D
dogfishheadie
page two? I think naught!
Yea really, wtf?
cosmicparticle
Member
I'm sorta just discovering this forum. I would like to thank all contributors/mentors for the invaluable information. I have have been "organic" from my first grow. My organic was basically using ffof, Ewc, coco, and only Omri listed amendments dry and bottled, like biobizz products, wich I stand by. Biobizz grow and bloom are just molasses? I grew excellent tasting herbs, that were always frosty. I had very bad environments so my yields were always low. I used teas rarely as I coudnt make any or coudnt find any. I now know how thanks to this thread, thank you very much! I will make teas and have them be the corner stone of my grow from now on.
Just 1 thing though. I put a fair amount of long(er) fiber coco, from botanicair. I don't use any of their products, just the coco because I think it's the best, its flushed very well. It has been the only thing I add for airation. I don't add any perlite or anything else to help the soil get air and dry. I have never had a problem with root growth or water logging. I Water thoroughly put not excessively. To me excessive means too much runoff. I also water in stages. I have never had more than 6 plants flowering, and it would take me hours sometimes to water lol. My method for determining when to water was to lift the pots. If they felt light I would water.
I though you were supposed to let soil dry out, not for nute uptake, but to incourage root growth, and prevent mold. Its extreme here. Either dry as hell, or muggy as fuck! I have never had a flowering plant die due to overdrying, and i have let them get bare bine dry, however, I think I probably might be letting them dry out too much. Ive realized I should not let them dry as much, only because I feel I may be stressing the plants out too much in flower. Now though that I'm concerned about having super amped up soil with the teas and all, does this mean I shouldn't let them dry out as much? Or at all? Will drying kill the microbes from the tea?
I understand that the beneficials fight many of the negatives, but do they prevent mold too?
Normally keeping my soil too we, without use of teas, will have green stuff on top soil layer.
If the beneficial microbes can keep out the mold, and algae or whatever is in the polluted air here, then I would gladly keep the soil moist all the time. Because of the coco and how I thought it should get dry, roots grow so damn much that I am watering way more than anyone I know.
Thanks!
Just 1 thing though. I put a fair amount of long(er) fiber coco, from botanicair. I don't use any of their products, just the coco because I think it's the best, its flushed very well. It has been the only thing I add for airation. I don't add any perlite or anything else to help the soil get air and dry. I have never had a problem with root growth or water logging. I Water thoroughly put not excessively. To me excessive means too much runoff. I also water in stages. I have never had more than 6 plants flowering, and it would take me hours sometimes to water lol. My method for determining when to water was to lift the pots. If they felt light I would water.
I though you were supposed to let soil dry out, not for nute uptake, but to incourage root growth, and prevent mold. Its extreme here. Either dry as hell, or muggy as fuck! I have never had a flowering plant die due to overdrying, and i have let them get bare bine dry, however, I think I probably might be letting them dry out too much. Ive realized I should not let them dry as much, only because I feel I may be stressing the plants out too much in flower. Now though that I'm concerned about having super amped up soil with the teas and all, does this mean I shouldn't let them dry out as much? Or at all? Will drying kill the microbes from the tea?
I understand that the beneficials fight many of the negatives, but do they prevent mold too?
Normally keeping my soil too we, without use of teas, will have green stuff on top soil layer.
If the beneficial microbes can keep out the mold, and algae or whatever is in the polluted air here, then I would gladly keep the soil moist all the time. Because of the coco and how I thought it should get dry, roots grow so damn much that I am watering way more than anyone I know.
Thanks!
StrapAssassin42
Member
The green stuff on the top layer just means your soil is alive!
Your soil should have wet/dry cycles....dry being a relative term. Adding perlite to the mix will help to aleviate the worry of too wet because it still allows O2 to the roots.
Let your pots get reasonably light/dry, but not to the point that the plant begins to wither. Another good test is to stick your finger knuckle deep into the soil, If you feel moisture, your plant is fine, if not, then water.
Mulching will help keep your microbes active by keeping the top layer moist. Your microbes generally won't die...they just go dormant. Any that do die become food for the others.
I wouldn't worry about mold or algae.
You literally have to try, if you want to harm a plant that is grown 100% organically!!
