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Vertical, No-Till, Survival -of-the-Fittest

descivii

descivii

Member
Hi Folks,
Round 2 should be fun; I decided a while back that vertical lighting is a no-brainer for me so that should be fun to watch filling in. Took my standard horizontal reflector and straightened the tabs on the wirebox. Tabs slipped out of slots and now with a couple holes strategically drilled, I have a vertically hung bulb.

The cage around the bulb is 19.5" dia. giving 8" on either side of bulb plus bulb diameter as well. Cage is of course adjustable if need be.


The bed contains 14 rooted plants that are known but have been mixed up. I have no idea which plants are which. The plants are:

Casey Jones
Rommulan X Super Skunk
Chiesel
Dj Short's Blueberry
LGS
THC Bomb

The Living Mulch is :
Dandelion
Bolivian Jew (Callisia repens)

The bed itself is made up of several layers at this point. Check out my https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=213484 to see what the bed is made of. Only new addition to the soil is a layer of leaf mulch to cut down on water loss; evaporates very quickly with air conditioner on.

:joint:
 

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M

MrFista

Active member
Veteran
NICE. I did this recently and was able to halve my power (went from two lights to one). Got to pay attention when training I'm still quite crap at it but it's fun to learn. Saw some espallier yesterday puts my efforts to shame completely!

On the no till front. The biology in soil slows down FAST if you have no plants in it. I screwed some clones up and it took a few weeks between plantings. The growth was slowed for another month! It's kicking ass again now thankfully. When you chop put new ones in immediately is my (latest) advice for this type of system.
 
guest2012y

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
MrFista said:
On the no till front. The biology in soil slows down FAST if you have no plants in it. I screwed some clones up and it took a few weeks between plantings. The growth was slowed for another month! It's kicking ass again now thankfully. When you chop put new ones in immediately is my (latest) advice for this type of system.
Click to expand...

I'm working the learning curve on the no till concept myself. I have a few large no till pots that are beautiful. No major topdressing needed this cycle because I have a really complete and fertile soil. Two ACT applications...plus 1 comfrey tea and fish hydrolysate tea.

I was just about to go no till on my entire garden when I read your post Fista. Recalling the transplants,some went into the pots right away and others did not. Some were slow to take off,perhaps this is the reason. Once they got going it was like they didn't skip a beat though.

Your observation is noted,thanks CC1
 
Last edited:
Microbeman

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
MrFista said:
NICE. I did this recently and was able to halve my power (went from two lights to one). Got to pay attention when training I'm still quite crap at it but it's fun to learn. Saw some espallier yesterday puts my efforts to shame completely!

On the no till front. The biology in soil slows down FAST if you have no plants in it. I screwed some clones up and it took a few weeks between plantings. The growth was slowed for another month! It's kicking ass again now thankfully. When you chop put new ones in immediately is my (latest) advice for this type of system.
Click to expand...

Did you try the worms in....worms out; AEM application followed by planting in soil without plants growing? [e.g. 2 weeks between planting]
 
mad librettist

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
leave the worms in and install a thick living mulch. the worms will be very happy, and you can add cannabis whenever, always to a functioning system.

old thick stems seem to be a favorite of worms too. I cut them to about 8", then I make a ring around the edges. When I lift a length of stem I always find wigglers.

the upper layer in my smartpots is pretty much pure castings, but when it's been deposited there by worms, as opposed to taken from a bin, there is a particular instant coffee crystal look to it.
 
jaykush

jaykush

dirty black hands
ICMag Donor
Veteran
the upper layer in my smartpots is pretty much pure castings, but when it's been deposited there by worms, as opposed to taken from a bin, there is a particular instant coffee crystal look to it.
Click to expand...

some plants i have in pots are the same way, under the mulch looks like very fine coffee grounds, about a 1/2 inch thick. pure goodness.
 
mad librettist

mad librettist

Active member
Veteran
jaykush said:
some plants i have in pots are the same way, under the mulch looks like very fine coffee grounds, about a 1/2 inch thick. pure goodness.
Click to expand...

that's the stuff! I have tried to photograph it, but the old lady took the good gear and I can't do those macros anymore.
 
guest2012y

guest2012y

Living with the soil
Veteran
I should get a shot of one of my no tills with piles of fresh EWC deposited by the worms just outside the drainage holes of the pot. Kind of interesting.
 
G

growingcrazy

The real question here is why so many of you fella's have no till's running, and you haven't posted any pictures of them?

C'mon I want to see! :tiphat:
 
Microbeman

Microbeman

The Logical Gardener
ICMag Donor
Veteran
mad librettist said:
leave the worms in and install a thick living mulch. the worms will be very happy, and you can add cannabis whenever, always to a functioning system.

old thick stems seem to be a favorite of worms too. I cut them to about 8", then I make a ring around the edges. When I lift a length of stem I always find wigglers.

the upper layer in my smartpots is pretty much pure castings, but when it's been deposited there by worms, as opposed to taken from a bin, there is a particular instant coffee crystal look to it.
Click to expand...

Its okay to leave worms in but I wouldn't leave as many as we used in. There would not be enough food for them.
 
M

MrFista

Active member
Veteran
The worms is a great idea MM, but everything was going great without them, difference was that this time there was some 'down time' in the system. Got a few permanent residents in there including worms, various types of spiders and a skink.

I like the living mulch idea ML, and companion planting, my initial experiments with companions/living mulch was not great so I'm just watching and learning with me old fashioned dead mulch doing a great job for now.
 
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