Critique/Rip apart a first-timer's plan

[mostnonymouse]

I've decided that my first grow will be an entirely organic swamp grow. I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible and hopefully learn a lot this summer. I've attached a picture of the "swamp tubes" I'll be using (not my design. stolen from a member of another forum). I'm going to be using 1.5 cu ft of Root's Organic soil per tube, bi- or tri-weekly compost teas, and either neptune's harvest or guano for nutes. Endomycorrhizae is to be introduced upon transplant to the tubes. I've been told this soil can use extra perlite, especially in this application so I'll probably be adding some perlite to the soil as well as some dolomite lime pending a PH test of the swamp water. I'll be leaving the country for a month and I'm hoping the swamp will provide plenty of water while I'm away. I've definitely got plenty of sunlight.

I've been told that adding some dry nutes to the soil from the beginning would be a good idea but I don't want to burn the seedlings and I know the soil already comes with guano, castings, bone meal, feather meal and soybean meal.

The only thing keeping me from using neptune's harvest is the potential for critters, but I was hoping that would be eliminated by the water surrounding my planters.

I'm open to any suggestions and I realize that a swamp isn't the ideal spot but I know they won't be ripped or spotted or robbed of light so I'm giving it a shot. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[ixnay007]

If you put your dry amendments on the bottom of the tube, by the time the roots arrive there they'll be pretty well tempered.

 

[Happy Haole]

If you don't want to burn them, add most of the dry nutes to the bottom 1/3-1/2 of the container. By the time the roots reach it, she'll be big enough to take it without burning.
The water surrounding those planters won't keep too much of anything critter wise away. Cut up a few bars of Irish Spring soap and spread around the area. Take a bar and rub it into the tree bark of nearby trees. That should keep deer away. Rabbits shouldn't be an issue up off the ground like that.
My only advise would be to use a much bigger container. More container=more roots. More roots =more bud.

 

[mostnonymouse]

Yea I realized that when it was kinda too late. I already made a bunch of those and spent the money. They measure about 1.6 cubic feet or ~11 gallons but I would have liked to use something wider and shorter. I guess in this case tall is better though, and filling something wider with soil at that height would get pretty damn pricey. The grower I got the idea from grew a 7 footer out of a similar size tube. Not very bushy, yielded 2 ozs in less light than mine will see so I'm hoping they are sufficient.

 

[mostnonymouse]

Also the poor quality of the images makes the tubes appear to be in mud but they're actually in about 6 inches of water. The leaves and moss give the surface of the water a texture that looks similar to mud. I'm going to try filling some of the tubes with rocks to the top of the water level in order to keep too much water from being taken up by the soil.

 

[mostnonymouse]

Mixed the soil up in the pots yesterday - about 1 cubic foot of roots organic + 8-10 cups of perlite + 2 cups Espoma Plant Tone + 5 tbsp dolomite lime. I tried to keep most of the Plant Tone towards the bottom of the pot but most of the mixes seemed to end up pretty homogeneous. Seedlings are currently anywhere from 3-8 days old. I'm going to try to keep them around for as long as I can before transplanting but they may need to go out in about a week and a half. Anyone recommend bring their seedlings to their spot and leave them in the solo cups until they're ready to be transplanted into the soil w/ dry nutes?

 

[mad librettist]

this is cool...

my concern would be about the pressure from the swamp compressing the tubes.

but I can't really picture the forces at work.

 

[mostnonymouse]

I know it's been done, and in my area too, because I've gone through the thread on another forum a million times. My setup is a little more put together and thought out than his was, but he still had some pretty good results (except for a bit of mold in the fall, which I'll address when the time comes if need be.) Ideally I'd like to setup a conventional plot in a field somewhere but that wasn't an option this year so i decided to give this a go. The water level is just a few inches at the moment and will probably drop even lower once the summer sun really begins to heat things up. Hoping these babies remain undisturbed all summer. They should have plenty of light, water, and a stellar organic soil in which to grow. Plenty of potential for monster growth as long as I don't kill the seedlings when I transplant, which is my number one concern right now.

 

[ixnay007]

To head of mold issues, make some willow water and apply it with every watering (or as a foliar spray)..

 

[mostnonymouse]

To head of mold issues, make some willow water and apply it with every watering (or as a foliar spray)..

I have a willow tree in my back yard! I knew of using willow water as rooting hormone but I was unaware of this application. Thanks a lot. I'll have to check that out.

 

[ixnay007]

A few outdoor growers have reported heightened mold resistance using aspirin dissolved in water.. aspirin is salicylic acid, willows are the salix family, you make the connection

 

[mostnonymouse]

I just realized tonight that I didn't mix nearly enough of the dry nutes into my mix (less than half of what the bag recommends). I'm pretty pissed at myself and trying to figure out how to go about fixing it. I'll be away and unable to feed for a solid month this season too...basically my entire reason for using dry nutes.

 

[ixnay007]

Hmm, if the roots can get out to get water, they'll be able to grab some nutrition from the soil as well. Some stuff you could top dress, and hope rain water will take it down, or you could make a tea to use before you go.

 

[mostnonymouse]

Yea I ended up picking up some peruvian seabird guano earlier today. I want to be careful with it as I know it's strong and I've already added about a 1:50 ratio of espoma to my soil. The bag says you can top dress bi-weekly so once I have a dose dialed in I can feed right before I go away, have a friend feed once 2 weeks later, and then I can feed again as soon as I return. Bag calls for 2-3tbsp per plant, but I started with 1-2 TEAspoons per plant. I marked the plants given 2 teaspoons with two sticks. I'll evaluate at the end of the week and adjust accordingly.

 

[mostnonymouse]

MORE critter damage what the FUCK!!!! i sprayed coyote urine yesterday and today I had two plants knocked over and one with a snapped stem! I tied it to a stick but I don't know if it's going to survive or if i should just replace it with a clone. If I ever use this stuff again it'll be mixed in the fall