Tutorial Organics for Beginners

[hashit]

Is it a good idea to let LC's Soiless Mix #2 sit for a couple of weeks before usage? If so, what is the best storage method? I was thinking of using some plastic containers with a lid for storage.

 

[SecretGardener]

Hey guys,

just checking in to say that I started a grow using LC's Mix #1 and Fertilizer recipe #1. Last grow I used LC1 + fish ferts and finally pulled my first real harvest.



Looking forward to the ease of use of the amendments and hoping for better performance than the fish.



2 feminized DoubleX by CH9 on day 7 in plain LC1 mix. Dry Ferts + LC1 were mixed up the day they sprouted in a separate 5gal bucket. Stirring that bucket every other day and wetting it for now.

Thanks for the information, Burn1. Gathered every last item on your lists and hoping for a good run.

Hey man I have two little seedlings (AK-47/Strawberry Cough) exactly the same age as yours and using the same exact soil recipe along with smart pots! Are you running a grow journal anywhere, would love to follow your progress!

 

[SecretGardener]

Is it a good idea to let LC's Soiless Mix #2 sit for a couple of weeks before usage? If so, what is the best storage method? I was thinking of using some plastic containers with a lid for storage.

I have my amended soil sitting outside on my deck in 10 gallon plastic containers. I cover them with black garbage bags. Covering them keeps it humid in there but make sure the soil is not drenched, be able to squeeze a drop of moisture out of a handful of soil basically. Every so often (once a week or so) I 'turn' them by dumping them out into an empty container, so the bottom soil becomes the top layer and then I mix it up a bit to aerate it.

 

[de145]

What negative consequences are there to using LC's soil mix # 2 before the minimum 2 week cooking period using blood meal and bone meal feeder formula?

I've been mixing and aerating daily religiously for 5 days now. My understanding from reading this thread is not using guano there is no risk of hotness and the worst case scenario with the blood and bone meal is that there just won't be enough of a colony of feeder microbes to feed the plants initially?

I ask because my timing was all wrong with germination and making the organic soil and now I really need to transplant the seedlings up to a larger pot asap so I'd like to put them in little 3 inch square pots in my soilless mix that is not quite 2 weeks yet.

 

[CT Guy]

What negative consequences are there to using LC's soil mix # 2 before the minimum 2 week cooking period using blood meal and bone meal feeder formula?

I've been mixing and aerating daily religiously for 5 days now. My understanding from reading this thread is not using guano there is no risk of hotness and the worst case scenario with the blood and bone meal is that there just won't be enough of a colony of feeder microbes to feed the plants initially?

I ask because my timing was all wrong with germination and making the organic soil and now I really need to transplant the seedlings up to a larger pot asap so I'd like to put them in little 3 inch square pots in my soilless mix that is not quite 2 weeks yet.

The microbes need time to process all the nutrients in your soil mix. In addition, the bacteria can multiply rapidly during this time, effectively lowering O2 levels in the soil and potentially heating the soil and pulling nutrients from the plant.

That being said, I'm not experienced enough with the LC mix to know what you can get away with in terms of starting to use it earlier than 2 weeks.

 

[grapeman]

The microbes need time to process all the nutrients in your soil mix. In addition, the bacteria can multiply rapidly during this time, effectively lowering O2 levels in the soil and potentially heating the soil and pulling nutrients from the plant.

That being said, I'm not experienced enough with the LC mix to know what you can get away with in terms of starting to use it earlier than 2 weeks.

I can testify to the "heat" generated by this soil ripening. Sometimes I measure 20 degrees hotter or more then ambient temps. I use it when it cools off to ambient temps. And it is usually 2 weeks or more. Especially if you add any guano to your dry mix.

 

[dodo5678]

what if the soil does NOT get hot? Does that mean that the something is wrong? it'll be a week tomorrow and my soil smells good and is moist NOT wet. Can i assume that everything is good?

using LC's mix #1 and fert recipe #2 with guano

thanks,
-dodo

 

[de145]

I can testify to the "heat" generated by this soil ripening. Sometimes I measure 20 degrees hotter or more then ambient temps. I use it when it cools off to ambient temps. And it is usually 2 weeks or more. Especially if you add any guano to your dry mix.