Your soil should have wet/dry cycles....dry being a relative term. Adding perlite to the mix will help to aleviate the worry of too wet because it still allows O2 to the roots.
Let your pots get reasonably light/dry, but not to the point that the plant begins to wither. Another good test is to stick your finger knuckle deep into the soil, If you feel moisture, your plant is fine, if not, then water.
Mulching will help keep your microbes active by keeping the top layer moist. Your microbes generally won't die...they just go dormant. Any that do die become food for the others.
I wouldn't worry about mold or algae.
You literally have to try, if you want to harm a plant that is grown 100% organically!!
cosmicparticle
Member
Wow, and to think I thought that green stuff was bad lol! I used to think it was from the bio buzz Algamic(kelp I think), but it's on my soil now even in some containers even though, I don't use it anymore. And thanks for the tip about the perlite, I used to add it, but a few years back I tried leaving it out and putting a bit more coco, the coco I use does not hold water for long at all! The botanicair fiber coco has been much more effective in terms of airation, not kidding. It looks like regular coir but has some long stringy fibers, I believe this long strings help create room for O2 by connecting more of the soil. Perlite holds a little O2 also but it's kinda trapped or only affecting the immediate area wich is less because of the roundish shape. That long stringy coco connects everything like a overlapping intangle spiderwebs. If one part dries it is able to dry other parts connected to it, wich happens to be everything if mixed up well.
I did side by side years ago because I wasn't sure...the 5galoon buckets I used at he time had a huge difference in dry cycle/and subsequently root growth. I was able to transplant much faster because of this too. I once used 25 gallon totes to flower after using 5gallon for veg. After 63 days flowering harvest, I was able to lift the entire 25 gallons of soil by the stalk of the resulting tree. Like I said my problem was letting things dry to much not a lack of airation. Thanks o much for your response. I think I will let hings stay a little moister this round after the first few dry cycles. I want o make sure I get roots going fat at first, since I always have a big difference in container sizes from veg to flower.
I did side by side years ago because I wasn't sure...the 5galoon buckets I used at he time had a huge difference in dry cycle/and subsequently root growth. I was able to transplant much faster because of this too. I once used 25 gallon totes to flower after using 5gallon for veg. After 63 days flowering harvest, I was able to lift the entire 25 gallons of soil by the stalk of the resulting tree. Like I said my problem was letting things dry to much not a lack of airation. Thanks o much for your response. I think I will let hings stay a little moister this round after the first few dry cycles. I want o make sure I get roots going fat at first, since I always have a big difference in container sizes from veg to flower.
StrapAssassin42
Member
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The wet/dry cycle refers to the 'perpetual' cycle of wet and dry. You water and allow the soil to dry (somewhat) before you water again.
It does not mean let your plants be dry for awhile then keep them wet for awhile. Just to be clear.
cosmicparticle
Member
I got you bro
What I meant was I will allow for reg wet/dry for first week or two, as i have been doing but less extreme. THEN, I will try the method of keeping relatively moist(er) for the rest of flower. Until now I have always done slow watering to saturation, then allow dry till point buckets feel almost empty and dry through and through. I didn't do the stay moist approach, wich I'm not sure you are suggesting, but I've read about in this thread, because I thought the green stuff was bad/sign if rotting or mold. I think the method you apply is what I usually do but not as extreme. I want to see what will happen if I keep the soil moist because I've been reading in this thread that it helps the micros. Sorry I know this is a little confusing, I'm not very good at communicating in writing, always been the auditory type, I learn better that way too.
You also mention sticking my finger in the bucket knuckle deep to test for moisture. I wish I could do that, but depending on container size, usually after the first 10-14days all including top layer of soil becomes one,or connected. I am not able to even go an inch without disturbing roots. Then the roots start coming out of the main stem, it's pretty cool
What I meant was I will allow for reg wet/dry for first week or two, as i have been doing but less extreme. THEN, I will try the method of keeping relatively moist(er) for the rest of flower. Until now I have always done slow watering to saturation, then allow dry till point buckets feel almost empty and dry through and through. I didn't do the stay moist approach, wich I'm not sure you are suggesting, but I've read about in this thread, because I thought the green stuff was bad/sign if rotting or mold. I think the method you apply is what I usually do but not as extreme. I want to see what will happen if I keep the soil moist because I've been reading in this thread that it helps the micros. Sorry I know this is a little confusing, I'm not very good at communicating in writing, always been the auditory type, I learn better that way too.
