First Organic Grow Attempt To Be Made, Questions Thread

[SpawnOfVader]

So if I do quality mulching, I dont need to do cover crops?

Personally I don't do cover crops. Instead I add 10% biochar to my soils. It simulates something like a Terra Preta soil, the massive surface area of the carbon matrix allows beneficial bactera to thrive. Then I foliar feed with an aerobic compost tea (keep an aquarium bubbler going when I brew it and then use immediately). I top dress with compost or worm castings between seasons and mix one of the two into the soil with all new plantings.

I do mulch however for weeds- something that a living mulch can help with instead. I use cypress mulch for most things- locally produced and it doesn't float away when you water/it rains. As long as you avoid cedar you should be fine (oils in cedar can kill off beneficial microbes).

 

[Northwood]

So if I do quality mulching, I dont need to do cover crops?

I didn't use cover crops in my soil before my first cycle. I just added a thick mulch instead. The way I use cover crops in no-till is basically to soak up any nutrients as they become available (especially nitrogen) when nearing the end of flower into my next seedling stage when their nutrient demands are much smaller. The nutrients taken by the cover crop are given back to the soil in later veg and early flower, while also continuously adding organic matter deep into the soil with their dead roots. So a cover crop for me is for nutrient regulation, keeping living roots all the time in my soil to keep the mycorrhizal fungi happy, keeping the bacteria well fed with fresh material, and to increase stable carbon sequestered in the soil.

I don't get creatures coming from my grow pot or tent. I'm more worried about something in the house finding its way inside that likes to eat green plants. I avoid keeping house plants in the same room as my grow tent for that reason.

 

[NightSpider]

I didn't use cover crops in my soil before my first cycle. I just added a thick mulch instead. The way I use cover crops in no-till is basically to soak up any nutrients as they become available (especially nitrogen) when nearing the end of flower into my next seedling stage when their nutrient demands are much smaller. The nutrients taken by the cover crop are given back to the soil in later veg and early flower, while also continuously adding organic matter deep into the soil with their dead roots. So a cover crop for me is for nutrient regulation, keeping living roots all the time in my soil to keep the mycorrhizal fungi happy, keeping the bacteria well fed with fresh material, and to increase stable carbon sequestered in the soil.

I don't get creatures coming from my grow pot or tent. I'm more worried about something in the house finding its way inside that likes to eat green plants. I avoid keeping house plants in the same room as my grow tent for that reason.

So after mid flowering you plant cover crop seeds which use nutrients to grow, storing them through their growth and roots, aerating the soil and giving it structure and helping the bacteria and the fungi. As those pull nutrients, it is like a flush at the end of flowering. So you kill the cover crops in early veg and lay them on the soil to decompose and work its way into the soik like a mulch?

 

[Northwood]

So after mid flowering you plant cover crop seeds which use nutrients to grow, storing them through their growth and roots, aerating the soil and giving it structure and helping the bacteria and the fungi. As those pull nutrients, it is like a flush at the end of flowering. So you kill the cover crops in early veg and lay them on the soil to decompose and work its way into the soik like a mulch?

Yes exactly. I've started a new cycle about 4 weeks ago and I describe the approach in detail here: https://www.rollitup.org/t/one-pink-lemonade-no-till-cycle-7-in-4-foot-diameter-pot-5x5-tent.1028655/

This same soil is now growing its 7th crop cycle now without disturbing the soil at all.

 

[NightSpider]

Yes exactly. I've started a new cycle about 4 weeks ago and I describe the approach in detail here: https://www.rollitup.org/t/one-pink-lemonade-no-till-cycle-7-in-4-foot-diameter-pot-5x5-tent.1028655/

This same soil is now growing its 7th crop cycle now without disturbing the soil at all.

I have 2 further questions if I may.

1) Is the pot round because soil in the corners is unnecessary, any reason not to get a square one?

2) Can you tell me what you use for cover crops so I can see if I can get my hands on some?

 

[Northwood]

I have 2 further questions if I may.

1) Is the pot round because soil in the corners is unnecessary, any reason not to get a square one?

2) Can you tell me what you use for cover crops so I can see if I can get my hands on some?

Having a round pot in a square tent allows me to see any runoff should it occur in the corners, and easily suck it up with my little shop vac. Plus the shape was cheapest and most available at the time I started. Yeah it's wasted floor space in a way, and in a smaller tent I would have figured out a different system to deal with runoff and gone with a square pot that would fill the entire tent floor space.

Most of the cover crop seeds I use come from the local grocery store, like lentils and mung beans, peas and such. Feel free to experiment. You can also buy clover mixes and annual rye grass seeds from most garden centers. I also collect seeds myself, like from the hairy vetch that grows wild now around here on the edges of ditches. Diversity is a good thing to have. Ensure you inoculate all the legumes you grow with a bacterial mix for the purpose. The inoculant can also be found at also any store that sells gardening supplies.

 

[NightSpider]

Having a round pot in a square tent allows me to see any runoff should it occur in the corners, and easily suck it up with my little shop vac. Plus the shape was cheapest and most available at the time I started. Yeah it's wasted floor space in a way, and in a smaller tent I would have figured out a different system to deal with runoff and gone with a square pot that would fill the entire tent floor space.

Most of the cover crop seeds I use come from the local grocery store, like lentils and mung beans, peas and such. Feel free to experiment. You can also buy clover mixes and annual rye grass seeds from most garden centers. I also collect seeds myself, like from the hairy vetch that grows wild now around here on the edges of ditches. Diversity is a good thing to have. Ensure you inoculate all the legumes you grow with a bacterial mix for the purpose. The inoculant can also be found at also any store that sells gardening supplies.

