Organic No Dig - Winging it!

KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
Ok guys, gonna try to lay it out here. I pulled the trigger and decided I'd just figure it out as I went.

40 gallon tote. Was vermiculture bin. Worms drowned (oops). I added peat/perlite/sand to the worm compost / organic matter that was left in the bin to fill it out. Along with a little lime to PH down and some epsom. I've been feeding compost tea. Hadn't watered in 12 days when I took the pic. Trying to stimulate roots to search, never showed signs of under watering. Soil holds water like a champ. PH after 12 days of no water was about 5.8. With compost tea / wood ash PH is stable at 6.8. It will lower slowly as medium dries. Trying to stay in 6.2-6.7 range. Also started foliar feed (tea) at lights on today.

600w MH w/ HPS to switch in. Incoming 4x4 tent / 6" inline fan w/ filter / hygrometer.

Genetics are supposedly 4 different strains of feminized autos. I'm not confident. Hence why the tent is on the way.

So! What I'm looking to do is lollipop scrog that 4x4 tent. I'm looking for advice on how to do that in conjunction with prune / defoliation / LST / supercropping to get the most even canopy and maximize my yield this run. I'm basically doing this on credit, so I need a yield. lol. COVID has the market effed up and my income so...here we are!

My first plan is to cut out the inner material of that lid, and attach the scrog grid to that. To get them started training out and away, then add another PVC scrog they can grow into, then LST / prune whats necessary after that. I'm thinking low mini screen, high bigger screen, ties?

I need to train them out and away from the box. Which is about 18" x 36" to Fill about 4' x 3' area. Leaving me room for a 2nd rotation (if they are autos) / to work them.

Any advice is welcomed, thanks a lot homies!
 

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KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
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Update! Tent is here. I have too many plants. I know my light is off, was trying to stretch the shorties on the right. Have standup ac running hard until vent fan / filter get here.

I'm thinking keep the 9 or 10 biggest and add a 2nd trellis and train out and prune to fit?
 

Dryxi

Well-Known Member
When you take out plants, remember the scrog has each plant taking up more space as you spread it out. Right now each one takes up about 4 of those little squares, stretch will have them at least double that as you bend em down. And that is if you were to flip asap before they get any bigger. People have different ideas on how filled the scrog should be prior to flip, but I think the high side is 80-90%, because if your not bending during the stretch, is it still a scrog as they grow 2 ft above it instead of 6-12 inches?
 

KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
I'm cutting out the bottom trellis and adding another higher one. It's a sog with a trellis more than a scrog. To answer your question...no. it's just a standard grow with a low trellis, lol.

I'm looking to use the second trellis to control cola location more than manifolding for more colas. Ya dig?
 

KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
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So here she be. Just missing carbon filter. Getting new hi lo data now. Will have better picture in the AM when lights kick back up.
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I've got a couple nasturtium companions. They improve flavor in tomatos, thought again...similar plant...why not weed too? If all else fails it will be a trap plant if I end up with bugs they should hit the nastys first, then pull them.

I quelled a few stragglers. Down to 14. Still too many even for pruned autos? (Fuck I hope theyre autos, supposed to be 4 strains, seeing 2 definitive) Topped the four larger ones in the front row to test reaction to defoliation / expand colas out the front side.

Didnt wanna tank what looks like a lazy sativa, I dont expect much but it's a more controlled companion plant experiment. Gonna hang in corners. Above canopy, have shield to bounce light. Think I needed to up RH so three birds one stone. Basil is another trap.

***Consolidated questions***
How many plants is too many in that 40 gal? Considering autos are smaller / terminal. I'm weighing the stress on pruning/defoliating autos against just removing plants. As in, will the added stress to make room on MORE plants net me a lower yield than if I just cut overall plant quantity..? Defoliation has been light but the strains dont seem to skip a beat. I just want banger colas, throughout, lol.
 

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KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
Comments strongly encouraged! Wanting running advice and many perspectives! I'm welcome to DM conversations all day also. Ty!

