Colorado Growers Thread

[Bobby Stainless]

jealous.

 

[Rednick]

@DH
I still have some bagged shit to go through, but,
The two ways I have heard about are:

Dig out rootball, add plant, topdress, add light and water.
or
Dump out, mix in amendments, let sit 1 mo, use as normal.
or
If not amending, then treating it as a sterile soil to be fully supported by liquid feedings.

The biggest thing is you will have to be ready to spot deficiencies if you amend/dress wrong.

Just finished reading 'Teaming with Microbes', really has the gears moving now.
Might just have to start adding worms and mulch to my shit!

Here is good threads.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=133648
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=153542

 

[303hydro]

I need some organic soil advice

I am using Sunshine organic soil and pearlite mix with Earth Juice nutes
(switched from all Fox Farms stuff)

I am at the end of my first cycle with the new stuff
and I am going to reuse the soil as I was advised here

my question is: should I add anything to the soil before I reuse it?


"I may be old but I saw all the good bands"

finally got this scanned....

1968 Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, NY

That pic is unreal. I personally have seen many bad things happen when people reuse soil but that's just my experience. If I was doing it I would def get some hygrozyme and probably add a shit ton of castings.

 

[Canniwhatsis]

Grafted,

 

[cobcoop]

Grafted,

Did it work? I tried this a year or two ago with limited (read; NO) success. Still got a huge block of grafting wax collecting dust.

 

[dragging hooks]

here is where I'm at right now
everything is dumped into this big container
all root stuff is removed and some pearlite added

Some folks say to re use, other say don't
This is a subject that I never get the same answer twice
be it talking to grower friends or growers on line
Reminds me of the old "less filling - tastes great" beer commercial

My options at this point are:
add some fresh soil to this mix and reuse

get some lumber and set up a new veg garden in the back yard
I love Colorado but damn the soil here is like rock

I can well afford to buy new soil so cost isn't a consideration
I'm looking to do what's best for my grow

I realize there is a section for organic soil
but you Colorado growers seem to be at a more advanced level
than most of the others and I am a Colorado grower
(I just pissed off the growers in 49 states with that I'm sure)

 

[Canniwhatsis]

Did it work? I tried this a year or two ago with limited (read; NO) success. Still got a huge block of grafting wax collecting dust.

I've been about 50% success on grafting, this one was a success!

No luck on my end with the wax either, I used masking tape for this one, and tape of one kind or another on all my other successes.

This is the first plant that I'll be flowering with a graft tho, I've been keeping a Bonsai mom with 4 viable strains on her (Blueberry Rootmass, AK47, Durban Poison, and Vanniluna grafted to it, and a 5th (white widow) that needs different feeding so I don't count it as I can't take cuttings )

 

[cobcoop]

Flower that bitch out and call it frankenstein!

 

[Dorje113]

here is where I'm at right now
everything is dumped into this big container
all root stuff is removed and some pearlite added

Some folks say to re use, other say don't
This is a subject that I never get the same answer twice
be it talking to grower friends or growers on line
Reminds me of the old "less filling - tastes great" beer commercial

My options at this point are:
add some fresh soil to this mix and reuse

get some lumber and set up a new veg garden in the back yard
I love Colorado but damn the soil here is like rock

I can well afford to buy new soil so cost isn't a consideration
I'm looking to do what's best for my grow

I realize there is a section for organic soil
but you Colorado growers seem to be at a more advanced level
than most of the others and I am a Colorado grower
(I just pissed off the growers in 49 states with that I'm sure)

What you add to it depends on how it was finished... since you're new to reusing soil I'd get a soil test kit and see what your NPK levels and pH are.

I always add a little bit of dolomite lime and kelp meal. Also, I use whatever guanos are available, bone and blood meal, castings, whatever else looks good, but the qtys need to be determined by the existing levels of ferts in your soil. You do not need to let it sit, you can use it right after amending. Just mix it up, water it down and plant.

Soil can get a lot better after a few uses, much better than new soil... just use the largest pots you can. The amount of soil shown in the pic above is about 1/2 of what I use for 1 plant in flower.

 

[nattynattygurrl]

I've been about 50% success on grafting, this one was a success!

That is neat-to torpedo Canniwhatsis!!
Looking forward to seeing 'Frankenst-ette' flower! Please, keep us updated with pix!

...and what to say about DraggingHooks' photo of Jimi?!!...I got nothing but wow!! :jawdrop: You lucky devil!

Just rolled an after dinner joint. I think I'll enjoy it on the porch and watch the sunset, since it's starting to cool off.
I hope this finds you all having a restful weekend!

As I hit 'preview', I tried to light my glass of juice, like it was a bowl!

 

[Canniwhatsis]

That is neat-to torpedo Canniwhatsis!!
Looking forward to seeing 'Frankenst-ette' flower! Please, keep us updated with pix!

I'm gonna start a thread on her soon,.... I'll also drop what I've been doing for my mother plant in that thread......

I'm just stoked that I've FINALY got a graft to take on a plant that is going to flower!!!!

 

[Canniwhatsis]

I'm gonna start a thread on her soon,.... I'll also drop what I've been doing for my mother plant in that thread......

I'm just stoked that I've FINALY got a graft to take on a plant that is going to flower!!!!

