Organics is like set it and forget it for your herbs.

[mostnonymouse]

The more time and recycling your soil goes through, the more "set it and forget it" it becomes. Each grow gets easier, requires less.

 

[descivii]

 

[Cannabologist]

What your talking about could be taken care of with compost tea, and the soil food loop. In some of your other posts you talk about not wanting to make teas, yet now your talking about possible problems that teas, and a microbe rich environment could help with. This living soil thing is not a myth, but it might take a little work. For one you seem to think of the LC mix nutrients as a substitute for chems, I try to think in terms of microbes. So I'd much rather have a high quality compost or ewc than a certain feed meal. Just give them a diverse diet, keep them happy with mulch, teas and top dress for any needs that might arise. Then like magic everything just clicks along......scrappy

I know problems I've had can be taken care of with compost teas, I've used them for that. But like I was saying, I just find teas a hassle to deal with. You have to wait until they are brewed when you need them, etc., etc., I am too lazy and impatient for that
Plus messy, I hate cleaning up afterward. Its not that they don't work, they are great, and can re-invigorate soil. I would just rather not have to use them for the aforementioned reasons, and am working on other solutions.

Certainly don't think living soil is a myth, I've worked mostly only with organics since starting this whole process And its not about a substitute for chems, I'm more thinking of making sure there is plenty of food around for all those microbes, since I've found they can eat up quite a bit, which in turn goes to the plants, etc.
I just notice, that even with good EWC, and amendments, just adding water will not be enough to keep things going for long, depending on what you are doing with your grow, and you must add fuel to your fire. Its the kind of fuels I am talking about that I have found I like doing some things more than others, due to ease of use. Teas are on the low ease of use list. Top dressing only, is my new fad lol. Providing all the micros and right amounts of nutrients for optimal growth with that top dressing only, that will be a task.

 

[mostnonymouse]

I limit my teas to the start of veg, the start of flower, and the rare occasion when things seem out of whack. AACT are a tool, not a necessary form of feed. Even the laziest pothead can handle two teas every 3-4 months.

 

[GoneRooty]

It's not about adding "more quantity" of amendments, it's about diversity, as Jaykush would say. Blood meal is a fast release N source, so you need to add slower release sources of N such as alfalfa meal, canola seed meal, soybean meal. As with any amendment, size matters! Smaller sized meals break down faster, larger size meals break down slower. So instead of adding more of one type of amendment, add some different sources and give your plant a variety of choices.

 

[descivii]

Size matters too, if you have a large soil area with something always growing then microbe teas should become less needed and if you are composting the fellow plants which continue in the soil between mj cycles then you are adding back nutrients.

Nature is "Set it and Forget it" but it was set and forgotten long before we realized. The farther from nature you stray the more will be required of you.

J

 

[CascadeFarmer]

- Realistically, I feel my statement holds merit for many reasons. If you are doing a short veg into flowering grow, yes a pre amended soil will probably have enough nutrients for those few (2 to 3) months. But this is not true if keeping clone mother plants indefinitely, which I have found a hassle to keep up steady nutrients, or for a veg period of about a month with 2 months flowering.

Well that's just the nature of the beast keeping moms. As for growing plants full term veg and flower easy with pre-amended soil. REv at Skunk has got that pretty dialed in and his book will be out soon. His recipes are readily available though.

Some 'extra' things I've found work well for keeping some gas in the tank is a bottom layer of concentrated nutes, top dressings and spikes. Hardly anyone I see uses nutrient spikes.

The more time and recycling your soil goes through, the more "set it and forget it" it becomes. Each grow gets easier, requires less.

Yeah that.

If you get it all dialed in basically 'Just Add Water' as I like to say. From what I understand teas are more important when container growing.

 

[CascadeFarmer]

so you need to add slower release sources of N such as alfalfa meal, canola seed meal, soybean meal.

Feather Meal and Hoof and Horn Meal are good long term N sources. Learned about the H&H from Verdantgreen(?) when he was growing long flowering sativas.

 

[Amber Trich]

REv at Skunk has got that pretty dialed in and his book will be out soon. His recipes are readily available though.

Some 'extra' things I've found work well for keeping some gas in the tank is a bottom layer of concentrated nutes, top dressings and spikes. Hardly anyone I see uses nutrient spikes.

I LOVE bottom layers and spikes... It would be great if we all started experimenting with this method but using more homemade plant based amendments instead of revs classic bone blood all purp

 

[mostnonymouse]

I LOVE bottom layers and spikes... It would be great if we all started experimenting with this method but using more homemade plant based amendments instead of revs classic bone blood all purp

I'm dumping bokashi'd fish in the bottom layer of my next grow...That's a while away though. I imagine the bones will be able to provide a nice long term slow release of phosphorus.

 

[heady blunts]

~2.5 month veg. gave her one ACT application after the last transplant. top dressed EWC.

other than that, only water.

looks like she's plenty happy to me...

hehe i can't stop posting this pic

 

[nameless]

i hate to bring the convo back to wet betty but did anyone else notice she had a suspicious bulgy looking crotch?? am i a perv for noticing that?

 

[mad librettist]

you just totally ruined that picture for me.

sorta like when I was told about the dick in the little mermaid castle. wtf?

 

[redneck shogun]

i hate to bring the convo back to wet betty but did anyone else notice she had a suspicious bulgy looking crotch?? am i a perv for noticing that?

Betty is a hermi? Hmm I am starting to see the importance of the dolphin now. This thing is like studying a freakin DaVinci.

 

[nameless]

lmao. sure enough you take a good look and there it is.

 

[Dudesome]

when chicks are horny, their thingies grow bigger. Just so you kno