Hey Northwood. Could you check this thread out when you have time? Anyone else is welcome too.

 

[Northwood]

Hey Northwood. Could you check this thread out when you have time? Anyone else is welcome too.

Which thread?

 

[myke]

Which thread?

Cannibis overloadis is my .02

 

[NightSpider]

Which thread?

Cannibis overloadis is my .02

I was so high lol

Organic No Till Recycled Soil Recipe Research Post

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oIjMABt3va-v6pxiYmD76M5uihG0XxD99FEAwSXLjjM/edit?usp=sharing Hello, I am planning to start a single big bed/pot in a 4x4 tent. I mean to do recycled no till organic grow with cover crops and all. I am at the stage of researcing exactly what to mix into the...

www.rollitup.org

 

[NightSpider]

Which thread?

Leaf Diagnosis- Cant tell what it is

This is a auto ak47 plant in mid flowering.

www.rollitup.org

could you also have a look at this

 

[Northwood]

Leaf Diagnosis- Cant tell what it is

This is a auto ak47 plant in mid flowering.

www.rollitup.org

could you also have a look at this

If I had issues that I thought were caused by nutrient imbalances, I'd get a soil test done. While many deficiencies have certain visible characteristics that could identify them, you have no idea what caused the deficiency. For example, something you have too much of might cause a deficiency in another nutrient. So you can post photos of necrotic or yellowing leaves all day long on various forums, and get the answer "you need calmag!" or "potassium buddy, quick!" and frankly I would not comment or provide any advice on such a thread except what I'm giving you now. You need testing.

If all the nutrients available to your plant come from other dead plant material that was healthy while alive, then to me it represents a relatively balanced meal of whatever that original plant required and built into its biomass to be happy, including all the micronutrients it depended on. No need to calculate, or estimate, or whatever. Nature has worked this way long before humans were around.

I think this approach is pretty damn fool proof. I've never seen health or nutrient issues with my no-till plants, and the ironic thing is that I've never given them nutrients or even compost "teas" or whatever after 7 times using the same old soil without disturbing it. No premature yellowing of leaves, no burnt leaf tips, no necrotic areas, nothing. This isn't a skill that I have, it's really a "NON-SKILL" lol, because I literally almost do nothing at all except ensure a constant input of organic material over top of my humus layer. That's it.

 

[Northwood]

For this I have had an idea in mind. A pot at the bottom to collect runoff water (also for occasional ph testing etc), a raised metal platform with holes standing on legs put on the pot at the bottom, and on that metal platform the fabric pot. If there is runoff, it pours out of the bottom of the pot, goes thrpugh the holes in the platfrom down into the removable pool. Is it a good idea, you think?

I don't think I replied to this one yet, but I have a bit of time tonight

In many commercial no-till grows, they have these raised indoor 8X4 beds with drainage into a lower catch basin to catch any runoff. That's usually just gravity fed into collector tanks on the floor for disposal for recycling. Honestly testing the pH or EC of your runoff in no-till won't tell you much of anything, and will probably give you deceiving results causing you to freak out and put something in your grow you probably shouldn't be adding. Keep it simple. Like dumb simple.

 

[myke]

I like dumb simple lol,
About soil testing,when cooking a batch when should one send in a sample? Im just at 20 days.Thanks.

 

[Northwood]

About soil testing,when cooking a batch when should one send in a sample? Im just at 20 days.Thanks.

By "cooking" I assume you've added a lot of raw organic material in your mix that you're waiting for colonizing bacteria to breakdown, so that when your plants go in they have something available from the get-go? To be honest I've never given my soil any time to cook. I start with a good potting soil (organic certified) that usually has enough available nutrients to certainly sustain a tiny seedling. The plants nutrient requirements will increase slowly over the first few weeks anyway, giving enough time for the life in your soil to get up to speed when called upon.

I watch the carbon/nitrogen ratio of the organic material to my mix. Too high a carbon content will cause the bacteria to rob any free nitrogen produced in the soil in order to break down all that carbon, and I'd need to allow time before planting until you achieve some sort of equilibrium. I avoid that mess by not including rough high carbon biomass in your mix (think things like sawdust here).

I think a soil test can be done at any time, provided they measure total values of nutrients that aren't yet available to your plants too. It can form a useful benchmark to see how well things are going later on.

 

[myke]

By "cooking" I assume you've added a lot of raw organic material in your mix that you're waiting for colonizing bacteria to breakdown, so that when your plants go in they have something available from the get-go? To be honest I've never given my soil any time to cook. I start with a good potting soil (organic certified) that usually has enough available nutrients to certainly sustain a tiny seedling. The plants nutrient requirements will increase slowly over the first few weeks anyway, giving enough time for the life in your soil to get up to speed when called upon.

I watch the carbon/nitrogen ratio of the organic material to my mix. Too high a carbon content will cause the bacteria to rob any free nitrogen produced in the soil in order to break down all that carbon, and I'd need to allow time before planting until you achieve some sort of equilibrium. I avoid that mess by not including rough high carbon biomass in your mix (think things like sawdust here).

I think a soil test can be done at any time, provided they measure total values of nutrients that aren't yet available to your plants too. It can form a useful benchmark to see how well things are going later on.

Yes I have some kelp alfalfa rock dust etc,Im thinking the 33% compost /EWC I added should carry a clone through 2-3 weeks by that time it should have some life.
Ill wait a month and send a test in.
Thanks.