Find the grafted node?
One of the TOPS is not like the others!!!



I'm sure it'll show itself during flower!

 

[dragging hooks]

What you add to it depends on how it was finished... since you're new to reusing soil I'd get a soil test kit and see what your NPK levels and pH are.

I always add a little bit of dolomite lime and kelp meal. Also, I use whatever guanos are available, bone and blood meal, castings, whatever else looks good, but the qtys need to be determined by the existing levels of ferts in your soil. You do not need to let it sit, you can use it right after amending. Just mix it up, water it down and plant.

Soil can get a lot better after a few uses, much better than new soil... just use the largest pots you can. The amount of soil shown in the pic above is about 1/2 of what I use for 1 plant in flower.

Hygrozyme is a must! Other than that ive never had problems reusing soil if you can give it a good hot water flush then cool then hygrozyme and whatever else ya want. No worries..

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you

 

[dragging hooks]

...and what to say about DraggingHooks' photo of Jimi?!!...

I scanned a second one but damn if I can find it

I know, who sits there holding a camera and only takes two photos

I was 12 years old at the time
and pretty overwhelmed at the whole experience
(no pun intended)

While I was looking for the 2nd Jimi scan
found this one I took of Jerry sparking up a fatty
at a backstage party in Oakland, Ca 1979

cut off my wife's head
or she would be cutting off a part of my anatomy
for posting her face on a growers message board - hahaha

 

[Dorje113]

Hygrozyme is a must! Other than that ive never had problems reusing soil if you can give it a good hot water flush then cool then hygrozyme and whatever else ya want. No worries..

You don't need hygrozyme. The soil will develop whatever beneficial microbes it needs without ANY help from us. I have tried all sorts of these type of products and they don't do anything in a properly made soil mix.

Also, I never flush soil unless a big mistake has been made... otherwise you are just flushing out beneficial material. Unless you overfertilize there is nothing that needs to be flushed.

FWIW, I've reused soil for 6 years in one grow myself, and set up a ton of systems that all reuse soil... I've seen lots of people use my system with the same recycled soil for many years at a time.

 

[nattynattygurrl]

Whoa, Jimi and Jerry!?!
Wow, you were one lucky kid, Draggin' Hooks!!

 

[Rednick]

You don't need hygrozyme. The soil will develop whatever beneficial microbes it needs without ANY help from us. I have tried all sorts of these type of products and they don't do anything in a properly made soil mix.

Also, I never flush soil unless a big mistake has been made... otherwise you are just flushing out beneficial material. Unless you overfertilize there is nothing that needs to be flushed.

FWIW, I've reused soil for 6 years in one grow myself, and set up a ton of systems that all reuse soil... I've seen lots of people use my system with the same recycled soil for many years at a time.

Hygrozyme, otherwise known as expensive cellulase enzymes, is for Hydro, where you don't get the SFW rocking.
Just finished reading 'Teaming with Microbes'. That book made a few things about organics and the soil food web a lot clearer. Can't wait to try my hand at recycling here, going to do one top dress test plant, too.

@Dorje
Do you ever put worms, ants or other critters into your soil?
How about a layer of mulch?
Using fabric/aerated plastic pots?

So you are doing about 20gal of soil per plant?
How long does Veg run you? I figure you can't be doing more than 3-4 plants a light?

Thanks.

Oh.
Don't forget the HOT WATER FLUSH! Leaches out all the good shit, so you can start off with a failed crop from the get go. Just make sure your water is at least 160F, wanna make sure you kill off all the microherd, so you can spend some coin down at the store and buy some expensive BB. Gotta support the economy!

 

[dragging hooks]

Unless you overfertilize there is nothing that needs to be flushed.

you were the one who got me to back off on the nute strength
with great results, no more yellow tips
Fan leafs stay nice and green until they start feeding the buds near the end

Still using the white sheets and push pins in the wooden frame to contain the light

I looked all over for the roll up blinds you recommended with no luck
Lowes, Home Depot, the Marts Wall and K.....
Only found one that was too small and $40

 

[Rednick]

I am sure you can mimic the commercial ones with a little DIY.
They are basically a fabric/plastic sheet with strings running the height trough eyelets and affixed to the bottom.

 

[Dorje113]

@Dorje
Do you ever put worms, ants or other critters into your soil?
How about a layer of mulch?
Using fabric/aerated plastic pots?

So you are doing about 20gal of soil per plant?
How long does Veg run you? I figure you can't be doing more than 3-4 plants a light?

Thanks.

Oh.
Don't forget the HOT WATER FLUSH! Leaches out all the good shit, so you can start off with a failed crop from the get go. Just make sure your water is at least 160F, wanna make sure you kill off all the microherd, so you can spend some coin down at the store and buy some expensive BB. Gotta support the economy!

No critters in the soil, although sometimes fungi perfecti (mushrooms) will colonize the soil beds... would be nice to get some spores from a "special" mushroom in the PNW and see if multi-cropping is possible

Mulch is probably a good idea, although I'd stay from organic mulches indoors and perlite is a little messy although it works. I'm too lazy to use mulch but diatomacious earth, sand and/or perlite are probably a good idea because it'll make it harder for insects.

I have been using 20 g smart pots (4 per light) with decent results although soil beds are better in many ways. The beds I make hold about 160 gal of soil per light.