Damn, now you've got me worried! I noticed no heat and I'm still not confident on where the microbes and wee beasties come from in this mix.

The Pro-mix has the fungii in it but other than that only the worm castings are a potential source of living beings and for all I know it was sterilized or something (though it doesn't say so on the bag and it's moist and clumpy).

Perhaps the wee beasties come from the worm castings and it just doesn't get hot when you use the blood and bone meal nutes? Or maybe the fact that I'm stirring it daily very thoroughly and it's in a rubbermaid with a very loose fitting lid has something to do with the lack of heat.

All I can detect is that it seems to dry on it's own and needs a bit more water every few days and it smells like good earthy soil, no weird smells at all.

Can I just confirm: are the worm castings (and promix) the source for all the bacterial and fungal goodness or did I really need to put in that Liquid Karma after all?

 

[CT Guy]

Damn, now you've got me worried! I noticed no heat and I'm still not confident on where the microbes and wee beasties come from in this mix.

The Pro-mix has the fungii in it but other than that only the worm castings are a potential source of living beings and for all I know it was sterilized or something (though it doesn't say so on the bag and it's moist and clumpy).

Perhaps the wee beasties come from the worm castings and it just doesn't get hot when you use the blood and bone meal nutes? Or maybe the fact that I'm stirring it daily very thoroughly and it's in a rubbermaid with a very loose fitting lid has something to do with the lack of heat.

All I can detect is that it seems to dry on it's own and needs a bit more water every few days and it smells like good earthy soil, no weird smells at all.

Can I just confirm: are the worm castings (and promix) the source for all the bacterial and fungal goodness or did I really need to put in that Liquid Karma after all?

I should probably go back and look at what's in the Pro Mix, but I can tell you that the EWC is a source of beneficial bacteria/archea, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. If you want to increase these populations, you should spray it with some aerated compost tea or add food sources to feed the microbes. If you add a lot of food resources and nothing happens (the material doesn't get hot or doesn't get consumed within 2 weeks) then it's a possibility that your worm castings are of lower quality. Fresh EWC from your own bin is best. Barring that, get something that hasn't been sitting out in the sun, cooking inside of a sealed plastic bag or on a shelf for the last 6 months in a box store.

At some point you'll want to stop disturbing the soil to allow for the fungal hyphae to grow....

What part of the country are you in? If you're in the Pacific NW, there may be local resources that you could use to get a fast soil mix if you're in a bind.

 

[SecretGardener]

get something that hasn't been sitting out in the sun, cooking inside of a sealed plastic bag or on a shelf for the last 6 months in a box store.

I leave my EWC in a plastic bag in my garage and it gets warm in there. I thought the microbes just go dormant, is it bad practice to keep it this way?

 

[de145]

Clearly I need to start my own compost pile and worm farm.

 

[de145]

I've planted some squash and watermelon seedlings into the mix and will see how they fare.

 

[Carl Carlson]

PRO-MIX 'BX' is a "general purpose" peat-based growing medium with vermiculite and perlite

http://www.premierhort.com/eProMix/Horticulture/Products/GrowingMediumTM/ProMixBX/fVermiculite.htm

PRO-MIX 'BX'/MYCORISE® PRO is a "general purpose" peat-based growing medium with vermiculite and perlite, used for the cultivation of a wide variety of plant species. MYCORISE® PRO ensures stronger, healthier plants due to more developed root systems and better fertilizer uptake.

PRO-MIX 'BX' with BIOFUNGICIDE is a "General Purpose" peat-based professional growing medium, designed for the cultivation of horticultural plants. This formulation is lightweight, uniform and provides necessary conditions to establish plant growth. This high-quality product is suitable for a wide variety of plants. Enriched with Subtilex®, a high-performance biofungicide that prevents root diseases caused by pathogens, such as Pythium, Fusarium and Rhizoctonia.

 

[de145]

Mine's the Pro-Mix HP, I've never seen the BX to be honest though I keep seeing references to it. The HP is just plain old peat and vermiculite and Myco... (sp?) however it's spelled fungus.

