No Till Root Temp Concerns

RIKNSTEIN said:

If you're running TLO then no problem man, try sticking a meat thermometer into the soil even at 67F on the floor my soil is still between 75-78F it's that little community you have going in there. I also run a TLO but I till in a compost bin peace and nice looking plants man

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Northern Boxer said:

Thanks RIKNSTEIN, Yeah the soil readings are with a continuous monitoring probe......just thought it seemed low but also have been having challenges keeping the tent temps up in general without a space heater since I went LED.

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Northern Boxer said:

Thanks RIKNSTEIN, Yeah the soil readings are with a continuous monitoring probe......just thought it seemed low but also have been having challenges keeping the tent temps up in general without a space heater since I went LED.

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RIKNSTEIN said:

Hows that LED working for ya? I tried a couple, but nothing compares to my 1000w HPS, not for under $1,200 anyway. So I stick with my $165 dollar light
And if you're having problems with temps in your soil, might want to think about re-amending JMO

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ShLUbY said:

the thing is... there is no science to determine what the optimum temp is for living soils in indoor environments... so anything anyone tells you is just based on nothing but their own experiences. you could try putting some seedling heat mats under your containers to try and warm up the soil a bit... but honestly I think 65 is a fine temperature. If you look at soil temperatures in the natural world... they are just as low as your pots. the only portion that warms significantly is the surface (especially when exposed to sunlight). I would be willing to bet that soil temps of mid latitude environments between 4 and 24 inches (of depth) rarely exceed 70 deg unless their surfaces are directly exposed to sun. I would only be concerned if the temp dropped to like 55 or lower to significantly affect microbial or root processes. On an unrelated note... I know that 55 deg. is kinda the threshold value that we look for when hunting morels in the spring. once the soil temps get that warm, it's time to start looking.

most importantly, another way to look at it is like this... your soil temperature is going to select for microbes that are able to thrive and survive in your growing environment. Nature is all about selection. this is why it's important to inoculate your compost, whether it's outdoor or worm farm or whatever, with diverse communities of microorganisms so you have more chance at increasing the diversity of the community in your grow. This can be done by collecting bits of soil, plant debris, and fungi from your local environment because they are selected for by temperatures (among other factors) in your local area. It doesn't take much either... A tablespoon of soil from here, and one from over there, one from the forest, one from your garden, one from a natural field/grassland.... you get the point. Then when you introduce them to your growing environment through application of your compost (Elaine Ingham says this is the best way to introduce them) they will be chosen by natural selection for your environment.

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Northern Boxer said:

Thanks ShLUbY, always good advice. Do you introduce through top dressing or compost tea?

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ShLUbY said:

i usually put stuff in my worm bin so it can take care of most possible pathogens (through enzymatic processing in the worm gut). then i just topdress the finished compost. I'm not a big tea guy because i don't have a scope... so I can never quantify what exactly I'm brewing. usually if I want to do a "tea" application, I go for the compost extract... just massage some compost in a filter bag in a bucket of water for a few minutes to dislodge the organisms from compost material. then I just water that extract.

gonna start increasing fungal foods in my worm bin as well... i fear its very bacterial dominated because I don't often include those fungal foods. time to start experimenting!

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Northern Boxer said:

ShLUbY, up to this point (6 weeks of veg) I have not applied any amendments to my soil other than one watering with fish hydroslate . I know in previous posts you indicated that you were using a variant of the CC mix and wondered what your process was outside of water only leading up to 12/12 which I plan in the next 10 days or so. When and what do you top dress with as I start to reduce my N and lean more towards PK at this stage? I have a good quality fish based compost, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, malted barley and insect frass on hand but not sure of the ratios to apply as part of a top dressing regime. Lots of antidocal evidence to be found but wondering what your approach is as you seems to get consistent results. Thanks.

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ShLUbY said:

the fish hydro you are using is good once in a while. it's a good fungal food for sure.

I literally add nothing in veg. water only. vegging plants don't have a high demand for nutrients like flowering plants do.

lately at the first week of flower is when I've been applying about a 1/2 cup of amendments mixed in with compost as a topdress.

just make sure the soil has that full spectrum of nutrients and the plant will take what it wants when it wants it. Dont worry about boosting this or that.

I've had good success with just mixing up some amendments. for your available supply... I'd mix 2 TBSP each: Malted Barley, Kelp Meal, Insect Frass into enough fish compost for about 1" application and call it a day. that's a little under 1/2 cup for each plant and should do you just fine.

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