[neongreen]

One start I planted out 2 1/2 weeks ago (@ 52N) has definitely started flowering, so I took advantage and pollinated it Was planning on making seeds this season anyway, so I see it as a bonus, especially as I struggled to get mature seeds last year due to a combo of bad weather/late pollination.

On soil compaction: I regularly pull up weeds here who's roots have grown straight through lumps of clay that are extremely dense, so I doubt Cannabis would have too much trouble growing through pretty well compacted soil.

On the other hand, you do want your soil to have plenty of air spaces, so soil that compacts too much is likely going to impact negatively on plants. If your soil is compacting, then perhaps the initial mix needs a rethink? Perhaps you need more worms and/or to not let the soil dry out too much? I don't know as I'm only just starting to experiment myself.

I was too late for this season, but IMO getting your soil tested, and then amending as necessary from there is probably the best way to go:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=312208

Edit: PS. I also agree that much more than 12" deep is probably over kill. I've always dug deep holes/beds, and nearly always dig up my root systems after harvest to see how they have done. The results have been quite surprising for me as I've never found a substantial root system that penetrates deeper than about 1-1.5 ft.

These for example are the two Rombolts from my 2013 outdoor grow (see link in sig) which ended up at around 8 and 9 ft:







Ironically, those are the biggest/most bushy plants I've ever grown (though not the highest yielding!) and yet when those went into that bed I'd only just dug/amended/manured it. Since then the plants I've tried to grow in that bed have only reached a bit over half the size of the Rombolts at best! Hopefully this year will be different, but I'm going to get the soil tested to see what is going on anyway.

[OrganicDisciple]

Originally Posted by neongreen

One start I planted out 2 1/2 weeks ago (@ 52N) has definitely started flowering, so I took advantage and pollinated it Was planning on making seeds this season anyway, so I see it as a bonus, especially as I struggled to get mature seeds last year due to a combo of bad weather/late pollination.

On soil compaction: I regularly pull up weeds here who's roots have grown straight through lumps of clay that are extremely dense, so I doubt Cannabis would have too much trouble growing through pretty well compacted soil.

On the other hand, you do want your soil to have plenty of air spaces, so soil that compacts too much is likely going to impact negatively on plants. If your soil is compacting, then perhaps the initial mix needs a rethink? Perhaps you need more worms and/or to not let the soil dry out too much? I don't know as I'm only just starting to experiment myself.

I was too late for this season, but IMO getting your soil tested, and then amending as necessary from there is probably the best way to go:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=312208

Edit: PS. I also agree that much more than 12" deep is probably over kill. I've always dug deep holes/beds, and nearly always dig up my root systems after harvest to see how they have done. The results have been quite surprising for me as I've never found a substantial root system that penetrates deeper than about 1-1.5 ft.

These for example are the two Rombolts from my 2013 outdoor grow (see link in sig) which ended up at around 8 and 9 ft:

View Image

View Image

View Image

Ironically, those are the biggest/most bushy plants I've ever grown (though not the highest yielding!) and yet when those went into that bed I'd only just dug/amended/manured it. Since then the plants I've tried to grow in that bed have only reached a bit over half the size of the Rombolts at best! Hopefully this year will be different, but I'm going to get the soil tested to see what is going on anyway.

Those are some very beautiful girls. I'm really up in the air with soil testing. I'm scared to get one done and then falling into being told to treat it in a non organic way. Which would be counter productive for what I'm aiming for. Are there any big organic growers around here that go without testing? Just curious. I'd like to pick there brain on maintaining there organic soil builds.

[plantingplants]

There are organic amendments options. Leadsled does analyses and gave me all organic recommendations.

Thanks for the photos neongreen-- that's cool. My mounds are 12-16".

[OrganicDisciple]

Will leadsled give me options for something mild? I don't really have the funds to get an analysis done. And I've already planted. So kind of a blind. Here you go. Or should I just wait and see if I encounter a problem?

[OrganicDisciple]

Got a couple more plants in the ground today. I decided to not grow the blue berry headband. I have a small garden and she just wasn't performing compared to these local breeders beans I have. It's crazy. I refuse to grow a big name breeders beans just to say I have it if it doesn't perform. Plants are beautiful. Hope I can get watering dialed in this year. I slacked hard last year and plants were def not a potential. This year new year and new me.

[plantingplants]

I would definitely prefer local quality genetics. I just don't know any local breeders ..actually I did but I lost their number :(

If you don't have the $75 or so for test and analysis then yea why not just see how it goes and correct as needed.

I'm not sure what you mean by mild amendments. You can always add less. For most organic amendments you can water them in.

[OrganicDisciple]

Yea I meant a mild mix. I remember coot telling me a good fix all would be 1/3 cup kelp, 1/3 crab and 1/3 cup neem meal with a top dress and ewc tea is a good fix at in case anything happens to hppen. But I'd rather nail the problem on the head then to try and fix something that may not need to be fixed.

[plantingplants]

Originally Posted by OrganicDisciple

Yea I meant a mild mix. I remember coot telling me a good fix all would be 1/3 cup kelp, 1/3 crab and 1/3 cup neem meal with a top dress and ewc tea is a good fix at in case anything happens to hppen. But I'd rather nail the problem on the head then to try and fix something that may not need to be fixed.

Yea I'm not sure. I guess kelp has a huge variety of minerals. But very very low Mo for example, so that cure all wouldn't fix an Mo deficiency. But I'm super new to organic growing. I agree with your sentiment though-- I'd rather be precise.

[neongreen]

Originally Posted by OrganicDisciple

But I'd rather nail the problem on the head then to try and fix something that may not need to be fixed.

Or worse still, you may add something that you already have too much of in your soil, throwing it out of wack even more.

It's only $25 for the test you need from Logan labs... IMO a small price to pay to make sure you are not making things worse. Of course you may need to spend a bit more on top for advice on what amendments would work best with your soil. If the total comes to 100 or 200, what does that matter if you get an extra lb or 2!

[OrganicDisciple]

Very true. How long do they take to get back to you? What exactly do I ask for? Whose the man around here? Lead them my way please lol