Fed up with soil

[singularity]

petro derived chemical ferts are actually as organic as you can get.

COPIED! (livescience)

''dead organic material accumulates on the bottom of oceans, riverbeds or swamps, mixing with mud and sand. Over time, more sediment piles on top and the resulting heat and pressure transforms the organic layer into a dark and waxy substance known as kerogen.

Left alone, the kerogen molecules eventually crack, breaking up into shorter and lighter molecules composed almost solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Depending on how liquid or gaseous this mixture is, it will turn into either petroleum or natural gas.

So how long does this process take?

Scientists aren't really sure, but they figure it's probably on the order of hundreds of thousands of years. ''

 

[Eazytoke]

Thanks for the tips and advice everyone. I had a cloudy res again but to be honest I don't even know if it's a problem. The EC and PH are reacting normally and there is no slim or anything. It's just cloudy. Well, it did get a foaming on my last res but I dropped the water pump mixing and put back in some air stones and that got rid of the foaming. It is now just clouding up after 3 days.

I dumped the res and made up a new one using Flora Nova again instead of Maxibloom. If nothing else I won't be able to notice the cloudy effect because of the dark color.

It's entirely likely I'm just trying to be too picky because the plants don't seem to give a shit. They are happy and growing and the roots looks nice and healthy. Oh well, it's all meant to be a learning experience so that's what I'm doing!

 

[rrog]

Single, that's propaganda from the petrochemical industry. Feeding a plant compost and earthworm castings is totally different than bottled ferts. Totally different. Like a baby being breast-fed compared to powdered infant formula.

EZ, I used to add some powdered beneficial microbes. And molasses. Never had a cloudy res ever. Always smelled great.

The fact is that you can't avoid microbes in your res. The microbes are in the air. So rather than fight the microbes, I incorporated them. They became my guard dogs.

Having said all that, I totally respect the hydro community. Totally. This organic soil is simply preference, that's all

 

[actech]

i think you will always get bigger yields with the water farm drippers over the ebb and flow. the plants are eating 24/7 in the drip buckets but only 4 or 5 times a day with the ebb. just my 2 cents. great lookin plants btw

 

[Eazytoke]

32 day 12/12. The girls are looking happy and doing their thing. It's not too noticeable in my pics because, well, I suck at taking pics. But, they are very frosty and are looking just delicious.

The reservoir issues are still there but I'm getting a handle on it and the girls don't care. They are growing in spite of my constant meddling. The roots still look nice and healthy so all is good for the most part.

I dropped the ball the other day while doing a res change and cleaning the pumps. When I was putting everything together again I re-installed the one way valve the wrong way! I didn't notice until morning after they had been sitting in water for about 5 hours and the pump running that whole time pushing water against a brick wall. Again, it didn't seem to hurt anything and the plants looked all happy sitting in the water. Oh well, I'm sure I'll never do that again.

 

[SimplySour]

Very nice, please keep us updated.

 

[Eazytoke]

Day 39

Day 39

Day 39 12/12

Nothing much has changed except the buds getting bigger! I had to start tying branches up because of bud weight so that's a good sign.

The res still gets cloudy after 2-3 days and I've been changing it out at 4. At this point it's not worth the risk to run as is because I don't want any negative side effect to pop up. I borrowed a chiller from a friend to see if that made any difference and it didn't change anything really. It may have got me another 12 hours but I think that's in my head. I've tried everything I can think of doing (physan 20, h202, bleach, flushing, more/less nutes, order of adjusting ph, etc.) except trying some RO water which is on my list but I have to pick some up from the store. Maybe this weekend. If it works I'll obviously buy a RO unit but I want to see if it makes a difference first.

My water comes out of the tap at PH 7.9 (sometimes as low as 7.5) and EC .2. I've read the city water report and there is nothing that looks out of hand from my limited knowledge.

Anyways, here is a couple of pics of them today.

 

[Eazytoke]

EZ, I used to add some powdered beneficial microbes. And molasses. Never had a cloudy res ever. Always smelled great.

The fact is that you can't avoid microbes in your res. The microbes are in the air. So rather than fight the microbes, I incorporated them. They became my guard dogs.

I think this will be my plan of attack on the next run. Starting now I think would be pointless as my variables have been swung all over the place.

 

[rrog]

Well it's easy and harmless, but may not help at this late hour, although it wouldn't hurt either. This is what got my eyes opened to the power of microbes

 

[Eazytoke]

Well it's easy and harmless, but may not help at this late hour, although it wouldn't hurt either. This is what got my eyes opened to the power of microbes

Do you have a recommendation on what to buy?

 

[budshoteyes]

If it ain't broke don't fix it! Those buds look nice. Perhaps a test of smoke is in order if your really worried!