You also mention sticking my finger in the bucket knuckle deep to test for moisture. I wish I could do that, but depending on container size, usually after the first 10-14days all including top layer of soil becomes one,or connected. I am not able to even go an inch without disturbing roots. Then the roots start coming out of the main stem, it's pretty cool
cosmicparticle
Member
Also my experience has been without the use of act/or any tea other than putting some bat guano in a gallon bucket, shaking then applying immediately. I guess the micros in the wiggle worm ewc, and guano, fed with spring water and molasses, has over time been providing a decent environment for them. But now I that I can get a proper brewer, I can't wait to see what will happen!!! I'm getting giddy just thinking of The billions of micros I will be adding
V
vonforne
just for you Uncle M!! lol
MrSmokeyMacPot
Member
first of all, thank you to the all who contributed to this great post.
however, i still have a couple questions that I would like to address.
first, a little background info: I am growing various strains outdoors in 36 150gal smartpots in a soil mix that contains: "MICRO FIBER MENDO PEAT ,WORM CASTINGS, ORGANIC COMPOST, ORGANIC CHICKEN MANURE, BAT GUANO, DECOMPOSED RICE HULLS,ALFALFA MEAL,KELP MEAL, OYSTER SHELL,DOLOMITE LIME, GYPSUM, AND PERLITE"
(thats all the info I have on the soil at the moment)
I want to feed with an Aerated Compost Tea via a soil drench... assuming that my 36 plant crop will consume 600-900 gallons of spring h20 per watering, how much ACT would be needed per feeding? Is 20gal/acre still relevant for soil drenching in this situation? (and is the "acreage" the combined area of my containers as opposed to the area of my garden plot?)
Does ACT get applied directly in this situation or diluted into the total watering amount?
With the amount of nutrients already available in my soil mix, how often would a compost tea application be necessary?
Thank you very much for shedding some light on these questions.
however, i still have a couple questions that I would like to address.
first, a little background info: I am growing various strains outdoors in 36 150gal smartpots in a soil mix that contains: "MICRO FIBER MENDO PEAT ,WORM CASTINGS, ORGANIC COMPOST, ORGANIC CHICKEN MANURE, BAT GUANO, DECOMPOSED RICE HULLS,ALFALFA MEAL,KELP MEAL, OYSTER SHELL,DOLOMITE LIME, GYPSUM, AND PERLITE"
(thats all the info I have on the soil at the moment)
I want to feed with an Aerated Compost Tea via a soil drench... assuming that my 36 plant crop will consume 600-900 gallons of spring h20 per watering, how much ACT would be needed per feeding? Is 20gal/acre still relevant for soil drenching in this situation? (and is the "acreage" the combined area of my containers as opposed to the area of my garden plot?)
Does ACT get applied directly in this situation or diluted into the total watering amount?
With the amount of nutrients already available in my soil mix, how often would a compost tea application be necessary?
Thank you very much for shedding some light on these questions.
I have a specific issue with Root aphids and organics.. its difficult to keep them out of the medium. I've invested about 100 bucks on some Met 52, but i'm wondering how it interacts with ACT teas.. anyone know if you can start with A single bayer tree and shrub drench than get the biology going with teas, and keep the met 52 alive?
Thank you nephy! [funny, my nephew calls me uncky...]
Since this is up and running as a sticky again, I'll see what CT Guy and I might do about inserting some better information near the beginning of the thread. Some of the recipes from SFI are not that great and using weight as a unit of measure for compost is confusing.
MrSmokeyMacPot
Member
in the example stated above, each plant is getting less than 1/3 of a gallon of tea through it's leaves and soil. in my case, wanting to do a soil drench on my 150gal pots, would a similar amount of ACT be sufficient if followed by an appropriate amount of water?
you only need to follow with water if the plants/soil still need moisture. Yes that is sufficient
I was wondering when someone was going to use my design to make a commercial product.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6JYihgiSHs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6JYihgiSHs
