing like crazy, but the rest of the plant was mature. Very happy with the results for the 1st run of these notills. I have noticed though, with each following run in the no-tills, the plants get better and better! These were about 9.5 weeks from 12/12.BW1.jpg BW2.jpg BW3.jpg

think i have some K def symptoms, mainly the necrosis of the leaf margins and tips. Not exactly sure though. gonna spend some time looking into it.

Cheers!
 
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ANC

Well-Known Member
I commend your effort, the small compost heap is of little use other than slow cold composting.
You need quite big heap of compost for the thermal process to work properly, and then you need to keep turning it to prevent anaerobic pockets and to get uncomposted stuff back to the inside.

It is more work than it is worth for most.
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
I commend your effort, the small compost heap is of little use other than slow cold composting.
You need quite big heap of compost for the thermal process to work properly, and then you need to keep turning it to prevent anaerobic pockets and to get uncomposted stuff back to the inside.

It is more work than it is worth for most.
i had no problems maintaining temp early on, but i didn't have any high N inputs.

my next attempt at thermal will be the following: 2 parts coffee grounds, 4 parts fresh grass clippings, 5 parts leaves. I think that will be enough to keep it hot for 2 weeks. We'll see how it goes next year. The coffee grounds should be enough high N to get the job done.

but it's just hard for me to maintain the pile as i'm gone 4.5/7 days of the week. so for now, slow composting, and vermicomposting is doing the trick! i have ~4 cu. ft. of compost home made right now, and with a couple cu. ft. of malibu's on the shopping list, i should be in good shape to get 4 more no tills going :)
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Haha reading this gets me all excited :mrgreen:
Congrats on the chop, she surely kept you busy for a while today!
wasn't too bad actually. my buddy and i dropped both of them in 4.5 hours with several breaks in there. I had them cleaned out pretty good. Zero larf in the lowers. Nice and easy, just the way i like it :)

and yeah, definitely notice the big pots take at least one run to get fired up nicely. something about that first run for some reason just doesn't seem 100%. Looking forward to getting some new no tills going here soon. gonna work on that tomorrow, get a couple mixes together and fill the two 20 gals i just bought :hump:
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Took the brainwrecks today. They were still foxtailing like crazy, but the rest of the plant was mature. Very happy with the results for the 1st run of these notills. I have noticed though, with each following run in the no-tills, the plants get better and better! These were about 9.5 weeks from 12/12.View attachment 4068163 View attachment 4068164 View attachment 4068165

think i have some K def symptoms, mainly the necrosis of the leaf margins and tips. Not exactly sure though. gonna spend some time looking into it.

Cheers!
Gorgeous bud Shluby keep up the good works
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Two rather large confidential cheese I just flipped on saturday. I'll try and do weekend updates on these when i come home for the entire flower cycle. First day in flower i hit them with EWC compost extract + fish hydro just to give them a nice boost to start with. Next weekend I will give them aloe watering. These two big girls should do really well! They are in 10gal fabrics. after they are done, these pots will come together as one to make a new no-till. my goal is to be entirely no til by the end of April.

ConCheese.jpg
:peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace::peace:
 

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
ooo exciting news too.... i will be getting a cut of white widow (which i have wanted for a reaaaaaaally long time and this one smells AMAZING and has nice bud structure), TGA's shangri-la (a 60/40 sativa dom, 9lb hammer x fudo myo-o), and a cut of this really fire blueberry that has amazing terps and taste. Should be getting all of these in within the next month and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

also, i'm thinking about picking up a tent and a LED to do the perkins cut (high CBD strain with <1% THC, cannatonic is the strain) so it doesn't mess with my perpetual cycle of the THC stuff. I really only need to do one large plant at a time of the perkins, and having a tent dedicated to it would be ideal!

more on all this in the weeks to come :)
 

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
GCO = grass city organics i take it?
That is correct. I just didn't want to violate any 'rules' linking to another forum, but this is what Coot was refering to AFA "quality vermicompost".

A friend of Coot who clued us in to this is more a small organic farmer than a mj producer and his 'testing' covered a wide variety of plants both indoors and out, both soil and container mixes, nearly all no till.

Just taking what we're doing now with our worm bins to the next level and pretty much what @greasemonkeymann has been going on about for years.
 

Joe Blows Trees

Well-Known Member
Congrats on the cuts and I'm still holding on to hope I'll get some good blueberry seeds or a clone one day. I have gotten to try blueberry once and I really liked it.
 
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