I've read that usually in two weeks of running a system the beneficial microbes appear on their own...no buying required?

After this run go high strength javex and clean everything pipes,fittings,and tubes too and then use the RO!

 

[Eazytoke]

If it ain't broke don't fix it! Those buds look nice. Perhaps a test of smoke is in order if your really worried!

I've read that usually in two weeks of running a system the beneficial microbes appear on their own...no buying required?

After this run go high strength javex and clean everything pipes,fittings,and tubes too and then use the RO!

It's hard to argue with that logic!

I would like to go longer than 4 days before changing the water though. Lately I've been putting just enough in so I'm not wasting much at the end but I would sure like to go a week or so. I'm so tempted to just run the cloudy water for a week and see if it has any ill effects but at this point it scares the hell out of me! I'd sure hate to screw it all up this late in the game.

Also, I haven't cut a sample to smoke but I'm confident these will be great buds. The smell coming off of them is amazing!

 

[budshoteyes]

Exactly what does cloudy look like?
My buckets and rez have a very low brown tint to the water for a few days and then tend to look slightly brighter and cloudy in tint cause of nutes being partly used up.

 

[rrog]

I used SubCulture in my res, and a bit of diluted molasses to feel the culture. I used to warm RO water in a container, then add the molasses so it would dissolve. Then add this solution to the res. That way no thick balls of molasses to gum things up.

As I said, I was amazed at how clean my res stayed.

 

[Eazytoke]

Exactly what does cloudy look like?
My buckets and rez have a very low brown tint to the water for a few days and then tend to look slightly brighter and cloudy in tint cause of nutes being partly used up.

It starts out crystal clear. I have a pic of it on page 2. Over the 1st 24 hours it starts to put on a slight brownish color which could be described as hazy or cloudy I guess. Then the next 24 it starts to get real hazy almost like there is sediment suspended in the water but I never have any sediment on the bottom of the tank or anything. But that is what it looks like. At the 2.5-3 day mark I start to notice what looks like an oil slick on the surface of the water when I shut the pumps off.

When I drain the water everything is nice and clean. No build ups or slim or anything. As the water starts clouding on me the ph stays normal, no large swings or anything. Like I said earlier in the thread, I may just be over reacting and it's perfectly acceptable. I just figure something has to be causing it and I sure want to at least figure it out.

Next time I change out I'll have to snap some pictures and see if they can show it in enough detail.

 

[overgrowit]

Very nice Eazytoke, I am switching over to ebb and flow buckets also. Hopefully i get results like yours.

About your cloudy res, I had a problem similar to your description and it was a cheap sump pump that was leaking oil into the water. Most aquarium and hydroponic pumps dont have oil lubrication so they are fine.
Also I use a few drops of bleach once a week and it keeps it from stinking and going foul.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

this oil slick on the surface, does it shimmer like oil or does it look white? if it looks white look closer does it look like a buncha little microscopic critters swimming in the water and clumping together?

 

[il19z8rn4li1]

Wow.. very nice beauties you got there...

But i will agree with you that soil can be a true pain in the ass.. But see growing MJ is different from most other crops :-D It turned into science more so then gardening :-D



I say.. that when you perfect soil, which is harder to perfect then H2O, that is when you have become a master gardener and grower. I will admit that I myself am still with Hydro.. but that not to say I am not doing soil still at the same time lol.

Like one has said already... cant give up on soil.. gardeners have been using it for quiet sometime now :-D


cheers brother.

 

[rrog]

I have found soil to be much more stable and labor free. You try and invent your own soil, and you may get shit results. Go with soil and start dumping commercial "organic" ferts on it, and you may get shit results.

Soil gives you the opportunity to KISS. People inherently figure they have to buy some stuff and add more... always more. And then they wonder why they have burn, deficiencies, etc.

Soil lets you utilize an army or trillions of microlife that will take care of things if you let them

 

[Eazytoke]

I have found soil to be much more stable and labor free. You try and invent your own soil, and you may get shit results. Go with soil and start dumping commercial "organic" ferts on it, and you may get shit results.

Soil gives you the opportunity to KISS. People inherently figure they have to buy some stuff and add more... always more. And then they wonder why they have burn, deficiencies, etc.

Soil lets you utilize an army or trillions of microlife that will take care of things if you let them

In the soil side of my garden I've been using a variation of the Moonshine Mix. It's kind of expensive but it's treated me well over the years and I basically just add water. I do add some bloom boosters here and there but it really doesn't need it. Most of the time I hand water but I have a blumat system set up also for when I'm going to be away. I can't argue it's easy to KISS with the dirt as I've been rolling that way for a long time with good results.