GrowingcrazY 2013 Log: Vert Organic 650 Soil Bed

[lonelemming]

Growingcrazy

I as wondering what was in your soil mix, and if you had access to those plants from all sides or just the front???

 

[growingcrazy]

you ever burn your arm on those exposed bulbs? i know i would, i garden super baked and do some funny shit sometimes. after the first 12 scalding wounds on my forearm i would probably break down and buy a cool tube. then burn myself less severely on the glass cuz i would still mash into it every other day.

i like that knotty trunk on the Malawi. looks like it has a nice curve going on.

DDG

I try to avoid them as much as possible. If I am actually standing in the bed I turn the lamps off and move them out of the way.

I have cooltubes that I ran in the past. They actually raised the temps in my room a few degrees. So now I am back to bare. I try to make every aspect of the grow as simple as possible.

The Ace Malawi trunk..

Good eye DDG!

 

[growingcrazy]

Growingcrazy

I as wondering what was in your soil mix, and if you had access to those plants from all sides or just the front???

Thanks for stoppin in lonelemming!

I do only have access to the plants from the front. To do extensive work in the room I move the bulbs and the fan to get access from the center of the bed.

As for the soil mix, I guess I could break that down into 3 categories. Soil, amendments and aeration.

SOIL
Coco coir
Peat
Homemade compost
Forest soil
Earth worm castings

AMENDMENTS
Kelp meal
Alfalfa meal
Oyster shell meal
Crab shell meal
Green sand
Rock phosphate
Azomite
Sulpher
gypsum

AERATION
Diatomaceous Earth
Chunky and small perlite
vermiculite
crushed lava rock

I also do compost teas with different amendments depending on the life stage of the plants.


That is what went into the mix originally and I periodically add things back as I feel necessary. The beds main source of "food" is actual food though. My Wife and I both eat a vegetarian diet and a percentage of the more easily broken down scraps get top dressed onto the bed. Lacto Bacillius plays a big role in how quickly things are broken down and made available. I usually add a bit to each watering that I do.

I also do rounds of different types of grains and beans into the bed. All vegetables, fruits and grains contain nutrients that can be used to feed a plant and are very easily accessible to everyone.

There is quite a bit of life in the bed besides the ganja growing in there.

 

[growingcrazy]

day 26.

 

[Northstar22]

Nice thread... like what you are doing as far as amendments and composting

 

[growingcrazy]

Nice thread... like what you are doing as far as amendments and composting

Thanks NorthStar!

Just fed them a 2 day brewed tea and made some more aloe/rosemary/garlic today.

 

[oceangrownkush]

Nice grow bro!! Very inspirational. I'm wondering how you hydrate those females? I just purchased some Tropf Blumats and I'm gonna try and implement them this run.. I have always used the "lift the pot" method to much satisfaction and healthy birtches, wondering how the hell you can water properly in a bed, probably a simple answer but I can't figger it... Subbed and peace.
O

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Cool setup, and nice progress.

 

[growingcrazy]

Nice grow bro!! Very inspirational. I'm wondering how you hydrate those females? I just purchased some Tropf Blumats and I'm gonna try and implement them this run.. I have always used the "lift the pot" method to much satisfaction and healthy birtches, wondering how the hell you can water properly in a bed, probably a simple answer but I can't figger it... Subbed and peace.
O

I have been considering the Blumats. My only issue is that I don't have a drain of any kind in this bed. If I over water with the blumats it will just water log the entire bed.

I basically just water by paying attention to the bed. I don't have any set schedule by which I water. Right now at week 4 of flower I am watering roughly 5 gallons per 4-5 days. I have never had plants in the bed droop from being under watered or go limp from being over watered.

It really seems like the bed takes care of retaining moisture and evenly distributing the moisture that it holds. Just don't let anything dry out drastically and everything should be fine.

EDIT:

Forgot to mention that I try and keep the watering to a relatively average "rainfall" amount. If you think of watering to be the same as a rain in the outdoors, not many places get 3" inches in 1 day let alone in the 15 minutes it takes to water.

I water roughly at 5 gallons in the bed because that equates to just under 1" of water or "rainfall" if you will. I also do quite a bit of foliar spraying with tea's and water mostly. While doing those I always give a heavy soak to the top layer of soil. I do those 3 times per week, even if it falls on a watering day. I consider them to be like quick showers in nature.

 

[growingcrazy]

Cool setup, and nice progress.

Thanks OrganicOzarks!

 

[oceangrownkush]

Thats badass bro, thanks for elaborating.. If the blumats go awry for whatever reason I think I might borrow a leaf from your book.
O

 

[DuckDuckGoose]

looking good so far. so i guess you even try to mimic nature with your watering technique. really kool stuff man. like you mentioned, i'm gonna spray the top of my soil with water daily to keep the microbes at the surface nice and moist. i remember reading that in healthy soil, as shallow as 3mm below the surface layer there are microbes and fungi networks.

 

[growingcrazy]

looking good so far. so i guess you even try to mimic nature with your watering technique. really kool stuff man. like you mentioned, i'm gonna spray the top of my soil with water daily to keep the microbes at the surface nice and moist. i remember reading that in healthy soil, as shallow as 3mm below the surface layer there are microbes and fungi networks.

Don't forget to have a mulch, living or not. That will help you retain water and keep that layer just under the surface moist. Usually I have one but I choose to try to grow some flax this time as my living mulch.

 

[growingcrazy]

A few randoms. Will have end of week 5 updates in a few days.

 

[Purple turtle]

Growingcrazy ...like your K.I.S.S style ...watering can be a pain in the ass when it comes to vert setups!...

Nice looking plants...im gona be trying out organic soon in my next vert grow just to minimize the work...

peace...

Pt

 

[growingcrazy]

Growingcrazy ...like your K.I.S.S style ...watering can be a pain in the ass when it comes to vert setups!...

Nice looking plants...im gona be trying out organic soon in my next vert grow just to minimize the work...

peace...

Pt

Good to see you around Pt!

Here are a few more pictures.

Some Satori's first..

And one of the "bubba" kush...I don't know what it is.

Peace!

 

[DuckDuckGoose]

nice pics man! those look great, nice and frosty.

 

[Neo 420]

Late to the show as usual but I'll just pull up a seat....


Great to see fellow no-till gardeners around..I'll be watching you....

 

[growingcrazy]

Late to the show as usual but I'll just pull up a seat....


Great to see fellow no-till gardeners around..I'll be watching you....

Thanks for hangin out Neo! We need as many no-till gardens as possible!


I have a few more pictues..

First is the "bubba" kush. It smells great and has the typical kush smell so we will see at the end.

Next is the Nirvana WW (m) x Sam the skunkman mixed pack indica. You can see the foxtails starting..no matter what this plant just starts foxtailing at week six and is well done at week 9. I usually take it to 10 weeks.

This is one of the main tops of the Ace Malawi. This is stacking nicely and is much more dense than anticipated..should be a good ride.

This is one of the Mandala Satori's. This cut always does well and should be filling in quite nicely.

Fed the ladies there final tea brew on day 40.

Brew mix.

5 gallons RO water
1-1/2 cups Castings
1/3 cup kelp meal
1/3 cup lacto bacilli
6 frozen and mushed banana's
12 frozen and mushed kiwi scraps

All that goes into the brewer for just shy of 3 days. It will take on a fantastic smell and there will be no signs of actual fruit left when its done brewing. Best part is the ladies go nuts for it.

 

[spiralofeyes]

Very interesting set-up. You can totally see the soil,and in turn the plants getting better.