 

[40AmpstoFreedom]

In reference to pro-mix hope this helps someone: I use blazeoneups mix and I have used both different products and noticed 0 difference in anything...everything is perfect every time.

 

[de145]

In reference to pro-mix hope this helps someone: I use blazeoneups mix and I have used both different products and noticed 0 difference in anything...everything is perfect every time.

By both you mean both types of Pro-Mix? BX and HP?

 

[Phedrosbenny]

What is a good organic bud hardener?

 

[grapeman]

A side effect of growing tomatos outside a screened window of my mother room was that a few whiteflies have made it thru the screen and are living nicely on some mother plants (funny how they have a choice of strains and some strain they apparently don't like - they love the Afgan most).

Anyway, I'm getting ready to leave my hobby for a few months to harvest the crops and I was wondering what some of you fellas are using to kill the little bastards. I have plenty of products that I can use, but in an effort to keep this organic, I thought I'd ask here before I use the nuclear option which I know works 100% but would draw the hisses and boos from the crowd.

A side note on this thread. I've done several grows and have what I believe a pretty well dialed in system. I must give credit to B1, V, CC and others. I do believe I have accomplished what i set out to do, and that is to properly mix a soil that can virtually just take water (tea, kelp & molasses) for the entire grow. It has made the leaving of instructions fairly simple in my absence.

 

[Carl Carlson]

A side note on this thread. I've done several grows and have what I believe a pretty well dialed in system. I must give credit to B1, V, CC and others. I do believe I have accomplished what i set out to do, and that is to properly mix a soil that can virtually just take water (tea, kelp & molasses) for the entire grow. It has made the leaving of instructions fairly simple in my absence.

care to share your mix if you haven't already?

 

[grapeman]

care to share your mix if you haven't already?

Pretty simple really. I use LC#2 with the nute dry mix with a few modifications.

I use Sunshine #4 as my base. I use about 15% more kelp meal then the recipe calls for. I use about 10% more EWC, about 75% good bagged EWC and about 25% fresh from the local EWC farm. I'd use all fresh except for the fact that I live in the desert and although the fresh is wonderfully bioactive (I've seen the analysis), we basically live on blow sand and I find it a bit too fine if I use 100% of the local fresh. I use about 20 to 25% more perlite then the recipe calls for and I use 2/3 small pieces of perlite and 1/3 chunks (size 3/4). I use 10% more dolomite then the recipe calls for also.

Then to every 1.25 cf of the above mix I add
1.25 cups of Sul-Po-Mg. I like the raw stuff better then the processed K-Mag in the soil.
1 cup Azomite
3/4 cup of Alfalfa meal
3/4 cup of Dr. Earth Fish meal
1 cup of Hi P Guano
I always add all the perlite last after mixing the above ingredients.

Wet with a 1 to 1 solution of fresh EWC Tea and Water and the requisite Liquid Karma.

I always try to let it simmer in the garage for at least 4 weeks and keep it moist with pure EWC tea. A light sprinkle of Rooter's myco at transplant from veg to flower.

All stuff I gathered here or in other threads and fine tuned by sight. Tuning is an ongoing process and I am by no means as knowledgable as others here. But I do have a basic understanding of soil and farming.

Things I am on the hunt for are greensand and crushed oyster shells. I know I can order on the internet but I'm too cheap and will wait till I find it at a store.

Just about all I add in a grow mixed in the water is kelp (KIS product at @ a 1/2 to 3/4 rate), Neptune's Harvest (at about 1/3 rate occasionally), KIS Humates at about 3/4 rate (once a week or every 10 days or so), Liquid Karma maybe once a week and a steady light diet of soluble sulfate of potash at about .5 tsb per gallon of water from week 3 thru week 4, then to 1 tsp from weeks 5 thru 7 with every water. Molasses is in every watering. I ph to 6.3 even though I probably don't have to.

I foliar at least 2x a week with KIS kelp or Alfalfa tea, either or. Starting in week 3 of flower I spray a phosphite product called Pure Flowers (not organic but close) at a 1/2 rate going to full rate on weeks 4 through 6. I foliar thru week 6.

That's pretty much it.