Everything is looking pretty good.
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Tried a few of the free rh hacks with no real avail. I'd like to see it a bit higher but the ladies seem to be very happy. I dont want fine, I want excellent. I know sometimes with rh you are just kinda effed.

Intake fan is on low, ac is 78f holding canopy at 81ish top. Any recommendations on getting that up besides the usual? Budget is sort of locked for the time being.

Ph corrected to 6.6 overnight. Stable throughout container. Super pleased. Heavy tbsp of soda w/ epsom sprinkle brought them up from 5.4 in my system overnight guys. :)

Thanks guys
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PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
View attachment 4712436
So here she be. Just missing carbon filter. Getting new hi lo data now. Will have better picture in the AM when lights kick back up.
View attachment 4712439
I've got a couple nasturtium companions. They improve flavor in tomatos, thought again...similar plant...why not weed too? If all else fails it will be a trap plant if I end up with bugs they should hit the nastys first, then pull them.

I quelled a few stragglers. Down to 14. Still too many even for pruned autos? (Fuck I hope theyre autos, supposed to be 4 strains, seeing 2 definitive) Topped the four larger ones in the front row to test reaction to defoliation / expand colas out the front side.

Didnt wanna tank what looks like a lazy sativa, I dont expect much but it's a more controlled companion plant experiment. Gonna hang in corners. Above canopy, have shield to bounce light. Think I needed to up RH so three birds one stone. Basil is another trap.

***Consolidated questions***
How many plants is too many in that 40 gal? Considering autos are smaller / terminal. I'm weighing the stress on pruning/defoliating autos against just removing plants. As in, will the added stress to make room on MORE plants net me a lower yield than if I just cut overall plant quantity..? Defoliation has been light but the strains dont seem to skip a beat. I just want banger colas, throughout, lol.
I like the fly trap.

I think you mean no-till. With no-till you really want to use something other than perlite. Perlite breaks down. Pumice and lava rock are better options.
 

KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
No till and no dig are synonymous. Sorta depends on which side of the pond you're on. I want everything in there to break down. Perlite breakdown is very slow. Tiny Positive slow release mineral deposits.

Yeah! Flytrap is cool, thanks. Its name is Mandrake. Trying to get it healthy before I put it to bed.
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
No till and no dig are synonymous. Sorta depends on which side of the pond you're on. I want everything in there to break down. Perlite breakdown is very slow. Tiny Positive slow release mineral deposits.

Yeah! Flytrap is cool, thanks. Its name is Mandrake. Trying to get it healthy before I put it to bed.
Are you in the UK?
 

KnewpKnewp87

Active Member
Update! A lot has happened. First of all I added the carbon filter and I ran my exhaust thru the floor into a faux register in the living room drop ceiling. So my 600w is cycling the warm filtered air thru my house all winter :) Hoping to offset electric cost of the tent w/ gas heat savings.
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I fed almost 5g tea I made from compost extracts w/ epsom and molasses. I went hard w/ both as I was seeing a mag deficiency start-purple striations-starting from the top stems. Also iron as I just wasn't getting the lush green you're looking for, molasses has the iron as well as the sugar to feed the microbes. So I was able to saturate fully, in order to jump start the living organisms in the soil and get good nutrient distribution. (This was new fungi inoculated soil, so now my plants are digging I wanted to bring it to life. Small price for long term benefits against 1 overwatering I think.

I knew it was too wet for the plants but at this stage I saw the deficiency stress carrying into flower affecting yields more than slamming them full of water and mineral and drying them out a few days. They look a little sad but are perking up already. You can see the deficiency coming out of the lower leaves as the o2 comes in. I upped temps and airflow and poked around a bit with a skewer so they could aspirate better.
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I took out the old trellis, building a new one soon, had to get everything reset and the lamp heating my house first :)

This is after defoliation and LST w/ being over watered. I saw 1 pre-flower so I just hit em. I expect them to come out of this and into the stretch like gangbusters...we'll see :)
 
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